UNITED STATES
Defaults hit seven-year high
The total debt shouldered by residents has hit another record high, rising to US$13.5 trillion in the last quarter, while an unusual jump in student-loan delinquencies could provide another signal that the economic expansion is growing old. Flows of student debt into serious delinquency — 90 or more days — increased from 8.6 percent in the second quarter to 9.1 percent in the third quarter, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported on Friday. That propelled the biggest jump in the overall delinquency rate in seven years.
CHINA
US bond holdings hit low
Holdings of US Treasuries fell to a more than one-year low as the world’s second-largest economy takes steps to stabilize the yuan, which is under pressure from the trade war. Holdings of US bonds, bills and notes declined for a fourth month to US$1.15 trillion in September, from US$1.17 trillion in August, the US Department of the Treasury said in a statement on Friday. The country remained the biggest foreign creditor to the US, followed by Japan, whose Treasury holdings were little changed at US$1.03 trillion.
FRANCE
Roadblocks protest fuel tax
Drivers were planning to block roads across the country to protest rising fuel taxes, in a new challenge to embattled President Emmanuel Macron. Protesters pledged to target tollbooths, roundabouts and the bypass that rings Paris yesterday. The government prepared to send police to remove protesters and threatened fines. The taxes are part of Macron’s strategy of weaning France off fossil fuels. Many drivers see them as emblematic of a presidency considered to be disconnected from day-to-day economic difficulties.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Tesaro interested in buyout
Tesaro Inc, a drugmaker whose shares tumbled this month after disclosing disappointing clinical trial results, is exploring a sale, people familiar with the matter said. The company is working with financial advisers after receiving takeover interest, the people said, adding that advisers have also begun contacting other potential suitors.
INTERNET
Gett seeks cash to beat rivals
Gett Inc, the ride-hailing app valued at more than US$1 billion and backed by Volkswagen AG, is looking for buyers in a bid to compete with larger rivals, people familiar with the matter said. The Israeli tech company has approached potential bidders including other car-hire firms, the people said. Gett might sell its entire business or offload regional operations outside of its home market, the people said.
ENTERTAINMENT
Minority head to step down
Channing Dungey, the first African-American executive to lead a major broadcast network, is stepping down. Walt Disney Co-owned ABC on Friday said Dungey has decided to exit as ABC Entertainment president. She would be replaced by Karey Burke, a programming development executive at ABC sibling channel Freeform. Dungey’s departure comes as Disney reorganizes in preparation for buying 21st Century Fox Inc.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group