Category: Uncategorized

Demonstrations in Beirut, which began last October against government corruption and income inequality, continue. Last Saturday, police confrontations with protesters led to more than 130 people being injured. The overnight police actions did not stop the thousands who took to the streets the following day to specifically voice antagonism against the nomination of Saad Hariri...

The citywide street demonstrations, now in their seventh consecutive month, show no signs of diminishing. Last weekend, protesters blocked roads, set property on fire, and smashed traffic lights as they battled baton wielding, tear-gas firing police. Hong Kong citizens, from social workers and business people to angry college students, continue to press demands for an...

The latest research from the National Institute of Mental Health is alarming: Over 46 million American adults are suffering some form of anxiety disorder. With Millennials and Gen-Zs, money and work-related issues are the most significant stress factors. In a study published in the Harvard Business Review, half of Millennials (23-38 years old) and, even...

Researchers at the Salk Institute may have found a way to delay, if not cure, aging itself. They worked with mice genetically engineered to develop an illness called progeria that causes rapid aging. In humans, progeria causes children to age at about six times the normal human speed. Skin wrinkles, bones become brittle, and these...

If demand for oil and gas shrinks in the future, oil companies will face the problem of stranded assets: oil and gas deposits they own but can’t sell profitably because the market has moved on to renewable energy and non-petroleum plastics. But there’s another kind of asset that might be stranded: a large number of...

They look like solar panels but, instead of electricity, they produce water. Zero Mass Water, an Arizona start-up, has combined the two technologies. Proprietary materials inside the panel absorb water from the atmosphere, the way that an open bowl of sugar gets lumpy as it soaks up humidity. The panel’s dark surface collects sunshine and...

The Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq sustained its record highs last week, as detailed in our last issue. On the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) front, and as we discussed previously in the Trends Journal, the $70 billion spent in mergers this week spooked the equity markets, where the stock-based mergers (that is, where the buyout...

The economic hardships sweeping South Africa are getting worse. Heavily subsidized industries are failing. Last week, South African Airways (SAA), whose last profit was made in 2011 and is notoriously dependent on state bailouts, filed for bankruptcy protection. Once the country’s biggest airline, SAA felt the blows of a recent strike. Considering the nation’s faltering...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has unveiled Japan’s largest fiscal stimulus initiative, a package worth ¥13.2 trillion ($212 billion) to stall the weakening global economy, particularly in light of a tax on household spending and the expected slowdown after the Tokyo Olympics next summer. The financial package is roughly 1.9 percent of Japan’s GDP over a...

In November, Moody’s downgraded India’s credit rating to negative and is now reevaluating its major oil and gas companies, such as Bharat Petroleum, as well as technology groups such as Tata Consultancy and Infosys, as the country enters its second year of a credit crisis. With default rates at their highest in five years, businesses...