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China Suspends Jack Ma’s Ant Group Shanghai IPO After Warning

(Bloomberg) — China has suspended the Shanghai leg of Ant Group Co.’s $35 billion offering, potentially derailing the world’s biggest initial public offering.The Shanghai stock exchange will suspend the listing amid changes in the regulatory environment, it said in a statement Tuesday without providing further details. The debut was expected for Thursday, the same day as the Hong Kong portion.The shock move comes after China’s regulators warned that Jack Ma’s firm faces increased scrutiny and will be subject to the same restrictions on capital and leverage as banks. Ma, Ant’s billionaire co-founder, was summoned to a rare joint meeting on …read more […]

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Futures rise as investors bet on Biden victory, more stimulus

After slumping to five-week lows last week, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq began November on a strong footing as the consistent lead for Democratic presidential nominee Biden in national opinion polls raised hopes of a bigger stimulus package after the election. Democrats are also favored to emerge from 14 hotly contested U.S. Senate races with full control of Congress in Tuesday’s election, although final results from at least five of those contests may not be available for days, and in some cases, months. “Currently, the market is betting on a Biden win,” said Christian Stocker, UniCredit’s …read more […]

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Stocks Surge With Futures on U.S. Election Day: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Stocks rallied with U.S. futures on Tuesday as a gust of optimism swept through global equity markets with millions of Americans headed to vote. Currency traders braced for increased volatility.Banks and oil drillers including Chevron Corp. rose in U.S. premarket trading. Futures on the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average surged as much as 1.8%, outperforming contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100. Treasuries fell and a gauge of the dollar dropped the most in three weeks as a risk-on mood prevailed.While trades reflecting a Democratic sweep held firm, betting markets aren’t convinced. They slipped to just over 50% odds …read more […]

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What Freedom in the U.S. Really Means

Do I have a right to hurt myself?
Recent events with my 89-year-old father-in-law have precipitated interesting discussions around this question.
Let me set the stage.
A couple of months ago, he fell off a kitchen stool and injured his tailbone.
He couldn’t stand up afterward. After a day in the emergency room and even hospital admission, doctors couldn’t seem to find anything definitively wrong, so they sent him home.
He still couldn’t walk. The fall also affected his urinary function, creating borderline incontinence.
He went back to the hospital for further tests, but they still couldn’t find anything.
This time, though, they sent him to a …read more […]

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Oil Gains on Weaker Dollar After OPEC+ Edges Toward Taper Delay

(Bloomberg) — Oil gained, following a broader risk-on sentiment in markets and as OPEC+ inches closer to delaying a planned easing of output cuts.Futures in New York rallied near $38 a barrel after rising 2.9% in the previous session. Equities were rallying ahead of the U.S. election, while the dollar lost almost 0.5%, adding to positive sentiment in crude.On Monday, Energy Minister Alexander Novak met with Russian producers to discuss delaying an easing of production cuts by three months. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies have been dropping hints for weeks that its plan to add almost …read more […]

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Corn Rally Sparks Green Fuel Rethink by Chinese Energy Giant

(Bloomberg) — Millions of hungry pigs in China are setting off a chain reaction in the fuel market, causing the biggest oil refiner to rethink its sales strategy.A hog herd boom amid a push to revive supplies of the nation’s favorite meat has driven up corn prices as demand for animal feed soars. That’s sent biofuel costs flying for oil titan Sinopec Group, which is now being forced to scale back its plans to sell E10, a mix of 10% corn-derived ethanol and gasoline.China has a mandate to roll out E10 fuel nationwide from 2020 in an effort to reduce …read more […]

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Bayer Raises Cost of Fighting Future Roundup Suits to $2 Billion

(Bloomberg) — Bayer AG’s legal bills to contain the fallout over the weedkiller Roundup keep rising as the German company expects costs of handling future lawsuits to increase to $2 billion from $1.25 billion.The drugs and chemicals maker is far enough along in talks with U.S. plaintiff attorneys to realize that the outlay will be higher than anticipated in June, it said in a statement Tuesday. Bayer also reported earnings and sales that missed estimates as the pandemic hurts demand for key agriculture and pharmaceutical products.The Roundup litigation continues to vex Chief Executive Officer Werner Baumann, who orchestrated the $63 …read more […]