COMMODITIES
Glencore shares on the rise
Commodities miner and trader Glencore PLC this week sought to reassure investors over concerns about its debt load, as shares rose for the third time in four days. Shares rose 1.1 percent to ￡0.92 by 8:02am in London yesterday, narrowing this week’s loss to 5.4 percent. The shares have endured a roller-coaster week after it plunged a record 29 percent on Monday before recovering much of those losses in the following two days.
MEDIA
FremantleMedia buys Kwai
FremantleMedia, the television producer and distributor behind shows such as The X Factor and Family Feud yesterday said it bought a majority stake in French producer Kwai to boost its scripted television portfolio. The investment by FremantleMedia, which is owned by Bertelsmann SE’s RTL Group, is part of a strategy to form partnerships to create content that can cross international borders. Financial details were not disclosed. Kwai, which is run by Thomas Bourguignon, the creator of French detective series Femmes de Loi, is to produce scripted series that appeal beyond France, FremantleMedia said. Kwai shot two French television films earlier this year, and upcoming series include Republican Gangsters for Canal Plus and Godzilla for Arte.
OIL
US lifts oil export ban
A bill to lift the 40-year-old ban on US oil exports passed the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, but the future of the measure is uncertain in the full chamber, after a controversial amendment was added to it. The bill, sponsored by Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat from oil-producing North Dakota, passed 13 to 9. Heitkamp was the only Democrat to vote for the measure. Senator Pat Toomey, a Republican of Pennsylvania, added an amendment to the bill that would make Iran compensate US victims of Iranian backed terrorism, language that senators said would doom the bill’s future.
INTERNET
Facebook tests video profile
The world’s largest social network is testing new profile videos that can be created from phones and would replace a still profile photo. The seven-second, looping videos play automatically when you look at someone’s profile page. The videos can include sound that would play only if you click on the video. For now, only some iPhone users in California and the UK have access to the changes. Any Facebook user can see them. Facebook Inc does not have a specific date for expanding the feature.
RETAIL
Recreational pot legalized
Marijuana sales for recreational use began in Oregon on Thursday, as it joined Washington state and Colorado in allowing the sale of a drug that remains illegal under US federal law. Oregon residents 21 years and older can buy up to 7 grams of dried marijuana at about 200 existing medical-use marijuana dispensaries under the new law. Backers hope the law can help curb a flourishing black market, but opponents say it heightens drug use and access by children. Voters in Oregon and Alaska last year approved marijuana use and possession in state-regulated frameworks. Marijuana shops created specifically for the recreational market, like those operating in Washington state and Colorado, are expected to open next year in both Oregon and Alaska.
AUCTIONS
Jack Ma painting to be sold
A painting by Jack Ma (馬雲) and Chinese artist Zeng Fanzhi (曾梵志) that is to be auctioned by Sotheby’s in Hong Kong tomorrow could fetch as much as HK$2.5 million (US$322,577) for charity, according to the auction house. The oil on canvas painting created last year depicts the Earth and is titled Paradise. Ma and Zeng collaborated on the piece to raise awareness of environmental protection, according to the Sotheby’s catalogue. “This is the first time I’ve painted, and to have been able to do it with Fanzhi — I am deeply honored,” Ma, the billionaire co-founder and chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴), is quoted in the catalogue as saying. “Together we have created an earth: to protect the Earth, to protect the oceans, to protect the air,” he said.
ELECTRONICS
Samsung releases Gear S2
Samsung yesterday began selling its new smartwatch in the US, starting at US$300. The South Korean company announced the Gear S2 in August, but gave no details on prices then. The S2 has a circular frame that can be rotated to scroll through notifications and apps. Previous models required swiping, similar to smartphones, which could tire out fingers given how little fits on each screen. The watch itself is also smaller — roughly the size of the larger version of Apple Inc’s Apple Watch. For the first time, Samsung’s smartwatch will work with any Android smartphone, not just Samsung’s, although all features might not work.
COMMODITIES
Interest in Glencore grows
The sovereign wealth fund of Singapore is among investors that have expressed interest in buying a minority stake in Glencore PLC’s agriculture business, according to two people familiar with the conversations. Others involved in preliminary negotiations include Japanese trading houses, such as Mitsui & Co, and at least one Canadian pension fund, said the individuals, who asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential. Citigroup Inc, one of the banks hired to run the sale alongside Credit Suisse Group AG, in an analyst note on Tuesday said that the whole business could be worth as much as US$10.5 billion. Glencore is seeking to sell a minority stake in the unit, which deals in commodities from wheat to cotton and soybeans to sugar.
FOOD SERVICE
Court charges OSI units
Two subsidiaries of OSI Group LLC have been charged in a Chinese court in a year-long food safety scandal that saw the US supplier of meat products probed for allegedly selling out-of-date products. Prosecutors have filed a lawsuit against OSI’s Shanghai and Hebei Husi Foods Ltd (福喜食品), along with 10 employees, accusing the US company’s units of making and selling substandard products, according to a statement posted on a Shanghai government Web site dated Wednesday.
JAPAN
Household spending rises
Household spending in August rose for the first time in three months and the availability of jobs improved to its best in more than two decades, which could temper concerns that the economy has fallen into a recession. The 2.9 percent annual increase in household spending in August was more than the median estimate for a 0.4 percent year-on-year increase and followed a 0.2 percent annual decline in July as consumers bought more cars.
DOLLAR CHALLENGE: BRICS countries’ growing share of global GDP threatens the US dollar’s dominance, which some member states seek to displace for world trade US president-elect Donald Trump on Saturday threatened 100 percent tariffs against a bloc of nine nations if they act to undermine the US dollar. His threat was directed at countries in the so-called BRICS alliance, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have applied to become members and several other countries have expressed interest in joining. While the US dollar is by far the most-used currency in global business and has survived past challenges to its preeminence, members of the alliance and other developing nations say they are fed
LIMITED MEASURES: The proposed restrictions on Chinese chip exports are weaker than previously considered, following lobbying by major US firms, sources said US President Joe Biden’s administration is weighing additional curbs on sales of semiconductor equipment and artificial intelligence (AI) memory chips to China that would escalate the US crackdown on Beijing’s tech ambitions, but stop short of some stricter measures previously considered, said sources familiar with the matter. The restrictions could be unveiled as soon as next week, said the sources, who emphasized that the timing and contours of the rules have changed several times, and that nothing is final until they are published. The measures follow months of deliberations by US officials, negotiations with allies in Japan and the Netherlands, and
Qualcomm Inc’s interest in pursuing an acquisition of Intel Corp has cooled, people familiar with the matter said, upending what would have likely been one of the largest technology deals of all time. The complexities associated with acquiring all of Intel has made a deal less attractive to Qualcomm, said some of the people, asking not to be identified discussing confidential matters. It is always possible Qualcomm looks at pieces of Intel instead or rekindles its interest later, they added. Representatives for Qualcomm and Intel declined to comment. Qualcomm made a preliminary approach to Intel on a possible takeover, Bloomberg News and other media
Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) yesterday said it expects any impact of new tariffs from US president-elect Donald Trump to hit the company less than its rivals, citing its global manufacturing footprint. Young Liu (劉揚偉), chairman of the contract manufacturer and key Apple Inc supplier, told reporters after a forum in Taipei that it saw the primary impact of any fresh tariffs falling on its clients because its business model is based on contract manufacturing. “Clients may decide to shift production locations, but looking at Foxconn’s global footprint, we are ahead. As a result, the impact on us is likely smaller compared to
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