Activist investor calls Hong Kong market rout
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Six weeks ago, David Webb, an activist investor and former director of the Hong Kong exchange, issued a report titled “The Engima Network: 50 stocks not to own”. On Tuesday, most of the shares he named abruptly plunged, pointing …
Japan, EU press ahead on free trade pact to counter U.S. protectionism
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese and European Union negotiators meeting in Tokyo aim to reach a free trade deal that would stand against a protectionist tide threatening the global economy, and make the United States think twice over pursuing inward-looking …
Philips to buy medical device maker Spectranetics for 1.9 billion euros
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch healthcare company Philips has agreed to buy U.S.-based Spectranetics Corp , a maker of devices to treat heart disease, for 1.9 billion euros ($2.16 billion) including debt, as it expands its image-guided therapy business.
Japan Tobacco tries to catch up with rival in smokeless tobacco
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan Tobacco Inc said on Wednesday it hoped to catch up with Philip Morris International Inc in smokeless tobacco by expanding the number of smoke-free restaurants and public places that allow its vaping product.
Oil pipeline firms’ discounts rile clients, roil markets
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. pipeline operators are selling their underused space at steep discounts to keep crude flowing – angering shippers and distorting an already opaque market for oil trading.
Euro, bond yields drive higher on ECB scale-back bets
LONDON (Reuters) – The euro hit a 1-year high on Wednesday and German 10-year Bund yields continued to rise after doubling the previous day, as bets grew that the European Central Bank is readying to scale back its 2-trillion-euro stimulus programme.
‘Pharma bro’ Martin Shkreli’s notoriety slows New York jury selection
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Jury selection in the New York trial of former drug company executive Martin Shkreli will enter its third day Wednesday, after some potential jurors said they could not be fair to a man who gained notoriety by raising the price of …
Toshiba faces shareholders with no chip unit deal signed
CHIBA, Japan (Reuters) – Japan’s Toshiba Corp faced shareholders at its annual meeting on Wednesday with no deal in hand for the sale of its prized flash memory chip unit and a long list of humiliating setbacks to apologise for.
Madoff settlements reach $12 billion with new accords
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The trustee recouping money for Bernard Madoff’s victims on Tuesday announced nearly $371 million of new settlements with two groups of offshore funds that invested with the imprisoned Ponzi schemer, boosting the total recovery to …
‘What’s the rush’ on interest rate hikes, asks Fed’s Kashkari
(Reuters) – With inflation low and wages showing little sign of an upward surge, the U.S. Federal Reserve should not be raising interest rates, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said on Tuesday.
