Americas

China’s telco suppliers can’t escape spying row

8 Oct 2012

American lawmakers warn that Huawei and ZTE pose a threat to U.S. national security because they are too close to the Chinese state. Such accusations are almost impossible for the targets to contradict. Unless relations improve, the playing field will remain tilted against them.

U.S. jobless dip boosts Obama, but probably a blip

5 Oct 2012

The unemployment rate dropped to 7.8 pct in September, a headline that helped the president’s odds of re-election regain half the ground lost in this week’s debate. But the reality is more of the same - a steady but uninspiring recovery. Jobs will be on the agenda for years.

UK should foster not fear BAE-EADS tie-up

5 Oct 2012

Former Chancellor Alistair Darling says UK interests may suffer if France and Germany held sway over the defence merger. Britain certainly needs safeguards to protect national security. But these can be found. And the alternative - no deal - wouldn’t be in the national interest.

West still rules in global education

5 Oct 2012

The original homelands of modernity - Europe, the U.S. and their close cousins - account for 90 percent of the world’s top 200 universities in the new Times Higher Education rankings. Developing nations are trying to catch up, but this cultural advantage is likely to persist.

Even one-sided Chinese investment has its benefits

5 Oct 2012

Canadian politicians mulling CNOOC’s $15 billion bid for Nexen want equal rights for their companies to pile into China. That seems only fair. But workers and investors in the west gain even if money flows only one way. It’s the Middle Kingdom that misses out by being closed.

Navy vessel caught in hedge fund Argie-bargie

4 Oct 2012

Elliott Capital has seized an Argentine tall ship. It’s the latest twist in a decade-long legal saga to pry a better deal from the country on its defaulted bonds. Argentina screams extortion and wants U.N. support. But Elliott’s move is a win of sorts for creditor rights.

Nixed Chinese wind-farm builder deserves answers

4 Oct 2012

Ralls sued Barack Obama after he took the rare step of blocking its project. Security may be a real concern, but with a costly investment at stake, the veto rationale should be explained clearly. Even if China wouldn’t reciprocate, due process still matters in America.

Californians missing a trick on Proposition 31

4 Oct 2012

Other initiatives on the state’s Nov. 6 ballot - Prop. 30, which raises taxes, and Prop. 32, involving political contributions - have grabbed more attention. But the rambling no. 31 could actually improve government. Suburb-dwellers fearful of city control shouldn’t fret, either.

Commodity traders face up to end of good old days

4 Oct 2012

Trading houses’ rush to diversify sources of capital and shed non-core assets partly reflects straitened financial times. But like Goldman’s decision to go public in the 1990s, it’s also about a generational shift and the need for scale in a changing economic order.

New U.S. stress test needed: higher interest rates

4 Oct 2012

Don’t fight the Fed, the saying goes. The central bank is promising ultra-low rates into 2015. Yet the buildup of low-yielding debt on financial firms’ balance sheets means they may suffer badly if rates jump. The Fed aside, prudent bosses need to avoid fights with history, too.

HP’s services turnaround running low on ink

3 Oct 2012

The $29 bln tech company’s PC and imaging businesses are in decline. Investors had counted on IT services to print better numbers, à la IBM, while HP tries to fix the rest of itself. That’s not happening, for now at least. Boss Meg Whitman’s task just got even tougher.

Oil industry steals page from pharma M&A playbook

3 Oct 2012

Honeywell’s purchase of Thomas Russell was the ninth oil services deal in as many days. Scavenging the deep sea and icy climes requires exploration DNA. Specialized technology is becoming to energy giants what biotech is to the drugs sector. Smaller firms are in big demand.

Do Venezuela debt investors have a death wish?

3 Oct 2012

They’re pushing the country’s 10-year yields to near-historic lows, in what looks like a bet on Hugo Chavez losing at the ballot box or succumbing to illness soon. But neither he nor his policies will be easily unseated. That could mean bond buyers are planning their own funeral.

Nine answers that should win the White House

3 Oct 2012

President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney need to explain how they would fix the U.S. economy when the first of their debates kicks off on Wednesday evening. Breakingviews concocts the nine answers we’d love to hear.

T-Mob-MetroPCS won’t end US telco quest for scale

3 Oct 2012

Scale brings better returns for mobile providers. But a combined T-Mobile-MetroPCS will still lack the wherewithal to compete against giants AT&T and Verizon. That means the new company as well as the likes of Leap Wireless have little choice but to dial up more deal-making.

Deutsche Telekom brightens stateside status quo

3 Oct 2012

Combining DT’s T-Mobile USA with smaller operator MetroPCS is hardly the big bang solution that a sale to AT&T once promised. But adding Metro would bolster T-Mobile’s weak market position, adding customers and spectrum. Cost savings and a stock listing would help too.

Spare a thought for the good old-fashioned merger

3 Oct 2012

Global M&A activity this year, at $1.7 trln, is even more insipid than the headline 16 pct drop implies. It’s hard to find a traditional tie-up among the 30 biggest deals amid all the spinoffs, partner buyouts and nationalizations. Bankers cannot live by such bread alone.

Ethical economy: The EAST cure for unemployment

3 Oct 2012

The Fed and the U.S. presidential candidates are struggling to find a way to fight high unemployment. EAST could help them think more clearly. E is for job-destroying Efficiency, A is for the Asymmetrical result, a Surplus of labour. T is for making jobs the direct policy Target.

Forming ECON Team 4 is next president’s top task

2 Oct 2012

Thanks to the fiscal cliff, whoever occupies the White House won’t have the luxury of choosing the first big legislative priority. Striking a bipartisan mega-deal to fix Uncle Sam’s finances will be priority one. Use our new Dream Team Machine to create an economic delta force.

Super-voting stock hardly super in terms of value

2 Oct 2012

Facebook and Zynga are among the growing number of companies with multiple classes of shares. Yet their returns are worse than for simpler ownership structures over most time periods, new research finds. Investors should consider they’re often giving up more than just control.