Institutional Investor (September 19)
“A sense of dissonance” is overcoming global markets, according to the Bank for International Settlements. “Falling bond yields are normally associated with subdued growth…yet stock markets around the world have rallied even as corporate profitability has lagged.” Furthermore, the ten-year yield on many major sovereigns is “running well below the nominal rate of growth in gross domestic product, breaking a 65-year pattern in which the two have tracked each other closely.”
Tags: Bank for International Settlements, Bond yields, Dissonance, GDP, Global markets, Growth, Profitability, Sovereigns, Stock markets
Chicago Tribune (September 19)
Oliver Stone’s new movie on Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency (NSA) leaker, opened amid renewed calls that he be granted amnesty. But in light of the damage his leak caused and is continuing to cause, Snowden “doesn’t sound like a whistleblower who should be celebrated.” He “sounds like someone who should be in a U.S. prison.”
Tags: Amnesty, Damage, Edward Snowden, Leaker, NSA, Oliver Stone, Prison, U.S., Whistleblower
Economist (September 17)
“Disruption may be the buzzword in boardrooms, but the most striking feature of business today is not the overturning of the established order. It is the entrenchment of a group of superstar companies at the heart of the global economy.”
Tags: Boardrooms, Buzzword, Disruption, Entrenchment, Established order, Global economy, Overturning
Washington Post (September 16)
“In the era of cyberwarfare that’s now dawning, the rules of the game haven’t yet been established…. That’s why this period of Russian-American relations is so tricky. The strategic framework that could provide stability hasn’t been set,” but with recent encroachments “Russian hackers appear to be pushing the limits.”
Tags: Cyberwarfare, Hackers, Limits, Rules, Russia, Stability, Strategic framework, U.S.
Forbes (September 15)
Plans to have autonomous cars on the roads in a few years are over optimistic. “This timetable is unrealistic. In fact, the widespread use of driverless cars will not happen for at least another 20 years.” The “intractable obstacle” facing driverless cars is “the extreme difficulty of moving from semiautonomous to fully autonomous.” Consumers wrongly “assume that the transition to full autonomy is an easy next step from the myriad semiautonomous features already in use today.”
Wall Street Journal (September 14)
“For Monsanto owners, selling to Bayer provides a premium of 44%.” With relatively little overlap between the companies, antitrust issues should be less likely to threaten the merger. Moreover, “the deal seems to make strategic sense, as Bayer combines its pesticides franchise with a leader in seeds and biotechnology. Bayer is also known for health care, which will generate about half of the combined company’s sales. Crop sciences will contribute roughly the other half.”
Tags: Antitrust, Bayer, Biotechnology, Crop sciences, Health care, Merger, Monsanto, Overlap, Pesticides, Premium, Seeds
Reuters (September 13)
With cargo trapped and delayed, the Hanjin bankruptcy is creating giant supply chain ripple effects. “Consumers should start preparing to pay more for holiday cheer this year. Experts predict that Hanjin ships won’t emerge from receivership until after the holiday season.” Temporarily, at least, that’s good for other shipping companies. “Space is suddenly at a premium…Rates could spike 50 percent as soon as October.”
Tags: Bankruptcy, Cargo, Consumers, Hanjin, Premium, Rates, Shipping companies
Time (September 13)
“The median household income for a family in America surged last year, the first time since before the Great Recession when there was a year-over-year increase in earnings. Median household income in the United States was $56,516 in 2015, an increase of 5.2% in inflation-adjusted dollars from the 2014 median of $53,718.”
Tags: Earnings, Family, Great Recession, Household income, Surge, U.S.
Institutional Investor (September 12)
“Weak markets and worries about growth are putting pressure on fund managers across Asia. Chinese stocks barely began recovering from the summer 2015 meltdown before taking another hit earlier this year, while investors in Japan turned bearish on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic policies as growth slowed.”
Tags: Abe, Asia, Bearish, China, Fund managers, Growth, Investors, Japan, Markets, Meltdown, Pressure, Weak
Bloomberg (September 11)
“It’s called the U.S. Open, and the crowd is definitely from New York, but the clothing on the court is decidedly Japanese.” Asics, Yonex and Uniqlo were all the rage. “As the 2016 Grand Slam draws to a close, Japanese brands have far outpaced their Western competition.”