Last week, on the heels of a significant decline in Bitcoin prices, Forbes reported that China’s Central Bank is set to launch the world’s first state-backed cryptocurrency. The cryptocurrency will be made available initially...more
In January 2017, Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma was proudly promising to create 1 million jobs in America—a heady promise but one not unthinkable given Alibaba’s massive scale. Fast forward 20 months and a growing Sino-American...more
PM Theresa May’s call for a snap election looked a lot better a few weeks ago than it does on the morning after. But regardless of the outcome (hung parliament, anyone?), the pound sterling sure took it on the chin....more
Klaus Kleinfeld is out as CEO of Alcoa-subsidiary Arconic. Kleinfeld’s two-year tenure was marked by problems, and Kleinfeld did himself no favor with an un-Board-authorized letter that he sent to activist-investor Elliott...more
The Deal Professor thinks that Alibaba’s play for MoneyGram (via its Ant Financial arm) could tell us a lot about how the new administration will handle Chinese investment in the US....more
Some solid non-search-engine growth helped Alphabet post pretty solid Q4 numbers (with profit missing estimates but revenue surging past them)....more
The Journal reported yesterday that more than 6,000 Wells Fargo branches were routinely tipped off to inspections by internal risk monitors, a practice that allowed the bank’s sham-account scandal to go undetected for years....more
Veteran’s Day in the US means Singles Day in China, the world’s biggest shopping day and a major test for Alibaba to keep growing on the day it helped invent....more
Some good news for the UK after a brutal few days for the pound? It appears that the pound’s precipitous fall has acted as a sort of “giant shock absorber” against Brexit—a release valve of sorts that has meant decreased...more
Turns out that the Anbang Insurance Group—the powerful Chinese insurer that’s made plenty of Brief appearances for its massive bids on US hotels, among others—really does live up to its air of mystery, with many of its...more
A nasty May jobs report and fears about China’s markets have probably done in any plans the Fed had to raise rates in June [though maybe it shouldn’t wait much longer]. Here are the 5 things we should be watching when the...more
And just as quickly as he was back on the scene, now he’s gone. With a wipe of the evidence purporting to show he invented Bitcoin and a new post entitled “I’m sorry,” Craig Steven Wright appears poised to fade back into the...more
It’s official now: Yahoo’s keeping Alibaba but spinning off its core internet business and Yahoo Japan. All the details here – NYTimes and WSJ... Some thoughts on what, exactly, that means for CEO Marissa Mayer –...more
It’s already the strongest M&A year in history; why not add two iconic American brands to the mix? Dow Chemical and DuPont are reportedly in “advanced talks” to merge, creating a behemoth with combined sales of more than $90...more
Yale’s Robert J. Shiller (he of the “Case-Shiller Home Price Indices”) offers the reminder that humans aren’t computers as an introduction for the idea that the Fed’s expected move on short-term interest rates doesn’t...more
Remember the suggestion a few weeks ago that Yahoo ditch its core business altogether and focus on its Alibaba stake? Well, it wasn’t just a fleeting idea. Yahoo’s board puts all options on the table later this week – WSJ...more
As in the 9 percent "amusement tax" that the city of Chicago recently extended to online streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, triggering a series of lawsuits alleging that the newly expanded tax was illegally...more