Bloomberg (May 29)
The Asia-Pacific region “has gone from leader to laggard.” Until recently, APAC fared remarkably well at averting the worst of the pandemic. Now, in contrast, as “New York and London reopen, Singapore and Taipei are in semi-lockdown. Melbourne joined them this week. On May 24, the U.S. State Department added Japan to its ‘Level 4: Do Not Travel’ advisory list.” The “failure to get shots into arms fast enough has in some cases triggered swift and unexpected reversals of fortune that carry significant economic implications.”
Tags: APAC, Economic implications, Japan, Laggard, Leader, Lockdown, London, Melbourne, New York, Pandemic, Reopen, Reversals, Singapore, Taipei, U.S.
Financial Times (May 28)
ExxonMobil’s annual general meeting should be “a wake-up call for other executives with a bunker mentality.” Engine No 1, an obscure hedge fund, got shareholders to elect two directors by focusing on economics, not ethics, arguing that “Exxon has been so slow to recognize the need for a transition away from fossil fuel that its revenues will crumble, destroying investor capital.” Today’s activists “are not just trying to save the world; they are also trying to save their own portfolios in a world where regulators are enforcing green standards.”
Tags: Activists, AGM, Bunker mentality, Capital, Directors, Economics, Engine No 1, Ethics, ExxonMobil, Fossil fuel, Hedge-fund, Investor, Portfolios, Revenues, Shareholders, Transition, Wake-up
Washington Post (May 27)
“The Games should continue because the world needs an example that life can be normal again. The Summer Olympics are virtually the only event that truly unites the globe in friendship….The burst of global confidence that can arise from a successful Olympics is incalculable.”
Tags: Confidence, Event, Friendship, Globe, Incalculable, Normal, Successful, Summer Olympics, Unites
New Yorker (May 26)
“Big Oil’s Bad, Bad Day.” On May 26, “crushing blows to three of the world’s largest oil companies… made it clear that the arguments many have been making for decades have sunk in at the highest levels.”
WARC (May Issue)
With ad-blocker adoption soaring on mobile devices, “a lighter ad load may prove more effective for brands, with ‘too many ads’ being the most damaging factor for brands according to consumers. A growing focus on audience attention is also emerging, particularly around advertising in quality environments.”
Tags: Ad-blocker, Advertising, Attention, Audience, Brands, Consumers, Damaging, Effective, Environments, Mobile devices, Quality
New York Times (May 25)
The U.S. State Department’s warning for Americans to avoid travelling to Japan due to the rising incidence of Covid-19 “has little practical effect, as Japan’s borders have been closed to most nonresident foreigners since the early months of the pandemic. But the warning is another blow for the Olympics, which are facing stiff opposition among the Japanese public over concerns that they could become a superspreader event as athletes and their entourages pour in from around the world.”
Tags: Athletes, Blow, Borders, Closed, COVID-19, Foreigners, Japan, Olympics, Opposition, Pandemic, State Department, Superspreader, U.S., Warning
The Week (May 23)
In April, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose more sharply than it has in 13 years, “putting data behind the warnings that many economists and businesses have been issuing for weeks.” Inflation is dramatically here. “The question is how long it will stay.” The increase may stem from random coincidences (like a pipeline shut down and insufficient chip supply) or they could be transient symptoms of economic rebooting. But the upward swing might also prove harbinger of runaway inflation to come.
Tags: April, Businesses, Chip supply, CPI, Economists, Increase, Inflation, Pipeline, Random, Rebooting, Transient, Warnings
Philadelphia Inquirer (May 23)
“Catalytic converter thefts are on the rise nationwide, fueled by record prices for the precious metals in the auto part, which helps gas-powered engines burn cleaner. Demand for the metals, palladium and rhodium, has climbed in recent years as governments pass stricter emissions laws to cut pollution. The auto industry is the metals’ biggest consumer.” In the past five years, palladium has soared from $600 an ounce to $2,900, while rhodium has reached $28,000 an ounce.
Tags: Catalytic converter, Cleaner, Emissions laws, Engines, Gas-powered, Governments, Palladium, Pollution, Precious metals, Record prices, Rhodium, Stricter, Thefts
Bloomberg (May 21)
“The world’s biggest businesses were doing fine until Covid-19 arrived. Now they’re doing even better. The top 50 companies by value added $4.5 trillion of stock market capitalization in 2020, taking their combined worth to about 28% of global gross domestic product. Three decades ago the equivalent figure was less than 5%.”
Tags: 2020, Businesses, Capitalization, Companies, COVID-19, Stock market, Top 50, World's biggest
LA Times (May 20)
U.S. workers have adjusted to remote working. Nearly half, in a recent poll, said that “if they had to return to their offices, they would prefer a hybrid arrangement, dividing their time between the office and another location, such as home.” In fact, over a third of respondents said they would quit if required to return full time to the office.
Tags: Quit
