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Mastercard shares fall as profit drops on virus-led travel slowdown

The pandemic has forced companies to lay off workers by the millions, hurting their spending power, and the hit to air travel has also taken a toll on cross-border card transaction volumes. Mastercard reported a 36% drop in cross-border volume on a local currency basis in the reported quarter. Cross-border volumes have continued to fall since the quarter ended, with all first three weeks of October clocking declines of more than 30%, according to an investor presentation. …read more […]

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This Is the Best-Performing Index on the Planet

We’re not sure if you’ve heard… but things aren’t great in the U.S. these days.
How bad are they? We don’t yet know.
But somehow… someway… hundreds of millions of folks have been tricked into letting a single man dictate their happiness, financial well-being… and freedom.
Next Tuesday, they’ll cast their votes and ignorantly think change is on its way.
It’s silly.
But we’ve seen it coming.
A few years ago, we created something to help our Manward Letter readers measure such things. We call it our “Gone to Hell” scale.
It measures five simple things:

The rule of law
Our education system
Social safety nets
Self-defense
Our tax structure.

Oh boy… are …read more […]

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GE reports smaller loss as business recovers from pandemic lows

Cash flow for its industrial operations was $514 million in the third quarter, compared with the average analyst estimate of an outflow of $876 million. GE has laid out plans to cut $2 billion in costs, a great deal of which is at the aviation unit. Revenue at GE’s aviation unit fell 39% in the quarter compared with last year, while in the power business it rose 3%. …read more […]

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Oil Declines After Report Points to Increasing U.S. Stockpiles

(Bloomberg) — Oil retreated back below $39 a barrel after an industry report pointed to a bigger-than-expected increase in U.S. crude stockpiles, offsetting supply disruptions from Hurricane Zeta.The American Petroleum Institute reported crude inventories expanded by 4.58 million barrels last week, while gasoline stockpiles rose for a second straight week, according to people familiar with the data. Official government figures are due Wednesday. A stronger U.S. dollar is also having an impact, making commodities priced in the currency less appealing to investors.Oil rallied on Tuesday after almost half of U.S. Gulf output was shuttered ahead of Zeta, which is expected …read more […]

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Sony Raises Profit Forecast Ahead of Big PlayStation 5 Debut

(Bloomberg) — Sony Corp. raised its fiscal-year operating profit outlook by 13% to 700 billion yen ($6.7 billion) as its video game unit rode a surge in demand for entertainment from home-bound consumers.The forecast, up from a previous 620 billion yen, surpassed the average analyst expectation of 658.9 billion yen and precedes the PlayStation 5’s highly anticipated November debut. Sony aims to sell more than 7.6 million PS5 units by the end of March, more than the PS4 managed in its first year, Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki said.Sony’s outlook hike underscores how the entertainment giant is benefiting from a …read more […]

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U.S., European Stock Futures Fall; Dollar Climbs: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — U.S. and European equity futures fell and Asian stocks were mixed Wednesday amid concern about the impact of the worsening pandemic on economic activity in some parts of the world. The dollar advanced.S&P 500 futures retreated and European contracts were down about 2%. Shares dropped in Japan but rose modestly in China and South Korea. Microsoft Corp. shares slipped in extended trading as a forecast for revenue in some divisions fell short of the highest analysts’ projections.China’s yuan was steady as traders digested news that the nation’s banks abandoned inclusion of a key factor used to calculate the …read more […]