Breakingviews
Zimbabwe's new quasi-currency fails the smell test
LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) - Zimbabwe's new quasi-currency has a trust issue. That's hardly surprising for a country scarred by hyperinflation. Harare's new “bond notes” could help address its epic economic problems – but it’s a big ask.
Samsung sets cautious tone with activist fund
HONG KONG (Reuters Breakingviews) - Samsung Electronics has set a cautious tone with activist investor Elliott Management. The South Korean conglomerate says it will consider using a holding company structure. It's a measured but welcome response to the U.S. fund's restructuring proposals. Plans to boost dividends and buy back more stock also show the group is serious about improving relations with shareholders.
Time Inc owners could yet thank Bronfman
NEW YORK (Reuters Breakingviews) - Time Inc owners may yet send a note of thanks to Edgar Bronfman Jr. The former Seagram heir teamed up with Warner Music owner Len Blavatnik to make a bid for the $1.4 billion magazine firm - an offer which was rejected, according to the New York Post. The 30 percent mooted premium sounds decent for an indebted publisher with falling sales.
S&P; faces Catch-22 over South Africa downgrade
LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) - Standard & Poor's faces a classic Catch-22 in deciding whether to downgrade South Africa's sovereign debt. All things being equal, S&P; would use a Dec. 2 review to become the first of the three main ratings agencies to cut the emerging market nation's foreign-currency debt to junk status. Yet it will be reluctant to take a step which could make things worse.
Foreigners welcomed to Shenzhen innovation bubble
HONG KONG (Reuters Breakingviews) - China has welcomed foreign fund managers to play in the hottest corner of its volatile equity markets. Unfortunately the government's rhetorical support for "indigenous innovation" led to overheated share prices. That and other market distortions should warn off the cautious investor.
Castro embodied the weakness of strongmen
NEW YORK (Reuters Breakingviews) - Charismatic Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who has died aged 90, resembled other paternalistic strongmen of right and left in his outsized ego, which ultimately stymied his people. Cubans, like other Latin Americans, need institutions more than saviors.
Cox: Liberal elite owe gratitude to Trump voters
NEW YORK (Reuters Breakingviews) - This is the week when all Americans give thanks for the bounties bestowed on them by the Blessed Creator and recall the challenges faced by the Pilgrims when they landed at Cape Cod and relied upon the mercy of the Wampanoag people to survive their first brutal winter. It is also a time to reflect on the cornucopia of riches Donald Trump's rise to the presidency has showered on so many of the offspring of those founders, particularly on the American coasts. Her
Markets' 1980s revival looks a flawed throwback
LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) - Financial markets are having a retro moment. The prospect of big tax cuts and higher interest rates in the United States have given government bond yields and the dollar a boost. Investors are drawing parallels with the 1980s, when similar policies held sway. There are good reasons, though, to doubt that asset prices will mimic the past.
Review: Accounting isn't dead, just depreciating
LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) - A gunmaker's stock plunges following the election of a firearm-friendly U.S. president, because a victory for his rival might have sparked a last-minute sales rush. A German bank's shares slump after the country's chancellor reportedly vows not to bail it out. In both cases, new information leads to a significant change in the company's value. And in both, financial accounts would have been no use whatsoever.
Breakdown: India's self-inflicted cash crunch
HONG KONG (Reuters Breakingviews) - Narendra Modi's gamble will cost India the title of the world's fastest-growing large economy, at least in the short term. That is the result of the prime minister's shock move, announced on Nov. 8, to outlaw 500 and 1,000-rupee notes. That removes almost $250 billion of bills, 86 percent of the currency by value, from circulation. Breakingviews examines the far-reaching consequences.
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Reuters Breakingviews is the world's leading source of agenda-setting financial insight. The company was founded in 1999 as Breakingviews.com and was acquired by Thomson Reuters in 2009, becoming the Reuters brand for financial commentary. Every day, we comment on the big financial stories as they break. Our expert analysis is provided by a global team of correspondents based in New York, Washington, Chicago, London, Paris, Madrid, Hong Kong, Beijing and Singapore. For the full commentary and analysis service from breakingviews.com, including regular emails containing the latest views, contact sales@breakingviews.com. All opinions expressed are those of the authors.