Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 20 October 2021

Wed Oct 20 09:49:18 CAT 2021

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 20 October 2021

 <https://www.nedbank.co.zw/> 

ü  IMF warns Afghanistan's economic slump will impact neighbours

ü  Morrisons: Shareholders approve £7bn takeover deal

ü  Facebook settles US worker discrimination claims

ü  Credit Suisse fined over Mozambique tuna scandal

ü  Qantas charged in row over Covid cleaning risks

ü  Amazon, Ikea and Unilever pledge zero-carbon shipping by 2040

ü  Asian shares advance on earnings optimism, yen slips to 4-yr low

ü  AI can see through you: CEOs' language under machine microscope

ü  'They'll have to pay': Malaysia chip crunch triggers new era in supply
deals

ü  China's new home prices stall for first time since COVID-19

ü  Bitcoin sits below all-time high after U.S. ETF debut

ü  Micron to build $7 bln plant in Japan to expand DRAM production - report

ü  Rio Tinto aims to halve carbon emissions by 2030

ü  Nigeria: How Buhari Unlocked $10bn Potential Investment in Oil Sector -
APC Group

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

IMF warns Afghanistan's economic slump will impact neighbours

Afghanistan's economic woes could fuel a refugee crisis impacting
neighbouring countries, Turkey and Europe, the International Monetary Fund
has said.

The economy will contract by up to 30% this year - which could push millions
into poverty and cause a humanitarian crisis, the fund warned.

The IMF said Afghanistan's neighbours would be further hit because they rely
on its funds for trade.

Bordering Tajikistan has said it can't afford to take in many more refugees.

With foreign assets frozen and most non-humanitarian aid halted, inflows of
cash to Afghanistan have all but dried up.

In its regional economic outlook, the fund said: "A large influx of refugees
could put a burden on public resources in refugee-hosting countries, fuel
labour market pressures, and lead to social tensions, underscoring the need
for assistance from the international community."

Cost to neighbours

While it's unclear how many Afghan refugees there would be, the IMF
estimates that if there were to be a million more, hosting them would cost
Tajikistan $100m (£72m), Iran $300m and Pakistan $500m.

Last month Tajikistan said it could not afford to take in large numbers of
refugees unless it received international financial assistance while other
Central Asian nations have said they have no plans to host refugees.

Afghanistan crisis: G20 leaders pledge to avert economic catastrophe

US and Taliban discuss aid in first direct talks since US exit

Nearby countries will also be hurt by the loss of Afghanistan as a major
trading partner.

The country used to receive huge amounts in foreign aid. The UK government
estimates OECD countries donated $65bn to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2019 -
much of this used to filter through to nearby Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan,
and Uzbekistan through trade.

The IMF also warned there are concerns that funds going into the country may
be used to finance terrorism and launder money.

Last week, members of the G20 group of major economies pledged to put
billions of dollars into the Afghan economy to avert an economic
catastrophe.-BBC

Morrisons: Shareholders approve £7bn takeover deal

Shareholders in the supermarket chain Morrisons have approved a
multi-billion pound takeover offer from a US private equity group.

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) can now continue to take over the UK's
fourth-largest supermarket group.

Morrisons said 99.2% of shareholders voted in favour of the £7bn ($9.7bn)
deal.

The takeover had been the subject of fierce competition from two US-based
investment groups.

The CD&R private equity group won the auction early in October with an offer
of 287p per Morrisons ordinary share, against a rival bid from Fortress, for
286p per share.

CD&R's auction offer was slightly higher than the 285p-a-share offer that
was recommended by Morrisons' board in August.

In July, Morrisons turned down an offer worth £5.5bn from CD&R, saying it
significantly undervalued the business.

The takeover marks a return to the UK grocery sector for Sir Terry Leahy,
the former chief executive of Tesco, who is a senior adviser to CD&R.

Morrisons chair Andrew Higginson said: "We thank shareholders for the strong
support received at today's meetings.

"We remain confident that CD&R will be a responsible, thoughtful and careful
owner of Morrisons and we will now move forward with the remaining steps in
the acquisition process."

There has been speculation that Sir Terry could be appointed as chair of
Morrisons.

On Tuesday, Sir Terry said: "We are very pleased to have received the
approval of shareholders and are excited at the opportunity that lies ahead.

"The particular heritage, culture and operating model of Morrisons are key
features of the company and we will be very mindful of these during our
tenure as owners.

"We very much look forward to working with the Morrisons team, not just to
preserve the company's many strengths - but to build on these, with
innovation, capital and new technology - helping the business realise its
full potential and delivering for all of its stakeholders."

The deal is expected to complete on 27 October.

Morrisons has been involved in a legal dispute over equal pay since 2019.

Last month Leeds Employment Tribunal found that Morrisons' shop floor
workers, who are mostly female, could compare their pay with the
supermarket's mostly male warehouse workers.

Shop floor staff are hoping to claim up to £100m in missed pay.

Law firms Leigh Day and Roscoe Reid have been representing about 2,300
Morrisons workers.

Emma Satyamurti, a Leigh Day partner, said the takeover deal shows that
employees are the "backbone of the company and so it makes sense that the
supermarket should invest in them".

"We hope the new owners feel the same and bring an end to the equal pay
dispute by paying shop floor workers what they are worth."

Morrisons history

Morrisons was founded in Bradford in 1899 - where it still has its
headquarters. The group has almost 500 shops and more than 110,000 staff.

The son of founder William Morrison's, the late Sir Ken Morrison, ran the
business for 50 years.

Previously, CD&R said it recognised Morrisons' "history and culture, and
considers that this strong heritage is core to Morrisons and its approach to
grocery retailing".

The private equity firm said it would help Morrisons to build on its
strengths, including its close relationships with suppliers and its property
portfolio.

Morrisons chairman Andrew Higginson and chief operating officer Trevor
Strain both previously worked with Sir Terry at Tesco.-BBC

Facebook settles US worker discrimination claims

Facebook has agreed to pay a record $14.5m (£10.1m) to settle claims it
discriminated against US workers in its hiring practices.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) had claimed the tech giant routinely
overlooked US workers in favour of foreign ones on temporary visas.

It is the biggest penalty of its kind issued by the DOJ's Civil Rights
Division.

Facebook said it "strongly believes" it met the federal government's
standards.

"Facebook is not above the law, and must comply with our nation's federal
civil rights laws, which prohibit discriminatory recruitment and hiring
practices," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the DOJ.

"Companies cannot set aside certain positions for temporary visa holders
because of their citizenship or immigration status."

The US tech sector often uses temporary visas, including the H-1B, to bring
highly skilled foreign guest workers to the US. It argues they are vital,
because there are not enough American science and engineering graduates to
fill the jobs available in areas such as artificial intelligence.

But critics say the laws governing temporary visas are lax, and make it too
easy to replace US workers with cheaper foreign labour - something US law
prohibits.

In October last year, the Trump administration tightened the requirements
for H-1Bs - something some interpreted as being an attempt to deter foreign
workers.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged that from January 2018 until
September 2019, Facebook had "refused" to recruit, consider or hire US
workers for more than 2,600 jobs.

It also claimed Facebook used recruiting methods "designed to deter US
workers from applying to certain positions", such as requiring applications
to be submitted by post only.

The DOJ said this violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which
prohibits employers from discriminating against workers because of their
citizenship or immigration status.

Those who allegedly missed out included US citizens, US nationals, asylees,
refugees and lawful permanent residents, it said.

'Hiring the best'

Under the settlement, Facebook will pay a civil penalty of $4.75m to the US
government, and up to $9.5m to eligible victims of the alleged
discrimination.

The tech giant will also be required to conduct "more expansive advertising
and recruitment for its job opportunities" and accept electronic CVs or
applications from all US workers who apply.

It will also be subject to ongoing audits by the US Department of Labor.

"While we strongly believe we met the federal government's standards in our
permanent labour certification practices, we've reached agreements to end
the ongoing litigation and move forward," a Facebook spokesperson said.

They added that the company intends to "continue our focus on hiring the
best builders from both the US and around the world."-BBC

Credit Suisse fined over Mozambique tuna scandal

Investment bank Credit Suisse has been fined £147m by UK authorities over a
corruption scandal involving Mozambique's tuna fishing industry.

The bank will also write off $200m of debt "tainted by corruption" that was
owed by the African country, the Financial Conduct Authority said.

The fine is part of a $475m settlement with UK, Swiss and US regulators.

Credit Suisse staff allegedly took and paid bribes as they arranged $1.3bn
of industry loans.

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the bank had "failed to
properly manage the risk of financial crime".

Executive director of enforcement Mark Steward said: "The FCA's fine
reflects the impact of these tainted transactions which included a debt
crisis and economic harm for the people of Mozambique.

"The fine would have been higher if not for Credit Suisse agreeing to
provide the debt write-off of $200m."

Mozambique's tuna corruption scandal puts justice on trial

According to the FCA, a Mozambique government contractor secretly paid
"significant kickbacks, estimated at over $50m, to members of Credit
Suisse's deal team" between 2012 and 2016 in order to secure loans at more
favourable rates.

Two managing directors at the investment bank were among those to allegedly
receive the bribes.

Meanwhile, Mozambican officials received at least $137m in bribes during the
same period, the FCA said.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Credit Suisse had
"deficient internal accounting controls, which failed to properly address
significant and known risks concerning bribery".

The bank has agreed to pay the SEC nearly $100m, the regulator said.

Former Credit Suisse investment bankers and their intermediaries have been
indicted, the SEC said.

The fine comes as 19 individuals - including the son of former President
Armando Guebuza - have gone on trial in Mozambique charged with bribery,
embezzlement and money laundering. They deny the claims.-BBC

Qantas charged in row over Covid cleaning risks

Australian airline Qantas is being prosecuted in a row over the duties of
plane cleaners in early 2020.

A cleaner was told to stop working after he opposed cleaning practices on
aircraft arriving from China.

Watchdog SafeWork NSW accused Qantas of discriminatory conduct for stopping
the pay of a worker who raised concerns about exposure of employees to
Covid.

However, Qantas said the cleaner was being investigated for "attempting to
incite unprotected industrial action".

A union called the prosecution a "landmark for work health and safety".

Safety issues

Cleaner Theo Seremetidis was an elected health and safety representative at
Qantas when the Covid pandemic broke out.

Last week, he told an Australian Senate inquiry that Qantas' safety
precautions were inadequate: "We were directed to clean planes with just
water. No sanitiser for the trays, no sanitiser for anything," he said.

"PPE was not mandated despite managers wearing HAZMAT suits. We were not
even provided masks or disinfectant.

"These safety issues exposed workers in Australia, and more broadly, to
serious risks of contracting and spreading Covid," he added.

"I was really passionate about safety, and wanted to see my fellow workers
go home safely each day."

Mr Seremetidis alleges concerns raised with management went unaddressed and
eventually he directed a group of workers to stop working.

"On the day that this occurred, I was stood down immediately. The day I was
stood down was my last day at Qantas."

The workers safety regulator SafeWork NSW is prosecuting the airline,
alleging the company engaged in discriminatory conduct.

"As the matter is before the court, no further information can be provided
at this time," a SafeWork spokesman said.

Richard Olsen from the Transport Workers Union, which lodged the complaint,
said: "The prosecution is the first of its kind anywhere in Australia.

"Qantas stood Theo down simply for trying to protect himself and his
colleagues from Covid, and now the company is rightly facing criminal
charges for doing so."

The airline said Mr Seremetidis did not follow the correct protocol for the
industrial action he took: "There are established, legal mechanisms for
health and safety representatives to follow if they have concerns.

"Qantas supports and encourages our employees to utilise these mechanisms if
they have safety concerns.

"It's worth noting that there was not a single positive Covid case carried
on our flights back from China."-BBC

Amazon, Ikea and Unilever pledge zero-carbon shipping by 2040

Nine big companies including Amazon, Ikea and Unilever have signed up to a
pledge to only move cargo on ships using zero-carbon fuel by 2040.

They hope the "aggressive" target will push the heavily-polluting shipping
industry to decarbonise faster.

Cargo shipping produces one billion tonnes of climate pollution each year -
as much as the country of Germany.

But critics say shipping firms are not doing enough to meet Paris Agreement
goals on emissions.

The Aspen Institute - the non-governmental organisation coordinating the
campaign - expects other retailers and manufacturers that rely on maritime
shipping to sign up.

"Maritime shipping, like all sectors of the global economy, needs to
decarbonise rapidly if we are to solve the climate crisis, and multinational
companies will be key actors in catalysing a clean energy transition," said
president Dan Porterfield.

"We urge other cargo owners, value chain actors, and governments to join
forces with us."

The companies pledging zero-carbon shipping by 2040 are:

·         Amazon

·         Brooks Running

·         Frog Bikes

·         Ikea

·         Inditex (owner of Zara)

·         Michelin

·         Patagonia

·         Tchibo

·         Unilever

With about 90% of world trade moving by sea, maritime shipping accounts for
3% of all global emissions. That could rise to 10% by 2050 if the industry
continues to rely on carbon-intensive fuels, experts say.

The shipping industry also produces 10-to-15% of the world's manufactured
sulphur oxide and nitrous oxide emissions, which can cause respiratory
illness.

Decarbonising the shipping industry doesn't come cheap. Some estimates
suggest it will take well over $2trn (£1.45trn) of investment to get
shipping to net-zero carbon dioxide emissions.

For the job to get done, most of the money will have to be spent on cleaner
fuels - their production, storage and distribution. New designs for ships
will also be needed.

Even before today's announcement some companies had already got the ball
rolling.

Shipping powerhouse Maersk had ordered eight new vessels which are able to
run on carbon-neutral methanol instead of an oil based fuel.

But at a cost of $175m each, and with delivery not for another few years,
the industry will have to scale up quickly if it is to achieve the goal set
by these companies.

Still, by raising the bar for the industry, the hope is that this will get
the ball rolling on investment.

line

Under the Paris Agreement goals, the shipping industry must use zero-carbon
fuels at scale by 2030, and be fully decarbonised by 2050.

But the International Maritime Organization, shipping's global regulator, is
working on a strategy that would only require the sector to cut emissions by
half by 2050 compared with 2008 levels.

The Aspen Institute said making the sector greener would not be easy given
the long lifespan of maritime cargo vessels and the need to ramp up
renewable energy production.

But it also said the shipping industry had failed to invest enough in
transitioning to clean energy.

Amazon, which has been criticised for its environmental impact, said it was
"thrilled" to sign the 2040 pledge.

"The time to act is now and we welcome other cargo owner companies who want
to lead on addressing climate change to join us in collaboration," said
Edgar Blanco, the firm's director of net-zero carbon.

Michelle Grose, head of logistics at Unilever, said: "By signalling our
combined commitment to zero-emission shipping, we are confident that we will
accelerate the transition at the pace and the scale that is needed."

But environmental groups Pacific Environment and Stand.earth said major
retail brands needed to switch to zero-emissions ships by 2030 - a decade
earlier than Tuesday's commitment.

They said this would ensure the shipping industry did its "fair share" to
keep global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius.

"Today's pledge is an important guidepost for the future of maritime
shipping, but 2040 is simply too distant a horizon for the retail sector to
address the enormous health and climate impacts from its cargo ships," said
Kendra Ulrich, shipping campaigns director at Stand.earth.

"Cleaner shipping solutions already exist, and major retail brands like
Amazon and Ikea must champion them."-BBC

Asian shares advance on earnings optimism, yen slips to 4-yr low

(Reuters) - Asian shares advanced and U.S. long-dated bond yields edged up
to a five-month high on Wednesday on rising optimism about the global
economy and corporate earnings while the yen slipped to a four-year low on
the dollar.

Japan's Nikkei (.N225) rose 0.8% while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific
shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) added 0.3%, led by 0.9% gains in
Australia (.AXJO).

"Earlier this month, stagflation was the buzzword on Wall Street. But now
excessive pessimism is receding, especially after strong U.S. retail sales
data on Friday," said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at
Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.

In New York, the benchmark S&P 500 index (.SPX) gained 0.74% to finish just
0.4% below its early September record close while the CBOE market volatility
index (.VIX) fell 0.6 point after earlier hitting 15.57, its lowest level
since mid-August.

"Tech shares and other high-growth shares that would have been sold on
rising bond yields are rallying, which clearly shows that there is now
strong optimism on upcoming earnings," Fujito said.

Earning reports will be in full swings in many countries over coming weeks.
Dutch chip-making machine maker ASML Holdings (ASML.AS) and Tesla (TSLA.O)
are among those that will release results later on Wednesday.

The positive mood saw U.S. bond yields rising further, with the 10-year U.S.
Treasuries yield climbing to 1.662% , a high last seen in May.

Shorter yields dipped, however, with the two-year yield slipping to 0.404%
from Monday's peak of 0.448% as traders took profits for now from bets that
the U.S. Federal Reserve will turn hawkish at its upcoming policy meeting in
early November.

Investors expect the Fed to announce tapering of its bond buying and money
markets futures are pricing in one rate hike later next year.

"The Fed is likely to become more hawkish, probably tweaking its language on
its assessment that inflation will be transient. While the Fed will maintain
tapering is not linked to a future rate hike, the market will likely try to
price in rate hikes and flatten the yield curve," said Naokazu Koshimizu,
senior strategist at Nomura Securities.

In the currency market, rising U.S. yields helped to boost the U.S. dollar
to a four-year high against the yen at 114.585 per dollar .

In addition to U.S. yields, the yen was dented by expectations of a wider
trade deficit in Japan due to rising oil prices and on views the Bank of
Japan will stick to loose monetary policy even as other central banks move
to tighten their policies.

The Chinese yuan held firm, trading at 6.3760 per dollar in the offshore
trade , near Tuesday's 4-1/2-month high of 6.3685.

The euro was steadier at $1.1643 .

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin stood at $64,068, near its all-time peak of
$64,895 as the first U.S. bitcoin futures-based exchange-traded fund began
trading on Tuesday. read more

Oil prices eased slightly in Asia but held near multi-year peaks as an
energy supply crunch persisted across the globe.

U.S. crude futures traded at $82.65 per barrel, down 0.4% on the day but
near Monday's peak of $83.18, its highest level since 2014.

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

AI can see through you: CEOs' language under machine microscope

(Reuters) - Executives, beware! You could become your own worst enemy.

CEOs and other managers are increasingly under the microscope as some
investors use artificial intelligence to learn and analyse their language
patterns and tone, opening up a new frontier of opportunities to slip up.

In late 2020, according to language pattern software specialist Evan
Schnidman, some executives in the IT industry were playing down the
possibility of semiconductor chip shortages while discussing supply-chain
disruptions.

All was fine, they said.

Yet the tone of their speech showed high levels of uncertainty, according to
an algorithmic analysis designed to spot hidden clues in - ideally
unscripted - spoken words.

"We found that IT sector executives' tone was inconsistent with the positive
textual sentiment of their remarks," said Schnidman, who advises two fintech
companies behind the analysis.

Within months of the comments, companies including Volkswagen and Ford were
warning about a severe shortage of chips hitting output. Share prices in
auto and industrial firms fell. IT executives now said there was a supply
squeeze.

Schnidman holds that computer-driven quant funds accessing scores assigned
to the tone of the managers' words, versus scores assigned to the written
words, would have been better positioned before the industry turmoil.

One example can't testify to the accuracy of the speech analysis, though, as
we don't know if the executives were being unduly optimistic at the outset
or sincerely altered their views as circumstances changed.

Some investors nonetheless see the technology - known as natural language
processing (NLP) - as one new tool to gain an edge over rivals, according to
Reuters interviews with 11 fund managers that are using or trialling such
systems.

They say traditional financial data and corporate statements are so heavily
mined nowadays that they offer little value.

'SOMETHING VERY MESSY'

NLP is a branch of AI where machine learning is let loose on language to
make sense of it, and then turn it into quantifiable signals that quant
funds factor into trading.

The most ambitious software in this area aims to analyse the audible tones,
cadence and emphases of spoken words alongside phraseology, while others
look to parse the transcripts of speeches and interviews in increasingly
sophisticated ways.

Slavi Marinov, head of machine learning at Man AHL, part of the $135 billion
investment management firm Man Group, told Reuters that NLP was "one of the
major research areas of focus" at the computer-driven fund.

"These models transform something that is very messy to something that is
easily understandable by a quant," he said.

Indeed advocates say NLP can unlock the untapped potential for insight from
the world of "unstructured data": the calls with analysts, the unscripted
Q&As, the media interviews.

This is open to debate, though.

These AI systems can cost millions of dollars to develop and run, ruling out
many investors and developers save the deep-pocketed or niche. Some are also
at a comparatively experimental stage, with no publicly available data to
show that they make money. The funds interviewed declined to show proof that
NLP can augment returns, citing commercial sensitivities.

Some studies suggest the techniques could boost performance if focused in
smart places, though.

Analysis in September by Nomura's quant strategists showed a link between
the complexity of executives' language during earnings calls and shares.
U.S. bosses who used simple language saw their companies' shares outperform
by 6% per annum since 2014, compared with those using complex wording.

BofA analysts employ a model that uses phrases in earnings calls to forecast
corporate bond default rates. This examines thousands of phrases such as
"cost cutting" and "cash burn" to find phrases associated with future
defaults. Back-testing the model showed a high correlation with default
probabilities, BofA said.

Both systems analyse transcripts.

In years gone by, language processing in finance has featured basic and
widely sold software that ranks news or social media posts by sentiment.
This is losing value in the face of increasingly sophisticated NLP models,
which have been spurred by tech advances and falling cloud computing costs.

The breakthrough came in 2018 when developers released the source code
behind NLP "transfer learning", which allowed a model to be pre-trained on
one dataset of words and then put to work on another, saving time and money.

Google's AI team has since released the code behind several cutting-edge
models pre-trained on ever-larger datasets.

Developers of current systems say they crunch tens of thousands of words at
lightning speeds, extracting patterns and quantifying their degree of
relation to certain significant "seed" words, phrases and ideas, as set by
the user.

MAN AHL's Marinov sees merit in tonal analysis but has not used it yet,
focusing for now on clues hidden in written text.

This can be anything from comparing annual reports over time to look for
subtle changes not obvious to the reader, to quantifying something as
intangible as corporate culture.

Few investors have tried to formally measure corporate culture in the past
even though it is critical for long-term performance, especially in the hot
ESG investment sphere of environmental, social and governance
considerations.

Man AHL's model can scan executives' comments to look for words or phrases
that demonstrate a "goal-driven" culture, as well searching through employee
reviews on careers website Glassdoor.

Kai Wu, founder of hedge fund Sparkline Capital, has created "personality
profiles" for companies to measure their adherence to certain cultural
values.

He selects seed words he believes reflect such values. His NLP model then
reduces vast volumes of words to small numbers of words with similar
meanings, with findings expressed numerically.

Using his NLP model on management commentary and employee reviews, he found
that firms with "idiosyncratic" cultures such as Apple, Southwest Airlines
and Costco outperformed.

Conversely, U.S. businesses exhibiting "toxicity" - where employees use
idioms as specific as "good ol' boys club" and "dog eat dog" - have vastly
underperformed, Wu said.

'THERE ARE NO RULES'

Funds without the resources to hire data scientists to build their own NLP
tools can buy in analysis from third-party firms, like those Schnidman
advises - fintech Aiera and tonal analytics provider Helios Life Enterprises
- which sell their services to clients such as hedge funds.

However, Wu at Sparkline is of the mind that funds should get NLP-derived
data "as close to raw as possible", with in-house models preferable.

The technology faces other challenges, and getting it right can be
time-consuming.

Dutch manager NN Investment Partners employs a mix of third-party data and
its own models, some still in the research phase.

One project is training a model to find words that predict bond default
rates, said Sebastiaan Reinders, NNIP's head of investment science. That has
initially required portfolio managers to examine long lists of phrases to
manually label them as positive or negative, though.

Most models are focused on English, and developers could face a difficult
task adapting them to read accurately sentiment from people from different
cultures who speak other languages.

Plus, executives are cottoning on.

When George Mussalli, chief investment officer at U.S.-based PanAgora Asset
Management, told a biotech firm boss that his fund's AI scanned executives'
comments for watchwords, the person asked for a list to help his business
rank higher.

Mussalli rejected the request but said documents like earnings call
transcripts were increasingly "well-scripted", undermining their value.

Yet Man Group's Marinov reckons executives will ultimately prove no match
for machines that improve with more data.

"There are no rules, it's like a self-driving car that learns as it goes,"
he added. "So in many cases it's impossible to give the executive a list of
watchwords."

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

'They'll have to pay': Malaysia chip crunch triggers new era in supply deals

(Reuters) - Malaysian electronics firms central to the supply of basic chips
that drive the world's cars, smartphones and home devices say big-name
customers are beating on their doors to lock in take-or-pay, longer-term
deals - and happy to pay more if need be.

Manufacturers are rushing to replenish chip stocks depleted during
coronavirus pandemic factory curbs - not least automakers who earlier
cancelled orders expecting poor demand. That chip shortage has slammed their
output, and still dislocates supply chains, just as consumer demand ramps up
along with a global easing of COVID restrictions in everyday life.

At factories in Malaysia, operators like chip packaging firm Unisem
(UNSM.KL) say that drive is leading buyers that sell chips on to auto and
electronics manufacturers to become willing to sign up for big price hikes,
some even asking for as many assembled chips as plants can produce -
whatever the cost.

But Malaysia's chip assembly industry, accounting for more than a tenth of a
global trade worth over $20 billion, warns that shortages - exacerbated by
years of under-investment in basic chip production, while high-end
semiconductors were favoured - will last at least two years.

Firms must marry the need to ramp up production with the imperative to avoid
COVID-19 infections in factories that could trigger complete shutdowns.

"The shortage is very real," said John Chia, chairman of Unisem. "For CEOs
(of our clients) to escalate their issues to me directly shows that this is
a serious matter ... now they want to talk to me directly," he told Reuters.

Chia declined to provide names of clients requesting as much supply as they
can get their hands on. Unisem's customers include suppliers to global
carmakers and electronics firms like Apple (AAPL.O).

He said demand is so robust that its Chengdu plant in China is booked out
for the whole of next year - and it will take months for it to clear
backlogs for some automotive components.

Pre-pandemic, the world's outsourced chip assembly and test industry was
estimated worth around $23 billion and it is seen growing to $30 billion in
2022, according to market research firm Yole Development.

Taiwan is the biggest service provider with more than 50% of market share,
followed by China, the United States and then Malaysia. The latter is home
to suppliers and factories serving chipmakers such as STMicroelectronics
(STM.BN) and Infineon (IFXGn.DE), and carmakers including Toyota Motor Corp
(7203.T), Ford Motor Co (F.N) and General Motors (GM.N).

Wong Siew Hai, President at the Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association,
warns the shortage is likely to last for years. Some customers are ordering
more than they need to lock in supplies, Wong said, while long-term
contracts that range from one to three years have now become a new industry
norm.

"For the capacity to match demand, (it will take) at least two to three
years from now," Wong told Reuters.

OUTBREAK MEANS SHUTDOWN

Companies like Unisem have been ramping up. But Unisem, with a market value
of about $1.6 billion, is still operating just 80% of its capacity, to
reduce a risk of mass infections on its factory floor that could lead to an
entire plant shutdown.

While 98% of its staff are now fully vaccinated, it has been forced to
temporarily shut down its Ipoh plant, in northwestern Malaysia, twice since
June due to an outbreak in the factory and a national lockdown order.
Several automakers and semiconductor companies have said pandemic-related
disruption in Malaysia has hit supply chains. read more

GM's CEO Mary Barra explained earlier this month to Fox Business that, "We
were hit maybe harder than most because some of the specific facilities in
Malaysia were heavily impacted by COVID."

The gradual ramp-up at Unisem matches that of many of its peers.

Despite surging orders, Globetronics Technology (GNIC.KL), which makes
optical sensors, light-emitting diodes and integrated circuits for the likes
of Apple, Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and German carmakers, says it's
running 90% of its factory capacity - and is also worried about rising
costs.

"We've had to stay adaptable and mindful of workers' wellbeing during the
lockdowns, including offering various types of incentives like cash to keep
employees motivated and productivity high," Heng Charng Yee, vice president
of business and operations, told Reuters.

The Malaysian government's stringent workplace rules, requiring frequent
swab tests and limits on staff numbers, for example, have also added cost
pressure, she said.

'THEY'LL HAVE TO PAY'

Investors and analysts say the shortage is also the fruit of
under-investment in technology to make older-generation chips that can cost
less than $1, widely used in auto industry, as heavyweights such as Samsung
and TSMC (2330.TW) ploughed billions into developing more powerful, high-end
chips.

"We always think of these back-end semiconductors as low-margin business.
But they suddenly have additional 5-10% pricing power," said Patrick Chang,
ASEAN regional Chief Investment Officer Equities at Principal Asset
Management Bhd.

Amid such demand, Unisem is pushing ahead with expansion at its plants in
Malaysia and China - which will only come on stream 12-15 months down the
line.

"We are cautious," said chairman Chia. "We have been hit blue and black
before, remember the dotcom days?"

"We tell them (customers) now to at least sign up for 70% of their forecast
(volume). If they don't give me that full amount, they will still have to
pay."

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

China's new home prices stall for first time since COVID-19

(Reuters) - China's new home prices stalled for the first time since
February 2020 in September, as the chill in the property market intensified
amid tightening credit due to an ongoing crackdown on speculative
investment.

The average new home price in 70 major Chinese cities was unchanged in
September month-on-month, compared with 0.2% growth in August, according to
Reuters calculations based on data released by the National Bureau of
Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday.

Some analysts said prices fell 0.08%, or even 0.1%, based on their
respective calculations, which can vary slightly due to different formulas
used. The NBS did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The data showed 27 cities reported month-on-month gains, compared with 46 in
August, the lowest since February 2020 at the height of China's COVID-19
outbreak.

In September, some cities intensified their campaigns to drive speculators
out of the property market. In Xiamen, the southeastern city further
tightened property curbs on top of existing measures, prohibiting first-time
home buyers from reselling their properties for five years.

The tougher restrictions, along with tighter rules on borrowing for property
purchases, have weighed on near-term demand, analysts said.

"Real estate credit tightening - with home loans down by 510 billion yuan
($79.8 billion) year-on-year in the third quarter - was the biggest reason
for the overall market freeze," said Zhang Dawei, chief analyst with
property agency Centaline.

Chinese leaders, fearful that a persistent property bubble could undermine
the country's long-term ascent, are likely to maintain tight property curbs,
although analysts say they could soften some tactics as needed.

Compared with a year earlier, China's new home prices grew 3.8% in
September, the slowest in nine months, easing from a 4.2% increase in
August.

Compounding concerns about the sector are the debt problems of China
Evergrande (3333.HK), the country's second-largest developer, which is
scrambling to raise funds to pay its many lenders and suppliers. read more

Tens of thousands of Chinese developers had borrowed heavily to build homes
during a surge in the property market between 2016 and 2018. But they are
now facing a liquidity crunch amid tighter regulations on fresh borrowing,
leaving many projects incomplete. read more

"Many developers have recently been exposed to a liquidity crunch, leading
buyers to worry about buying buildings that are forever unfinished," Zhang
said.

"It is expected that in the fourth quarter of 2021, the markets in most
cities will enter an obvious adjustment cycle."

SMALLER CITIES

Price declines have particularly hammered smaller cities with persistent
population outflows or uncertain economic prospects, leading to a build-up
in local housing inventories.

Luzhou in Sichuan province and Dali in Yunnan province saw month-on-month
price declines in seven out of nine months so far this year, the most out of
all the 70 major cities tracked by the statistics bureau.

In Taiyuan, the capital of northern Shanxi province, new home prices fell in
six out of the nine months.

"Many new homes are under construction in Taiyuan, and there is a backlog of
homes that hasn't been sold," said a Taiyuan resident surnamed Hou, 24.

"Previously, just opposite my home, there was construction on a plot for
nearly two years, and there were several work suspensions during that time."

Even China's largest cities are starting to weaken.

New home prices fell for the second month in Guangzhou, while Tianjin and
Chengdu saw their first monthly declines this year in September. Prices in
Beijing stalled.

"If there is no significant easing of mortgage loans from October onwards,
price wars will be the main buzzword in the real estate market in the fourth
quarter," said Zhang.

($1 = 6.3918 Chinese yuan)

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Bitcoin sits below all-time high after U.S. ETF debut

(Reuters) - Bitcoin hovered below record levels on Wednesday, the day after
the first U.S. bitcoin futures-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) began
trading, a development that market participants say is likely to drive
investment into the digital asset.

The world's leading cryptocurrency was last at $63,998, off 0.4%, but still
within a short jump of its record of $64,895.22, hit April 14 this year.

It reached as high as $64,499 on Tuesday, late in the U.S. day.

Earlier on Tuesday, the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF closed up 2.59% at
$41.94 after its first day of trading, with around $1 billion worth of
shares trading hands on Intercontinental Exchange Inc's ICE.N Arca exchange.
read more

Trading appeared to be dominated by smaller investors and high-frequency
trading firms, analysts said, noting the absence of large block trades
indicated that institutions were likely staying on the sidelines.

James Quinn, managing partner at Q9 Capital, a Hong Kong-based
cryptocurrency private wealth manager, said the launch of the new product
was "meaningful" for bitcoin.

Theoretically, any licensed brokerage firm in the U.S. who wants to take on
this ETF can do so as easily as any other ETF, which should make it
available to a lot of folks," said Quinn.

While the ETF is based on bitcoin futures, Quinn said the trades and hedges
underpinning the ETF means activity will flow into the spot market and the
bitcoin price.

Crypto ETFs have launched this year in Canada and Europe amid surging
interest in digital assets. VanEck and Valkyrie are among fund managers
pursuing U.S.-listed ETF products, although Invesco on Monday dropped its
plans for a futures-based ETF.

Ether , the world's no. 2 cryptocurrency, was down 0.39% on the day at
$3,861, in sight of a six-week high, but a way away from its all-time high
of $4,380, hit on May 12.

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Micron to build $7 bln plant in Japan to expand DRAM production - report

(Reuters) - U.S. memory chip maker Micron Technology Inc (MU.O) will build a
new factory at its Japanese production site in Hiroshima at a cost of 800
billion yen ($7.0 billion), the Nikkan Kogyo newspaper reported on
Wednesday.

The new facility will make DRAM chips, which are widely used in data
centres, with production set to begin in 2024, the report said, without
citing sources.

Micron officials in Japan were not immediately available to comment.

COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home demand for electronic devices is causing
shortages of non-memory chips that has forced some manufacturers, such as
automakers and smartphone makers, to curtail production. That has also
reduced sales of DRAM memory chips, but some industry watchers expect demand
to rebound helped by an expansion of data centres.

The report comes after chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Co.(TSMC) (2330.TW) announced plans last week to build a plant in Japan,
that media reports said may be partly paid for by the Japanese government.

Japan wants to lure chipmakers to the country to ensure its companies have
ready access to supplies of semiconductors necessary to keep its economy
competitive.

Micron, which also produces slower, but cheaper, NAND memory chips for the
data storage market, makes 300 millimetre DRAM semiconductors at its plant
in Hiroshima and has a research and development facility there.

($1 = 114.5100 yen)

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Rio Tinto aims to halve carbon emissions by 2030

(Reuters) - Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) set a new target on
Wednesday to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and earmarked $7.5
billion in spending to achieve it.

As steel and iron ore producers continue their push to cut carbon emissions
in line with global climate commitments by 2050, Rio said it sought to halve
its scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions - direct emissions by the company and
certain types of indirect emissions, respectively - by the end of the
decade.

"To meet additional demand created by the global drive to net zero
emissions, Rio Tinto will prioritise growth capital in commodities vital for
this transition," the company said in a statement.

To meet this goal, the miner would double its growth capex to about $3
billion a year from 2023. Rio aims at a 15% reduction in emissions by 2025,
it added.

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Nigeria: How Buhari Unlocked $10bn Potential Investment in Oil Sector - APC
Group

Abuja — The All Progressives Congress (APC) Legacy Awareness and Campaign, a
voluntary think-tank group of the governing party has explained how
President Muhammadu Buhari resolved a 12-year-old dispute surrounding Oil
Mining Lease (OML) 118.

This, according to the group, unlocked more than $10 billion of potential
investment held up by the dispute.

The group stated this in a statement issued yesterday, which was jointly
signed by the party's youth leader, Mr. Ismail Ahmed; former spokesperson of
the party, Mr. Lanre Issa-Onilu; Presidential aide, Mr. Tolu Ogunlesi and
the Director General of Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Dr. Salihu
Lukman.

It noted that 40 years after Buhari was made the pioneer Chairman of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), between 1977 and 1978, he
had once again spearheaded unparalleled reforms in the corporation he helped
establish since assuming office in 2015.

The group said under the President's watch, since 2015, the national oil
company has recorded some milestones.

These they listed to include the published audited financial statements of
NNPC for 2018, 2019 and 2020, saying this was the first published audited
financial statements since the NNPC came into existence 43 years ago.

The group noted that under Buhari's supervision, the NNPC commenced clearing
the backlog of cash call arrears owed international oil companies (IOCs)
inherited from previous administrations. This, according to the group,
amounted to more than $5 billion.

It added: "NNPC Completed the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline System (ELPS) Phase 2,
doubling its capacity to 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas. Commenced
construction of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas pipeline, Nigeria's
biggest-ever domestic gas pipeline project."

Furthermore, it stated that the corporation also commenced the total revamp
of the Port Harcourt refinery - yet another industry jinx being broken.

It stated that the president also, "resolved a 12-year-old dispute
surrounding OML 118, unlocking more than $10 billion of potential investment
held up by the dispute.

"Completed and commissioned an integrated gas handling facility at Oredo,
Edo State, which, in addition to producing 84 million cubic feet (mmcf) per
day of lean gas (for power generation), will be the largest onshore LPG
plant in Nigeria, producing an estimated 330 tonnes per day."

It noted that the corporation also co-invested with the private sector in
the incorporation of a 600-million standard cubic feet (mscf) Gas Processing
Plant in Imo State, a Biofuels Company in Ondo State, and a 10,000 tonnes
per day Methanol Plant in Bayelsa State; among others.-This Day.

Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

Cellphone:      <tel:%2B263%2077%20344%201674> +263 77 344 1674

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INVESTORS DIARY 2021

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

National Unity Day

December 22

Christmas Day

December 25

Boxing Day

December 26

Public Holiday in lieu of Boxing Day falling on a Sunday

December 27

Companies under Cautionary

ART

PPC

Starafrica

Fidelity

Turnall

Medtech

Zimre

Nampak Zimbabwe

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of
Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not
constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or
subscribe for any securities. The information contained in this report has
been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or
warranty is made or guarantee given as to its accuracy or completeness. All
opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without
notice. Securities or financial instruments mentioned herein may not be
suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth
companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than
the securities of more established companies. Neither Faith Capital nor any
other member of Bulls ‘n Bears nor any other person, accepts any liability
whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its
contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Recipients of this
report shall be solely responsible for making their own independent
investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of
any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are
for guideline purposes only and sourced from third parties.

(c) 2021 Web: <http://www.bullszimbabwe.com>  www.bullszimbabwe.com Email:
<mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> info at bulls.co.zw Tel: +263 4 2927658 Cell: +263 77
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