Podcast

Viewsroom: Wall Street CEOs’ pay, Sea, Greensill

4 Mar 2021

A plague year for the world was a relatively rich one for the heads of Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo; Southeast Asian tech conglomerate Sea navigated choppy waters to a $127 bln market value; Greensill’s problems may not be systemic, but they’re worth watching.

Viewsroom: Electric cars share some market fever

25 Feb 2021

Toyota, Ford and GM are all trading at their highest level in years as investors start to pick some winners among traditional automakers. Fear of missing the next Tesla, though, means shareholders are keeping the heady valuations for upstarts like latest SPAC target Lucid Motors.

Viewsroom: Breakingviews’ new SPAC needs a name

18 Feb 2021

Blank check mania has crossed the Atlantic, bringing with it hopes of riches for well-connected financiers, underwriters, startup founders and ordinary investors. The U.S. example, though, offers some warning signs, our columnists suggest, as they ponder a vehicle of their own.

Viewsroom: Tesla/bitcoin, Hydrogen, French finance

11 Feb 2021

Elon Musk has gone full cryptocurrency. Tesla’s $1.5 bln bitcoin buy is a wink to virtual-investment, anti-establishment fervor, if a challenge to accounting rules, Richard Beales argues. Meantime, Japanese carmakers are going gaga for hydrogen, and Parisian finance is in tumult.

Viewsroom: Bezos takes step back, Draghi steps up

4 Feb 2021

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is handing the baton to Andy Jassy so he can spend more time with his rockets, a move that’s not always smooth sailing, Jennifer Saba tells Rob Cox. Meantime Mr. Whatever It Takes, Mario Draghi, is summoned to save Italy and Europe’s Hamiltonian moment.

Viewsroom: Short squeeze craziness, Oz in the lead

28 Jan 2021

Something completely wacky is happening with GameStop and a few other stocks favored by short sellers, and it’s likely to end very poorly for some armchair traders, Breakingviews columnists discuss. Plus, a visit to our Melbourne bureau for tennis and Google lessons. 

Viewsroom: Biden’s inauguration, China’s stresses

21 Jan 2021

The new U.S. president arrives with a long to-do list, good intentions and a swelling national debt pile. Gina Chon and Richard Beales talk with John Foley about what to expect. Plus: New lockdowns bring fresh financial problems in China, as Yawen Chen and Pete Sweeney explain.

The Exchange: Sheryl Sandberg on banning Trump

12 Jan 2021

The Facebook COO sat down with Breakingviews’ Gina Chon as part of Reuters Next on Monday to explain why the social network has indefinitely blocked the U.S. president after he incited violence at the Capitol - and why it took so long for the company to come to this decision.

Viewsroom: Siege of the Capitol, Where’s Jack Ma?

7 Jan 2021

The violent occupation of Congress by protesters contesting Donald Trump’s loss of the presidency puts America’s financial safe-haven status to a major test, John Foley tells Rob Cox. And Pete Sweeney weighs in from Hong Kong on the mystery of the Alibaba founder’s whereabouts.

The Exchange: American banks and the urge to merge

21 Dec 2020

U.S. financial institutions have increasingly been teaming up to take on the big four: JPMorgan, Citigroup, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Bruce Van Saun, chief executive of Citizens Financial, one of the top regional lenders, discusses post-pandemic banking with Rob Cox.

Viewsroom: Bank dividends and Chinese rentals

17 Dec 2020

European regulators’ cautious lifting of a ban on bank dividends leaves investors in limbo, plus details of an unusually bold growth strategy from Credit Suisse. And the collapse of China’s WeWork-like apartment rental middlemen has left many young tenants homeless and in debt.

The Exchange: Guy Hands on private equity’s future

15 Dec 2020

The British buyout baron, best known for his disastrous purchase of music group EMI in 2007, now focuses on more modest deals. He joins Liam Proud to discuss Covid-19, ESG, and why the private equity industry’s returns are likely to fall.

Viewsroom: Davos in Singapore, Bob Dylan sells out

10 Dec 2020

The World Economic Forum’s decision to hold its annual chinwag in Southeast Asia instead of Switzerland this coming spring isn’t as simple as it sounds, Davos vets Peter Thal Larsen and Una Galani tell Rob Cox. Meantime, Anna Szymanski breaks down the folk bard’s catalogue deal.

The Exchange: Journey of a vaccine

8 Dec 2020

Covid-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca may soon be available for distribution. But how do you deliver billions of vials across the world? Rob Coyle, pharma head at freight giant Kuehne+Nagel joins Lisa Jucca to discuss how to meet the logistics challenge.

The Exchange: Post-Covid, post-Trump mega-trends

24 Nov 2020

Supply chains may become more diverse or shorter, tech companies with few hard assets will continue to thrive, and the transition away from fossil fuels will present opportunities. Taimur Hyat, COO of $1.4 trln asset manager PGIM, looks to the future with Richard Beales.

Viewsroom: Vaccines suggest light at tunnel’s end

19 Nov 2020

Moderna and Pfizer came out with encouraging news on the fight to immunize the world against Covid-19, giving hope the pandemic’s end is near. Meantime, China’s Sinovac finds its trials are undermined by a puzzling governance disaster. Breakingviews columnists weigh in globally.

The Exchange: Investing in a new macroeconomic era

17 Nov 2020

The U.S. faces a paradigm shift, as the era of monetary policy dominance ends and fiscal action becomes the major driver of growth. So argues Greg Jensen, co-chief investment officer at Bridgewater Associates. He says this means rethinking one’s approach to asset classes.

Viewsroom: Chinese tech crackdown, The vax trade

12 Nov 2020

Beijing took Alibaba, Tencent and others to task over monopolistic practices; and global financial markets got a boost from Pfizer’s revelation that its Covid-19 vaccination may be super-effective. Breakingviews columnists around the world weigh in on both developing stories.

Viewsroom: What Biden bodes for money and markets

7 Nov 2020

Without a clear Senate majority, the former vice president will need to tack to the center when he occupies the White House. For Wall Street that’s a bullet dodged. For other industries, it’s a mixed bag. For multilateral institutions, it’s an improvement from Donald Trump.

The Exchange: Terra incognita

13 Oct 2020

The U.S. faces more uncertainty as 2020 ends, including inflation, antitrust enforcement, and how the next president handles taxes, trade and the post-virus economy. So says Nathan Sheets, chief economist at PGIM Fixed Income. He argues tackling inequality should be a priority.