The Economist (April 20)
“Investors often describe the world of business in terms of animals, such as bears, bulls, hawks, doves and dogs. Right now, mere ponies are being presented as unicorns: privately held tech firms worth over $1bn that are supposedly strong and world-beating—miraculous almost.” Except they’re not. Many so-called unicorns lack effective business models. In fact, “a dozen unicorns that have listed, or are likely to, posted combined losses of $14bn last year. Their cumulative losses are $47bn.”
Tags: Business models, Investors, Losses, Miraculous, Unicorns, World-beating
CNN (April 11)
“Investors will be in wait-and-watch mode until polling ends and India’s new leader is elected on May 23. Whoever wins, business is unlikely to get the kind of boost seen in the last five years…. Still, analysts expect India to remain open to global investors no matter who is at the helm. And the country’s huge market of 1.3 billion people may simply be too tempting to pass up.”
Reuters (April 5)
“As the U.S. yield curve makes up its mind whether to invert or not, investors seeking reassurance that we are in a Goldilocks era of non-inflationary growth will get to scour two monthly price gauges this week.”
Tags: Goldilocks era, Invert, Investors, Non-inflationary growth, Price gauges, Reassurance, U.S., Yield curve
Institutional Investor (April 3)
“Hedge funds are in danger of losing a battle with low-cost exchange-traded funds.” According to a recent study comparing hedge funds with similar ETFs, “The results were mostly bad news for hedge funds. Two of the largest ETFs in each sector outperformed their respective hedge fund index counterparts. Hedge funds did, however, provide a smoother ride for investors.”
Tags: Danger, ETFs, Hedge funds, Index, Investors, Losing battle, Results, Sector
Reuters (March 25)
“Downbeat data from the US and Europe, combined with a cautious tone from the Federal Reserve, frightened investors last week. The first inversion in the US bond yield curve since 2007 also heightened concerns, by raising fears of a recession in the world’s largest economy.”
Wall Street Journal (March 20)
“Global investors, who have enjoyed an excellent start to 2019, received some unsettling news from FedEx Corp.” The “weak results from the shipping giant bode poorly for the global economy, and investors don’t seem ready for a slowdown.”
Tags: FedEx, Global, Investors, Shipping, Slowdown, Unsettling news, Weak results
The Economist (February 23)
Plenty of executives and investors say they are worried about climate change. “Yet the reality is that meaningful global environmental regulations are nowhere on the horizon. The risk of severe climate change is thus rising, posing physical threats to many firms. Most remain blind to these, often wilfully so. They should start worrying about them.”
Tags: Climate change, Environmental regulations, Executives, Investors, Meaningful, Reality, Threats
South China Morning Post (January 22)
“Trump’s aggressive trade actions have also made investors much more sensitive to China’s domestic economic woes, a development which Trump doubtless views as a sign that his administration is winning the trade war but which has backfired due to the adverse spillover effects on America’s economy and markets…. A trade truce, should one materialise, has come too late.”
Tags: Aggressive, Backfired, China, Economy, Investors, Markets, Sensitive, Trade war, Truce, Trump, U.S.
Reuters (January 16)
“Nobody expected May’s Brexit deal to secure a majority. Nevertheless, the scale of the defeat—the worst for a British government in modern history—was startling…. It’s very unlikely the deal can be rescued.” In fact, investors seem to be signaling that “reversing the Brexit decision” is now more likely than “a chaotic exit…. The pound jumped 1.4 percent against the U.S. dollar immediately after the result was announced on Tuesday.”
Boston Globe (January 10)
“Many investors had expected department stores to enjoy robust sales over the holidays in light of a U.S. economy buoyed by low unemployment, higher wages, strong consumer confidence and cheap gas.” Lackluster results from Macy’s and Kohl’s sent “retail stocks into a tailspin… calling into question whether such mall-based chains can compete in a changing landscape where shoppers are shifting more of their spending online.”
Tags: Consumer confidence, Holiday sales, Investors, Kohl’s, Lackluster, Macy’s, Malls, Online, Retail stocks, Shoppers, Tailspin, U.S., Unemployment, Wages
