Trafigura forms venture with Phillips 66 for deepwater Texas oil port
Global commodities trader Trafigura said on Friday it had formed a joint venture with U.S. refiner Phillips 66 to build a major deepwater port in Texas capable of handling supertankers, ditching its own competing project.
As coronavirus fears grow, private equity eyes distressed investments
Major private equity firms, which have built up big distressed debt funds in recent years, are ready to snap up assets on the cheap if the coronavirus outbreak causes deeper market disruptions, executives told an industry meeting this week.
Fed’s Bullard: U.S. rate cuts ‘a possibility’ if coronavirus intensifies, not base case
Federal Reserve rate cuts are “a possibility” if the coronavirus outbreak intensifies into a global pandemic, St. Louis Fed president James Bullard said Friday, while adding that market pricing for a rate cut will not force the central bank’s hand.
Wall Street plunges at the open as pandemic fears heighten
U.S. stocks opened sharply lower on Friday as investors dumped equities amid a rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak, which has raised fears of a possible global recession.
U.S. consumer spending slows in January; income surges
U.S. consumer spending rose less than expected in January, a loss of momentum that could be exacerbated by the rapidly spreading coronavirus, which has triggered a sharp stock market sell-off and revived fears of a recession.
Coronavirus panic wipes $6 trillion off world stocks this week
Coronavirus panic sent world share markets skidding again on Friday, putting them on course for their worst weekly fall since the 2008 global financial crisis, with almost $6 trillion wiped from their market value so far this week.
United cuts more flights to Asia, extends China cancellations
United Airlines said Friday it was cutting flights to Japan, South Korea and Singapore and extending flight cancellations to China in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Elliott presses SoftBank to identify $10 billion of investments it holds: sources
Elliott Management Corp is pressing SoftBank Group Corp for details of nearly-$10 billion of investment securities on its balance sheet, as part of its campaign to improve the value of the Japanese conglomerate in which it holds a stake, sources said….
Prudential investors back Loeb but in no rush to execute break-up plan
Shareholders in Prudential Plc have given their blessing to a bid by activist investor Third Point to carve up Britain’s largest insurer but advise against a hasty sale of its U.S business.
Volkswagen reaches $900 million deal with consumers over diesel scandal
Volkswagen and a major German consumer group said on Friday that they had reached an 830 million euro ($902.04 million) agreement in a class action lawsuit over the carmaker’s rigging of diesel emissions tests.