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Where to invest in 2021 Headlines

Illia Yerlash, a Ukrainian army officer, stands among the remains of a...

Rebuilding Ukraine depends on luring private money

Oleksandr Gryban is already thinking of the moment when Ukraine can build again. The war-torn country’s 41-year-old deputy economy minister is aware that Kyiv needs to avoid exhausting the goodwill of its allies, who last year financed the government to the tune of $32 billion in public funds. But the real challenge is to convince sceptical private investors both at home and abroad that Ukraine is a good destination for their cash.

A man walks out of a subway station as he talk on the phone at the...

Beijing expects foreigners to trust, not verify

“A confident, open, and willing-to-share China must be a huge force for world prosperity and stability,” Premier Li Qiang said at a recent international business summit. As top officials move to reassure anxious foreign investors, Li’s statement is true, but implementation is in doubt.

A representation of bitcoin is seen in an illustration picture taken on...

Bitcoin is a solution looking for a problem

Almost one year ago, billionaire Peter Thiel threw $100 bills into the crowd from the stage at a cryptocurrency conference in Miami, likening fiat currency to toilet paper and touting bitcoin as the best alternative. Thiel has said that central banks are "bankrupt" and that the fiat money regime is coming to an end. Since his Miami proclamations, bitcoin’s price has fallen by nearly 40%, though in the last few weeks after Silicon Valley Bank’s failure it has had a resurgence. That suggests people think that Thiel is onto something. Those following his advice are sorely misled.

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon speaks during the Goldman Sachs Investor...

Goldman doubles down on the wealthy, as it should

The last day of February brought the season’s first meaningful snow in Manhattan. But Goldman Sachs’ headquarters at 200 West St. were particularly warm on Tuesday as the firm hosted its second ever in-person investor day in its more than 150-year history. Top bankers, from Chief Executive David Solomon to Chief Operating Officer John Waldron, harkened a return to the old grind of servicing companies and the wealthy, after missing the mark trying to launch a business that would reach the masses. Solomon, though, might still be feeling the chill.

FILE PHOTO: Logo of Bayer AG at a plant of the German pharmaceutical and...

Bayer’s rude health lays better path for breakup

Bayer’s crop of improving businesses looks ripe for a split. The $58 billion drugs-to-seeds conglomerate has for years traded at a hefty discount to the sum of its parts, but refused to do anything about it. Activists like Jeff Ubben’s Inclusive Capital Partners may now, however, be in a better position to push for a breakup.   

FILE PHOTO: A Chinese investor monitors share prices in front of dozens of...

China investors desperately seek market bottom

Tuesday’s rally in China shares may have been based on rumour. But in offshore markets, the value discount on offer is so extreme it makes gambling on false hopes less risky than it might otherwise be.

FILE PHOTO: A cup of Starbucks coffee sits on a table in a cafe in central...

Starbucks’s high-octane plan has warm impact

Starbucks is brewing up a high-octane solution for a low-impact problem. The $101 billion coffee chain spent a chunk of its investor day https://investor.starbucks.com/press-releases/financial-releases/press-release-details/2022/Starbucks-Enters-New-Era-of-Growth-Driven-by-an-Unparalleled-Reinvention-Plan/default.aspx on Tuesday discussing ways to help its restless U.S. workforce. With employees at a smattering of chains having discussed organizing to unionize, incoming Chief Executive Laxman Narasimhan is sure to have a challenge. But revenue is growing thanks to automation. Pretty soon, employees won’t have the same effect.

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