TECHNOLOGY
Investors gear up for ‘gold rush’ in metaverse hardware
Boom expected in ‘picks and shovels’ underpinning technologies such as headsets, sensors and chips
BUSINESS
The key to 2022 will be how inflation is brought down
In misjudging the risk of rising prices, the Fed gave markets a profitable 2021 but more difficult year ahead
BUSINESS
Lex | Apple: $3tn market value could rise further with new products
Cash creation also remains prodigious, but threat of regulation could be the one thing that halts the charge
BUSINESS
As the ETF world booms, so do the risks
The ETF industry has gone well beyond cloning triceratops, and has for some time now manufactured tyrannosaurs
BUSINESS
Dealmaking surges past $5.8 trillion to highest levels on record
The value of deals was 54 per cent higher than in 2019 before the pandemic
BUSINESS
Electric vehicles: The carmakers wary of going ‘all in’ on batteries
Companies such as BMW and Stellantis are resisting the rush into EVs, believing that the green revolution will be gradual
BUSINESS
Bull market heads into New Year on a shaky foundation
The key is how market conditions can change for the better to justify rising prices
BUSINESS
Lex | 2022 forecasts: and they all lived happily ever after
JPMorgan is hardly the only bull in town. UBS takes investors to task for underestimating “the runway for above-trend economic growth”
BUSINESS
US financial conditions remain easy even as Fed pulls back on stimulus
Despite the hawkish pivot, US stocks have stayed buoyant around record-high levels, while yields on US Treasuries remain stubbornly low
BUSINESS
The old lessons from gold’s new existential crisis
A combination of crypto and climate means the industry is left trying to justify its own existence
BUSINESS
Supply chains: Companies shift from ‘just in time’ to ‘just in case’
Businesses exposed by pandemic shortages and shipping bottlenecks are being forced to rethink their operations
BUSINESS
Retail investors riding the bull market could spur a populist backlash
The fear is one of the dips may turn into another bear market
BUSINESS
The Bored Ape Yacht Club is more than an NFT joke
The astonishing prices being paid for limited edition digital cartoons is a clue to the internet’s future
BUSINESS
Shortages, what shortages? Global markets are delivering
The pandemic put globalisation and capitalism to a test that they passed with flying colours
BUSINESS
How an unknown buyout firm pulled off a $4.5-bn deal with a novel structure
The firm had never executed a transaction, had raised no dedicated buyout fund and maintained only a minimal website
BUSINESS
Fed to pivot to swift action on inflation in face of spiking prices
The US central bank’s more aggressive stance against inflation comes in the wake of US inflation hitting a 40-year high
BUSINESS
Meme mania is reshaping US markets
Many meme stocks that surged earlier this year have recently underperformed. But the trend seems unlikely to disappear
BUSINESS
Emerging markets hit by abrupt slowdown in new foreign investment
The fear mostly revolves around worsening prospects due to the Omicron coronavirus variant and expectations of higher US interest rates
BUSINESS
Lex | Tech IPOs: Newly listed companies are growing more expensive
For fintech, social media, artificial intelligence and marketing software, valuations soared
BUSINESS
Economists predict complete ‘taper’ of Fed bond buying by March-end
This marks an abrupt shift in the economists’ expectations at a time of surging inflation and tumbling unemployment
BUSINESS
Three tech giants control half of advertising outside China
Higher ad revenues show that the digital mode skipped the contraction in other advertising channels in 2020 and is expected to surge this year
BUSINESS
Life at the top gets harder for chief executives
The number of recasts involving the top deck has picked up considerably from the second half of 2020, according to a study
BUSINESS
Apple’s unusual trading points to options explosion and Reddit boards
The up and down moves in Apple shares have been accompanied by a few of the hallmarks of the “meme stock” craze this year
BUSINESS
Lex | World Stock Exchange: A pipe dream technology could make a reality
A world exchange could increase liquidity, improve price discovery and reduce costs
