Reuters (October 22)
“Sanae Takaichi wants to spend a lot of money on Japan, but she also needs to sort out some hefty financial obligations to the United States.” She is coming under immediate “pressure to secure backing for $550 billion her predecessor Shigeru Ishiba pledged to invest in U.S. projects as part of his tariff deal with the White House.” Given the new Prime Minister’s “desire to use fiscal spending to boost growth, she’s likely to lean on” private, rather than public, funding “to avoid immediate budgetary constraints.”
Tags: $550 billion, Financial obligations, Fiscal spending, Funding, Growth, Invest, Ishiba, Japan, Money, Pressure, Prime minister, Private, Public, Takaichi, Tariff deal, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (March 10)
Mr. Trump issued a new executive order directing the Treasury Department to take the first steps in establishing what he refers to as “a crypto version of Fort Knox.” This proposal “invites government abuse.” Basically, a “government crypto reserve serves no good purpose while creating an opportunity for political bad behavior. Let private investors speculate all they want without the government having a stake in crypto-currency prices.”
Tags: Abuse, Bad behavior, Crypto, Crypto reserve, Currency, Executive order, Fort Knox, Government, Investors, Prices, Private, Speculate, Stake, Treasury Department, Trump
Inc (September Issue)
The Inc. 5000 is “our annual ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies…. Only this year, the road ahead looks very different. Picture K2, only with more avalanches and less oxygen.” But their response may surprise. “At presstime, only 11 percent had cut staff since March, while 47 percent were landing talent let loose by others.” Though there has been belt tightening, “their eyes got bigger. More than 40 percent of honorees say current conditions make it more important than ever to scale quickly. Just 10 percent feel it would be best to slow down.”
Tags: Avalanches, Fastest-growing, Inc. 5000, K2, Private, Ranking, Scale quickly, Slow down, Staff, Talent, Tightening
Financial Times (October 30)
“As the world economy slows and even Germany’s economy shows signs of weakness…. Policymakers in Germany and elsewhere should promote public and private spending—investment, above all. Huge opportunities do seem to exist. Moreover, the chance to borrow at today’s ultra-low long-term interest rates is a blessing, not curse…. In today’s economy, it is the only prudent thing to do.”
Tags: Borrow, Economy, Germany, Investment, Opportunities, Policymakers, Private, Prudent, Public, Slows, Spending, Ultra-low rates. Interest, Weakness
Financial Times (August 16)
“It is only five years since so-called unicorns—private tech companies valued at $1bn or more—sprang on to the public consciousness. They were succeeded by “decacorns”—$10bn and up. What comes next could put all this in the shade.”
Bloomberg (June 15)
“The trouble is, every time China’s leadership finds itself with the appetite for the long-awaited rebalancing away from investment and toward consumption, it finds itself staring into a terrifying abyss of slowing growth…. Beijing has been trying to take its foot off the accelerator of state fixed-asset investment almost since it tapped it two years ago, but private investment clearly hasn’t been sufficient to fill the gap.” Now a trade war is likely to “trample” the long-awaited rebalancing.
Tags: Appetite, China, Consumption, Investment, Leadership, Private, Rebalancing, State, Trade war
Institutional Investor (August Issue)
“Facing an image problem,” many Chinese companies are retreating from U.S. exchanges. “Frustrated by low valuations and investor skepticism, Chinese companies are increasingly considering delisting from U.S. stock exchanges.” Since 2009, 24 Chinese companies have delisted, often going private, from the NYSE and Nasdaq. Much investor skepticism is directed at companies that utilized reverse mergers to attain their listing, thereby avoiding the scrutiny that would accompany a normal IPO, but the skepticism has tainted even Chinese companies with solid financials.
Tags: China, Companies, Delisting, Image, Investors, IPO, Listing, Nasdaq, NYSE, Private, Reverse mergers, Scrutiny, Skepticism, Stock exchanges, U.S., Valuations
