Over the last two years Facebook has been a regular target of European regulators, and the plan for its new crypto-currency, Libra, is bringing the social media giant under new scrutiny. The FT reports: Facebook’s new digital currency, Libra, is under early scrutiny from the EU’s antitrust regulators, according to two people familiar with the matter. The European Commission has sent out questionnaires to groups involved with the Libra project as part of a preliminary information-gathering operation, amid concerns the currency could unfairly disadvantage rivals, the people … [Read more...]
Tesla Finally Getting the Competition it Deserves?
Companies like GM, Toyota and Nissan have been trying to compete against Tesla for years with sub-par electric vehicle offerings. Inexpensive, but ultimately not up to the standards of vehicles produced under Elon Musk's guidance. Now, however, Tesla's years of minimum competition may be over. High-end automakers like Jaguar and Audi are bringing new models to customers with features and performance that rival Tesla, and according to some analysts are stealing market share from the electric vehicle pioneer. Maggie Fitzgerald reports for CNBC: Competition is weighing on Tesla’s sales, … [Read more...]
Pirates Are Trawling the South Atlantic for Cargo Ship Crews to Abduct
Shipping crews traveling along Africa's West coast are being targeted with increasing frequency by pirates looking to abduct sailors and hold them for ransom. Costas Paris reports for The Wall Street Journal: Armed attackers kidnapped 17 crew members from German and Greek vessels in piracy-troubled waters off the coast of Cameroon in two incidents last week and are seeking “huge sums” for their release, people involved in the matter said. The first attack, on Aug. 14, involved the German-owned MV MarMalaita, a multipurpose cargo vessel owned by Hamburg-based MC-Schiffahrt, which was … [Read more...]
Chinese Lending Slumps on Low Demand
In a sign that the trade war is hurting Chinese business, lending in July fell on weak demand. Grace Zhu reports in The Wall Street Journal: Lending by Chinese financial institutions slumped in July on weakening demand, signaling further economic headwinds from trade tensions with the U.S. and potentially paving the way for more stimulus efforts by Beijing’s policy makers. Chinese banks issued 1.06 trillion yuan ($150.2 billion) of new yuan loans in July, down from 1.66 trillion yuan in June, the People’s Bank of China said on Monday—lower than the median forecast of 1.25 trillion yuan by … [Read more...]
Do Lower Mortgage Rates Matter if House Prices Are Still High?
Mortgage rates are hitting lows not seen since 2016. But do low rates even matter if housing prices are unaffordable? MarketWatch's Jacob Passy reports: “There is a tug of war in the financial markets between weaker business sentiment and consumer sentiment,” Freddie Mac FMCC, -1.54% said in its report. “Business sentiment is declining on negative trade and manufacturing headlines, but consumer sentiment remains buoyed by a strong labor market and low rates that will continue to drive home sales into the fall.” Ultimately, the low supply of homes available for sale will at least partially … [Read more...]
Can You Guess Which Regulator is Upset With Elon Musk Now?
Back in September of 2018, the SEC sued Elon Musk over tweets in which the agency claimed he had made “false and misleading statements.” The issue involved statements Musk had made about potentially taking Tesla private, and funding for that effort which he told his followers was "secured." Now another federal agency is coming for Musk over statements he's made regarding Tesla. This time, it's the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The agency is upset over Musk's claims that the Model 3 sedan Tesla is building has the “lowest probability of injury of any vehicle … [Read more...]
Spy Trains? Are Chinese Trains and Buses Spying on Americans?
Congress is working on legislation aimed at banning the purchase of Chinese bus and rail infrastructure by Americans. Some advocates are happy about protecting U.S. manufacturers, but others are more focused on the possibility that cameras and location tracking devices in Chinese manufactured buses and trains could pose a surveillance threat to Americans. The Wall Street Journal's Terfor Moss and Lindsay Wise report: The effort threatens to further fray U.S. trade talks with China, which wants to become a global player in transport and is already fuming over the U.S. decision to blacklist … [Read more...]
Time to Get Defensive?
The Wall Street Journal's Corrie Driebusch reports a move toward consumer companies in stock markets. Driebusch calls the move "a sign that investors are hedging their bets by picking up shares of firms they believe will provide returns in a struggling economy." You'll notice on my chart below during this century, consumer staples have beaten tech stocks and the S&P 500 index. Now it seems, investors are buying consumer staples in a bid for defense against a potential economic recession. Driebusch writes: One of the hottest stock-trading strategies lately is buying shares of … [Read more...]
Microsoft’s New Success? The Cloud
Microsoft's cloud computing service boosted sales in the fourth quarter by 39%. Angus Loten reports at The Wall Street Journal that the company's success has come from its advantage in understanding large corporations. He writes: The success rests on its technology, combined with an understanding of complex enterprises’ software needs. The company over a period of decades has developed the ability to understand large corporations. This has enabled Microsoft to develop a range of technologies that allows customers to consolidate their purchases with a familiar source. At the same time, it has … [Read more...]
Real Estate: “Foreign Buyers Have All but Disappeared”
For years now major coastal real estate markets have been propped up by foreign buyers. That's changing in the face of slowing global growth. The Wall Street Journal's Laura Kusisto reports: Real-estate agents said the pain from the foreign pullback is palpable when they try to sell high-end condos in Miami and New York or mansions in southern California and Seattle. “Generally speaking, we are in the largest market correction since the Great Recession in New York City,” said Martin Eiden, a real-estate agent at Compass, who has had to cut prices on listings from Midtown Manhattan to … [Read more...]
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