Investing

Dow component Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and junior partner BioNTech SE (BNTX) have chosen their BNT162 mRNA-based vaccine candidate for advanced trials, following positive results that raise hopes for a COVID-19 vaccine. The companies have already inked deals with Canada and Japan to supply millions of doses if the compound reaches the manufacturing stage, ensuring profitability.

US stocks climbed on Tuesday, following sharp gains in Europe, leaving Wall Street’s benchmark barometer within touching distance of the all-time high it set before the coronavirus-induced market tumult. The S&P 500 rose 0.5 per cent at the start of trading to about half a per cent below the peak it reached in February, before

The last time Credit Suisse was neck and neck with the likes of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs as a top underwriter of equity offerings, the Zurich-based bank still had the words First Boston in its name. But this year, it has one major Wall Street trend to thank for putting it back in the

The price-to-earnings ratio (P/E ratio) compares the share price of a company to the earnings it generates per share. The formula used to calculate this ratio simply divides the market value per share by the earnings per share (EPS). The typical calculation of the P/E ratio uses a company’s EPS from the last four quarters.

Leaders of a new Thai pro-democracy movement are publicly criticising the powerful monarch King Maha Vajiralongorn, violating a deeply embedded taboo and risking jail in the south-east Asian kingdom.  The protesters, who are mostly university and high school students, have held demonstrations in more than half of Thailand’s 77 provinces, according to organisers and human rights

Companies and lawyers are rushing to work out the implications of US sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials, which have raised temperatures between the world’s two biggest economies. The measures, announced by the Trump administration on Friday, are in response to a draconian national security law Beijing has imposed on Hong Kong. China on

Trump signs executive order and three memoranda as Congress fails to agree Adds a new program to replace expanded unemployment benefits of up to $400 a week. Federal student loan payments deferred, interest waived No extension of federal eviction moratorium Payroll tax deferred for employees earnings below $100K a year President Trump announced over the weekend plans

The US secret service shot a person outside the White House, President Donald Trump said, shortly after he was abruptly pulled out of a press briefing. The president told reporters on Monday that a person had been shot and taken to hospital outside the White House, but gave few other details. Mr Trump said he

A stack of Starlink internet satellites just before a launch. SpaceX SpaceX is manufacturing its Starlink satellites at an unprecedented rate for the space industry, analysts say, as the company dives headlong into building a space-based global internet service. Elon Musk’s company told the Federal Communications Commission in a presentation last month that its  Starlink unit

US struggles with pandemic as caseload tops 5m Peter Wells in New York Total coronavirus cases in the US topped 5m on Monday as the country worst hit by Covid-19 has struggled to get the pandemic under control. Johns Hopkins University data showed that cumulative cases reached the milestone on Sunday, while the death toll

An option is a financial instrument whose value is derived from an underlying asset. Purchasers of call options gain the right, but not the obligation, to buy the underlying asset (such as a stock) at a predetermined strike price on or by a predetermined expiration date. All options contracts give the holders the right, but not the obligation,

Shares of Eastman Kodak plunged more than 40% during premarket trading on Monday after a federal agency said it was reviewing a previously announced $765 million loan for the onetime photography pioneer to produce drug ingredients. “Recent allegations of wrongdoing raise serious concerns. We will not proceed any further unless these allegations are cleared,” the U.S.

When US secretary of state Mike Pompeo last month declared in a speech that China was intent on “hegemony”, it was yet another sign of how much has changed since Donald Trump wrote in a tweet in March about his “respect” for President Xi Jinping. As the pandemic has devastated the US economy, imperilling his

Shares in Eastman Kodak opened 40 per cent lower on Monday after the federal government said it would not move forward with a heavily scrutinised $765m loan until allegations of potential wrongdoing were cleared. Shares in the company slipped to $8.90, down 85 per cent from a peak it reached last month after the company

Forward Rate vs. Spot Rate: An Overview The precise meanings of the terms “forward rate” and “spot rate” are somewhat different in different markets. But what they have in common is that they refer, for example, to the current price or bond yield—the spot rate—versus the price or yield for the same product or instrument

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai has been arrested for allegedly breaching the city’s new national security law in the most high-profile detention since the legislation was imposed by Beijing in June. Six others, including two of Mr Lai’s sons and other executives of Next Digital, Mr Lai’s media group, were also detained by the

Belarusian riot police cracked down on opponents of strongman Alexander Lukashenko on Sunday night, using tear gas and stun grenades to disperse protests that broke out in the wake of a contentious presidential election. An official exit poll put Mr Lukashenko on course to win 79.7 per cent of the vote, while his main rival,

What Is Capital Budgeting? Capital budgeting involves choosing projects that add value to a company. The capital budgeting process can involve almost anything including acquiring land or purchasing fixed assets like a new truck or machinery. Corporations are typically required, or at least recommended, to undertake those projects that will increase profitability and thus enhance

What is the future of batteries? From smartphones to drones to electric cars, the current source of energy is the lithium-ion battery. But start-ups in Japan are battling to create high-performance power packs that could become the next global standard. In the port city of Yokohama, a company’s phone never stops ringing. “Can we test the performance?” “We want

Weekend news you might have missed … The US unemployment rate fell to 10.2 per cent in July from 11.1 per cent in June, while employers added fewer jobs than June as the economic rebound from the pandemic was hindered by a jump in Covid-19 cases in the American south and west. The US labour

Investing in foreign assets has proven the merits of diversification, and most individual investors take advantage of the benefits of international assets. However, unless the foreign securities have been issued in U.S. dollars, the portfolio will experience currency risk. Currency risk is the risk that one currency moves against another currency, negatively affecting an investment’s

TikTok is the go-to social media app for American teens, the place where they post their latest dance videos, slam dunks, or — in the case of those who used it to try to thwart US president Donald Trump’s June rally in Tulsa — conduct their political activism. It has also become the centre of

Spencer Platt | Getty Images As earnings season wraps up, analysts are reviewing their short-term and long-term take on the stocks they cover. While some companies delivered blowout quarters (see below), other stocks are suffering as global restrictions continue. And while government-backed stimulus programs can provide some relief, the truth remains that the pandemic- and

EU restrictions on national budgets that were suspended because of the Covid-19 pandemic will not apply again until 2022 at the earliest, the EU’s economy chief has confirmed, as a resurgence in cases adds to an already very uncertain outlook. Brussels took the unprecedented step of activating an escape clause in the bloc’s budget rules

Revenue generated from drug production in the United States has more than doubled in the past 10 years. In 2016 alone, the U.S. brought in more than $328.6 billion in prescription drugs sold in retail outlets. The major key to this high revenue is repetitive price increases. Drug companies have an unusual ability to function

Russian discount grocery chain Magnit says a coronavirus boost to revenues has accelerated its turnround and helped it resume its challenge to market leader X5. Chief executive Jan Dunning told the FT that Magnit’s growth after several consecutive quarters of declining sales was vindication of its efforts to focus on customer experience and offer lower

Szilard: scientific epiphany turned to fear of what nuclear weapons could do © Bettmann Archive In The Bomb, a new podcast from the BBC World Service, the American writer and journalist Emily Strasser recalls a photograph in her grandmother’s house near Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which showed her grandfather standing in front of a mushroom cloud.

India is a quickly developing country that has adopted a mixed economic system post-independence, with the government remaining involved in several key industries. In fact, seven Indian companies made it to the latest 2019 Global Fortune 500 list and four of them are in the public sector. Here we take a look at the five largest

Police on Saturday rained tear gas and rubber bullets on thousands of Lebanese demonstrators who blame the government for a massive explosion that killed more than 150 people and devastated much of the capital. As downtown Beirut erupted in clashes between security forces and protesters, Prime Minister Hassan Diab called for early elections and said

President Donald Trump has signed four executive orders aimed at helping Americans cope with the economic fallout from the pandemic, following the collapse in talkswith Democrats over a Congressional rescue package. Mr Trump approved one order that would partly renew unemployment benefits that were included in a previous stimulus package which expired last month. He