Disruptive technological innovation, a retreat from globalization, lower interest rates, and a lighter regulatory touch in the U.S. will enable activity in mergers and acquisitions to grow robustly this year after 2024, when dealmaking began to revive after more than two years of stagnation, Bain & Co. reported in its annual analysis of the M&A market.
Category: TRENDS ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC FRONT – Feb 11 2025
TOP TREND 2024: EV GO FU
As sales of electric vehicles (EVs) have slowed, Porsche has announced it will invest €800 million in additional development of internal combustion cars and plug-in hybrids.
OPTIONS TRADERS STILL BETTING BIG ON TECH STOCKS’ SUNNY FUTURE
Despite artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s revolutionary claims about its software that sparked a short-lived tech bloodbath on Wall Street last month, options traders are eagerly wagering that Amazon, Apple, and other megatech companies will see their share prices keep rising into the future.
SPOTLIGHT: TROUBLES CONTINUE IN THE LUXURY BUSINESS
Luxury icon Gucci has fired Sabato De Sarno, its lead designer, after just two years on the job. He was judged to have failed in his assignment to rekindle excitement for the brand.
INDIA CUTS TAXES, INTEREST RATES TO REVIVE STAGNATING ECONOMY
India’s government is cutting taxes and the central bank is lowering its key interest rate for the first time since 2020 in an attempt to revive the country’s sluggish economy.
BANK OF ENGLAND CUTS INTEREST RATE, ALSO GROWTH FORECAST
The Bank of England (BoE) has cut its 2025 growth forecast in half, projecting a 0.75-percent expansion of the U.K.’s GDP this year, not the 1.5 percent it had forecast earlier.
CANADIAN BANKRUPTCIES HIGHEST SINCE 2009
In 2024, bankruptcies in Canada jumped 12.1 percent from their 2023 number to reach their highest in 15 years, data from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy shows.
TRUMP LEAVES TRADE LOOPHOLE OPEN FOR CHINA
U.S. president Donald Trump has left open, for now, a loophole in trade policy that allows small shipments from China to enter the country without paying a tariff or being inspected by customs agents.
TRUMP WILL ATTACH 25-PERCENT TARIFF TO ALL IMPORTED STEEL, ALUMINUM
Donald Trump will place a 25-percent tariff on all steel and aluminum imported into the U.S., he announced on 9 February, including those from Canada and Mexico, both major suppliers of the metals.
OTHER COUNTRIES MAKING TRADE DEALS WITHOUT THE U.S.
A growing number of countries are making trade deals among themselves as the U.S. withdraws behind a wall of tariffs, The New York Times reported.