Reuters (April 12)
“Hong Kong isn’t back to its free-wheeling former self. On the stock market, the benchmark Hang Seng Index is nearly 50% below a 2021 high, and there is no end in sight to an IPO drought that has left investment bankers twiddling their thumbs. Meanwhile, executives are scrutinising Article 23, a strict and wide-ranging national security law introduced in March.”
Tags: National-security law
Barron’s (April 11)
“China’s economy appears to have turned a corner in the first quarter, but a new batch of indicators from the independent research firm China Beige Book shows that the momentum needed for a sustained rebound has yet to develop.”
Tags: Rebound
Bloomberg (April 10)
“Global funds have turned optimistic on Japanese stocks over the past year, on expectation shareholder returns will improve.” Despite the booming Japan market, “Japanese startups have been turning to the US where institutional investors are more willing to bet on innovative technologies.” So it is no surprise that the NYSE “is actively engaged with a pipeline of Japanese companies, some of which may consider a US listing over the next 18 months.”
Tags: Booming, Expectation, Global funds, Innovative technologies, Institutional investors, Japan, NYSE, Optimistic, Shareholder returns, Startups, Stocks, U.S.
Hong Kong Standard (April 10)
“The share price of Tianrui (1252), China’s ninth largest cement manufacturer, “slumped 99 percent in the 15 minutes before the market closed yesterday,” creating a penny stock. The “free fall…also slashed the company’s market capitalization to just HK$141 million from HK$14.6 billion – meaning HK$1 billion evaporated every minute.”
Tags: Cement manufacturer, China, Free fall, Market, Market-cap, Penny stock, Share price, Slashed, Slumped, Tianrui
Wall Street Journal (April 8)
“Japan knows the Ukraine stakes.” In contrast, U.S. critics, especially Republican members of Congress are wavering on Ukraine aid, suggesting “the war in Europe is a distraction from more serious threats in Asia.” Tokyo realizes “a Russian victory may encourage Chinese imperialism.” Hopefully, during his visit next week, Prime Minister Kishida “can disabuse” Republicans of their errant notion. His government’s foreign policy “reflects the seriousness of the current geopolitical moment. Japan recognizes that the threat to the well-being of free nations is global.”
Tags: Aid, Asia, China, Congress, Critics, Europe, Free nations, Japan, Kishida, Republican, Russia, Stakes, Threats, U.S., Ukraine, War, Wavering, Well-being
Washington Post (April 7)
Numerous conflicts are “pitting the environment against, well, the environment. Solar plants and wind farms, transmission lines and carbon-capture projects face opposition from conservationists and other environmental groups asking courts to stop new infrastructure from encroaching on wetlands, forests and other ecosystems.” Trade-offs like these “generally lean against developers,” but they were “written in an era before those developers included promoters of the green power that humanity needs to stave off climate change.” Things need fixing. We should not “let environmentalism sabotage green energy.”
Tags: Carbon capture, Climate change, Conservationists, Ecosystems, Environmentalism, Forests, Green power, Opposition, Solar, Trade-offs, Transmission lines, Wetlands, Wind
The Guardian (April 6)
“An unprecedented leap of 38.5C in the coldest place on Earth is a harbinger of a disaster for humans and the local ecosystem.” The record-setting leap at documented Concordia research station, along with other “events have raised fears that the Antarctic, once thought to be too cold to experience the early impacts of global warming, is now succumbing dramatically and rapidly to the swelling levels of greenhouse gases that humans continue to pump into the atmosphere.”
Tags: 38.5C, Antarctic, Atmosphere, Coldest, Concordia, Disaster, Earth, Ecosystem, GHG, Global warming, Harbinger, Humans, Impacts, Succumbing, Unprecedented
New York Times (April 4)
The importance of “a robust defense” is one clear takeaway from Disney’s success against activist investor Nelson Peltz. “Executives, led by the Disney C.E.O. Bob Iger, mapped out a series of bold initiatives last autumn, in part to blunt Peltz’s calls for change…. That included cost-cutting efforts, an investment in the video game giant Epic Games and a shake-up in the struggling movie division.”
Tags: Activist investor, Bold initiatives, Cost cutting, Disney, Epic Games, Iger, Investment, Movie division, Peltz, Robust defense, Shake-up, Struggling, Takeaway, Video game
Wccftech (April 4)
“Sometimes, going against the herd pays off massively. Case in point: Toyota is thriving right now with its hybrids-first strategy, while its competitors, including Tesla, the erstwhile king of the auto space, continue to contend with a challenging demand environment and shrinking margins.”
Tags: Auto, Challenging, Competitors, Contend, Demand, Environment, Hybrids-first strategy, Shrinking margins, Tesla, Thriving, Toyota
CNN (April 2)
“GE once did almost everything for the typical American family…. No longer. With Tuesday’s split into two companies, the break up of the once mighty industrial icon is complete.” Founded in 1892 by Thomas Edison, GE was “built into the world’s largest and most valuable company by the once legendary, but now oft-criticized CEO Jack Welch” before floundering during the 21st century.
Tags: 1892, Break-up, CEO, Criticized, Edison, Floundering, GE, Industrial, Largest, Legendary, Most valuable, Split, U.S., Welch
