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(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. has blocked imports of palm oil and palm oil products from Malaysia’s FGV Holdings Bhd., one of the world’s largest producers.Shipments from the company and its subsidiaries will be held back at all ports of entry effective Wednesday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement. The order is based on what American authorities say is information that “reasonably indicates” the use of forced labor.The move is the latest blow to the palm oil industry after the spread of the coronavirus shuttered restaurants, curbing demand for cooking oil. Malaysia, the second-biggest shipper of palm oil to the U.S. and the world’s second-largest producer, is also grappling with a chronic worker shortage after the pandemic restricted travel.The order is the result of a yearlong investigation that revealed labor abuse of vulnerability, deception, restriction of movement, isolation, intimidation and physical and sexual violence, according to the customs...
AstraZeneca Plc's (NYSE: AZN) coronavirus vaccine development program could hit by further delays, as the Food and Drug Administration has widened the scope of its probe into the halted trial, Reuters reported Wednesday.What Happened: The federal agency is inquiring whether side effects similar to the one seen in the COVID-19 vaccine trial -- transverse myelitis -- also emerged in trials of other vaccines designed by Oxford University, AstraZeneca's partner, Reuters said, citing people familiar with the matter. The vaccines reportedly under review use a modified adenovirus as a vector and target illnesses such as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and the flu.Oxford's vaccines use a chimpanzee adenovirus, ChAdOx1, unlike other vaccine developers that use a human variant. A review of research papers by Reuters found that in one trial, a serious side effect event cited by researchers was classified as unrelated to the vaccine.Another complication that may affect the trial: the...
It is a busy day ahead. Economic data and geopolitics will keep the markets busy....
VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 30, 2020 /CNW/ - Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ: BLDP) (TSX: BLDP) today announced that the Company hosted a virtual "Investor and Analyst Day 2020" event on September 29th....
(Bloomberg) -- Palantir Technologies Inc. fell 5% from its opening trades in its debut as a public company, ending a 17-year tradition of secrecy surrounding the software business co-founded by Peter Thiel.The data analytics company’s share price fell to $9.50 after opening Wednesday at $10 on the New York Stock Exchange. Palantir listed its shares directly on the exchange, rather than raising capital through an initial public offering. As in the three other major direct listings that have taken place, the exchange had set a reference price -- $7.25 for Palantir -- to help guide investors and to allow shares to begin trading.Palantir ended the day with a market capitalization of about $15.7 billion based on its listed shares, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. On a fully diluted basis based on all the shares covered in its filings, the company has a value of almost $21 billion, in line with...
Shares of Memory chip specialist Micron (MU) trended downwards on Wednesday following the release of the company’s FQ4 results.Micron reported revenue of $6.06 billion, a 24% year-over-year increase and coming in ahead of the estimates by $170 million. Non-GAAP (adjusted) net profit almost doubled from the same quarter last year to clock in just under $1.23 billion, resulting in Non-GAAP EPS of $1.08, above consensus estimates by $0.11.So far, so good. What investors did not like, however, was Micron’s forecast of what’s to come next. For the November quarter, Micron anticipates revenue of $5.2 billion, just under consensus calls for $5.3 billion, while the company’s forecast for non-GAAP EPS of $0.47 at the mid-point is also well below the Street’s $0.68 estimate.Soft near-term gross margins on heightened NAND mix and several DRAM ramps along with the loss of Huawei revenue (which amounted to almost 10% of sales in the quarter) are...
