Year: 2019

(Bloomberg Opinion) — Last week brought lots of bad news about the American economy. The stock market treated each new data point suggesting that activity was slowing down as bad news. And that, in itself, is bad news. Here’s why: Grim tidings for the economy aren’t necessarily so bad for investors, because they tend to lead to lower interest rates. That, in turn, makes it cheaper to invest and justifies paying a higher multiple for stocks. Growth that is too strong can mean higher rates, and that’s a problem. Hence equity investors yearn for “a Goldilocks economy” – one that …read more […]

Platforms are shelling out serious cash as the streaming wars escalate. …read more […]

Sean Feeney, co-founder of Grovehouse, and the owner of Brooklyn restaurants Lilia and Misi, talks why he left the world of finance for the restaurant industry. …read more […]

Uber’s health chief explained how the company is moving to leverage Uber Eats to address the health needs of patients, many of whom lack access to reliable transportation. …read more […]

A recession could be headed your way, warns Goldman Sachs — and that’s okay.In a recent report, Goldman private wealth management chief investment officer Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani put the chances of a recession hitting the U.S. in 2020 at somewhere between 25% and 30% — triple the risk seen three years ago. Despite the risk, though, there’s also still opportunity to profit from owning the right companies.Jobs numbers in the U.S. remain strong. GDP growth is expected to end this year at 2.3%, then slow in 2020, but still remain above 2% — not negative at all. And in the event …read more […]

“As Warren Buffett says, the market climbs a wall of worry. And that worry that is out there continues to create opportunity,” Hobson says. …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Nobody has a good record predicting the U.S. economy, not pundits and certainly not stock investors. And while a recession has been incorrectly forecast practically every day of the current bull market, when one finally comes it’s going to hurt.Ten years of gains have fattened price-earnings ratios in U.S. stock benchmarks. Based on profits already booked, the S&P 500 currently trades at about 19.4 times income, while the Nasdaq 100 fetches 24.4 times. Those ratios arguably make sense during an expansion, especially when interest rates are so low. Should growth seize up, as it has shown signs of …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Boris Johnson doubled down on his pledge to take Britain out of the European Union on Oct. 31 without a deal if necessary, two days after it emerged he’d promised to obey a law forcing him to send a letter requesting a delay if he can’t get an agreement with the bloc.The U.K. premier’s latest promise to deliver Brexit in an op-ed in The Sun on Sunday comes as he tries to persuade the EU to negotiate a new deal along the lines of the one he proposed during the week. It envisaged keeping Northern Ireland in regulatory …read more […]

Tens of thousands of protesters marched through central Hong Kong on Sunday wearing face masks in defiance of colonial-era emergency powers which threaten them with a year in prison for hiding their faces. Police fired tear gas in several places in the Asian financial hub but there was no obvious signs of violence, with protesters ignoring the gas, dousing the canisters with water or tossing them back at police. Police said protesters were participating in unlawful assemblies, blocking major roads, and warned they would soon begin “dispersal operations on Hong Kong island”, ordering protesters to leave immediately. …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Back in 2012, the world’s best-managed pension market was thrown a lifeline by the Danish government to help contain liabilities. That was when interest rates were still positive.Seven years later, with rates now well below zero, even Denmark’s $440 billion pension system says the environment has become so punishing that it may be time for a change in European rules.Henrik Munck, a senior consultant at Insurance & Pension Denmark, an umbrella organization, says the way liabilities are currently calculated “could cause a negative spiral” that forces funds to keep buying low-risk assets, drive yields lower and the value …read more […]

Economic data is on the lighter side in the week ahead. The lack of stats will leave the majors in the hands of geopolitics… …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — The U.S. economy is in entering dire straits as the longest expansion in its history increasingly looks in jeopardy.Manufacturing is contracting, services look wobbly and now the previously solid labor market is cracking. That leaves investors worried that the economy is barreling toward its first recession since 2009 even though Bloomberg Economics sees just a 25% chance of that occurring next year.Having previously indicated a willingness to take to the sidelines after reducing interest rates twice this year, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has two opportunities this week to re-calibrate his outlook as investors increasingly press for a …read more […]

(Bloomberg Opinion) — Gadget makers from Apple Inc. to Huawei Technologies Co. are turning to gimmicks like multi-lens cameras, folding screens, 5G connectivity and virtual-reality displays to juice sales amid a general upgrade apathy in the smartphone market.I’m among those skeptical that these new specs will do a lot to make devices fly off the shelves. Investors in Asia, however, seem pretty convinced that at least the suppliers of this wizardry will be winners. Information technology stocks are the top performers in the MSCI Asia Pacific Technology Index this year, climbing 21.8% through Oct. 3, compared with an 8.8% advance …read more […]