Global Food Dehydrators Market Is Expected to Reach USD 3.68 billion by 2028 : Fior Markets

Bloomberg
Crypto Slide, Gaming Slowdown Wipe Billions Off Tycoon’s Fortune
(Bloomberg) -- Kim Jung-ju, the billionaire behind Nexon Co., is having a turbulent month.Shares of the Tokyo-listed gaming company have plunged 21% since it forecast a decline in profit on May 12, suggesting its strong performance when the pandemic kept people indoors won’t be sustained as some countries reopen.That’s erased about $1.9 billion from the South Korean entrepreneur’s net worth, reducing his fortune to $8.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.On top of that, Kim’s diversification away from gaming into areas including cryptocurrency is facing obstacles. Bitcoin has dropped almost 38% since it rose to a record in April, a stark example of the swings in the prices of virtual coins that have left some mainstream investors skeptical.Kim, 53, has been an avid supporter of digital currencies, and has been acquiring cryptocurrency exchanges in recent years. Nexon also bought $100 million worth of Bitcoin last month.“It was bound to come down,” Matthew Kanterman, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, said of Nexon’s earnings forecast. “Last year was a high base and they are not going to replicate that,” he said. On Bitcoin, “corporations don’t like buying stuff with too much volatility,” he said, suggesting Nexon is unlikely to add to its purchase for now.Crypto InvestmentsEven before Nexon bought Bitcoin, Kim’s holding company NXC Corp., which owns almost half of Nexon, snapped up 65% of Korbit Inc., a crypto exchange in South Korea, in 2017.The following year, NXC’s subsidiary in Europe acquired another cryptocurrency exchange: Luxembourg-based Bitstamp.Korbit’s book value plunged to about 3.1 billion won ($2.8 million) at the end of last year from about 96 billion won at the end of 2017, according to NXC’s financial statements for 2017 and 2020. A spokesman for NXC said there’s no plan to sell the exchanges that it bought.Kim was also keen to acquire Bithumb, one of South Korea’s largest virtual currency exchanges, according to local media reports earlier this year. The NXC spokesman declined to comment.Kim declined to be interviewed for this story. Owen Mahoney, Nexon’s chief executive officer, wasn’t available for comment.The company pointed to Mahoney’s Medium post in April on the Bitcoin purchase. Nexon sees Bitcoin as a form of cash that’s likely to retain its value, he said. The Bitcoin purchase represents less than 2% of the firm’s cash and equivalents.“The technology underlying BTC and other cryptocurrencies is beginning to creep into many areas of day-to-day use, such as payments, digital collectibles and other areas that are increasingly relevant for companies like ours,” Mahoney wrote.Embracing CryptoOther big names in the gaming industry have also embraced cryptocurrencies and related blockchain technologies.Kakao Games Corp., a subsidiary of South Korea’s most popular mobile-messenger operator Kakao Corp., added to its holdings in blockchain technology company Way2Bit Co. last year, becoming the largest shareholder. Mobile game publisher Gamevil Inc. invested last month in crypto exchange Coinone Inc.“As finance and payment systems are quite important in games, developers are thinking of ways to integrate blockchain technology to improve what they have now,” said Lee Seung-hoon, an analyst at IBK Securities Co. in Seoul. “Their investments are more like R&D efforts at this stage.”Square Enix Holdings Co., the Japanese publisher of popular role-playing games such as Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, was among the investors that injected $2 million in cash and cryptocurrency into Ethereum-based game developer TSB Gaming Ltd. in 2019.‘Significant Presence’“Games using blockchain are no longer in their infancy and are gradually coming to represent a more significant presence,” Yosuke Matsuda, the Japanese firm’s president, said in a New Year’s letter last year.Kim founded Nexon in South Korea in 1994 after majoring in computer science and engineering at Seoul National University. In 2011, Nexon listed in Japan.Two years ago, he considered selling his stake in the company, held through NXC, triggering discussions with major players including Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Hillhouse Capital. He scrapped the plan when he couldn’t find a suitable buyer, according to local media reports.Nexon, famous for hit titles such as MapleStory and KartRider, posted net income attributable to its parent’s owners of 69.7 billion yen ($639 million) in the first six months of 2020 as lockdowns forced people to spend more time at home. For the same period this year, it forecast a range from 55 billion yen to 58.3 billion yen. The high end of the range would represent a 16% drop from last year.Kim said in a rare interview with South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo in 2012 that worrying about keeping up with new technological trends can even disrupt his sleep.“In order to survive, I have to accept new things,” Kim said.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
11h ago
Bloomberg
Shipping-Container Rates Top $10,000 From Asia to Europe
(Bloomberg) -- Supply Lines is a daily newsletter that tracks trade and supply chains disrupted by the pandemic. Sign up here.The cost to move goods in a shipping container to Europe from Asia shot above $10,000 for the first time on record, an index showed, underscoring the pain inflicted on exporters and importers struggling with stretched supply chains.The Drewry World Container Index released Thursday showed the rate for a 40-foot container from Shanghai to Rotterdam rose to $10,174, up 3.1% from a week ago and a 485% jump from a year ago. The composite index of eight major routes rose 2% to $6,257 from a week earlier and was 293% higher than a year ago, Drewry said. Both were the highest in records going back to 2011.In the U.S. and elsewhere, many shippers of cargo have had to pay in excess of $10,000 per container in this year’s tight spot market for seaborne freight, where deals with ocean carriers include hefty surcharges to ensure on-time delivery or guaranteed loading.Container rates are surging because demand is outstripping the availability of the 20- and 40-foot steel boxes that carry the lion’s share of global trade. Amid strong consumer purchases and company restocking, disruptions ranging from the Suez Canal blockage in late March to port congestion are causing delays and higher costs for shippers while ocean carriers enjoy soaring profits.Earlier on Thursday, Michael O’Sullivan, the CEO of New Jersey-based clothing retailer Burlington Stores Inc., said “expense headwinds in supply chain and freight have continued to deteriorate, and these are likely to weigh on our operating margin throughout the balance of the year.”Meanwhile, shares of A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, the world’s No. 1 container liner, hit a record high earlier this week. ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd., an Israeli carrier that went public in late January, traded this month at more than triple its IPO price of $15 a share.High ocean-freight rates have helped spur a surge in orders for new container ships during the first five months of this year, according to industry group BIMCO.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
12h ago
FX Empire
Zoom Q1 Earnings to Climb Nearly Fourfold; Target Price $415
The San Jose, California-based communications technology company Zoom is expected to report its first-quarter earnings of $0.99 per share, which represents year-over-year growth of about 395% from $0.20 per share seen in the same period a year ago.
12h ago
Quartz
China’s crackdown on bitcoin mining is getting real
The draft rules, which will be open for public comment until June 1, could set a precedent for other bitcoin mining hubs in China.
14h ago
Bloomberg
Kevin Ulrich Scored a $2 Billion MGM Win. It Only Took a Decade
(Bloomberg) -- Hedge funds often measure their investments in minutes, not decades; but for Anchorage Capital Group, its long-held stake in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is proving that patience can also be profitable.The New York-based money manager stands to make roughly $2 billion on its investment in the film and TV producer, one that began almost 11 years ago with MGM in bankruptcy court. Amazon.com Inc. agreed to buy the company for $8.45 billion Wednesday, a price that includes just under $2 billion in debt.The deal is in many ways a vindication for Kevin Ulrich, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trader who co-founded Anchorage in 2003 and was part of a group of distressed debt investors that took control of MGM as it went through the restructuring process. In recent years the stake looked to be an albatross for the fund, one that came with significant drama in its own right.Ulrich brought in and later fired a high-profile chief executive officer, resisted efforts by activist investor Carl Icahn to take control, and held out for a bigger payday after years of considering various exit strategies. By selling now, as demand for media content from entertainment and technology companies alike is booming, he’s proving his long-held faith in the investment was justified.“There was a lot of maneuvering, a lot of financial engineering,” said Steven Azarbad, chief investment officer at New York’s Maglan Capital, an MGM investor who sold his shares four years ago. “But they’ve done great.”A representative for Anchorage declined to comment.When Ulrich first invested in MGM, he was new to Hollywood. He helped pick Gary Barber, a South African-born producer of films such as “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” as chief executive officer of the storied but debt-laden studio. Barber brought to the table a shrewd business sense, and connections into a world Ulrich long admired from afar.Barber shepherded MGM’s development of “The Hobbit” franchise, a co-production with Warner Bros., that became a global smash hit. He helmed the release of the James Bond film, “Skyfall,” which generated over $1 billion at the box office, and he revived the studio’s work in television. Barber also brokered a deal to bring on TV super producer Mark Burnett, which gave MGM access to reality show hits like “Survivor” and “The Apprentice,” but would ultimately become personally troublesome.In 2012 the company bought back Icahn’s stock for $590 million. It also filed paperwork for a possible public offering of shares, and considered other options, such as a sale.As Barber boosted MGM’s film and TV pipeline, Ulrich was increasingly entranced by the allure of Hollywood. He became a regular at movie premieres in Los Angeles and New York, and frequented industry parties in the Hamptons and elsewhere. He became active in creative decisions after becoming chair of MGM’s board -- somewhat unusual for a non-executive lacking Hollywood experience -- even getting involved with business granularities like casting.Growing RiftBut over the following years a rift began to open up between Barber and Ulrich. When it was time to renew Barber’s contract in 2017, Ulrich conducted an extensive search for a new CEO. When it ended, he ultimately chose to sign Barber to a new five-year deal. Yet around the same time, the pair split on whether to sell the company, with Ulrich wanting to hang on to the studio and Barber saying it was time to find a buyer.The company would hold buyout talks with Apple Inc. as well as Chinese investors that would ultimately prove fruitless.Only months after renewing Barber’s deal, Ulrich fired him. The shock departure meant the company had to pay Barber for five years of salary and buy out his equity, a package totaling $260 million. In the three years since Barber left, Ulrich hasn’t replaced him, instead operating an “office of the chief executive officer,” comprised of various people that each have their personal vision for MGM.Barber declined to comment via his spokesperson.Bounce BackAfter the initial period of success following the restructuring, the gains became harder to come by, as they did in Anchorage’s overall credit-focused business. Two senior managers left the firm in January 2020, and another in November. Anchorage’s flagship strategy, with about $8.5 billion under management, returned just 0.6% in 2018, 1.5% in 2019 and 4.4% in 2020, according to people familiar with the matter.In December, MGM hired investment bankers for a potential sale.MGM only released one film in theaters in 2020. Its biggest potential hit, the latest Bond film, “No Time to Die,” was pushed from last year to this October as a result of the pandemic.Yet the value of MGM’s library rose as everyone from media companies to technology giants have sought to build video streaming platforms that can compete with industry leader Netflix Inc. Earnings jumped 48% last year, to about $307 million, even as sales declined.Anchorage holds a roughly 30% stake in MGM, worth about $2.5 billion in the sale, said people with knowledge of the matter. Anchorage invested around $500 million in the company more than a decade ago. Including the MGM stake, Anchorage’s flagship fund is up 18% this year, the people added. The fund has gained about 8% in 2021 not counting the studio.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
17h ago
Reuters
Deutsche Bank overhaul ahead of plan, CEO tells investors
Deutsche Bank's multi-year overhaul is ahead of plan and remains its primary focus, Chief Executive Christian Sewing told shareholders on Thursday, promising an era of more sustainable profit. The bank's annual shareholder meeting, held online due to the coronavirus pandemic, took place in a more relaxed atmosphere than in recent years, a reflection of the lender's return to profit and rising share price. Three years into its restructuring, Sewing said Germany's largest bank wasn't over the finish line.
18h ago
FX Empire
Is Bitcoin’s Bullish Run Over?
Top Crypto assets that include Bitcoin and Ethereum are currently facing an uphill task breaking their key resistance level amid significant profit-taking coming to play across the market spectrum.
20h ago
Bloomberg
China Huarong’s Journey From Safe Bet to Bad News: A Timeline
(Bloomberg) -- It’s nearly two months since turbulence erupted around China Huarong Asset Management Co.At the end of March, its 4% perpetual dollar bond was trading at 102 cents on the dollar as investors figured the January execution of former chairman Lai Xiaomin for bribery put a line under past wayward behavior. But the failure of the company to release 2020 results by a March 31 deadline, and a subsequent report by mainland media Caixin that the firm will restructure, sparked weeks of turmoil. The same bond is now at 57 cents.The heart of the matter is whether the central government will rescue a state-owned company that’s integral to the smooth running of the financial system. While there are signs Beijing wants to ensure China Huarong can repay its debts on time, uncertainty prevails.Here’s a look at the key events for China Huarong:May 27Liang Qiang, who currently heads another bad-debt manager, is on track to become president of China Huarong, reports Bloomberg News.May 24China Huarong dollar bonds climb after the managing editor of Caixin Media wrote in an opinion piece that the asset manager is “nowhere near” defaulting on its more than $20 billion of offshore notes.May 21Some of China Huarong’s thinly traded onshore bonds slump after having held up better than the company’s dollar-denominated notes, signaling broadening concern about the firm’s financial health. May 18China Huarong has transferred funds to repay a $300 million note maturing May 20, Bloomberg News reports, the first dollar bond to come due since the delayed 2020 results. Prices for the firm’s dollar bonds slump earlier in the day after the New York Times reports China is planning an overhaul that would inflict “significant losses” on both domestic and foreign China Huarong bondholders.May 17The company has reached funding agreements with state-owned banks to ensure it can repay debt through at least the end of August, by which time China Huarong aims to have completed its 2020 financial statements, according to a Bloomberg News report. That as at least two of its onshore bonds see big price declines in recent days, worrying some investors.May 13The firm says it’s prepared to make future bond payments and has seen no change in the level of government support, seeking to ease investor concerns after a local media report that regulators balked at China Hurarong’s restructuring plan.May 6The company says it transferred funds to pay five offshore bond coupons due the following day, its latest move to meet debt obligations amid persistent doubts about its financial health.April 30China Huarong breaks its silence, with an executive telling media it is prepared to make its bond payments and state backing remains intact. The official also says the week’s rating downgrades “have no factual basis” and are “too pessimistic.”April 29Moody’s Investor Service downgrades China Huarong by one notch to Baa1, adding the firm remains on watch for further downgrade. The cut reflects the company’s weakened funding ability due to market volatility and increased uncertainty over its future, according to the statement.April 27China Huarong units repay bonds maturing that day. The S$600 million ($450 million) bond was repaid with funds provided by China’s biggest state-owned bank, according to a Bloomberg News report.April 26Fitch Ratings downgrades China Huarong by three notches to BBB while dropping the company’s perpetual bonds into junk territory. The lack of transparency over government support for the firm may hamper its ability to refinance debt in offshore markets, Fitch said.April 25China Huarong says it won’t meet an April 30 deadline to file its 2020 report with Hong Kong’s stock exchange because auditors needed more time to finalize a transaction the company first flagged on April 1. Securities and asset-management units said in the days before that they wouldn’t release 2020 results by month’s end.April 22The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission asks lenders to extend China Huarong’s upcoming loans by at least six months, according to REDD, citing two bankers from large Chinese commercial lenders.April 21China is considering a plan that would see its central bank assume more than 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) of China Huarong assets to help clean up the firm’s balance sheet, according to a Bloomberg News report. Peer China Cinda Asset Management Co. was said to be planning the sale of perpetual bonds in the second quarter.April 20China Huarong’s key offshore financing unit says it returned to profitability in the first quarter and laid a “solid” foundation for transformation. Reorg Research reports that regulators are considering options including a debt restructuring of the unit, China Huarong International Holdings Ltd.April 19Huarong Securities Co. says it wired funds to repay a 2.5 billion yuan local note.April 16The CBIRC says China Huarong’s operations are normal and that the firm has ample liquidity. These are the first official comments about the company’s troubles. Reuters reports Chinese banks have been asked not to withhold loans to Huarong.April 13Fitch and Moody’s both put the company on watch for downgrade. The finance ministry, which owns a majority of Huarong, is considering the transfer of its stake to a unit of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, Bloomberg News reports. Chinese officials signal they want failing local government financing vehicles to restructure or go bust if debts can’t be repaid.April 9China Huarong says it has been making debt payments “on time” and its operations are “normal.” Bloomberg reports the company intends to keep Huarong International as part of a potential overhaul that would avoid the need of a debt restructuring or government recapitalization. S&P Global Ratings puts China Huarong’s credit ratings on watch for possible downgrade.April 8China Huarong is preparing to offload non-core and loss-making units as part of a broad plan to revive profitability that would avoid the need for a debt restructuring or government recapitalization, Bloomberg News reports.April 6Selling gains steam in China Huarong’s dollar bonds, following a holiday in China. Huarong Securities says there has been no major change to its operations, in response to a price plunge for its 3 billion yuan local bond.April 1China Huarong announces a delay in releasing 2020 results, saying its auditor is unable to finalize a transaction. Stock trading is suspended and spreads jump on the firm’s dollar bonds while China Huarong tells investors its business is running as usual. Caixin reports the company submitted restructuring and other major reform plans to government officials and shareholders.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
21h ago
Bloomberg
Investment Firms Bet Against Cathie Wood’s Top ETF as Tech Faltered
(Bloomberg) -- Cathie Wood’s recent travails have been a boon for some of her peers in money management.About two dozen investment advisers including Balyasny Asset Management and a unit of Blackstone Group Inc. bought bearish put options during the first quarter on the Ark Innovation exchange traded fund, her firm’s main investment vehicle, regulatory filings show.While money managers often buy puts on ETFs to protect their portfolios against market declines, the options are typically tied to passively managed index funds such as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.Yet technology-focused Ark Innovation grew so large so quickly -- to $28 billion in mid-February from $1.9 billion at the end of 2019 -- that some managers saw the actively managed fund as a better alternative to buffer against a slump in stocks that surged during the pandemic.Big Take: Cathie Wood’s Bad Spring Is a Blip When Future Is So Magnificent“The Ark Innovation fund had a tremendous run over the course of 2020 and early 2021,” Efrem Kamen, the head of New York-based Pura Vida Investments, said in an email. “However, the level of fund flows into the ETF appeared to be extreme.”Representatives of Wood’s Ark Investment Management didn’t reply to phone and email messages seeking comment.Ark Innovation, with the ticker symbol ARKK, returned 153% last year, buoyed by investments including Tesla Inc. and Zoom Video Communications Inc. Its fortunes began to sour in mid-February, as signs of inflation spurred investors to ditch tech stocks in favor of value plays that would benefit from rising prices, such as banks and mining companies.The ETF proved more volatile than some of the index funds that have traditionally served as a proxy for the tech sector, making it a more profitable way to bet against such stocks or hedge other holdings. ARKK tumbled 29% through Wednesday from its Feb. 12 peak, while the Invesco QQQ ETF, which tracks the Nasdaq 100, fell 0.7%.“If you were sitting on some serious gains heading into this year and you want to protect those gains, it was an effective strategy,” Chris Murphy, co-head of derivatives strategy at Susquehanna International Group, said of buying ARKK puts.Investors pay a premium to acquire put options, which in turn entitle them to sell shares of a public company or an ETF to another investor in the future at a set price. While some managers and market-makers hold a combination of ARKK shares along with put and call options, the firms analyzed by Bloomberg held such puts exclusively or predominantly.Deer Park Road Management Co., a Steamboat Springs, Colorado-based firm that trades asset- and mortgage-backed securities and corporate debt, bought put options during the first quarter on 2.15 million ARKK shares, according to its quarterly 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The shares covered by the puts had a face value of almost $258 million at the end of March.The put options were priced too low when viewed in terms of the ETF’s past volatility, making them more attractive as a tool for hedging risk, Deer Park Chief Investment Officer Scott Burg said in a phone interview. Deer Park bought them to protect against rising interest rates, he said.“As rates have been going up, the tech stocks have been getting crushed,” said Burg, whose firm managed about $3.7 billion at year-end. “You could see that in the first quarter.”Read more: Cathie Wood Fans Buckle Up as ETF Assets FallPura Vida acquired put options on 622,500 ARKK shares with a face value of almost $75 million during the first quarter, according to its filing. The hedge fund’s portfolio had exposure to some of the same areas as the ETF, including genomics and telemedicine, according to Kamen.“Volatility on Ark Innovation ETF was an efficient way to hedge some of the factor risk in our portfolio,” Kamen said. Factors refer to the characteristics of a stock, such as being a growth or a value play.Blackstone Alternative Solutions disclosed that it bought put options on 1.3 million ARKK shares in the first quarter, while Balyasny acquired puts on 436,500 shares with a face value of $52 million as of March 31. Other buyers of the puts during the period included Taconic Capital Advisors, Ikarian Capital and Davidson Kempner Capital Management.“Sometimes hedge funds look at Tesla and Ark, and think ‘This is just way too much and I can make a killing here,’” said Eric Balchunas, an ETF analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. “If you made a few of those trades, you’ve probably done OK in the last couple months.”More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
11h ago
Bloomberg
Slowly But Surely, Central Banks Are Signaling Policy Shifts
(Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast.Central banks are beginning to tip toe away from their emergency monetary settings, with South Korea following in the footsteps of New Zealand and Canada to flag a potential interest-rate increase.As vaccines roll-outs continue and economies reopen, traders have been slowly dialing up expectations on rate hikes or a slowing of asset purchases elsewhere too. Markets are seizing on the tightening narrative, with bond yields and currencies fluctuating as investors recalibrate their bets. The Bank of Korea became the latest on Thursday to signal a turn when Governor Lee Ju-yeol said policy makers are preparing for an “orderly” exit from its record-low interest rate at some point as the economy recovers. The shift in stance came a day after New Zealand’s. New Zealand’s outlook was much more hawkish than expected and may yet signal a global shift, according to Sharon Zollner, chief economist at ANZ Bank New Zealand in Auckland. “We can’t rule out that the tail may wag the dog, influencing global market expectations of whether other central banks may also take a more hawkish turn,” she said.Financial markets have already brought forward pricing of the Federal Reserve’s first rate hike by almost a year since early February. Over the same period, market expectations from the Bank of England have switched from rate cuts by late 2022 to a rate increase, while investors have almost abandoned bets on further European Central Bank reductions to instead price in a 10 basis-point upward move by the end of 2023.Taper Talks With major central banks embroiled in bond buying and other easing programs which traditionally get wound down first, most rate hikes remain some way off. But talk of a taper in asset purchases is catching on.Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida told Yahoo! Finance in an interview Tuesday that there may be a point in upcoming policy meetings where officials can discuss scaling back purchases. Fed Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles said on Wednesday that it will be important for the central bank to begin discussing in coming months plans to reduce its massive bond purchases if the economy continues to power ahead.The BOE has slowed bond-buying and signaled that it’s on course to end that support later this year. Australia’s central bank has set July as a deadline for deciding on whether to extend purchases.Norway is on track to start a hiking cycle, and Iceland has already begun. The Bank of Canada announced last month a reduction in debt purchases as it forecast a faster economic recovery that may pave the way for rate increases next year.Turning Point“The shift in monetary policy is starting,” said Alicia Garcia Herrero, Hong Kong based chief economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis, who used to work for the ECB and International Monetary Fund.Detailing its new outlook, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand on Wednesday published forecasts for its benchmark rate -- for the first time in more than a year -- that show the rate beginning to rise in mid-2022. To be sure, this shift is still conditional. RBNZ Governor Adrian Orr said the bank’s outlook is predicated on the economy recovery continuing as vaccines roll out and the pandemic is contained. In a similar vein, BOK’s Lee said the board unanimously agreed to hold rates at a record low on Thursday as pandemic uncertainties persist. The Fed’s Clarida also qualified his remarks around employment data and how inflation pressures play out, which he expects to be transitory. It’s also the case that not every central bank is signaling a policy move, not least in the euro zone, where ECB Executive Board member Fabio Panetta said on Wednesday that he hasn’t seen a shift in the economic outlook to justify a reduction in bond purchases.In emerging markets, the shift is splintering. Hungary’s central bank said this week it was ready to deliver monetary tightening, and Russia, Turkey and Brazil have already hiked. The People’s Bank of China is holding the line with relatively disciplined stimulus, while others continue to support growth as the virus continues to spread.“There is growth divergence due to a much slower vaccination process in the emerging world and renewed waves,” said Garcia-Herrero. “They will suffer from a double whammy as the Fed starts moving towards tapering.”(Updates with Bank of Korea policy announcement.)More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
21h ago
Reuters
Airbus hikes jet output targets in bet on aviation recovery
PARIS (Reuters) -Airbus ramped up its jet production targets on Thursday, backing signs of global recovery and strengthening its hand ahead of talks with suppliers about how to share investments needed to lift aviation out of its pandemic doldrums. Airbus confirmed plans to increase single-aisle A320neo production by more than 10% from a current rate of 40 airplanes a month to 45 a month by the end of this year. Shares in Airbus rose as much as 6.8%, soaring back above 100 euros to within a whisker of their 52-week high of 104.54 euros after its projections, which used carefully calibrated language ranging from firm plans to long-term scenarios.
21h ago
Bloomberg
World Faces Longer Supply Shortage as China’s Factories Squeezed
(Bloomberg) -- Eric Li’s factory making glass lampshades for companies including Home Depot Inc. is being stretched to its limits with sales doubling their pre-pandemic level.But like many Chinese manufacturers, he doesn’t plan to expand operations -- a reticence that could slow the pace of China’s economic growth this year and prolong a shortage of goods being felt around the world as demand picks up.Surging prices of raw materials means “margins are compressed,” explains Li, owner of Huizhou Baizhan Glass Co. Ltd., in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, which makes about $30 million in annual revenue. With the global economic recovery still uneven, “the future is very unclear, so there is not much push to expand capacity,” he adds.The combination of higher input prices, uncertainty about export prospects and a weak recovery in domestic consumer demand meant Chinese manufacturing investment from January to April was 0.4% below the same period in 2019, according to official statistics (comparing to 2019 strips out the distortion of last year’s pandemic data).Due to the vast size of China’s manufacturing sector, that poses a risk both to the nation’s growth -- which is currently predicted to reach 8.5% in 2021, according to a Bloomberg tally of economists’ estimates -- and to a global economy that’s grappling with supply shortages and rising prices.Falling ProfitsWeaker-than-expected investment could have a “sizable” impact on GDP growth this year, said Citigroup Inc.’s China economist, Li-gang Liu. Lower investment may dent imports of capital goods and equipment from developed economies like Japan and Germany, “which in turn could drag their economic recovery and rebound as well,” he added.AnHui HERO Electronic Sci & Tec Co. Ltd. is one of those companies feeling the squeeze. Based in the eastern province of Anhui, the company manufactures capacitors used to make electronic circuits, with sales mainly in the domestic market. Jing Yuan, the founder, says orders are up as much as 30% year-on-year, but profits are down 50% due to increasing materials costs that are not easily passed onto clients.The company is under “huge cash pressure” as it needs to pay half a month in advance of delivery in order to secure copper and other metals, which they previously paid for months after receiving, he said. “The commodity issue has to be addressed by the government,” he added.What Bloomberg Economics Says...Chinese industry is absorbing significant cost pressures from rising commodity prices -- damping the inflationary impact for the rest of the world. Will it last? Our analysis of gross margins suggests it could for a while longer: downstream industries -- where the cost crunch is most severe -- still have a small cushion.David Qu, China economistFor the full report, click here.Input shortages mean some manufacturers aren’t able to make use of their existing facilities, so expansion would be of little use. Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio Inc. suspended production at one of its factories last month, due to a shortage of microchips.Modern Casting Ltd., which makes iron and steel products in Guangdong, issued a note to clients this month saying it would not be able to meet its current orders due to high raw material costs. A member of staff who answered the phone at the company’s office confirmed the note, but declined to give further details.Growth TransitionOn top of the higher input costs, Chinese companies face a bumpy transition toward domestic consumer spending to sustain its post-pandemic recovery.Exports, China’s strong-suit last year, may begin to slow as vaccine roll-outs cause consumers in wealthy countries to shift spending back to services. Meanwhile, the growth rate of Chinese consumer spending has yet to fully recover.Investment sentiment among Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises is below levels seen even in 2018-9 when uncertainties from the U.S.-China trade war were a brake on expansion plans, according to a regular survey of more than 500 Chinese companies by Standard Chartered Plc.“Demand is still mainly underpinned by exports, so domestic companies are aware that this is not sustainable,” said Standard Chartered’s China economist, Lan Shen.While some export-oriented sectors have been pushed to their limits, large amounts of slack remain for manufacturers targeting Chinese consumers due to subdued domestic demand.Retail sales growth was 4.3% in April on a two-year average basis, which strips out base effects from the pandemic, less than half pre-pandemic growth rates. Overall capacity use at China’s manufacturers fell to 77.6% in the first quarter from 78.4% in the previous three months, with the automotive sector hit hardest by overcapacity following three years of declining sales volumes.Even for electric vehicles whose sales are surging, most companies have already built their capacity and will now focus on incremental upgrades. “The majority of the investment has been done,” said Jochen Siebert of JSC Automotive Consulting.China ordered state-owned companies to expand last year, with their investment growth of 5.3% in 2020 from the prior year easily outstripping the 1% increase in private investment. But for a sustainable pick-up in investment, the market, not the state, needs to feel confident.Carsten Holz, an expert on Chinese investment statistics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, estimates that privately-owned companies have accounted for 87% of manufacturing investment in 2015, the most recent year of available data. They are more sensitive to input costs.“There is a pandemic plus insecurity about future trade given a new U.S. administration, neither of which is conducive to investment that relies on long-term growth prospects,” Holz said.Mixed PoliciesTransport bottlenecks are also a challenge for export-oriented manufacturers. Gordon Gao, who exports gardening products from China, said that he has had to reject 80% of orders this year due to port delays. In one case, an order placed before mid-February could only be shipped three months later when a client finally secured a container.Beijing has tried to improve conditions for private companies by ordering a crackdown on speculation to curb commodity prices and easing access to bank loans.Yet the government continues to gradually withdraw fiscal and monetary stimulus measures introduced amid the pandemic last year. It set a relatively unambitious target of “above 6%” growth for this year, and the Communist Party’s Politburo signaled last month it would prioritize reforms to control house prices and debt growth.“The policy stance has definitely shifted away from supporting growth and back toward de-risking the financial sector,” said Adam Wolfe, an economist at London-based Absolute Strategy Research. “The risks for economic growth seem tilted to the downside, especially for capital-intensive, construction-linked sectors.”For manufacturers such as Li, a longer period of domestic growth and control over input prices will be needed before capacity expansion is on the cards. While his company of 200 workers took on new permanent staff before the pandemic, for now he’d rather pass the risks of investment on to others.“I wouldn’t do that now, I would rather hire some temporary workers and outsource the rest,” he said.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
1d ago
Bloomberg
Carl Icahn Says He May Get Into Cryptocurrencies in a ‘Big Way’
(Bloomberg) -- Activist investor Carl Icahn is interested in getting into cryptocurrency in a “big way,” and may eventually put more than $1 billion into an alternative currency.While Icahn hasn’t bought any cryptocurrency yet, the billionaire investor said in a Bloomberg TV interview that he studies Bitcoin, Ethereum and the crypto sector as a whole to determine where the opportunities are. Alternative currencies are gaining popularity as a natural manifestation of inflation in the economy, he added.Any criticism around cryptocurrency having no underlying value is a “little wrong-headed,” Icahn said.“Well, what’s the value of a dollar? The only value of the dollar is because you can use it to pay taxes,” he said. “I’m looking at the whole business, and how I might get involved in it.”Icahn also said he believes people are looking at alternative currencies because parts of the equities market are being traded at “ridiculous prices.” He referred not only to those being driven up as so-called meme stocks, but also certain strategies being offered by money managers.“I don’t think Reddit and Robinhood and those guys are necessarily bad, I think they do serve a purpose,” Icahn said. “Money is funneling back into companies. Some of these companies might be OK, but a number of them, the risk-reward is absurd.”More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
1d ago
Reuters
Bayer hit by failure to cap risk from weedkiller cases
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Bayer shares dropped as much as 5% on Thursday after a U.S. judge rejected its plan to try and limit the cost of future class action claims that its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer. The German group called into question the future sale of glyphosate-based products to gardeners in the U.S., and said it would review plans to settle around 30,000 legal claims, after the judge called Bayer's plan to end years of litigation "unreasonable" on Wednesday. Bayer will be spared payouts related to future cases it had outlined in its plan this year and next but will continue to set aside $2 billion for the risk of further claims, reflecting its view that there were no fundamental changes in the outlook.
20h ago
Bloomberg
China’s Import Scrutiny Spurs U.S. Corn Cancellations
(Bloomberg) -- China is clamping down on some corn imports amid concern that overseas purchases have spiraled out of control, prompting several feed mills to cancel their U.S. cargoes.Chinese customs authorities are restricting imports into free trade zones, which aren’t counted toward an official annual purchase quota, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Total U.S. corn cancellations are estimated to be less than 1 million tons, said two of the people, who asked not to be identified as the matter is private.The increased scrutiny by Beijing over its corn imports comes as the broader market focuses on whether the country will continue its heightened purchases of raw materials from grains to metals to fossil fuels. Prices across a variety of products have soared this year partly because of Chinese demand, raising import costs and sparking fears over inflation in the Asian nation.Corn futures in Chicago fell as much as 2% before erasing losses as traders determined the scrapped purchases aren’t big enough to alter an already tight supply situation. Some market watchers claim China, which is forecast to import a record amount of corn this year, is trying to get a better deal after prices recently surged above $7 a bushel for the first time since 2013.“China is playing a negotiating game,” said David Martin, founder of Martin Fund Management in New York.China’s crackdown on corn purchases is targeted at businesses that have set up blending facilities in the free trade zones, according to the people familiar with the matter. These facilities allow firms to mix the imported corn with other raw materials to produce livestock feed that enable them to profit from zero-tariff imports, the people said.Calls to Chinese customs outside business hours went unanswered.Illinois corn farmer Matt Bennett, a co-founder of commodities brokerage and consulting firm AgMarket.net, noted that China has a pattern of crop-import cancellations only to start “buying the daylights out of stuff.”The canceled shipments are a small amount compared to more than 20 million tons of American corn that China has purchased this season. The Asian nation has been a key source of demand for the grain to feed its recovering hog herd, helping to push prices to multiyear highs. Imports from the U.S. have soared as Beijing also seeks to fulfill its commitments for the “phase one” trade deal signed with the U.S. in January 2020.The latest move by China “is likely to have only a very small impact on China’s compliance with the overall purchase commitments on the phase one agreement,” said Chad Bown, an expert at the pro-trade Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. “Corn is just too small a portion of the overall deal.”Corn QuotasChina allocates annual corn import quotas to state and private firms. State-owned Cofco Corp. may at times receive an allowance to buy an additional amount that it resells domestically to private mills or to replenish state reserves.The quotas for 2021 are set at 7.2 million tons. Imports outside the quota are possible, but may incur tariffs of up to 65% of the purchase price. Shipments into bonded zones are exempt from duties.The proliferation of businesses that are shipping corn into bonded zones and blending them for animal feed has alarmed authorities, who are seeking to control imports and maintain the quality of feed products.Last month, Shandong province shut down a feed producer located at a local bonded zone after its product was found to have fallen short of protein requirements. The plant mainly blended corn with a low amount of distillers dried grains, or DDGS, said one of the people.All the cancellations will be of old U.S. corn crop from the 2020-21 marketing year, the people said. More than 15 million tons of American corn have been purchased for state stockpiles from old and new crops, two of the people said.(Corrects spelling of Bown’s name in 10th paragraph in story published May 26.)More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
12h ago
FX Empire
U.S. Dollar Index (DX) Futures Technical Analysis – Minor Trend Changes to Up on Trade Through 90.280
The direction of the June U.S. Dollar Index on Thursday is likely to be determined by trader reaction to the minor pivot at 90.215.
21h ago
Reuters
US STOCKS-Wall St rises as Fed officials soothe inflation worries
Wall Street's main indexes rose marginally on Wednesday after remarks from the Federal Reserve helped ease worries about higher inflation, while a recent dip in bond yields supported heavyweight tech-related stocks for a third straight session. Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc added between 0.2% and 0.5%, as the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note stood at more than two-week lows of 1.557%. Higher yields pressure valuations for tech and other growth stocks, whose future cash flows are discounted at higher rates.
2d ago
Reuters
Gamestop, AMC short sellers lost $754 million after Tuesday's rally - Ortex
Investors shorting meme stocks GameStop and AMC Entertainment are estimated to have lost $754 million on Tuesday alone as the shares rallied, data from financial analytics firm Ortex shows. Shares in GameStop, which was at the heart of the so-called "stonks" retail trading mania earlier this year, rose 8% to nearly $225 in U.S. premarket trading on Wednesday, a day after rising 18%. Shares in cinema operator AMC soared 39%.
2d ago
FX Empire
Stocks Move Higher As Inflation Fears Subside
S&P 500 futures are trying to settle back above the 4200 level.
2d ago
MarketWatch
I’m 49, my wife is 34, we have 4 kids and $2.3 million saved. I earn $300K a year but ‘lose a lot of sleep worrying about tomorrow’ — when can I retire?
The good news: Retirement at 58 may very well be within your reach, financial advisers said. One of the highest-priority tasks you will face if you retire at 58 (or any time before Medicare is available at 65 years old) is health insurance. There are a few options to be covered, including saving now for whatever cost it will be in the open market later on; taking on a part-time job with health benefits so that you can take advantage of the healthcare, earn a little extra income but still have more freedom than a full-time job requires; or have your wife take on a job that provides the family health insurance (if she isn’t already).
2d ago

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I’m 49, my wife is 34, we have 4 kids and $2.3 million saved. I earn $300K a year but ‘lose a lot of sleep worrying about tomorrow’ — when can I retire?