Germany’s E.ON SE, already one of the world’s largest electricity suppliers, is taking over Ovo Energy’s residential electric service in the U.K. to become Britain’s largest electricity company, serving 28 percent of households.
Category: TRENDS ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC FRONT – May 12 2026
SPOTLIGHT: CHINA’S ECONOMY STRENGTHENS
China’s exports shot up 14.1 percent in April in dollar terms, year on year, almost doubling the 8.5 percent growth that analysts in a Bloomberg poll had expected.
SPOTLIGHT: THE IRAN WAR’S DEEPENING ECONOMIC SHOCK
Ongoing volatility in the price of oil could shave 1.75 percent off the value of world trade by the end of next year, the private Global Trade Alert (GTA) research organization reported.
SPOTLIGHT: IRAN WAR SUPERCHARGES SHIFT TO CLEAN ENERGY
Simon Stiell, the United Nations official in charge of its program addressing climate change, calls it an “immense irony:” a world leader – Stiell did not name the person – who has dismantled clean energy programs at home and championed greater use of fossil fuels is “inadvertently supercharging the global renewables boom.”
SPOTLIGHT: PRIVATE CREDIT ALERT
The $2-plus-trillion private credit industry is “untested” in a sharp economic downturn, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) pointed out in a report on the private credit market released last week.
AI CHIPMAKER SAMSUNG IS NOW WORTH $1 TRILLION
The market value of South Korea’s Samsung Electronics reached $1 trillion on 6 May, thanks to demand for its AI-related memory chips.
GOING OUT OF BUSINESS TRENDS
The “going out of business” trend is spreading. What began as a retail-centric downturn has evolved into a broader contraction hitting restaurants, healthcare providers, manufacturers, and regional employers.
WHEN THE ECONOMY FALLS, JOBS GO WITH IT
Hiring is slowing, wage growth is losing ground to inflation, and layoffs are quietly expanding across more industries.







