Well, well, well, looks like the price of natural gas for consumers has fallen again by a whopping 7.1% on a monthly basis. And don’t get us started on petrol, which has dropped by over 4%. But, hold on to your seats folks, because despite another solid monthly increase in the number of jobs created, the Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point again. I mean, why wouldn’t they? A little hike here and there never hurt anybody, right?
The IMF has slightly reduced its estimate of growth in the world economy to 2.8% this year. It expects America’s GDP to increase by 1.6% and the euro area’s by 0.8%. However, the UK’s GDP could shrink by 0.3%. The fund said that “the fog around the world economic outlook had thickened”. I mean, who wouldn’t feel a little hazy after all the recent stress in financial markets caused by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse? Oh, and let’s not forget about the dangers from investors pricing in lower interest-rate increases.
Ueda Kazuo, the new Bank of Japan’s governor, has reiterated his commitment to sticking, for now, with the central bank’s ultra-loose policy of negative interest rates and controls on government-bond yields. Because let’s face it, why not make things a little bit more interesting in the slow-burning world of finance, am I right? In December, the bank raised its cap on ten-year government-bond yields, from 0.25% to 0.5%, amid market pressure, because, you know, we can’t have them feeling left out now, can we?
China’s cyberspace regulator has outlined new rules for dealing with generative artificial intelligence. Seems firms need to submit security reviews to the authorities before releasing new technology to the public. Content generated by chatbots must follow China’s “core socialist values” and not “subvert state power”. Just another day in the life, right? Meanwhile, the American government has asked for public feedback on a proposal that could subject new AI bots to a certification process, because if there’s one thing we need in this world, it’s more bureaucracy.
Press reports suggest that SoftBank is preparing to sell most of its remaining stake in Alibaba, leaving it with a holding of around 4%. The Japanese conglomerate once owned 34% of Alibaba. SoftBank was also reportedly ready to finalize a decision on listing Arm, a chip designer, with an IPO on the Nasdaq exchange. I mean, who doesn’t like a little bit of a gamble? Go big or go home, am I right?
Revenue and profit surged last year at ByteDance, the privately held Chinese firm behind TikTok and its Chinese version, Douyin, making an underlying annual profit of $25bn, which is more than the net profits reported by Alibaba and Tencent. Revenue was $80bn, around the same as Tencent. Because when it comes to social media, we just can’t seem to get enough, can we?
Warner Bros Discovery has announced a new combined streaming service called Max, merging high-quality programming from HBO with unscripted filler from Discovery. The hope is that the combination of quality and reality TV will help it catch up with Netflix and Disney+. I mean, what’s better than zoning out to some high-quality tele while binging on some reality TV?
EY (formerly Ernst & Young) has abandoned a plan to separate its auditing and consulting businesses to tackle conflict-of-interest issues. The plan was opposed by senior executives in EY’s auditing division in America, who were worried that their lucrative work on companies’ taxes would end up in the new consultancy. Ditching the split has reportedly caused anger among those partners who would have received a pay-out. Oh no, we can’t have people getting angry now, can we?
Finally, Tupperware, the company that once marketed its food containers through Tupperware parties, is on the verge of bankruptcy. Cheaper products have flooded the market, and their fate will be sealed if they can’t improve their short-term liquidity. Looks like the famous Tupperware parties will no longer be the talk of the town.
