Global Antimicrobial Therapeutics Market to grow by USD 42.84 billion|Impacts of Drivers and Challenges

Reuters
Porsche, Piech families weigh direct stake in possible Porsche IPO-sources
The Porsche and Piech families, who control Volkswagen's largest shareholder, are prepared to take a direct stake in Porsche AG should the luxury carmaker be separately listed, two people familiar with the matter said. Such a move would loosen the families' grip on Europe's largest carmaker Volkswagen, in favour of direct ownership of the iconic sports car brand, founded by their ancestor Ferdinand Porsche, which dates back to 1931. Speculation about a listing of the unit earlier this year included estimates of a standalone valuation of Porsche AG ranging from 45 billion to 90 billion euros ($55 billion-$110 billion), compared with 135 billion for the Volkswagen group.
2h ago
MoneyWise
Insurers are cutting off homeowners in hurricane zones — what if that's you?
Here's why more than 50,000 homeowners are losing their policies.
2d 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 28The company has wired funds to repay $978 million of notes maturing within the following week, according to Bloomberg News, the biggest bond payment since the 2020 results delay.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 News 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.
12h ago
Bloomberg
Kenya Lawmakers Balk as Debt Servicing Costs Jump to $11 Billion
(Bloomberg) -- Kenya may be heading toward a default unless the government of President Uhuru Kenyatta revamps its debt, lawmakers said in a report.The East African nation’s debt servicing costs are poised to surge to a record 1.17 trillion shillings ($11 billion) in the year starting July 1, parliamentary budget office said in a report. That exceeds the administration’s 660 billion shillings proposed spending on development projects.The increase in debt repayments “indicates a growing level of fiscal inflexibility and therefore increased exposure to fiscal risks or debt default, in absence of debt restructuring,” according to the report by the agency, which advises lawmakers on budget policy. It implies “that borrowing for development expenditure financing might no longer be a viable fiscal principle.”Calls to revamp the nation’s rising debt are growing louder even as it plans to borrow as much as $7.3 billion in the Eurobond market over the next two years, prompting the International Monetary Fund to say that the country may be at the risk of debt distress. Meanwhile, Kenya’s lawmakers want to narrow the government’s fiscal deficit to 7.5% of gross domestic product in the next fiscal year, from 8.7%, according to the report.By the year through 2024, Kenya’s debt servicing expenses will have more than doubled from 2020, with spending on development infrastructure remaining little changed. Borrowing is restricted to funding for development projects, according to Kenya’s public finance management rules.The government should put in place mechanisms to substitute borrowings with alternative financing such as public private partnerships, particularly for large infrastructure expenditure, lawmakers said.Kenya is seeking an extension to a six-month debt service holiday that ends in June, central bank Governor Patrick Njoroge said last week Thursday.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
3h ago
FX Empire
Economic Data Puts the EUR and the Loonie in Focus after a Busy Asian Session
Inflation figures from the Eurozone and stats from Canada put the EUR and the Loonie in focus. There are no stats from the U.S, however, with the U.S markets closed.
12h ago
Bloomberg
This Time Is Different: Outside OPEC+, Oil Growth Stalls
(Bloomberg) -- “This time is different” may be the most dangerous words in business: billions of dollars have been lost betting that history won’t repeat itself. And yet now, in the oil world, it looks like this time really will be.For the first time in decades, oil companies aren’t rushing to increase production to chase rising oil prices as Brent crude approaches $70. Even in the Permian, the prolific shale basin at the center of the U.S. energy boom, drillers are resisting their traditional boom-and-bust cycle of spending.The oil industry is on the ropes, constrained by Wall Street investors demanding that companies spend less on drilling and instead return more money to shareholders, and climate change activists pushing against fossil fuels. Exxon Mobil Corp. is paradigmatic of the trend, after its humiliating defeat at the hands of a tiny activist elbowing itself onto the board.The dramatic events in the industry last week only add to what is emerging as an opportunity for the producers of OPEC+, giving the coalition led by Saudi Arabia and Russia more room for maneuver to bring back their own production. As non-OPEC output fails to rebound as fast as many expected -- or feared based on past experience -- the cartel is likely to continue adding more supply when it meets on June 1.‘Criminalization’Shareholders are asking Exxon to drill less and focus on returning money to investors. “They have been throwing money down the drill hole like crazy,” Christopher Ailman, chief investment officer for CalSTRS. “We really saw that company just heading down the hole, not surviving into the future, unless they change and adapt. And now they have to.”Exxon is unlikely to be alone. Royal Dutch Shell Plc lost a landmark legal battle last week when a Dutch court told it to cut emissions significantly by 2030 -- something that would require less oil production. Many in the industry fear a wave of lawsuits elsewhere, with western oil majors more immediate targets than the state-owned oil companies that make up much of OPEC production.“We see a shift from stigmatization toward criminalization of investing in higher oil production,” said Bob McNally, president of consultant Rapidan Energy Group and a former White House official.While it’s true that non-OPEC+ output is creeping back from the crash of 2020 -- and the ultra-depressed levels of April and May last year -- it’s far from a full recovery. Overall, non-OPEC+ output will grow this year by 620,000 barrels a day, less than half the 1.3 million barrels a day it fell in 2020. The supply growth forecast through the rest of this year “comes nowhere close to matching” the expected increase in demand, according to the International Energy Agency.Beyond 2021, oil output is likely to rise in a handful of nations, including the U.S., Brazil, Canada and new oil-producer Guyana. But production will decline elsewhere, from the U.K. to Colombia, Malaysia and Argentina.As non-OPEC+ production increases less than global oil demand, the cartel will be in control of the market, executives and traders said. It’s a major break with the past, when oil companies responded to higher prices by rushing to invest again, boosting non-OPEC output and leaving the ministers led by Saudi Arabia’s Abdulaziz bin Salman with a much more difficult balancing act.Drilling DownSo far, the lack of non-OPEC+ oil production growth isn’t registering much in the market. After all, the coronavirus pandemic continues to constrain global oil demand. It may be more noticeable later this year and into 2022. By then, vaccination campaigns against Covid-19 are likely to be bearing fruit, and the world will need more oil. The expected return of Iran into the market will provide some of that, but there will likely be a need for more.When that happens, it will be largely up to OPEC to plug the gap. One signal of how the recovery will be different this time is the U.S. drilling count: It is gradually increasing, but the recovery is slower than it was after the last big oil price crash in 2008-09. Shale companies are sticking to their commitment to return more money to shareholders via dividends. While before the pandemic shale companies re-used 70-90% of their cash flow into further drilling, they are now keeping that metric at around 50%.The result is that U.S. crude production has flat-lined at around 11 million barrels a day since July 2020. Outside the U.S. and Canada, the outlook is even more somber: at the end of April, the ex-North America oil rig count stood at 523, lower than it was a year ago, and nearly 40% below the same month two years earlier, according to data from Baker Hughes Co.When Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz predicted earlier this year that “‘drill, baby, drill’ is gone for ever,” it sounded like a bold call. As ministers meet this week, they may dare to hope he’s right.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
CoinDesk
Bitcoin Eyes Second-Biggest Monthly Drop on Record
The 37.5% decline in May is beat only by September 2011's 40%.
4h ago
Bloomberg
Meituan Surges 10% as CEO Moves to Address Antitrust Concerns
(Bloomberg) -- Chinese food-delivery giant Meituan’s shares jumped more than 10% after Chief Executive Officer Wang Xing unveiled better-than-expected financial results and detailed plans to address government concerns about its business practices.Shares surged after the company’s first-quarter revenue more than doubled from the year-earlier period, and Xing said the company is working with regulators to make changes to its business. That has kept most analysts positive on the stock even as some have slashed price targets to account for new investments.“Despite near-term overhang from regulatory headwinds, overall growth momentum across all three major business segments remains intact,” Citigroup Inc. analysts including Alicia Yap wrote in a note on Sunday.On Friday, Wang reassured investors that Meituan is working to resolve regulators’ concerns, including setting up a dedicated team to work with government officials and changing certain practices that had sparked an antitrust probe. He said he anticipates the company will be able to navigate the government scrutiny without significant negative consequences.“In terms of our day to day operation, we haven’t been significantly impacted,” the 42-year-old billionaire said during the earnings call. “This event will not jeopardize the competitive advantage of our food delivery business.”Beijing announced an investigation into the tech giant in April over alleged antitrust violations. Financial regulators then imposed wide-ranging restrictions on its fintech operations, alongside those of peers like Didi. Renewed scrutiny over the treatment of its delivery riders added to concerns that labor expenses could rise and cut into profitability.Meituan’s selloff accelerated in May after Wang posted a classical poem about book burning during the Qin dynasty that some interpreted as a veiled criticism of Beijing. The entrepreneur deleted it days later and issued a clarification that he used the poem in reference to the company’s competitors.Meituan offered a response in both its regulatory comments and its financial results. The company reported nearly 121% growth in revenue during the March quarter from a year ago, the highest increase since its listing, thanks to a strong comeback from Covid-19 lows last year. Its core food delivery business swung back to black this quarter, while ticketing and travel services have also recovered as life within China has largely returned to normal.During its earnings call on Friday, the Beijing-based company pledged to proactively work with regulators and improve its compliance standards. It also promised to provide insurance for millions of its delivery drivers -- many of them work as part-time personnel and lack proper employee benefits -- and has started to reform its commissions scheme in a move to cut fees for partner restaurants.In addition, Meituan joined Chinese tech giants such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. in promising to invest in technological innovation -- a priority set by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Meituan raised $10 billion from investors to boost its spending in autonomous delivery technology in April, days before China’s antitrust watchdog unveiled its probe into the company.“The 2Q core business outlook appears better than we feared, and we expect in-store to accelerate further,” Morgan Stanley analysts including Gary Yu wrote in a note on Sunday.(Updates share price move from first paragraph)More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
6h ago
MoneyWise
How to get rid of student loan debt by refinancing the mortgage on your home
You could swap your college debt for cheap mortgage debt, but beware of the risks.
2d ago
Reuters
U.S. tyre maker Goodyear faces allegations of labour abuse in Malaysia, documents show
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) -American tire manufacturer Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co is facing accusations of unpaid wages, unlawful overtime and threats to foreign workers at its Malaysian factory, according to court documents and complaints filed by workers. In interviews with Reuters, six current and former foreign workers, and officials with Malaysia's labour department, say Goodyear made wrongful salary deductions, required excessive hours and denied workers full access to their passports. The department confirmed it had fined Goodyear in 2020 for overworking and underpaying foreign employees.
13h ago
Bloomberg
Turkey’s Economy Outperformed Most Peers -- But at a Cost
(Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast.Turkey’s economy has grown at a strong pace this year, outperforming most large economies as it recovers from the pandemic -- an expansion that’s come at the expense of price and currency stability.Turkey grew faster than all Group of 20 nations except for China in the first quarter after nearly stalling a year ago when Covid-19 struck. It’s been bolstered by robust consumption on the back of last year’s government-led push to cut interest rates and boost lending.Gross domestic product rose 7% from a year earlier and 1.7% from the fourth quarter. The median of 22 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey was for 6.3% growth compared to the same period in 2020.There is an “exchange rate illusion” in Turkey’s economic growth data, said Enver Erkan, chief economist at Istanbul-based Tera Yatirim. GDP per capita in U.S. dollar terms has dropped nearly 40% since 2013 to around $7,700 last year, making Turkey’s economic model unsustainable as the growth is mainly driven by government spending and efforts to boost lending, he said.The government encouraged banks to ramp up loans to help businesses and consumers ride out last year’s Covid-19 crisis. The credit boom was coupled with a front-loaded easing cycle. That growth push weakened the currency by 20% last year and kept headline inflation in double digits.The currency lost a further 10% against the dollar in the first quarter, particularly after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fired the central bank’s hawkish governor Naci Agbal in March. The decision to fire Agbal, who had sought to restore the central bank’s credibility, set off a swift reversal of investor enthusiasm, sending Turkish markets into a nosedive.Below are some more highlights from the GDP report released by the state statistics institute in Ankara on Monday:Household consumption -- estimated to account for about two-thirds of the economy -- continues to be one of the main drivers of growth. It jumped 7.4% from a year earlier.The biggest contribution to growth came from manufacturing sector, which rose 12.2% in the first quarter on an annual basis.The size of the economy grew to $728.5 billion in the first quarter from $717 billion in current prices last year.Exports rose 3.3% on an annual basis. Imports dropped 1.1%.Gross fixed capital formation, a measure of investment by businesses, rose an annual 11.4%. Government spending rose 1.3% after a 6.6% jump in the previous quarter.The economy grew by 1.7% in the last quarter from the previous three months when adjusted for seasonality and the number of working days. Overall output rose 1.8% in 2020.The data expose the challenge facing new central bank Governor Sahap Kavcioglu as he looks to restore price stability without cooling the economy ahead of the general elections in 2023.Kavcioglu pledged policy continuity after his appointment and kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 19% for a second meeting this month, saying the pace of price gains had peaked in April. Consumer inflation quickened for a seventh month to 17.14% in April.There may be a limited drop in the pace of growth in the second quarter, according to Istanbul-based economist Haluk Burumcekci. “Uncertainties regarding the monetary policy makes it difficult to assess the upside risks on our growth expectation of 5.5% for 2021,” he said.(Updates with chart and more details in the bullets)More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
4h ago
The Telegraph
Sunak pushes Biden for tougher global tax deal
Rishi Sunak is pushing the United States to agree to tougher rules on the tax paid by tech giants as part of a global corporation tax overhaul. Finance ministers from the G7 will meet this week to thrash out the biggest reforms to global tax rules in a generation in a bid to ensure multinational companies pay their fair share. President Joe Biden has proposed a minimum global corporation tax rate of 15pc as well as new rules forcing the world's largest 100 companies to pay taxes based on the location of their customers, rather than where they book profits. The plans are aimed to preventing multinationals from shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions - a growing problem that is feared will deprive governments of revenues as they try to recover from the pandemic. However, the UK is holding out on backing America's plans for a minimum corporation tax rate as it seeks more assurances over the tax treatment of big tech companies such as Facebook, Amazon and Google. The Chancellor told the Mail on Sunday: "We understand why an agreement on global corporation tax is important to our American friends. We need them to understand why fair taxation of tech companies is important to us. "There's a deal to be had and I'm urging the US - and all of the G7 - to come to the table next week and get it done."
1d ago
MoneyWise
Bitcoin's in a slump — here's why Warren Buffett has hated it all along
The billionaire has never made a secret of his loathing for cryptocurrency.
21h ago
MoneyWise
Fourth stimulus check in jeopardy while the last payments keep dwindling
Will President Biden and Congress provide more relief? It's looking iffy.
22h ago
Bloomberg
Crypto Traders Defy China’s Crackdown With Secretive Bets
(Bloomberg) -- Chinese investors are paying little heed to the government’s biggest crackdown on cryptocurrency trading since 2017, underscoring the challenge for Beijing as it tries to rein in a speculative boom in digital assets.Knee-jerk selling has given way to a steady recovery on over-the-counter platforms that Chinese crypto traders have used since domestic exchanges were banned in 2017. One key gauge of local sentiment -- the exchange rate between China’s yuan and the stablecoin Tether -- fell as much as 4.4% after the government’s warning earlier this month but has since recouped more than half the loss, according to crypto data platform Feixiaohao, a Chinese equivalent of CoinMarketCap.China escalated its crackdown after a frenzied surge in Bitcoin and other tokens over the past six months heightened longstanding Communist Party concerns about the potential for fraud, money laundering and trading losses by individual investors. Yet the hard-to-trace nature of transactions on local OTC platforms and peer-to-peer networks means it will be extremely difficult for authorities to enforce a wholesale ban.That may come as a relief to global crypto enthusiasts after worries about a plunge in Chinese buying power contributed to the nearly $1 trillion selloff in digital assets from record highs in mid-May.As to the losses and the crackdown, “I don’t care,” said Charles, a 35-year-old real estate consultant in Shanghai who asked to be identified only by his English first name. He’s been buying cryptocurrencies since 2017 and claims to have lost $11 million over three days in the recent pullback. “To me it’s giving back the profits I made in the past few months,” he said. “I’m looking at the 10- to 20-year horizon.”Before China outlawed crypto exchanges in 2017, local investors owned an estimated 7% of the world’s Bitcoin and accounted for about 80% of trading, according to state media. The exchange ban has made it impossible to gauge those figures today, but Chinese investors are still widely believed to have a major presence in the crypto world via domestic OTC platforms and offshore venues that they access using virtual private networks.Domestic trades involving yuan and digital coins are difficult for China’s government to track because they typically take place in two separate steps.The first happens on OTC platforms operated by firms including Huobi and OKEx, which allow traders to post bids and offers. Once both sides agree on a price, the buyer will use a separate payments platform -- operated by their bank or a fintech company like Ant Group Co. -- to send yuan to the seller. The digital coins, usually held in escrow by the OTC platform until the yuan payment clears, are then transferred to the buyer. Chinese regulators often have no way to connect one step of the transaction to the other.Because the yuan leg of the trades take place entirely within China’s domestic financial system, the risk of large-scale capital outflows is low. But that hasn’t stopped the government from warning financial firms and individual investors to stay away from crypto.Regulators this month reminded Chinese banks and payments firms of the requirement to identify and block suspicious transactions, and pointed out that facilitating cryptocurrency trades often violates banking rules. China’s State Council called for a clamp down on Bitcoin trading and mining, vowing to “resolutely” prevent financial risks.Policy makers may be keen to avoid any major market disruptions around the politically sensitive 100th anniversary of the ruling Communist Party on July 1.After the government’s statement, Huobi said it stopped its miner hosting services in mainland China and is scaling back futures contracts and leveraged investment products in some markets. It’s unclear whether the firm plans to shut its OTC platform.Chinese regulators have so far stopped short of labeling individual trading illegal, but the crackdown will involve the public security department as some of the activities were suspected to have facilitated money laundering and terror financing, according to a person familiar with the matter.Police in Beijing have distributed printed warnings about potential risks associated with cryptocurrencies. Virtual currencies are among popular means for latest scams, and anyone “in a panic, having a hard time distinguishing or not sure what to do” should call the local police contact listed, according to one notice seen by Bloomberg.On social media, some crypto investors have made unverified claims that they were summoned by local police recently and warned against the risk of investing in cryptocurrencies. One investor said local authorities required him to sell his holdings. Another said police asked him to delete the trading app from his phone.Chinese officials see their success cleaning up the peer-to-peer lending industry two years ago as a model for its cryptocurrency crackdown, said the person familiar, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. The country purged the P2P industry after frauds and defaults became rampant, in some cases leading to suicide and street protests. In its heyday the sector had more than 50 million users and $150 billion in outstanding loans.The extreme price swings of cryptocurrencies have already left a mark. In one high-profile case, a Chinese man from the eastern city of Dalian killed his three-year-old daughter and tried to commit suicide with his wife after losing 20 million yuan ($3.1 million) on a leveraged bet on Bitcoin last June, according to local media reports.Peter, a Beijing tech worker, piled 20,000 yuan into cryptocurrencies three weeks ago, just in time for latest round of volatility. Within days, his portfolio grew to nearly 100,000 yuan, then quickly fell back down to 14,000 yuan. He echoed the carpe diem philosophy of crypto traders globally: “It doesn’t matter if it all goes to zero. But what if it brings me sudden wealth one day?”More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
16h ago
CoinDesk
Ex-Head of China’s Digital Yuan Effort Says CBDCs Could Operate on Ethereum
Central bank digital currencies will one day be more "smart," and not merely digital versions of cash, Yao Qian said.
4h ago
Bloomberg
Stock Splits Are Back. So Is the Debate Over Whether They Matter
(Bloomberg) -- Stock splits are back in vogue among big U.S. companies, reviving a debate about whether the practice that had fallen out of favor for years is worth the fuss.Last week, Nvidia Corp. became the eighth company in the S&P 500 Index to announce a split in the past year, joining big names like Apple Inc. and Tesla Inc. That’s the most over a comparable period in six years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.The surge in splits comes amid a rally that’s pushed share prices of almost 600 stocks in the Russell 3000 Index above $100. Yet that has done little to settle the age-old-argument among investors about whether such stock-price engineering has any bearing on performance. In fact, recent developments such as soaring retail trading and fractional share ownership have only heated things up.“Arithmetically, there’s no merit to the notion that stock splits work,” said Mark Lehmann, chief executive officer of JMP Securities LLC. “But there is an optical hesitancy for certain stocks at certain prices and there is a segment of the investing public where that will never change.”The primary motivation cited by companies doing splits is simple: to make each share cheaper to buy. Nvidia, whose share price has more than quadrupled since the start of 2019 to reach almost $650, said in a statement announcing its 4-for-1 stock-split plan that its aim was to “make stock ownership more accessible to investors and employees.” A representative for the chipmaker declined to comment further.Once a reliable hallmark of bull-market exuberance, the practice had until recently fallen out of favor. In 2006 and 2007, when stocks were again setting records, there were 47 splits in the S&P 500. Three companies -- Nvidia, Paccar Inc. and Cummins Inc. -- even split twice. In 2019, there were only two.For Julian Emanuel, chief equity and derivatives strategist at BTIG, it’s harder to make the case for splitting a stock these days because of the rise of commission-free trading and brokerages offering fractional shares. Those developments “have largely rendered irrelevant the dollar value of a company’s share price,” he said in an interview.Brokerages like Robinhood now let investors buy a slice of a share for as little as $1 rather than forking over, say, more than $2,300 for a single share of Google-parent Alphabet Inc.Limited Benefits A look at the data backs up the case against splits providing long-term benefits to stock performance. The shares of companies that have split outperformed the S&P 500 on average in four of the last five years in the year the split was announced, according to Bloomberg data. The calendar year following the move, however, those same shares underperformed four of the five years.The recent rash of stock splits has sparked speculation that other large technology companies like Amazon.com Inc. that boast four-digit share prices may be next. Amazon split its stock three times in 1998 and 1999 and hasn’t done one since. Shares of the e-commerce giant trade around $3,200 and have gained more than 5,000% since its last split.Regardless of what the historical-performance record shows, the surge in retail trading over the past year may be altering the calculus for companies when it comes to evaluating splits.U.S. retail investors are now second in share trading only to market makers and independent high-frequency traders, according to Larry Tabb, director of market structure research at Bloomberg Intelligence. The retail segment is now larger than quantitative investors, hedge funds and traditional long-only participants, said Tabb.“A lot of investing is driven by psychology,” said Kevin Walkush, a portfolio manager with Jensen Investment Management. “Now, rather than a retail investor facing the challenge of buying a fractional share, a stock split means they can buy it outright. It just opens up the market that much more for retail investors.”More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
2d ago
Bloomberg
Turkish Economy Likely Outperformed Most Peers But at a Cost
(Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast.Turkey’s economy has continued to grow at a strong pace so far this year, but that doesn’t necessarily mean its citizens are getting richer.The $717 billion economy likely outperformed all Group of 20 nations except for China in the first quarter after nearly stalling a year ago when the pandemic struck. It’s been bolstered by robust consumption on the back of last year’s government-led credit push, an expansion that came at the expense of price and currency stability.Data on Monday is likely to show gross domestic product rose 6.3% from a year earlier and 1.3% from the fourth quarter, according to the medians of forecasts in Bloomberg surveys. Treasury and Finance Minister Lutfi Elvan said Thursday that “data point to 6% growth in the first quarter.”There is an “exchange rate illusion” in Turkey’s economic growth data, according to Enver Erkan, chief economist at Istanbul-based Tera Yatirim, who’s ranked by Bloomberg as the most accurate forecaster on Turkish GDP data.Noting that the GDP per capita in U.S. dollar terms dropped nearly 40% since 2013 to around $7,700 last year, Erkan said Turkey’s recent economic model isn’t sustainable as the growth is mainly driven by consumption supported by government spending and loan campaigns.“This comes at the expense of lira and price stability,” he said.The government pushed banks to ramp up lending to help businesses and consumers ride out last year’s Covid-19 emergency. The credit boom was coupled with a front-loaded easing cycle that helped prime the economy. That growth push weakened the currency by 20% last year and kept headline inflation in double digits. The size of the economy dropped to $717 billion last year from $760.8 billion a year earlier.The currency further lost 10% against the dollar in the first quarter, especially after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fired the central bank’s former hawkish governor Naci Agbal in March. The decision to fire Agbal, who had sought to restore the central bank’s credibility, set off a swift reversal of investor enthusiasm, sending Turkish markets into a nosedive.The data expose the challenge facing new central bank Governor Sahap Kavcioglu as he looks to restore price stability without cooling the economy ahead of the general elections in 2023.Kavcioglu has pledged policy continuity after his appointment and kept benchmark interest rate unchanged at 19% for a second meeting this month, saying the pace of price gains had peaked in April. Consumer inflation quickened for a seventh month to 17.14% in April.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
10h ago
MoneyWise
Memorial Day gas prices are the highest in 7 years — here's how to fight back
Take defensive action as the economy opens back up and fuel costs rise.
2d ago
Reuters
Intel reiterates chip supply shortages could last several years
Intel Corp's CEO said on Monday it could take several years for a global shortage of semiconductors to be resolved, a problem that has shuttered some auto production lines and is also being felt in other areas, including consumer electronics. Pat Gelsinger told a virtual session of the Computex trade show in Taipei that the work-and-study-from-home trend during the COVID-19 pandemic had led to a "cycle of explosive growth in semiconductors" that has placed huge strain on global supply chains. "But while the industry has taken steps to address near term constraints it could still take a couple of years for the ecosystem to address shortages of foundry capacity, substrates and components."
11h ago

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Global Antimicrobial Therapeutics Market to grow by USD 42.84 billion|Impacts of Drivers and Challenges | Technavio

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