The Economist (July 11)
“By the end of July 7th trading in over 90% of the 2,774 shares listed on Chinese exchanges was suspended or halted. Shares have fallen by a third in less than a month, wiping out some $3.5 trillion in wealth…. It is not the plunge in share prices, however, nor the implications for the Chinese economy that are worrying, so much as the government’s frenzied attempts to bring the sell-off to a stop.”
Chicago Tribune (July 11)
“By voting no in last Sunday’s referendum, and by such an impressive margin, Greece won itself a moment’s elation — and may come to regret the consequences for years. It was one more in an absurdly extended series of miscalculations.”
Tags: Absurd, Consequences, Elation, Greece, Miscalculations, Referendum, Regret, Vote
LA Times (July 9)
In the Greek debate both sides are ultimately “fired by unwavering devotion to an abstract ideal, the real costs be damned. But if ancient tragedy has any lesson to offer, it is that an all too real tragedy in the making might be avoided by putting responsibility before blind ideology, asking not whether the end justifies the means but whether the means justify the end.”
Tags: Abstract ideal, Devotion, End, Greek, Ideology, Means, Real costs, Responsibility, Tragedy
Washington Post (July 8)
“It is said that the European Union is a splendid idea but that the euro — the common currency — is a bad idea. Actually, the euro is a bad idea that is the logical application of an even worse idea — the European Union.”
Wall Street Journal (July 8)
“The computer glitch that led to a halt in trading at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday shows that even after years of investments in resilient and redundant networks, problems with financial technology are remarkably persistent.” The four-hour shut down and other “recent problems highlight the challenges facing companies as they transition to a digital model. Many are trying to adopt new technologies while maintaining older systems.”
Tags: Computer, Digital model, Glitch, Investments, Networks, NYSE, Technology
New York Times (July 8)
The euro has “stopped being a force for unity. In many ways, it…” has become… “a weapon that each side seized upon to advance its cause.”
Bloomberg (July 7)
As bad as China’s stock market rout is, things could be even worse. “Chinese companies have found a guaranteed way to prevent investors from selling their shares: suspend trading. Almost 200 stocks halted trading after the close on Monday, bringing the total number of suspensions to 745, or 26 percent of listed firms on mainland exchanges.” Valued at $1.4 trillion, the suspended shares account for 21 percent of China’s market capitalization. “If not for the halts, a 28 percent plunge in the Shanghai Composite Index from its June 12 peak would probably be even deeper.”
Tags: China, Exchanges, Market-cap, Rout, Shanghai Composite, Stock market, Suspension, Trading
Financial Times (July 6)
“In Greece the No vote will widen political fissures in a society knocked senseless by an economic slump. Greeks who voted Yes will treat the outcome as a calamity comparable to the 1922 military defeat at Turkish hands that resulted in the annihilation of Greek civilisation in Asia Minor. Greeks who voted No will rapidly learn that there is no salvation, only misery, ahead.”
The Economist (July 4)
“Shale matters. The industry has become huge—listed firms have invested over half a trillion dollars of capital…. Shale firms owe almost as much debt as Greece. After drilling beneath much of Texas and North Dakota, they account for 5% of global oil output. The health of shale firms affects people around the world, from Western drivers and Saudi Arabia’s sheikhs to Asia’s consumers.”
Tags: Asia, Capital, Consumers, Debt, Drilling, Greece, North Dakota, Oil, Output, Saudi Arabia, Shale, Texas
Washington Post (July 3)
“As the Islamic State, Iran and Greece occupy the attention of the Western world, China marches forward, except now it is not just building its economy but also a new geopolitics in Asia.”
Tags: Asia, China, Economy, Geopolitics, Greece, Iran, Islamic State, West
