Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2019-06-24)

9

BloombergBusinessweek June24, 2019

PLATINI:

FRANCOIS

MORI/AP

PHOTO.

PARIS: NICOLAS MESSYASZ/SIPA/AP PHOTO. CHAN: JUSTIN CHIN/BLOOMBERG

 IN BRIEF

ByBenediktKammel

○ Donald Trump

ordered an

additional 1,

troops to the

Middle East.

○ French police questioned

Michel Platini, the

former European

soccer chief,

on June 18 as part of a

corruption probe into the

selection of Qatar to host

the 2022 World Cup. He

denies any wrongdoing.

○ Huawei estimates that

U.S. sanctions will clip its

revenue by about

$30b

over the next two years.

The smartphone maker is

said to be preparing for a

drop of as much as 60%

in overseas shipments,

as Google cuts it off from

Android updates and apps

from Gmail to Maps.

○ French billionaire Patrick

Drahi, who made his fortune

in the telecommunications

industry, is bidding

$2.7b

for auction house Sotheby’s.

Rival Christie’s is owned by

another French billionaire:

François-Henri Pinault.

○ Facebook unveiled

plans to launch its own

cryptocurrency. Libra

will be supported by

established government-

backed currencies and

securities to avoid the

massive fluctuations in

value associated with

Bitcoin and other virtual

currencies.  28

○ The nine nations with

nuclear arsenals, including

the U.S., Russia, Israel, and

North Korea, owned

13,

nuclear weapons

collectively at the start

of 2019, according to the

Stockholm International

Peace Research Institute.

That’s down about 600 from

2018, as the U.S. and Russia

reduced their forces.

○ Embattled

DeutscheBank

is considering

itsnextmajor

overhaul.

○ At the Paris Air Show, Boeing made

a comeback, selling $36 billion in jets,

including 200 of the currently grounded

737 Max 8. But Airbus stole its thunder,

racking up almost $44 billion in orders

for its new A321XLR and other planes.

○ The U.S. Federal Reserve

signaled on June 19 it’s

leaning toward at least one

rate cut by the end of the

year, citing soft business

investment, “uncertainties,”

and inflation below its

2% target. It was still

raising rates as recently

as December.

Tensions with Iran are rising after

attacks on two oil tankers in the

Strait of Hormuz. The buildup

comes as Acting Secretary of

Defense Patrick Shanahan withdrew

from consideration to take over the

post on a permanent basis.

○ Lufthansa’s shares fell as much as 12% on June 17 after it cut its profit forecast because of weak demand in Europe.

○ Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht, with assets ranging from construction to oil and gas, filed for bankruptcy protection.

○ Pfizer will spend $10.6 billion to acquire Array BioPharma, which makes a promising targeted chemotherapy.

○ Deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, 67, died of an apparent heart attack during a court hearing.

○ “I don’t think

anybody sane

enough wants

to take up

this job. [Yo

need] to

look after

Hong Kong

interests

as well as

the nation’s

interests.”

Bernard Chan, a top adviser to Hong

Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, when

asked by Bloomberg TV if he wanted

to take over for her. Lam has been

under pressure to resign after millions

of protesters successfully delayed

an extradition bill her Beijing-backed

government was trying to implement in

the city, which enjoys special legal and

economic status under Chinese rule.

People familiar with the plan say the

company may shutter its U.S. equities

trading and create a noncore unit to

wind down as much as €50 billion

($56 billion) in assets.

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