Year: 2020

Canada, oh Canada.
The land up north is in the news and in our mailbag this week – both with ideas that make us smile.
We’ll start with the latest word from Canada’s famed pension fund.
It has a big charge. It must turn a lot of money into a whole lot more. And it must do it without going broke in the process.
It’s that last part that apparently has its bosses tossing and turning at night.
This whole zero interest rate thing is really messing with their plans.
The latest worry is what to do with all those oh-so-safe government bonds. Back in the …read more […]

Every investor in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. Generally speaking, as a… …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Oil steadied after its biggest surge since June as the OPEC cartel and its partners prepared to assess a downbeat outlook for the crude market.Futures slid 0.1% in New York to trade near $40 a barrel. Earlier, oil joined other commodities and European stocks in moving lower as the dollar climbed, though later steadied, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell highlighted uncertainty about the economic rebound.The OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee convenes at 2 p.m. Vienna time to assess whether vast production cuts they’ve made are tackling a global oversupply.The coalition is still working to get all members …read more […]

Some have more dollars than sense, they say, so even companies that have no revenue, no profit, and a record of… …read more […]

Top news and what to watch in the markets on Thursday, September 17, 2020. …read more […]

BioNTech expects that the experimental COVID-19 vaccine it is developing with Pfizer can be stored at refrigerator temperatures for at least two weeks, seeking to allay concerns that the compound may have to be deep-frozen. Speaking at an online media briefing on the purchase of an additional German production site, Chief Executive Ugur Sahin said tests have recently confirmed the genetic compound remains stable at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius for five days but he expects storability at those conditions to be two weeks or longer. …read more […]

China will need to approve ByteDance’s proposed deal with Oracle Corp for its TikTok app, the Chinese company said on Thursday, indicating how its bid to stave off a ban in the United States could be further complicated. Oracle has submitted a proposal to the Trump administration that will allow it to become a technology partner in the TikTok app, as ByteDance hopes to head off a Trump order that it divest TikTok’s U.S. operations. The proposal envisages making TikTok Global a U.S.-headquartered company. …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — A massive push by China’s biggest banks to boost capital amid the worst downturn in at least a decade faltered out of the gate.Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. slashed a planned bond sale of the riskiest type of debt by more than a third, raising only $2.9 billion in dollar-denominated bonds out of a planned $4.4 billion.Some of China’s biggest lenders are trying to raise at least $29 billion in bonds this month to shore up capital as profits slide and bad debt balloons. Banks are being enlisted by the government to provide cheap loans to …read more […]

Now, Musk and his team are preparing to outline new steps in Tesla’s drive to become a more self-sufficient company less reliant on suppliers at its “Battery Day” event on Sept. 22. Musk has been dropping hints for months that significant advances in technology will be announced as Tesla strives to produce the low-cost, long-lasting batteries that could put its electric cars on a more equal footing with cheaper gasoline vehicles. New battery cell designs, chemistries and manufacturing processes are just some of the developments that would allow Tesla to reduce its reliance on its long-time battery partner, …read more […]

Southwest Airlines Co said late Wednesday it temporarily grounded 130 Boeing 737-800 aircraft after it discovered discrepancies in aircraft weight data. In January, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was seeking to fine Southwest $3.92 million for alleged weight infractions on 21,505 flights on 44 aircraft between May 1, 2018 and Aug. 9, 2018. The FAA alleged that Southwest operated the flights with incorrect operational empty weights, and center of gravity or moment data, which is used to determine how many passengers and how much fuel can be safely carried and where cargo should be located. …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — The dollar climbed and Asian stocks dropped with U.S. and European futures Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell highlighted uncertainty about the economic rebound. Treasuries ticked up.A gauge of Asian shares fell the most in a week, with losses greatest in Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia. S&P 500 futures slipped about 1%. The U.S. benchmark erased gains on Wednesday to end the session lower after Powell said policy will remain accommodative while cautioning that the pace of economic activity will likely slow. A tumble in tech giants such as Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc. weighed on …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Oracle Corp. will get full access to review TikTok’s source code and updates to make sure there are no back doors used by the company’s Chinese parent to gather data on the video-sharing app’s 100 million American users, according to people familiar with the matter.TikTok parent ByteDance Ltd. and Oracle submitted these details in their proposal to the Trump administration with a goal of averting an outright sale of the app or a shutdown of its U.S. operations set to take effect Sept. 20. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to ban the app in a pair of …read more […]

Spot gold was down 1.1% to $1,938.12 per ounce by 0321 GMT. U.S. gold futures slipped 1% to $1,951.30. “Investors across the Asia-Pacific are perhaps not inspired by last night’s FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting, in which the central bank seems to be reluctant to add stimulus in view of improving fundamentals,” said Margaret Yang, a strategist with DailyFx, which covers currency, commodity and index trading. …read more […]

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Oil prices fell on Thursday, after rising in the two previous sessions, as concerns about weak fuel demand re-emerged after production platforms in the southeastern United States took steps to resume output following Hurricane Sally’s passage. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 43 cents, or 1.1%, to $39.73 a barrel , after jumping 4.9% on Wednesday. “We are seeing some profit-taking this morning from market participants who remain broadly sceptical that crude has priced in the market’s weaker turn through Q3-Q4 and specifically don’t buy into yesterday’s sharp rebound,” said Vandana Hari, oil market analyst …read more […]