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FORTUNE.COM // DECEMBER 2019
Stacey Abrams became a national sensation in 2018
when she ran an attention-grabbing but unsuccessful
campaign for Georgia governor. Since then, the
progressive Democrat has made it exceedingly clear
that she’s willing to take up the role of VP, if anyone is
offering. A young African-American woman who knows
the South alongside Biden’s Wall Street/Rust Belt
appeal would make the pair a force to be reckoned with.Publicly, Elizabeth Warren may be duking it out on the
debate stage with Julián Castro, but privately she’s
been known to text the former Obama official words of
encouragement. Castro’s strengths counterbalance
Warren’s weaknesses: He’s young, Texan, Hispanic, and
has centered his campaign around immigration reform.
Castro says he’s not interested in being Vice President,
but don’t they all?Bernie Sanders isn’t looking for a VP to moderate his
views or even him out, and he doesn’t need help with
name recognition. That’s why his campaign’s national
cochair, former state senator from Ohio Nina Turner, is a
good bet. Known for her fiery and passionate speeches
and media savvy, this rising star could help secure the
Midwest and African-American votes for Sanders. She’s
nearly 30 years his junior, which doesn’t hurt either.WHO WILL THE Y PICK FOR VP?
(GIVEN THE OPPORTUNIT Y )
tive interest rates. In Ja-
pan and throughout much
of Europe, the benchmark
deposit rate is below zero,
punishing savers and
rewarding borrowers.
This paradox has spread
to the bond markets as
well, pushing many yields
to zero or lower. When
Germany saw the rates
on its two-, 10-, and
30-year bonds, or bunds,
all sink for the first time
into negative territory this
year, investors gulped
hard, wondering, Could
that happen here? In the
U.S., economists think the
direction of the Fed funds
rate in 2020 is more likely
to go down than up but
stay above zero. (Fortune
predicts one fat rate cut,
bringing it to 0.75% to
1.0%.) In Brexit-hit Brit-
ain, anything’s possible.
In underwater Europe,
negative rates are here to
stay for 2020 and beyond.
They may even go lower.
Que c’est bizarre!TESLA RAISES
MONEY ... AGAIN
With 2019 revenues
through September up
20.8% and $5.3 billion
in the bank, Tesla looks
bright. But $1.6 billion
of the cash came from
borrowing; $5.3 bil-
lion in long-term debt
comes due from 2021
to 2025; and $1.4 billion
in contractual obliga-
tions hit through 2022.
Revenue was up 21%, but
gross margins dropped to
16%, and even a surprise37
Women CEOs in the Fortune 500:
The number of women at the helm of
Fortune 500 companies currently stands at 35, a
historic high for our index. We expect that number
to increase as a push for board diversity leads to
more women getting the top job.third-quarter profit left
the first nine months with
a $967 million loss. Add
growing competition, and
the electric-auto maker
will need to hit an ATM.A RETAIL SWITCHEROO
Call it the depart-
ment store do-si-do.
Saks Fifth Avenue owner
Hudson’s Bay will finally
succeed in going private.
It will then spin off its
Canadian namesake
chain, use the money to
buy Neiman Marcus, and
merge it with archrival
Saks. After that, it will
close a third of each
banner’s stores to reduce
overlap, take the result-
ing luxury department
store powerhouse public,
and use the IPO proceeds
to pay down Neiman Mar-
cus’s enormous debt.VSCO GIRL’S
IMPACT
Whether or not
“VSCO girl”—a teenage
girl who enjoys oversize
T-shirts, Hydro Flask
water bottles, backpacks,
and Birkenstocks—is
a real thing or not, she
highlights some actual
consumer trends among
Gen Z. Named after the
popular photo-filter
app VSCO (pronounced
“viss-koh”), she could
negatively impact sales
of traditional makeup and
give a boost to natural
cosmetics like those from
Clorox-owned Burt’s Bees
and New York brand
Mario Badescu.Despite whispers out of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. that
President Trump would love to replace Mike Pence
on the ticket with his former UN Ambassador Nikki
Haley, the truth is he can’t. Pence is well-liked among
Republicans on Capitol Hill and is a vital buffer while
impeachment is on the table.
BI