(Bloomberg) -- Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s quarterly revenue grew a better than expected 34%, signaling that Chinese consumer sentiment is recovering at a rapid clip from its Covid-19 trough.China’s most valuable corporation reported sales of 153.8 billion yuan ($22.2 billion) in the June quarter, surpassing the 148.1 billion yuan average forecast. Net income was 47.6 billion yuan, also beating the 24.5 billion yuan projected.Alibaba’s online marketplaces and logistics network is bouncing back from China’s coronavirus-induced lockdowns. The e-commerce giant is benefiting from a gradual pick-up in consumer spending in China, whose economy is among the first globally to recover from the pandemic. Alibaba and close rival JD.com Inc. racked up record sales during a June shopping event this year, as heavy discounting lured shoppers who had delayed purchases during the national lockdown. At the same time, it needs to fend off growing competition from the likes of JD, Tencent Holdings Ltd.,...
The furor surrounding mail-in ballots and the U.S. Postal Service is perceived a carefully orchestrated effort by President Donald Trump to eventually challenge the results of the general election....
(Bloomberg) -- Banks and other lenders have found a way to potentially make billions of dollars from the coronavirus-fueled upheaval in the U.S. mortgage market -- yet it risks burning bond investors in the process.The earnings would come from an unanticipated side-effect of Congress’ decision in March to allow homeowners affected by the pandemic to delay loan payments for as long as a year, combined with arcane regulations governing mortgage-backed securities.The net result is that lenders would get the chance to buy tens of billions of dollars in mortgages out of bonds for less than their current market value -- transactions that can hurt investors. Banks including Wells Fargo & Co. and U.S. Bancorp are already buying, frustrating bond holders who say the purchases are leading to losses. Lenders counter that the practice is hardly risk-free and has more to do with accounting issues than trying to score a quick profit.“The...
Harvard Medical School professor, Dr. Dan Barouch, joins 'Influencers with Andy Serwer' to discuss his experience with the coronavirus and his progress in the search for a vaccine....
