INC. (July/August Issue)
IPOs are forecast to top 200 in 2019, raising approximately $70 billion. “If companies now seem to be rushing to the IPO market, it may be they sense that the risks of waiting are rising fast. VCs are taking advantage of the best opportunity to transfer that risk—and burn rate—to public stockholders.”
Tags: $70 billion, 2019, Burn rate, IPOs, Opportunity, Risks, Rush, Stockholders, VCs
The Economist (August 10)
“Since the trade war began in 2018 the damage done to the global economy has been surprisingly slight.” No longer. “This week the picture darkened as the confrontation between America and China escalated, with more tariffs threatened and a bitter row erupting over China’s exchange rate.” Compromise is essential. “But for that to happen President Donald Trump and his advisers must rethink their strategy…. America cannot have a cheap currency, a trade conflict and a thriving economy.”
Tags: China, Compromise, Confrontation, Damage, Exchange rate, Global economy, Tariffs, Trade war, Trump, U.S.
Reuters (August 8)
“Sterling’s recent slide is not yet over as the chances Britain and the European Union part ways without a withdrawal deal have jumped again after arch-Brexiteer Boris Johnson took over as prime minister last month.”
The Independent (August 7)
“Soaring temperatures in Japan have killed at least 57 people since late July… highlighting the health threat to athletes and fans that Olympics organisers must tackle before next year’s Tokyo games.”
Tags: Athletes, Fans, Health threat, Japan, July, Killed, Olympics, Soaring, Temperatures, Tokyo
Wired (August 5)
Despite “growing support from both consumers and retailers to move away from cash in favor of digital payment options,” there are dangers. Roughly a quarter of U.S. consumers have no access or limited access to credit, debit and other cashless options. “Brands need to consider inclusive commerce a core part of their overall customer experience. Cash may no longer be king, but its place in the retail landscape will remain for decades to come.”
New York Times (August 5)
“North Korea had launched its third barrage of short-range missiles in just over a week, parading its growing ability to strike its neighbors with devastating firepower. But instead of banding together against a common adversary last week, the two American allies in the path of the missiles—Japan and South Korea—were locked in their own bitter battle, whose roots stretch back over 100 years.”
Tags: Adversary, Allies, Devastating, Firepower, Japan, Launch, Missiles, North Korea, Short range, South Korea, U.S.
LA Times (August 4)
“Two days, two mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio – just another weekend in America.” Many are putting on “brave faces” and pointing out that it could have been worse. “That misses the point: There shouldn’t have been a body count at all.”
Tags: Body count
The Economist (August 3)
“Still a livelihood for 1.5bn people, forests maintain local and regional ecosystems and, for the other 6.2bn, provide a—fragile and creaking—buffer against climate change. Now droughts, wildfires and other human-induced changes are compounding the damage from chainsaws. In the tropics, which contain half of the world’s forest biomass, tree-cover loss has accelerated by two-thirds since 2015; if it were a country, the shrinkage would make the tropical rainforest the world’s third-biggest carbon-dioxide emitter, after China and America.”
Tags: Buffer, Chainsaws, China, Climate change, CO2, Damage, Droughts, Ecosystems, Forests, Livelihood, Tropical rainforest, U.S., Wildfires
Washington Post (August 2)
“China’s state-driven economic model has created many problems. Monetary policy isn’t one of them.” On the heels of the Fed’s rate cut, the ECB “looks poised to follow suit in September” and “the temptation is high for other central banks to fall in line.” But often they’re “canceling out each other’s efforts,” which is one reason the dollar didn’t fall with the latest rate cut. “Developed nations play out what is a zero-sum game.” In the process, they’re “using up the ammunition they have available to support their economies in the event of a downturn.” In contrast, the PBOC has avoided playing the rate cut game and “China’s 10-year government bond yield is relatively unchanged since the end of 2018.”
Tags: Canceling out, China Economic model, Developed nations, Dollar, Downturn, ECB, Fed, Monetary policy, PBOC, Rate cut, Temptation, Zero-sum game
Wall Street Journal (August 1)
“President Trump moved Thursday to extend tariffs to essentially all Chinese imports, escalating a trade conflict that is poised to hit U.S. consumers in the pocketbook and roiling financial markets…. Wall Street was rattled by the news.” The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all closed lower. “Oil prices sank almost 8%, their biggest drop since February 2015.”
Tags: China, Dow Jones, Financial markets, Imports, Nasdaq, Oil, Rattled, Tariffs, Trade conflict, Trump, U.S. consumers, Wall Street
