BUSINESS
ESG rush opens opportunities for betting against the angels
A 2008 paper examined the impact of investor aversion to companies in industries such as tobacco and gambling
BUSINESS
Jack Ma/Ant Group: a disruptor who is no longer good for business
Beijing’s unrelenting displeasure with the man behind Ant justifies a steep haircut to the valuation of $316bn mooted before the listing was suspended
TRENDS
EM issuers raise record $191 billion on foreign debt markets in early 2021
Borrowing through eurobonds — debt issued overseas, mostly in dollars, euros and yen — reached a new quarterly peak in the three months to March, according to data from Dealogic and Moody’s Investors Service
TRENDS
Vaccines are working: Charts that show the COVID endgame
In countries that are still struggling to suppress a third or fourth wave, the vaccines have also saved lives
BUSINESS
Vaccine patent gives US government ‘leverage’ over manufacturers
Manufacturers are facing increasing pressure to boost supply by waiving intellectual property rights and sharing technology
BUSINESS
How Credit Suisse rolled the dice on risk management — and lost
Greensill Capital’s fall from grace could cost Credit Suisse’s clients as much as $3 billion
BUSINESS
Global savers’ $5.4 trillion stockpile offers hope for post-COVID spending
Households around the globe accumulated the excess by the end of the first quarter of this year, according to estimates by Moody’s
BUSINESS
Loose monetary policy is today’s biggest market risk
The global equity market capitalisation has reached a record high in relation to global gross domestic product
BUSINESS
Investors brace for ‘major shift’ as momentum and value collide
Value stocks are rising fast and consistently enough to start classifying as momentum stocks as well
TRENDS
Central bank and consumer buying in India and China arrest gold’s slide
Demand for gold jewellery has rebounded in India, with imports hitting a near two-year high in March
BUSINESS
Microsoft/Nuance: The $20-bn voice recognition deal is software giant’s latest random acquisition
The $56 per share offer is more than double the price at which Nuance traded just before the outbreak of the pandemic
BUSINESS
Dollar threatens the emerging markets party
The currencies of developing economies have fared less well than anticipated, while the dollar has gained nearly 3 per cent in the first quarter of 2021
BUSINESS
Spac boom under threat as deal funding dries up
Investors are bogged down by the sheer volume of transactions. Rising valuations are also a turn-off
BUSINESS
US offers new plan in global corporate tax talks
The US Treasury has laid out a plan that would apply to the global profits of the very largest companies, regardless of their physical presence in a given country
BUSINESS
From the Lex: Solid State Batteries could be the answer to EV industry's battery problem
The science behind the lithium-ion batteries that drive the modern world has remained largely unchanged for more than three decades
BUSINESS
The high threshold for further Fed intervention
How far the US central bank would go because of the sharp rise in borrowing costs? The guessing game is on
BUSINESS
Twitchy resilience becomes norm in equity markets
First quarter shows central bank largesse is still the driving force for investors
BUSINESS
Spac boom fuels strongest start for global M&A since 1980
Deals worth $1.3tn in first quarter surpass levels of dotcom boom at turn of millennium
BUSINESS
Greta Thunberg: ‘It just spiralled out of control’
Three years after bursting on to the global stage, what’s next for the most famous climate activist of her generation?
BUSINESS
Archegos poses hard questions for Wall Street
The trouble started when Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley went about dumping multibillion-dollar positions in US and Chinese stocks
BUSINESS
Central bankers’ crypto experiments should put investors on alert
Banks’ digital currencies could displace the rationale for private sector projects
BUSINESS
Markets brace for large shift from stocks to bonds in fund shake-up
Balanced mutual funds are expected to sell $136bn of equities to buy fixed income, according to JPMorgan estimates.
BUSINESS
TSMC: How a Taiwanese chipmaker became a linchpin of the global economy
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the largest contract chipmaker in the world, is building a plant to make 3 nanometre chips.
BUSINESS
Young investors can only learn about risk by taking risks
Over the past year since we first went into lockdown, greater numbers of young adults, propelled by boredom, surplus savings and the fear of missing out (FOMO), have dipped their toes into the kind of investing where they can lose some or all of their money.
