WeWork Shares Near Zero After Potential Bankruptcy Concerns
WeWork (WE.N) shares approached zero yesterday after the one-time startup unicorn warned it could go bankrupt in a stunning reversal of fortune for a company that was once privately valued at a staggering USD 47 billion.
Disney Hikes Streaming Prices As Iger Moves To Reassure Investors
Walt Disney (DIS.N) CEO Bob Iger acknowledged that the entertainment company faces a “challenging environment” in the near term yesterday, but he emphasized progress in cutting costs and focusing on creativity, even as quarterly results portrayed Disney’s soft spots.
Oil Prices Fall Despite High U.S. Fuel Demand
Oil prices fell in early Asian trade today after reaching fresh highs in the previous session as concerns about the Chinese economy offsets the positive impact of steep drawdowns in U.S. fuel stockpiles and Saudi and Russian output cuts. Brent crude fell by 0.2% to USD 87.35 a barrel while West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) fell by 0.3% to USD 84.17.
Today’s News
President Joe Biden moves to impose limits on U.S. investments in China as a means of restricting the country’s ability to develop a new generation of military and surveillance technologies that might pose as a threat to national security.
The order was announced yesterday; it would regulate all U.S. investments in some Chinese semiconductor, quantum computing and artificial intelligence firms.
It was signed after almost two years of deliberations that saw China hawks argue for faster, tougher action while others, including the Treasury Department, sought narrower measures that would take much longer to go into effect.
While details of the new imposition still need to be ironed out, the language of the order suggested that the Treasury and those advocating a more cautious approach has won out.
The order, which will not be taken into effect until next year, will not be retroactive and will exclude sectors such as biotechnology. It may end up exempting passive investments as well as those in publicly traded securities, index funds and other assets as well.
Other related news includes:
U.S. VCs Disapproves Of New Imposed Order
U.S. investors who spent years fighting strict limits on their ability to invest in China scored a victory yesterday when President Joe Biden released an order imposing only light curbs on the flow of money to the world’s second-largest economy.
But many of those same venture firms disapprove of the notion and have made it known that these future restrictions — whether from the Federal government or individual states, will be far less investor-friendly.
Factory Prices Drop As China Deflation Affects Prices
China slid into deflation in July, adding pressure on policymakers to step up monetary and fiscal support even as signs that the decline in prices is only temporary, it may limit stimulus.
The consumer price index dropped by 0.3% last month from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday, marking its first decline since February 2021. Surveys predicted an approximate 0.4% decline in prices.
Investors Prepare For U.S. CPI As Markets Wrap
Equity markets in Asia fluctuated today following a tech-led sell-off on Wall Street as investors await U.S. monthly inflation data that will help shape the outlook for the Federal Reserve’s next steps.
Japanese and Australian shares rose after initial declines, mainland China stocks climbed while Hong Kong and South Korean equities fell. U.S. equity futures advanced, retracing declines on underlying benchmarks yesterday. The S&P 500 fell by 0.7%, while the Nasdaq 100 dropped by 1.1%, weighed down by a 4.7% drop for Nvidia Corp., as investors rethink the artificial intelligence frenzy that has helped propel tech shares to new highs this year.
