News

Investors who struggle to see the connection between real yields, as expressed by the US Treasury market, and the unreal valuation of technology stocks with no earnings should read Eric Platt and Colby Smith’s article (Report, April 20). I would add one rider to the analysis; the valuation of US Treasuries and real yields in

Derek Brower’s Big Read (April 14) correctly details US efforts to increase near-term oil and natural gas supplies to address shortages resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But history shows that high prices and security anxieties generally increase US policy efforts to reduce oil consumption. This suggests the Biden administration can use newly urgent energy

Distinguished Professor Emeritus Huw Price says that “universities should turn their backs on fossil fuel funding” (Opinion, April 12). I admit to being the recipient of such funding — apparently deemed unworthy — for over a decade. The King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology-Oxford Centre for Petrochemical Research (KOPRC), established in 2010, seeks out

Robert Shrimsley’s excoriating assessment of Boris Johnson is spot on (“Johnson is dragging his party down”, Opinion, April 14). My concern is the impact his transgressions will have on hundreds of decent, hard working Conservative local councillors who give up their time to serve their communities. (I am not one.) I know some of my

Back in January, Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Holdings sent this letter to investors: Dear Pershing Square Investor, Beginning on Friday and over the last several days, we acquired more than 3.1 million shares of Netflix, making us a top-20 shareholder in the company. The opportunity to acquire Netflix at an attractive valuation emerged when investors

Peace talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin over the invasion of Ukraine are doomed, said Boris Johnson, and it is vital the west continues to supply Kyiv with the weapons it needs to rebuff Moscow’s offensive. The UK prime minister’s comments came as the Pentagon said aircraft spare parts transported to Ukraine were allowing its

Novavax has published the first clinical data for a combined Covid-19 and flu vaccine, with promising initial findings that a two-in-one shot could be safe and effective. The trial, conducted in Australia, studied the combined shot in almost 650 people aged 50 to 70. An initial analysis found that their immune responses were similar to

The head of the IMF has said Ukraine will need $5bn a month for the next three months to plug the hole left by the crippling impact of Russia’s invasion on the country’s finances. Kristalina Georgieva, the fund’s managing director, said the IMF would discuss Ukraine’s financing needs with the country’s partner governments. Georgieva suggested

I’ve been thinking a lot about age, and ageing, at work. When I see people decades younger than me in senior corporate positions, I realise that they must have planned and been smart about their goals and ambitions. I didn’t have a career plan in my 20s or 30s — and neither did any of

When Jack Calland, a South African masters student at the London School of Economics, was told one-fifth of his classes would be cancelled last term he took matters into his own hands. Having been charged more than £23,000 for his international development degree, he decided to withhold his tuition payments in protest over “extortionate” rates

The secret to successful food delivery is to manage a speedy pick up and drop off without letting the grub go cold or misplacing half the order on the way. The mouthful that is Just Eat Takeaway.com may do all right handling dinner from the local pizza place or kebab shop. But in its corporate

The acting head of London’s Metropolitan Police has admitted the force is grappling with a “wider issue” of cultural problems rather than just “a few bad apples”. Sir Stephen House, who is temporarily leading the Met after Dame Cressida Dick stepped down, told MPs on Wednesday that he would like to dismiss officers accused of

Michael Pettis is a finance professor at Peking University and a senior associate at the Carnegie China Center. China’s recently released economic data illustrate just how difficult it has been for the authorities in China to implement economic policies to expand sustainable domestic demand. While first-quarter GDP grew nominally by 8.4 per cent year on

Multinational companies continue to pay almost 200,000 employees based in Russia despite pledges to suspend or end activities in the country, raising fears of mass sackings or nationalisations as hopes fade for a swift end to war in Ukraine. A string of western companies from McDonald’s to Renault committed to paying thousands of employees’ wages

A few moments ago, money markets began pricing in, with 100 per cent certainty, a half percentage point interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve next month. It seems certain that we’re in for the most aggressive global central bank tightening cycle in decades. Data snaphot from Bloomberg: And a prescient chartbook just dropped through

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, bars and retailers have been delisting Russian brands in protest and, in some cases, theatrically pouring the liquor down the drain.  At the last count, UK sales of Russian vodka were down seven per cent according to NielsenIQ. Bestseller Russian Standard, which is distilled in St Petersburg, leaves a gap in the

Several hundred GlaxoSmithKline workers have voted to go on strike after rejecting a below inflation pay rise, setting the stage for an industrial battle unusual in the pharmaceutical industry. Unite, the union representing the workers at manufacturing sites across the UK, said the strike would be the first in the drugmaker’s history. Unite members voted

Dear reader, British householders basked in Easter holiday warmth at the weekend. A few have even returned to work sporting tans gained in their back gardens. The political climate is chillier. Autumn will bring colder weather, big price rises for domestic heating and voter discontent. In October, the UK’s latest rolling energy price cap, which

Oxford BioMedica warned that uncertainty over the future of its contract to manufacture AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine would cause revenue to decline this year, sending its share price down 6 per cent. The London-listed company said there was a “pause” in vaccine manufacturing while it was in talks with AstraZeneca about whether to extend the supply

ESG “is the Devil Incarnate”, Elon Musk wrote on Twitter this month. The Tesla and SpaceX chief executive has obvious reasons for discomfort with the ESG agenda. While Tesla can boast uniquely impressive environmental credentials, having kick-started the global electric car industry, its social and governance record is more problematic. There have been serious allegations

The best thing about Frieze Art Fair, or any international art show for that matter, is the potential for superlative people-watching. Forget the crazy installation pieces by artists with single syllable names and Old Masters selling for the annual GDP of a small nation; when it comes to stealth-wealth dressing, no environment is better for