Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-01-27)

AGENDA

○ Thousandsofpro-

gunactivistsgathered

in Richmond,Va.,on

Jan. 20 toproteststricter

firearmlawsproposed

byDemocrats,whotook

controlofthestatehouse

lastyear.If thelawspass,

Virginianswillundergo

tighterbackgroundchecks

andseea banonmilitary-

styleassaultrifles.

○ Fevertree,theU.K.maker

offancytonicsandcolas,

losta quarterofitsvalue

in a singledayaftersaying

thatgrowthhadstalledlast

year,a humblingturnforthe

once-high-flyingstartup.

Formernational

securityadviser

MichaelFlynnfaces

sentencingonJan. 28

onchargesoflying

totheFBIabouthis

Russiacontactsbefore

the 2016 election.

U.S.GDPnumbers

forthefourthquarter

aredueonJan.30.

Economicgrowth,

drivenbyrobust

consumerspending,

is forecasttoremain

at2.1%.

Facebookreports

earningsonJan.29.

Investorswanttoknow

wherethenextbigboost

willcomefrom,withthe

company’sfast-growing

Instagramunitshowing

themostpromise.

DeutscheBank

reportsearningsfor

2019 onJan.30.It

wasa brutalyearfor

thelender,whichhas

announced18,000job

cutsanda retreatfrom

somebusinesses.

TheU.S.Federal

Reservesetsinterest

ratesonJan.29.

ChairmanJerome

Powellremainsunder

relentlesspressure

fromPresidentTrump

tocutborrowingcosts.

Apple’sfirst-quarter

earningsaredueon

Jan.28.Itsfocusis

shiftingfromtheiPhone

totheAppleWatch,

AirPodsearbuds,and

otheraccessories,and

serviceslikestreaming.

TheplanemakerreportsearningsonJan.29,thefirsttime

underCEODavidCalhoun,whotookoverlastmonth.The

companyis strugglingtoemergefromitsbiggestcrisis,

withnoendin sighttothegroundingofits 737 Max.

Boeing’sNewBossTriesa Reset

ILLUSTRATION

BY

MINET

KIM.

HONGWEI:

MIKHAIL

METZEL/TASS/GETTY

IMAGES.

LEBANON:

BILAL

JAWICH/XINHUA/GETTY

IMAGES.

KLIMT:

ANTONIO

CALANNI/AP

PHOTO

8

BloombergBusinessweek January 27, 2020

 IN BRIEF

○ A paintingthatvanishedfroman

Italianartmuseum 24 yearsagowas

discoveredhiddenin a wallofthe

exhibitionspace.Expertsconfirmed

theauthenticityofthework,Portraitof

a LadybyAustrianGustavKlimt.

○ Chinasentencedformer

InterpolPresident

MengHongweito

13 ½yearsin prison.

Menghadpleadedguiltyto

chargesthatheaccepted

about$2.1millionin bribes

from 2005 to2017.

Prince Harry spoke publicly for the first time about his decision with his wife,

Meghan Markle, to quit their royal duties and relinquish their “royal highness”

titles, in a drama that’s thrown the British monarchy into crisis.

Global growth will accelerate this

year to 3.3%, from 2.9% in 2019, the

International Monetary Fund said. That

would be the first annual increase in

three years, but it’s lower than the 3.4%

rate the fund projected in October.

○ “I know I haven’t

always gotten it right,

but as far as this

goes, there really

was no other option.” ○ Street protests intensified in

Lebanon, where security forces fired

water cannons and tear gas to disperse

demonstrators in the capital, Beirut.

With the economy in a downward spiral

and the government in chaos, the

country has been rocked by popular

unrest since October.

○ The IMF

predicted

the world

economy will

strengthen.