Month: January 2017

U.S. Money and Local Talent the Growth Plan for European Biotech

For a 28-year-old biotech entrepreneur, Frenchman Xavier Duportet has a standout resume: a PhD in biology and genome engineering from MIT, a lab at Paris’s Louis Pasteur Institute, and award-winning research with his name on it. Still, in Paris, as in capitals across Europe, it’s much harder for him to raise money than for most of his tech peers.

Oil Slips on Concerns U.S. Production is Rising

Oil fell on Monday as signs of growing U.S. production outweighed optimism that many other producers, including Russia, were sticking to a deal to cut supplies in a bid to bolster the market. Brent crude futures were down 96 cents at $56.14 a barrel at 1128 GMT.

Millennials may need to double how much they save for retirement

The projections are in and Wall Street analysts have pretty low expectations for how the stock market will perform this year. A roundup of the figures shows that strategists project the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index will gain 4 percent on average in 2017 – the lowest expected annual gain for the stock market since 2005, according to an analysis by Bespoke Investment Group.

Merrimack Soars on $1 Billion Sale of Cancer Drugs to Ipsen

The Nasdaq-listed cancer drugs developer is up 43% in pre-market trading after promising shareholders special dividends worth more than its closing share price on Friday. Nasdaq-listed Merrimack Pharmaceuticals agreed to sell oncology treatments, including its pancreatic-cancer treatment Onivyde, to French drugmaker Ipsen for as much as $1.05 billion, including benchmark payments.

Continental Earnings Beat Fourth Quarter Expectations, Tips Sales Growth for 2017

The German tire maker’s forecast of a 6% increase in sales are a positive sign for Europe’s automakers but margins could still disappoint. Continental AG shares traded lower Monday after the German automotive parts maker delivered a boost to European manufacturing prospects, predicting increased sales for the coming year on the back of better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings result.

Eurozone unemployment holds steady in November

Eurostat, the European Union ‘s statistics agency, says the number of unemployed in the eurozone fell by a modest 15,000 during the month to a total of 15.9 million. That was the smallest monthly decline since March 2015 – a 57,000 increase in Italy limited the monthly fall.

Deezer Hires Facebook, Spotify Managers to Fight Bigger Rivals

Music-streaming service Deezer SA hired former managers of Facebook Inc. and Spotify Ltd. in a bid to crack the Asian market and differentiate itself from larger rivals such as Apple Music by expanding through brand partnerships. The Paris-based company said it recruited Pascal de Mul, who worked as global head of hardware partnerships at Spotify for five years, and Daud Aditirto, who spent the last four years working on growth alliances at Facebook in Asia.

Fresenius Medical Care Slumps After Patient-Aid Subpoena

Fresenius Medical Care AG fell the most in almost seven months after saying it had received a subpoena in the U.S. over premium-assistance programs that support dialysis patients on private insurance plans that can be more lucrative for providers. Fresenius said the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts is investigating its connections to the American Kidney Fund, which manages a patient-assistance program for the private plans.

Tillerson Ethics Plan Foreshadows Knotty Trump Confirmations

Rex Tillerson’s disclosure that he stands to receive a $180 million cash payout from Exxon Mobil Corp. if he becomes the next U.S. secretary of state offers a preview of the thorny ethical questions that may be raised this week over a presidential cabinet stacked with tycoons. And with confirmation hearings scheduled for Tillerson and eight other appointees of President-elect Donald Trump, the head of the federal office that helps ensure compliance with conflict-of-interest rules told lawmakers his agency is hard-pressed by too much work and too little time.

Why the China Manipulator Label Looks Increasingly Appealing to Trump

A man buys a Chinese newspaper, with the headline that reads “Outsider strikes back”, featuring Donald Trump on the front page in Beijing on Nov. 10. Donald Trump wasn’t the first U.S. presidential candidate to blast China for manipulating its currency for trade advantage since the century began, but it’s increasingly likely he’ll be the first to follow through on the threat once in office. That’s the perspective of economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch led by Helen Qiao, chief Greater China economist at the bank in Hong Kong, whose views have evolved in recent weeks given the sustained protectionist rhetoric coming from the incoming president.

European Stocks Called Firmly Higher Amid Pound Slump

European stocks are expected to open firmly higher Monday following a Friday record in the U.S. that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average come within a whisker of the 20,000 barrier. Britain’s FTSE 100 will likely add around 0.32% at the start of trading, according to financial bookmakers IG, with similar percentage gains anticipated for benchmarks in Germany and France.

Jaguar Land Rover and Rolls-Royce car sales rise

Rolls-Royce delivered 4,011 cars to customers in 2016, a 6% increase on the previous year and its second highest sales record in its 113-year history. Chief executive Dr Ralf Speth said last year that the company wanted to double production from 500,000 to one million cars a year, but that it would depend on government support.

Italy to Meet Alitalia Executives as 1,600 Job Cuts Said to Loom

As the new Italian government of Paolo Gentiloni hammers away at a rescue plan for beleaguered lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, it’s suddenly contending with another corporate crisis: the future of Alitalia SpA. Executives from key investor Ethiad Airways and Alitalia — which went bankrupt in 2008 after rescue attempts involving the state and private investors failed, and which teetered on the brink of collapse in 2014 — are set to meet Italian ministers on Monday, the carrier based in Abu Dhabi said in a statement Sunday.

McDonald’s agrees China franchise sale

McDonald’s has agreed to sell 80% of its business in China and Hong Kong, as part of plans to franchise more of its restaurants worldwide. China’s state-owned investment group Citic, and US private equity firm Carlyle Group, will take control of the operations in a deal valued at $2.1bn .

CES 2017 Catapults a Connected World

CES 2017 showcased the connected future of technology. With more than 3,800 exhibiting companies and exhibit space of more than 2.6 million net square feet, CES 2017 was a record-breaker, welcoming the world’s biggest companies in addition to hosting more than 600 startups at the Eureka Park Marketplace.

Guangzhou Auto Seeks to Be First Chinese Carmaker to Crack U.S.

Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., which produces cars in China with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, plans to start exporting its own brand of automobiles to the U.S next year and become the first Chinese carmaker to begin retail sales to American consumers. GAC, which created its Trumpchi brand in 2010 after being a production partner for foreign carmakers for more than a decade, will start a research and development center in Silicon Valley in the first half of this year to prepare for the company’s entry to the U.S., the company’s President Feng Xingya said.

In Trump era, NHTSA must lead on safety

Dale Kardos is a regulatory affairs consultant in Washington, D.C. He is also the founder of Mobilis Trading, which offers an online auction platform for buying and selling regulatory compliance credits. I am in the regulatory affairs business, so every year around this time, I put together a list of regulations I think the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will issue in the new year.

Asian Millionaires Fund European Soccer Teams in Hunt for Yield

Wealthy Asian investors unwilling to splurge on owning their own European soccer teams are showing their enthusiasm by helping fund the sport. Sales of football finance notes, backed by television rights of soccer clubs, doubled to $11 million last month from the amount issued in April, when they were opened to investors in the region, according to data from Swiss-Asia Holding Pte.

View Press Release

CES 2017 showcased the connected future of technology. With more than 3,800 exhibiting companies and exhibit space of more than 2.6 million net square feet, CES 2017 was a record-breaker, welcoming the world’s biggest companies in addition to hosting more than 600 startups at the Eureka Park Marketplace.

4K Uhd Atsc 3.0 TVs from LG

LG Electronics is introducing the first ATSC 3.0-enabled 4K Ultra HD TVs to support the US-wide deployment of the next-gen TV broadcast standard in South Korea. Starting spring 2017 – in advance of the 2018 Winter Olympics – new 2017 models of LG 4K Ultra HD TVs and large-screen LG smart TVs sold in Korea will have both ATSC 3.0 and ATSC 1.0 tuners.

Alphabet Says its Autonomous Cars Needed Less Human Help in 2016

Vehicles tested in California by Waymo, the autonomous car company owned Google parent Alphabet Inc., had a much lower rate of “disengagements” last year, compared with 2015. Disengagements happen when a human tester needs to take control of a self-driving car, either to avoid an accident or respond to technical problems.

GOP Should – Show Their Cards’ on Obamacare Redo, Obama Says

Republicans should “show their cards” with a better Obamacare replacement before taking steps to repeal the law, President Barack Obama said in an interview on his signature health program. “Republicans have to go ahead and show their cards, if in fact they have a program that would genuinely work better,” he said Friday in a webcast interview with the online news outlet Vox in Washington.

Net neutrality critic in driver’s seat on GOP tech policy

Marsha Blackburn Net neutrality critic in driver’s seat on GOP tech policy GOP Rep. Blackburn gets key tech subcommittee gavel GOP lawmakers slam Assange after Trump praise, highlighting Russia rift MORE was tapped Friday to chair a key technology subcommittee, putting her in the driver’s seat on Republican efforts to pare back the controversial net neutrality rules. As chairwoman of the House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, Blackburn will have a key role in deciding Republicans’ stance.

Morgan Stanley, UBS Said to Plan Boosting China JV Stakes

Morgan Stanley and UBS Group AG are in talks with local partners to boost holdings in their China securities businesses, a sign of growing confidence in those operations, according to people familiar with the matter. The banks are engaged in separate discussions on raising their stakes to 49 percent, the maximum allowed under current regulations, the people said, asking not to be identified because the negotiations are confidential.