GERMANY
Exports push up growth
Exports and investment propelled growth in the third quarter, putting Europe’s biggest economy in a strong position to weather rising political uncertainty after coalition talks collapsed. Trade added 0.4 percentage points to economic expansion in the July to September period, with company spending on equipment contributing 0.1 percentage points, the Federal Statistics Office said yesterday. GDP increased 0.8 percent — in line with an estimate from Tuesday last week — putting the economy firmly on course for its best annual performance in six years. Government consumption was unchanged in the third quarter from the previous three months, while private spending declined 0.1 percent, the report said.
UNITED STATES
Durable goods orders tumble
Declining aircraft sales brought durable goods orders to their lowest pace in four months last month, while a manufacturing sector tied to the oil industry also swung low, official data showed on Wednesday. Total orders for big-ticket manufactured goods fell 1.2 percent from September, to US$236 billion, the Department of Commerce said. The result surprised economists, who had been expecting a 0.4 percent increase. So far this year, orders are up 4.9 percent over the same period last year.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook to be open about ads
Facebook Inc on Wednesday said it would build a Web page to allow users to see which Russian propaganda accounts they have liked or followed, after US lawmakers demanded that the social network be more open about the reach of the accounts. US lawmakers called the announcement a positive step. However, the Web page would fall short of their demands that Facebook individually notify users about Russian propaganda posts or ads they were exposed to. The tool is to be available by the end of the year, the company said.
AUTOMAKERS
Fiat recalls 8,000 SUVs
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV is telling owners of some small Jeeps not to use the front passenger seat until a problem with the vehicles’ air bags are repaired. The company is recalling about 8,000 2018 Compass SUVs, mainly in North America. Some fasteners can come loose in the passenger air bag assemblies. If the bag is inflated in a crash, it could shoot the fasteners into the passenger area. The company said it has no reports of any injuries due to the problem. The Jeeps were made from Sept. 5 to Sunday. Customers are to be notified next month, and dealers will replace the air bags when parts are available.
FINANCE
HNA unit’s liquidity limited
The short-term debts of HNA Group Co’s (海航集團) main offshore fundraising arm are close to outstripping its ability to meet them, figures provided in documents for the acquisitive Chinese conglomerate’s most recent bond deal show, where the unit paid almost 9 percent for a one-year loan. The documents contain figures for the first nine months of this year and show that the cash and current assets of HNA Group International Co Ltd (海航國際) cover its current liabilities — debts and payments due within a year — with just 8 percent headroom, down from 26 percent at the end of last year. HNA Group declined to comment.
Napoleon Osorio is proud of being the first taxi driver to have accepted payment in bitcoin in the first country in the world to make the cryptocurrency legal tender: El Salvador. He credits Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s decision to bank on bitcoin three years ago with changing his life. “Before I was unemployed... And now I have my own business,” said the 39-year-old businessman, who uses an app to charge for rides in bitcoin and now runs his own car rental company. Three years ago the leader of the Central American nation took a huge gamble when he put bitcoin
TECH RACE: The Chinese firm showed off its new Mate XT hours after the latest iPhone launch, but its price tag and limited supply could be drawbacks China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) yesterday unveiled the world’s first tri-foldable phone, as it seeks to expand its lead in the world’s biggest smartphone market and steal the spotlight from Apple Inc hours after it debuted a new iPhone. The Chinese tech giant showed off its new Mate XT, which users can fold three ways like an accordion screen door, during a launch ceremony in Shenzhen. The Mate XT comes in red and black and has a 10.2-inch display screen. At 3.6mm thick, it is the world’s slimmest foldable smartphone, Huawei said. The company’s Web site showed that it has garnered more than
PARTNERSHIPS: TSMC said it has been working with multiple memorychip makers for more than two years to provide a full spectrum of solutions to address AI demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it has been collaborating with multiple memorychip makers in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications for more than two years, refuting South Korean media report's about an unprecedented partnership with Samsung Electronics Co. As Samsung is competing with TSMC for a bigger foundry business, any cooperation between the two technology heavyweights would catch the eyes of investors and experts in the semiconductor industry. “We have been working with memory partners, including Micron, Samsung Memory and SK Hynix, on HBM solutions for more than two years, aiming to advance 3D integrated circuit
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進) and Episil Technologies Inc (漢磊) yesterday announced plans to jointly build an 8-inch fab to produce silicon carbide (SiC) chips through an equity acquisition deal. SiC chips offer higher efficiency and lower energy loss than pure silicon chips, and they are able to operate at higher temperatures. They have become crucial to the development of electric vehicles, artificial intelligence data centers, green energy storage and industrial devices. Vanguard, a contract chipmaker focused on making power management chips and driver ICs for displays, is to acquire a 13 percent stake in Episil for NT$2.48 billion (US$77.1 million).
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