The onset of the Trump era forced economists to confront their doubts about their usefulness to the public. They shared this ordeal with political forecasters, Democrats, logicians and journalists. Maybe we all deserved the anguish. Those economists who remain in a funk should nonetheless snap themselves out of it. One reason is that the sappy self-loathing economist is now embarrassingly cliché. Take it from a sappy self-loathing […]
Since its launch in 2010, Pinterest has established itself as one of the most popular image and idea curation sites, with an incredible 100 million monthly active users. There are plenty of other social-media sites, but for design lovers, Pinterest is still the ultimate source of inspiration, with everything from room makeovers to colour palettes, creative projects and insider tips. Here’s a rundown of some of our […]
Should we try to time the market? And has the boom in passive investments brought any problems in its wake? The problems are linked and urgent. The move from traditional actively managed funds to passive indexed funds, which aim merely to track and index and reduce costs, continues to intensify. Meanwhile, if ever there was a point when it might seem right to time the market, and […]
Friday 05.00 GMT Overview Asian stocks looked set to end a solid week on a down note, taking their cue from a subdued session on Wall Street as investors looked past some optimistic comments on US tax cuts and failed to catch a boost from higher oil prices. Hot topic Steve Mnuchin, the US Treasury Secretary, said the White House wanted to pass “very significant” tax reform […]
By Darren Staples and Phil Noble | STOKE-ON-TRENT/WHITEHAVEN, England STOKE-ON-TRENT/WHITEHAVEN, England Britain’s opposition Labour Party and the populist UK Independence Party suffered damaging defeats at separate parliamentary by-elections on Friday, raising serious questions about the long-term electoral prospects of both parties. Labour won the Stoke-on-Trent Central seat by a comfortable albeit reduced margin over the anti-European Union UKIP which had fielded its leader and had been hoping […]
Samsung Electronics will supply its NB-IoT solutions to compatriot telco KT Corporation, the companies have announced. NB-IoT, or Narrow Band-Internet of Things, is a standard set by 3GPP that allows IoT devices to be connected using low-power wireless technology. Samsung will upgrade KT’s radio station software and replace old radio stations. It will start building a virtual core (vCore) network for KT starting this month. Deployment of […]
It might already be two months into the new year, but in terms of hotel milestones, it’s just about to start. Just as the UAE’s residential sector is producing a much-needed surplus of property, consumers are set to benefit as this year’s hotel industry pipeline turns out a wave of audacious new developments. From a new Viceroy, Langham and Bulgari in Dubai to an Aloft in Al […]
By Yashaswini Swamynathan U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Thursday as investors digested the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s most recent meeting, which pointed to an interest rate hike “fairly soon”. Still, policymakers did not appear to show a sense of urgency in raising rates as inflation remained below the long-term target of 2 percent, effectively taking a rate hike in March off the table. […]
Many fear electronic voting machines can be hacked and tampered with. Image: iStock The hacking campaign around the US presidential election, cyberattacks against Ukrain’s power grid, and even the internet crippling Mirai botnet DDoS attack all demonstrate how cyberattacks have grown to threaten the very fabric of society itself, NATO has warned. Citing the impact of high profile incidents like these, Jamie Shea, deputy assistant secretary general […]
America’s Midwest farmers can’t seem to catch a break. First, an epic collapse of grain prices over the last couple of years have threatened to wipe out family farmers (see “Midwest Farm Bubble Continues Collapse As Farm Incomes Expected To Crash In 2017“) and now, thanks to the pending NAFTA showdown threatened by President Trump, Mexico, the single largest importer of U.S.-grown corn, has announced plans to […]
Stainless steel is regaining its shine. After falling victim like many other basic industries to the global commodities downturn, companies that specialise in the rustproof metal are enjoying a change in their fortunes. An upwards spiral in share prices, bigger profits and increased payouts to investors is helping to restore the lustre in this niche of the steel market. “It’s very clear we are now in a […]
By Nichola Saminather | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Asian stocks pulled back from a 19-month high on Thursday, while the dollar tried to steady from losses suffered in the wake of the U.S. Federal Reserve minutes indicating a cautious approach to more interest rate increases. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was fractionally lower. Japan’s Nikkei slid 0.1 percent, while Australian shares retreated 0.3 percent. Overnight on […]
Wednesday 12:45 GMT Overview US equity futures suggest Wall Street will dip from record levels that were reached amid a positive outlook for economic growth. Political concerns leave the euro carrying the wooden spoon in the forex markets, while the rush for supposed havens pushes short term German bond yields to their lowest ever. Hot topic The FTSE All-World equity index is at another record, up 0.1 […]
Paul Polman thought it was just going to be an informal catch-up. But it quickly became clear that Alexandre Behring, chairman of Kraft Heinz, had something very specific on his mind when he visited Unilever’s art deco headquarters in London last month. Had Mr Polman, chief executive of Unilever since 2009, ever considered a collaboration with Kraft Heinz, Mr Behring wanted to know. Mr Polman took this […]
Oil company Saudi Aramco [IPO-ARMO.SE] has selected JPMorgan Chase & Co, Morgan Stanley, and HSBC Holdings Plc as lead underwriters for its planned initial public share offering, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The listing of Aramco is expected to be the world’s biggest initial public offering and could raise up to $100 billion. The IPO is the centerpiece of […]
U.S. stocks rose to fresh record highs on Tuesday, boosted by strong earnings reports from Wal-Mart and Home Depot and continued optimism about the economic agenda of President Donald Trump. Wal-Mart’s (WMT.N) shares were the top gainer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, rising 3 percent after the world’s largest retailer reported higher-than-expected U.S. sales. Home Depot (HD.N) shares gained 1.4 percent after the home improvement retailer […]
Whatever route the government chooses for Brexit it will need to cooperate with other countries, especially our EU neighbours, to combat tax avoidance, tax evasion and money laundering. Yet the signs are not very good as the government seems to have chosen non-cooperation. It has snubbed the EU inquiry into the Panama Papers. Last year, a leak of 11.5m documents and 2.6 terabytes of information from the […]
With US stocks in record territory and the S&P 500 index the most richly valued in more than a decade, some investors see dark clouds gathering on the horizon. The S&P 500, a broad measure of the stock prices of America’s largest companies, ended last week at a record high and has risen almost 10 per cent since the election of Donald Trump as president in November. […]
Chinese technology giant Huawei has opened a narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) lab in Australia to provide research and development opportunities around applications, smart devices, and sensor networks. The lab is situated within James Cook University in Cairns, Queensland, with Huawei kitting it out with IoT technology and giving the university funding for research. Its positioning within northern Australia will see it focus on smart applications for […]
SYDNEY Asian share markets were mixed on Monday as political uncertainty globally kept the mood cautious, while the U.S. dollar dithered in a tight range ahead of a busy week for Federal Reserve events. Turnover was light with U.S. markets closed for the Presidents Day holiday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS edged up 0.1 percent and back toward a 19-month peak reached last […]
Kraft Heinz, the Warren Buffett-backed US food group, dropped its $143bn pursuit of consumer products rival Unilever on Sunday, only two days after publicly confirming its interest in acquiring the Anglo-Dutch rival. Kraft Heinz said in a joint statement with Unilever that it had “amicably agreed to withdraw its proposal for a combination of the two companies”. A takeover would have created the world’s second-largest consumer goods […]
LONDON British Prime Minister Theresa May has asked top officials to examine U.S. food company Kraft Heinz’s (KHC.O) proposed takeover of Unilever Plc (ULVR.L), the Financial Times reported on Sunday without citing any sources. Kraft’s surprise $143 billion offer, which would be the largest ever acquisition of a UK-based company, was flatly rejected by Unilever on Friday. The Financial Times said May had ordered officials to see […]
Theresa May has ordered her top officials to examine Kraft Heinz’s proposed takeover of Unilever to see if it raises concerns for the wider British economy and merits government intervention. The $143bn takeover approach is a big test for Mrs May’s industrial policy: last year she criticised Kraft’s 2010 takeover of the British chocolate maker Cadbury — the US company reneged on a promise to retain factories […]
special feature Harnessing IoT in the Enterprise The tech revolution is spreading to every corner of the earth with the Internet of Things, and it’s enabling data analytics and automation in ways never before imagined in business. Depending on whose numbers turn out to be right, there will be somewhere between 20 and 200 billion “things” connected to the internet by 2020. We all know about the […]
