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Chinese hydropower: Dammed fast
Pots of ink are expended when China’s turbine makers catch new gusts or the star of its solar manufacturers brightens or dims. By contrast, the old-fashioned business of damming rivers to produce power...
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Alliance Boots and Walgreens: The world’s biggest pharma buyer
Less than three weeks after the demise of Schlecker, Germany’s biggest pharmacy chain, Walgreens of the US bought a 45% stake in Alliance Boots of the UK. The US$6.7bn cash-and-share deal will create...
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Barclays and Libor: Best of the worst
In evidence submitted to a parliamentary committee, Barclays offered a curious defence of its practices as a member of the panel of banks that submits quotes for daily Libor fixings. In his hearing...
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Interbank lending rates: Internally inconsistent
Financial authorities around the world are investigating whether banks, like Barclays, submitted false quotes to interbank rate-setters in order to boost trading positions or give a rosier impression...
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Pharma: AstraZeneca disappoints again
AstraZeneca was always going to take a hit this quarter after losing patent protection on many of its key drugs. But its second-quarter results were even worse than most analysts expected, with revenue...
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Natural gas prices: Liquefied plans?
A few months ago, natural-gas traders in Asia were excitedly recalling the boom days of 2008. Back then, cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) fleetingly sold for US$20/million British thermal units...
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Standard Chartered’s settlement: Outlier
On the eve of a potentially embarrassing hearing with New York financial regulators, Standard Chartered settled the charges of illicitly processing transactions with Iran, paying a US$340m penalty and...
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LNG in Australia: Tankers on the horizon
As the world enters a “golden age of gas”, liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Australia is poised to play a key role in meeting the world’s growing energy needs. In a new report, the Economist...
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Crop insurance: Losses by the bushel
The widespread drought that is devastating crops across America’s farm belt will also inflict heavy losses on insurers. Estimates of the severity of the impact vary widely, as the final reckoning will...
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Oil prices: Mixed message
Since the end of June, oil prices have been steadily climbing, regaining much of the ground lost during a plunge in the second quarter. Brent crude futures are now around US$115/b, more than US$23/b...
View ArticleBank valuations: Premium Russian brand
Earlier this week, Russia’s central bank sold a 7.6% stake in the country’s largest lender, Sberbank. The offer—twice oversubscribed—priced at Rb93 per share (US$3.04), raising around US$5.2bn for the...
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Oil and gas in North America: Independence day
Shale gas, you might think, is old hat. As a topic of conversation, the “revolution” in US natural gas production—in which innovative techniques including hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) have opened...
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China’s retail market: Double dragon
Things change quickly in the retail sector, especially in China. Over the next five years, the Chinese market will roughly double in size, overtaking the US—the current market leader—for the first...
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American car demand: Baby Boomers’ flagging thirst for petrol
The American auto industry owes a lot to the Baby Boom generation. Born between 1946 and 1964, this group’s penchant for driving more—and more often—than other groups fuelled a long boom in car sales....
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Dealmaking at HP: Buyer’s remorse
Another quarter, another multi-billion-dollar writedown. Computer maker HP’s latest results include the blockbuster revelation of a US$8.8bn impairment to goodwill and intangible assets related to...
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HSBC’s settlement: It’s all relative
The landmark US$1.9bn settlement between US authorities and HSBC is by far the largest of its kind. The bank’s “wilful and dangerous practices” allowed its American unit to process transactions for...
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US banks: Reality bites
The initial results of the Federal Reserve’s latest round of bank stress tests are out. Only Ally Financial, the majority government-owned auto lender, saw its core capital—the Tier-1 common ratio, to...
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Renewable energy: Mixed picture
The latest survey of global renewable-energy investment by the Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-profit organisation, paints a relatively sorry picture. Last year, funds devoted to solar plants, wind farms...
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Broadband in Australia: LTE v NBN
While the debate still rages over Australia’s US$32bn fibre rollout, blanketing most of the country with superfast fixed-line broadband connections over the next eight years, the country’s...
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The Keystone XL pipeline: Leaky data
The controversy over the proposed Keystone XL pipeline to pump oil from Alberta’s tar sands to the US continues to generate heat. President Barack Obama’s perennial postponement of a decision enrages...
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