Bloomberg (October 26)
“The latest bear-market rally in US stocks has brought investors off the sidelines and provided a welcome reprieve from three quarters of gloom. But traders now need to ask themselves whether the risks continue to justify the potential returns.” Are they “truly nimble enough to chase this latest short-term rally to culmination without toppling off the inevitable cliff at the end of it.”
Tags: Bear-market rally, Gloom, Inevitable cliff, Investors, Nimble, Reprieve, Returns, Risks, Short term, Stocks, Traders, U.S.
Foreign Policy (March 10)
“Putin’s war could save the global economic order. In this crisis, Western countries have shaken off decades of economic policy lethargy.” Though “the short-term economic costs will be steep, the conflict might end up being the savior of the global economic order.”
Tags: Conflict, Costs, Global economic order. Crisis, Lethargy, Policy, Putin, Savior, Short term, War, Western countries
Investment Week (April 9)
“JP Morgan chairman and chief executive Jamie Dimon claimed Brexit ‘cannot possibly be a positive’ for the UK in the short term as he warned that the investment bank may one day move all European business out of London.” The bank’s 19,000 UK employees include 12,000 in London.
Tags: Brexit, Dimon, Employees, European, Investment bank, JP Morgan, London, Move, Short term, UK
Atlanta Journal Constitution (November 17)
“Despite five consecutive months of growth, Georgia has 366,000 fewer people employed than before the pandemic.” Though seasonal work is often “low-paid and short-term,” many people are now desperate for whatever “they can find.” This year, however, “traditional stores are struggling as consumers venture out less ahead of the holiday shopping season. Many businesses have delayed hiring plans, unsure about demand for their goods and services.”
Tags: Consumers, Delayed, Demand, Desperate, Employed, Georgia, Growth, Hiring, Holiday shopping, Low-paid, Pandemic, Seasonal work, Short term
Wall Street Journal (July 7)
“Germany’s economic slowdown, though no doubt bad for Europe in the short term, could be helpful over a longer period by easing a rift between the region’s economically stronger north and weaker south over pro-growth policies.”
Australian Financial Review (November 28)
“Mr Trump will not reverse America’s relative decline. The chances are he will drastically accelerate it…. The US-led international order as we knew it for 70 years is over. “ While much focus will be “on Mr Trump’s dealings with Mr Putin,” that’s strictly short term. “The long-term trajectory is towards China.” Going forward, things “will not be pretty. Europe will be the loser. So too will American prestige.”
Tags: China, Decline, Europe, International order, Long term, Prestige, Putin, Short term, Trump, U.S.
Washington Post (August 10)
“Matters are not as clear as is often suggested regarding short-term-driven ‘quarterly capitalism.’” The “most enthusiastic champions of long-termism” are often the “managements of companies that are dissipating the most value, such as General Motors before it needed to be bailed out.” Long-termism can also lead to short-term excesses, such as “market participants who willingly place huge valuations on many Silicon Valley companies that lack any profits and have little revenue.”
Tags: GM, Long-termism, Profits, Quarterly capitalism, Revenue, Short term, Silicon Valley, Valuations
The Economist (July 18)
“There has always been an element of financial engineering about buy-backs. Can it really be good news if a firm feels it has nothing better to do with its money? An enthusiasm for buy-backs creates the sense that executives are more interested in short-term share-price performance than in the company’s long-term health.” According to some estimates, the number of available shares in U.S. stock markets has been reduced by approximately 6% since 2009 as a result of buy-backs, but the trend appears to be slowing.
Tags: Buy-backs, Enthusiasm, Executives, Financial engineering, Performance, Share price, Short term, U.S.
Financial Times (May 12)
There’s little obvious business sense to Pfizer’s proposed takeover of AstraZeneca. Strategically, there’s not much to be gained aside from effecting a change of tax domicile. “Pfizer’s dealmaking history is moreover a deeply dispiriting one…. Despite having spent some $240bn on three big acquisitions since 2000, its market capitalisation is just $185bn today. Meanwhile the Dow Jones index is more than 40 per cent higher.” AstraZeneca’s directors must proceed warily. This is about more than the potential short-term profit to existing shareholders.
Tags: Acquisitions, AstraZeneca, Dealmaking, Directors, Dow Jones, Market-cap, Pfizer, Profit, Shareholders, Short term, Strategy, Takeover, Tax domicile
Los Angeles Times (September 2)
“A relentless focus on share price can hurt not only employees, taxpayers and society, but shareholders too. Managers who are pressured to raise stock price quickly often resort to tricks — selling assets, cutting payroll and investment, draining cash through dividends and share repurchase programs — to bump up stock price for a year or two. But such strategies often hurt a company’s long-term ability to grow and prosper.”
