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
Institutional Investor (April 1)
“In March, the Bank of Japan made the seismic decision to raise interest rates for the first time in 17 years. The long-awaited shift to positive rates has excited some of the country’s leading chief executives.”
Tags: 17 years, BOJ, Chief executives, Decision, Excited, Interest rates, Japan, Leading, Long-awaited, March, Positive rates, Raise, Seismic, Shift
Washington Post (April 1)
“Earth has a long-running fever that shows little signs of easing. The planet has set high temperature records in each of the last nine months, and March is poised to become the 10th. Multiple locations around the world observed unprecedented heat on the month’s final weekend, as if to put an exclamation mark on this exceptional run of warmth.”
Tags: Earth, Exceptional, Fever, Heat, High, March, Planet, Records, Temperature, Unprecedented, Weekend, World
Business Insider (March 31)
Japan’s “stock market is ripping; the Nikkei recently exceeded the all-time highs it set 34 years ago. Analysts at Goldman Sachs are telling clients there’s still more upside to be had as corporate-governance reforms and a new era of sustainable inflation take hold. The Bank of Japan this month hiked interest rates above zero for the first time since 2007, a sign of confidence in the country’s recovery.”
Tags: Analysts, BOJ, Clients, Confidence, Corporate governance, Goldman Sachs, Highs, Inflation, Interest rates, Japan, Nikkei, Reforms, Ripping, Stock market, Upside
The Street (March 29)
The Wall Street consensus “sees further gains over the coming months, fueled by solid corporate earnings and a better-than-expected economy,” but scenarios from some analysts include “a notable correction.” JP Morgan’s chief global equity strategist, Dubravko Lakos-Bujas, believes that “both the market’s reliance on AI-powered tech stocks… and Fed rate-cut projections put it at risk of a near-term correction.” He warns it could come completely “out of the blue,” such as a flash crash when “one big fund starts de-levering some positions, a second fund hears that and tries to reposition, the third fund basically gets caught off guard, and the next thing you know, we start having a bigger and bigger momentum unwind.”
Bloomberg (March 28)
“The risks are piling up for Japan’s currency, stocks and bonds as the nation’s fiscal year draws to an end right when many global markets close for Easter — and less than two weeks after the central bank hiked interest rates.”
Tags: Bonds, Central bank, Currency, Easter, Fiscal year, Global markets, Interest rates, Japan, Piling up, Risks, Stocks
ING Think (March 27)
Regarding China, “the market has settled into a state of excessive pessimism. And that’s understandable given the numerous doom and gloom media articles on firms reducing their China market exposure or exiting altogether.” Ultimately, however, we believe “China’s economy is not in a Great Decline but a Great Transition.”
Tags: Great Transition
Professional Pensions (March 27)
“Market turmoil, inflation shocks, high interest rates, and rolling geopolitical crises spurred many investors to stay on the sidelines last year” across all asset classes. “Yet investor appetite remains strong,” especially for real assets. “Globally, nearly two-thirds of investors expect to increase their allocation to real assets over the next two years, with investors in Asia most likely to add to their portfolios.”
Tags: Allocation, Appetite, Asia, Geopolitical crises, Inflation, Interest rates, Investors, Market turmoil, Real assets, Sidelines
