(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Hong Kong’s finance industry is thriving from the great divorce between the U.S. and China. Billion-dollar initial public offerings are on the horizon again, as New York-listed mainland companies seek a second home. The city’s blue-chip index has even revised its weighting rules so tech stocks can feature more prominently. But is this enough to rouse a sleepy stock market? While Hong Kong is on par with Shanghai in terms of total market capitalization, turnover pales in comparison, and it's practically a stagnant pool compared with the very liquid Shenzhen bourse. While mega IPOs are exciting, they are one-time events. Once bankers earn their fees and wave goodbye, trading could languish again.South Korea may offer some insights. One year ago, Seoul was still in a deep bear market, plagued by steep conglomerate discounts and historically low turnover. Now, it’s teeming with life. Since global markets started turning around in late March, the benchmark Kospi index has...
(Bloomberg) -- The fight over who gets to fund J.C. Penney Co.’s bankruptcy is heating up.The U.S. retail giant filed for Chapter 11 protection last month with a $900 million financing package lined up from senior lenders including H/2 Capital Partners LLC and Silver Point Capital LP, according to a presentation at the time. Another set of lenders has lambasted the deal, calling the terms “predatory” in court documents and accusing the other group of strong-arming J.C. Penney.The firms opposing the loan have offered a similarly structured, cheaper financing package that gives Plano, Texas-based J.C. Penney more discretion in bankruptcy, the group said. The retailer’s current loan proposal requires the company go through with an agreed-upon restructuring and gives lenders the ability to veto the plan, according to court papers.“This court and the debtors should not be bullied into yielding to the threats of predatory lending terms that come at the...
Elon Musk is a polarizing figure, to say the least, but the scope of his ambition cannot be denied. After Space X sent its first astronauts into space on Saturday May 30, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives believes the star dust will rub off on Musk’s other venture, Tesla (TSLA).“While SpaceX and Tesla are separate companies despite some R&D cross pollination in some key areas, from a consumer perspective the Musk DNA remains the linchpin to both of these next generation technology stalwarts and we would characterize the historic success of SpaceX as another major shot in the arm to the Tesla brand,” Ives said.Having said that, there’s another catalyst on the horizon. On the surface, Battery Day might not sound like the most exciting event, but as it is a Musk & Co. affair, anticipation is ramping up.The event is expected to take place this month, with Tesla set to reveal several potentially...
The global economy is slowly emerging from lockdowns enacted to beat back the coronavirus. The pandemic isn't going anywhere, however, and hopes of a return to a semblance of normal rest heavily on the speedy development of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.Fast-Tracking Vaccine Programs Vaccine development typically takes about 10-15 years, as it has to go through the same general pathway as that of drugs and biologics. With the advent of new classes of vaccines such as DNA and mRNA vaccines, development timelines could be tightened relative to traditional vaccines.Pandemics in recent history such as the MERS and SARS, also caused by coronaviruses, set in motion several R&D programs that have come in handy in today's scenario, as the new coronavirus shares 80% of its traits with its predecessors.Public-private partnerships have been forged to expedite vaccine programs. In mid-April, the National Institutes of Health announced a co-operative framework...
