The U.S. has frozen a planned shipment of hundreds of millions of dollars in cash, due to be sent on 23 August, to Afghanistan now that the Taliban has taken control of the country, The Wall Street Journal reported. Also, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has paused delivery of $450 million in aid it was...
Tag: aug 24 2021
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CHINA CLOSES KEY PORT TERMINAL: TROUBLE AHEAD
A week after detecting a single COVID case among dock workers, Chinese authorities are forcing one of three terminals at the port of Ningbo-Zhoushan, the world’s third-busiest transit point for international shipping, to remain closed. The terminal is a key point from which Chinese goods, from toys to furniture to auto parts, are sent to...
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CHINA PLAYS “TOO BIG TO FAIL” SCHEME
Huarong Asset Management, the financial conglomerate that became an exemplar of recklessness in China’s financial sector, reported gaining financial support from a cadre of state-backed companies after it posted a loss of $16 billion in 2020, The New York Times reported. Huarong gave no details on the amount of support it would receive or when,...
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CHINA SHARE PRICES SLIDE ON GOVERNMENT TECH CRACKDOWN
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng stock index slipped 1.8 percent Friday, ending the week down almost 6 percent; the mainland’s CSI 300, listing the country’s most significant stocks, closed Friday off 3.8 percent. Prices sank under the weight of ongoing government scrutiny and criticism of Internet companies. (See “XI RAMPS UP ECONOMIC ‘CULTURAL REVOLUTION’ IN CHINA,”...
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GLOBAL TRAVEL INDUSTRY REELING
Worldwide, the travel industry lost a billion visitors in 2020, or 73 percent of 2019’s number, researcher site Statista reported. (See “LOCKDOWNS COST U.S. $1.1 TRILLION IN LOST TRAVEL INCOME,” Trends Journal, 23 March 2021.) This year is, if anything, worse. During the first five months of 2021, global travel plunged 85 percent below 2019’s...
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AUTO INDUSTRY CHIP SHORTAGE FALLOUT
Geely Auto, a Chinese maker of all-electric cars (EVs), has warned of possible production cuts because it remains unable to source enough computer chips. The shortage contributed to the company’s first-half sales falling about 10 percent below forecasts made by economists Bloomberg had surveyed, and missing the analysts’ profit target by a third. “Short supply...
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SPECIAL REPORT: BANKSTER BANDITS IN CHARGE—JANET YELLIN’S SECRET MONEY, MEETINGS AND PHONE CALLS
When Janet Yellin was nominated to become Joe Biden’s treasury secretary, she disclosed more than $7 million in speaking fees she collected in 2019 and 2020, mostly from banks, hedge funds, and trading houses. However, she did not reveal the millions she took for speeches she made in 2018 after leaving the chair of the...
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THE “BIGS” BRIGADE BUYING UP THE WORLD
Each week, we report instances where the money junky hedge funds, private equity groups and the already big company swallows another piece of the global economy. Here are some of what the BIGS gobbling up last week…. CME GROUP OFFERS $16 BILLION FOR CBOE. CME Group, the world’s largest operator of futures exchanges, has offered...
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HOTEL CHAIN TESTS A LA CARTE PRICING
MCR Hotels, the fourth-largest U.S. hotel chain with about 20,000 rooms, according to Hotel Business magazine, is testing a la carte pricing for services at a dozen of its inns. For example, guests are charged $20 for an early check-in or late checkout; guests also pay a fee to use the hotels’ fitness centers or...
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FORD HAS A BETTER IDEA? NEW SALES MODEL
Ford is testing a new way of selling cars. In the past, auto makers have cranked out cars with random colors, trim packages, and drivetrain options, then set them on dealers lots’ where customers could choose among them. Now Ford will emphasize making a car to each customer’s custom order, placed online, and delivering it...