Mr Congeniality: Trump says $200bn China tariffs are better than a ‘phenomenal’ trade deal May 10, 2019 US President Donald Trump has issued an impassioned defence of his tariff hike on $200bn worth of Chinese goods, saying they will bring in more wealth than “even a phenomenal” trade deal. Read more: China threatens retaliation as Trump rolls out $200bn tariff hike In a series of tweets, Trump said talks with China were [...]
Brexit stockpiling helps UK economy bounce back in first quarter of 2019 May 10, 2019 Experts hailed the UK economy’s “resilience” today as it rebounded in the first quarter of 2019 with growth of 0.5 per cent, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Read more: The City powers the UK economy – it must not fall into Labour's hands That is more than double the low 0.2 per [...]
Wanted: A new national statistician to restore the public’s faith in data May 10, 2019 The government has failed to find a new national statistician to oversee the UK’s numbers. And it’s not hard to see why – although the salary of £160k sounds attractive, data nerds can command much more in the private sector, without the additional headache of being in the public spotlight. The job of overseeing the UK’s [...]
Attempts to tackle the ‘problem’ of high pay will end up making everything worse May 10, 2019 The more we learn about what other people earn, the more concern there is about it. Specifically, a political debate is raging over dramatic increases in the pay of chief executives of listed companies. Deemed “unfair” in the widening inequality discussion, pressure is growing from activists and politicians to fix this so-called problem. The latest [...]
US-China trade war: China threatens retaliation as Trump rolls out $200bn tariff hike May 10, 2019 China has warned it will strike back at the US after President Donald Trump’s tariff hike on Chinese goods came into force today. China’s commerce ministry said it “deeply regrets” the move, which sees tariffs raised to 25 per cent on goods worth $200bn (£154bn), and said it would take necessary countermeasures. Read more: US-China [...]
Tapestry shares surge after Coach owner announces $1bn stock buyback May 9, 2019 Shares in luxury fashion group Tapestry surged today after the owner of Coach and Kate Spade announced $1bn ($768m) worth of share buybacks. Read more: Tapestry beats estimates as Coach handbags lure in sales The US holding company beat analysts’ profit expectations when it posted third-quarter results today. Gross profit rose to $916m for the [...]
Chevron drops out of race to buy Anadarko, with Occidental set to begin takeover talks May 9, 2019 Chevron has admitted defeat in the multi-billion dollar battle to buy oil and gas giant Anadarko, handing victory to rival Occidental. Chevron today said it could not beat Occidental’s $38bn (£29bn) takeover offer, which comprises a 78 per cent cash component. Read more: Occidental updates Anadarko bid to beat Chevron's rival offe Occidental's hostile offer [...]
US-China trade deficit falls ahead of crunch negotiations May 9, 2019 The US’s trade deficit in goods and services with China decreased in March, in news that will cheer the Trump administration as it prepares to ramp up tariffs on its largest trading partner. Read more: Global markets in tailspin after Trump threatens huge China tariff rise The country's deficit with the rest of the world [...]
Turkey introduces ‘backdoor’ rate rise as Turkish lira falls to eight-month low May 9, 2019 The Turkish lira has fallen to its lowest level in almost eight months, prompting the country’s central bank to suspend short-term borrowing of government securities, in what has been dubbed a “backdoor” interest rate rise. The country’s embattled currency – which has been under pressure since March – has seen a serious severe downturn since Turkey’s [...]
Whoops… Australia prints 46m banknotes with spelling mistake May 9, 2019 Australia’s latest AU$50 banknote has been printed with a typo hidden in the small print. The word “responsibility” is spelled incorrectly as “responsibilty”, with the third “i” missing, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has confirmed. Read more: Vodafone's Australian TPG merger blocked A total of 46m banknotes are thought to be affected by the [...]