Viewsroom

Breakingviews columnists talk about the big numbers, crunchy deals and nasty spats in global business and economics, offering a weekly dose of financial insight that goes beyond the concise and provocative views readers get from our columns every day.

News
151
Viewsroom: Greensill/Credit Suisse, GE, Diversity
Big names in finance, like Credit Suisse and tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, are suffering collateral damage from the UK supply chain lender’s collapse. The sale of aircraft leasing brings GE closer to CEO Larry Culp’s light-bulb moment. And working fro...
27 min
152
Viewsroom: Wall Street CEOs’ pay, Sea, Greensill
A plague year for the world was a relatively rich one for the heads of Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo; Southeast Asian tech conglomerate Sea navigated choppy waters to a $127 bln market value; Greensill’s problems may not be...
26 min
153
Viewsroom: Electric cars share some market fever
Toyota, Ford and GM are all trading at their highest level in years as investors start to pick some winners among traditional automakers. Fear of missing the next Tesla, though, means shareholders are keeping the heady valuations for upstarts like late...
14 min
154
Viewsroom: Breakingviews’ new SPAC needs a name
Blank check mania has crossed the Atlantic, bringing with it hopes of riches for well-connected financiers, underwriters, startup founders and ordinary investors. The U.S. example, though, offers some warning signs, our columnists sug...
20 min
155
Viewsroom: Tesla/bitcoin, Hydrogen, French finance
Elon Musk has gone full cryptocurrency. Tesla’s $1.5 bln bitcoin buy is a wink to virtual-investment, anti-establishment fervor, if a challenge to accounting rules, Richard Beales argues. Meantime, Japanese carmakers are going gaga for hydroge...
24 min
156
Viewsroom: Bezos takes step back, Draghi steps up
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is handing the baton to Andy Jassy so he can spend more time with his rockets, a move that’s not always smooth sailing, Jennifer Saba tells Rob Cox. Meantime Mr. Whatever It Takes, Mario Draghi, is s...
22 min
157
Viewsroom: Short squeeze craziness, Oz in the lead
Something completely wacky is happening with GameStop and a few other stocks favored by short sellers, and it’s likely to end very poorly for some armchair traders, Breakingviews columnists discuss. Plus, a visit to our Melbourne bure...
23 min
158
Viewsroom: Biden’s inauguration, China’s stresses
The new U.S. president arrives with a long to-do list, good intentions and a swelling national debt pile. Gina Chon and Richard Beales talk with John Foley about what to expect. Plus: New lockdowns bring fresh financial problems in China, as Yawen Chen...
23 min
159
Viewsroom: Predictions and prescriptions (Part 2)
A Joe Biden-Xi Jinping reset will be unsatisfying; China’s economic revival will frustrate critics; Southeast Asia will be the next tech hot spot; HSBC will retreat from America; and Hong Kong’s exchange will rethink deals. Pete Sweeney,&n...
22 min
160
Viewsroom: Predictions and prescriptions (Part 1)
Governments will become activist investors; U.S. airlines will merge; data centres will be the new ESG target; energy giants to consider renewable spinoffs; Tesla will buy Daimler; European soccer gets more American and more. Rob Cox,...
24 min
161
Viewsroom: Bank dividends and Chinese rentals
European regulators’ cautious lifting of a ban on bank dividends leaves investors in limbo, plus details of an unusually bold growth strategy from Credit Suisse. And the collapse of China’s WeWork-like apartment rental middlemen has left many young ten...
25 min
162
Viewsroom: Davos in Singapore, Bob Dylan sells out
The World Economic Forum’s decision to hold its annual chinwag in Southeast Asia instead of Switzerland this coming spring isn’t as simple as it sounds, Davos vets Peter Thal Larsen and Una Galani tell Rob Cox. Meantime, Anna Szymanski breaks down the ...
22 min
163
Viewsroom: Biden’s money team, Bank boss shuffle
The American president-elect has put forward a diverse and competent team of people to oversee economic policy, including Janet Yellen at Treasury. Across the pond, European banks engage in a bit of CEO and chairman musical chairs. Breakingviews column...
30 min
164
Viewsroom: Vaccines suggest light at tunnel’s end
Moderna and Pfizer came out with encouraging news on the fight to immunize the world against COVID-19, giving hope the pandemic’s end is near. Meantime, China’s Sinovac finds its trials are undermined by a puzzling governance disaster. Breakingviews co...
25 min
165
Viewsroom: Chinese tech crackdown, The vax trade
Beijing took Alibaba, Tencent and others to task over monopolistic practices; and global financial markets got a boost from Pfizer’s revelation that its Covid-19 vaccination may be super-effective. Breakingviews columnists around the world weigh in on ...
23 min
166
Viewsroom: What Biden bodes for money and markets
Without a clear Senate majority, the former vice president will need to tack to the center when he occupies the White House. For Wall Street that’s a bullet dodged. For other industries, it’s a mixed bag. For multilateral institutions, it’s an improvem...
19 min
167
Viewsroom: What we’re expecting on election night
If Joe Biden wins Donald Trump’s place as POTUS on Nov. 3, and the Senate turns Democrat, lots of things will change – chief among them tax and economic policy. But big tech companies and China’s Communist Party will gain no reprieve. Rob Cox, Gina Cho
25 min
168
Viewsroom: Asia’s richest man, China dependency
Mukesh Ambani can divide his $200 bln Reliance Industries and still rule, says India editor Una Galani. Meantime, European and U.S. multinationals are growing increasingly reliant on Chinese growth, seeding future financial and political risks, Rob Cox...
25 min
169
Viewsroom: On the road again, Zambia, Super-apps
Airlines columnist Ed Cropley boards his first plane since Covid-19 hit, and experiences travel in the pandemic era on a visit to Munich. He also discusses the financial proxy war over Zambia’s debt restructuring. Meantime, Asia goes mad for all-singin...
19 min
170
Viewsroom: Masks, masks everywhere; Tech breakups
The widespread covering of mouths and noses to stifle Covid-19 has spawned a mini-manufacturing boom, with some downsides, Sharon Lam tells Rob Cox. Yet the economic benefits of mask mandates are plentiful, Lisa Jucca argues from Milan. Plus, Congress ...
19 min
171
Viewsroom: Disastrous debate, Italian soccer deal
The first of the U.S. presidential debates was shambolic, with almost no substance on economic policy for investors or markets to sink their teeth into. On a lighter front, though, Italy’s Serie A soccer league has a chance to regain its glory. Breakin...
25 min
172
Viewsroom: The dream team to fix America’s economy
As voters head into the final stretch of the U.S. presidential election, Breakingviews has released a new interactive tool to help Joe Biden or Donald Trump pick a cabinet of economic all-stars. Listen to our picks for the battling candidates and learn...
33 min
173
Viewsroom: Credit-UBS, Bernard Arnault and Japan
A merger of Credit Suisse and UBS has some merits on paper, but would be bloody in practice, says Liam Proud. Plus, the LVMH billionaire’s impeccably ruthless dealmaking is on full display with the Tiffany takeover. Pete Sweeney and Sharon Lam discuss ...
22 min
174
Viewsroom: Republicans hammer it home
At their quadrennial convention, the GOP didn’t give much insight into what four more years of Trump would look like. But they were consistent in battering the Democrats and Joe Biden as a Trojan horse for socialism and other...
11 min
175
Viewsroom: Democrats pitch normalcy first
The Democratic National Convention wound up four days of speeches and spectacle with no unforced errors, a broadly appealing economic message and, above all, a call for a restoration of broken norms. Next up, the Republicans. Rob Cox, John Foley and An...
14 min