Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-11-02)

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INBRIEF

○ Chinese payment

company Ant Group

raised about

$34.5b

through offerings in

Shanghai and Hong Kong.

The dual listing—the

biggest IPO ever—makes

founder JackMa the world’s

11th-richestperson.

○ Globalcoronaviruscases

topped44.1million,and

deathsexceeded

1.16m

Europehasseena rapid

resurgencein infections,

forcinggovernmentsto

considerreimposingall-out

lockdowns.Germanywill

closeallrestaurants,bars,

concerts,andcinemasfora

monthbeginningNov.2.

○ Turkeycalled

fora boycott

ofgoodsfrom

France,accusing

thecountryof

hostilitytoward

Islam.

○ Shares of German

software maker SAP

slumped as much as

23%

on Oct. 26, the most in

more than two decades.

The company cut its annual

revenue target and warned

that a second lockdown

wave risks hurting demand

into the middle of next year

○ Lee Kun-hee, who

transformed

Samsung

Electronics from

a copycat South Korean

appliance maker into the

world’s biggest producer of

smartphones, televisions,

and memory chips, died

on Oct. 25 at age 78. Lee

had been permanently

hospitalized since a heart

attack in 2014.

○ Spin Master, the

company behind Etch A

Sketch, agreed to acquire

Rubik’s Brand, maker of the

famous cube, for about

$50 million. Hungarian

inventor Erno Rubik created

the colorful plastic brain

bender in 1974. Its sales

have risen dramatically

during the pandemic.

○ AdvancedMicro

Devicesagreed

tobuyXilinxfor

$35billionin

stock,in what

wouldbeoneof

thelargestchip

dealsever.AMD

wantstobuilda

broaderarrayof

productsandtake

onIntel.

○ TheU.S.stockmarketfell

morethan5%overthree

daysstartingonMonday,

Oct.26,asrisinginfections

andtoughershutdowns

addedtoworriesaboutthe

pandemic’seconomichit.

○ “We’re not going to

control the pandemic. We

are going to control the

fact that we get vaccines,

therapeutics, and other

mitigation areas.”

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, responding to the increase in Covid-

cases in the U.S. and a fresh outbreak among several of Vice President Mike

Pence’s aides. Democrats accused the administration of admitting defeat.

Bloomberg Businessweek By Benedikt Kammel

○ The U.S. Senate confirmed Amy Coney Barrett on Oct. 26 to join the Supreme

Court, where she will solidify a 6-3 conservative majority. All the Democrats and one

Republican voted against her, objecting to approving a justice so near the election.

French President Emmanuel Macron

has vowed to crack down on Islamic

extremism following the beheading of a

teacher near Paris on Oct. 16.

p

.

S&P 500 index

10/

3,

10/

3,