Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 15 February 2022

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 15 February 2022 

 


 

 


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ü  Trump accountants say financial reports unreliable

ü  Trudeau vows to freeze anti-mandate protesters' bank accounts

ü  The tricks scammers use to steal your money

ü  Petrol and diesel prices reach new record high

ü  Stock markets fall as Ukraine invasion fears rattle investors

ü  Ukraine vows to keep airspace open despite tensions

ü  Blackstone takes $6.3bn gamble on troubled casino operator

ü  Air fare rises are unavoidable, warns Air France-KLM

ü  Musk donated over $5.7 bln in Tesla shares to charity in Nov

ü  iPhone maker Foxconn to make chips in India with Vedanta

ü  Buffett's Berkshire bought Activision shares before Microsoft takeover

ü  Cryptoverse: Bitcoin runs into Russian rules and regiments

ü  Intel nears $6 bln deal to buy Tower Semiconductor - source

ü  South Africa's Discovery, AIA to partner for Asian insurance tech venture

ü  Johnson & Johnson defends talc bankruptcy strategy called 'rotten' by
cancer plaintiffs

ü  Meta exec pitches metaverse business to advertisers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

 

Trump accountants say financial reports unreliable

Donald Trump's accounting firm has cut ties with the former president and
said a decade of financial reports should "no longer be relied upon".

 

The firm, Mazars, said in a letter to the Trump Organization that it could
not stand behind statements it had prepared for Mr Trump from 2011-20.

 

But Mazars said it had not concluded they contained material discrepancies.

 

The letter was revealed in a court filing as part of a fraud investigation
into the Trump Organization.

 

In the filing, New York Attorney General Letitia James repeated her request
that the former president and his daughter, Ivanka, give evidence under
oath. Her office has already questioned Mr Trump's son, Eric Trump.

 

Ms James last month said her civil inquiry into the Trump family firm had
uncovered what she claimed was "significant evidence" of misleading business
practices, including over-valuing certain assets.

 

In its letter, Mazars wrote that the findings of Ms James' investigation had
contributed to the conclusion that the statements should no longer be relied
upon.

 

The firm also said it performed its work in "accordance with professional
standards", and compiled the reports based on information provided by the
Trump Organization.

 

"While we have not concluded that the various financial statements, as a
whole, contain material discrepancies, based upon the totality of the
circumstances, we believe our advice to you to no longer rely upon those
financial statements is appropriate," the letter said.

 

It added that the firm would no longer be working with the Trump
Organization.

 

The financial documents are at the heart of the New York attorney general's
civil investigation and a second, criminal inquiry by the Manhattan District
Attorney's office.

 

Trump’s taxes: Why they matter to a criminal probe

Trump blasts NY criminal inquiry as 'witch hunt'

In January Ms James, a Democrat, accused the Trump Organization of using
"fraudulent or misleading asset valuations" to get loans, insurance and tax
breaks.

 

Mr Trump's lawyers are trying to stop Ms James from questioning the former
US president and his children, and he has sued her to try to halt the probe.

 

A spokesperson for the Trump Organization said the letter from Mazars
renders the investigations moot, because it suggests that the financial
statements do not contain material discrepancies, according to CBS News.

 

Mr Trump, a Republican, has previously said both inquiries are politically
motivated and has referred to Ms James' investigation as a "hoax".

 

-BBC

 

 

 

Trudeau vows to freeze anti-mandate protesters' bank accounts

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken the unprecedented step of
invoking the Emergencies Act to crack down on anti-vaccine mandate protests.

 

Mr Trudeau said the scope of the measures would be "time-limited",
"reasonable and proportionate" and would not see the military deployed.

 

With no need for a court order, banks will be able freeze personal accounts
of anyone linked with the protests.

 

Hundreds of demonstrators remain in Canada's capital city.

 

On Sunday, law enforcement cleared anti-mandate protesters at the Ambassador
Bridge in Windsor - a critical pathway for Canada-US trade - after a
week-long stalemate.

 

What began as a rally against a new rule that all truckers must be
vaccinated to cross the US-Canada border, or quarantine upon return, has
grown into a broader challenge to all Covid health restrictions.

 

"This is about keeping Canadians safe, protecting people's jobs," Mr Trudeau
told a news conference on Monday.

 

He said the police would be given "more tools" to imprison or fine
protesters and protect critical infrastructure.

 

Mr Trudeau told reporters the legislation would be applied temporarily and
in a highly specific manner.

 

Critics have noted that the prime minister voiced support for farmers in
India who blocked major highways to New Delhi for a year in 2021, saying at
the time: "Canada will always be there to defend the right of peaceful
protest."

 

Mr Trudeau's invoking of the Emergencies Act comes as demonstrations across
Canada enter their third week.

 

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said at Monday's news conference
that banks would be able freeze personal accounts of anyone linked with the
protests without any need for a court order.

 

Vehicle insurance of anyone involved with the demonstrations can also be
suspended, she added.

 

Ms Freeland said they were broadening Canada's "Terrorist Financing" rules
to cover cryptocurrencies and crowdfunding platforms, as part of the effort.

 

"It's all about following the money," she said.

 

She spoke after hackers released details of what they said were 93,000
donations for the truckers totalling $8.4m (£6.2m) to the crowdfunding
platform GiveSendGo.

 

The Emergencies Act, passed in 1988, requires a high legal bar to be
invoked. It may only be used in an "urgent and critical situation" that
"seriously endangers the lives, health or safety of Canadians". Lawful
protests do not qualify.

 

Speaking on Monday, Canada's Justice Minister David Lametti argued these
conditions had been met.

 

But the Canadian Civil Liberties Association disagreed, warning that the
move "threatens our democracy and our civil liberties".

 

Ottawa protest leader Tamara Lich dismissed Mr Trudeau's move, telling AP
News: "There are no threats that will frighten us. We will hold the line."

 

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, a Conservative, said he supported the federal
government.

 

But the premiers of Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan said the
emergency powers were not needed in their regions.

 

Before Mr Trudeau's announcement, Quebec Premier Francois Legault said
invoking the Emergencies Act could "throw oil on the fire".

 

Under growing pressure to bring the disruptive protests to an end - be it
from the White House or increasingly frustrated Canadians - Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau has entered uncharted territory with the decision to invoke
the never-before-used 1988 Emergencies Act, the country's most powerful tool
for when it is facing a national emergency.

 

The powers announced by Mr Trudeau go into effect immediately - but his
government has to present it to the House of Parliament and the Senate
within a week and needs a green-light or the proclamation would be revoked.

 

All main Canadian federal political party leaders have said it's time for
the protests - which have had an impact on supply chains, the national
economy and the country's relations with the US - to end.

 

But they aren't all necessarily on board with Mr Trudeau's unprecedented
move.

 

Conservative leader Candice Bergen voiced concern it could inflame the
situation.

 

The support of NDP leader Jagmeet Singh may give Mr Trudeau enough votes to
pass it through the House - though the Senate could still be a hurdle.

 

Protests are ongoing in various parts of the country.

 

In Ottawa, the nation's capital, between 400 to 500 trucks have been parked
in the city centre for 18 days.

 

Protesters have also been blockading border crossing at Coutts, Alberta, and
Emerson, Manitoba. 

 

On Monday, Alberta police arrested 11 people and seized a cache of guns and
other weapons.

 

Weekend protests have also taken place in cities including Toronto and
Winnipeg.-BBC

 

 

 

The tricks scammers use to steal your money

Criminals are deploying "psychological tactics" to con people out of cash
amid a rise in scams, Barclays bank says.

 

The tricks include creating illusions of product scarcity or pretending to
be an authority to "socially engineer" victims, the bank's chief behavioural
scientist Dr Pete Brooks warned.

 

He said scammers used dating apps to target people over weeks in some cases
to establish "emotional connections".

 

Dr Brooks added they preyed on people's biases and personality traits.

 

He told the BBC although the types of scams hadn't changed over decades,
criminals were becoming more sophisticated and could use "many more
channels" to target people.

 

Using dating apps as an example, Dr Brooks said scammers would connect with
people they matched with, develop a relationship over time, and then exploit
people's personality traits to get them to transfer them money.

 

"Most of us by default are trusting," said Dr Brooks.

 

Dr Brooks said so-called "purchase scams", where goods bought online don't
exist or never arrive, were the most common type.

 

He said such crimes involved fraudsters creating a "perceived scarcity and
therefore 'value' in what they are selling to motivate consumers to act
quickly and not rely on their better judgment".

 

This might be advertising something as a one-time offer, he added, or a
product with a limited-edition price or availability, or "rushing us into
buying something that 'has' to be bought now - even if you've never seen the
product in real life".

 

Barclays said the average amount a person loses through purchase scams
totalled £980, however, research found scams targeting people investing led
to the most money being lost.

 

Figures showed a 17% rise in all reported scams in the last three months,
while attempts at conning people increased by 70% in the final three months
of 2021.

 

'Instil fear'

Impersonation scams, Dr Brooks said, involved criminals exploiting a trait
in more than to third of Brits surveyed who were more likely to comply with
a request if they believed it to be from a well-known institution, such as a
bank, the police or the NHS.

 

"In these situations, scammers will harness that sense of authority to
instil fear in their victims," he said.

 

"Perhaps suggesting their bank account has been compromised, they are
overdue a payment or that they will be fined if they do not pay the full
amount. Psychologically, many of us will take these at face-value if they're
coming from what we believe to be a reputable institution."

 

Meanwhile, investment scams, Barclays said, saw a victim lose on average
£15,788 the last three months of 2021.

 

Dr Brooks said scammers were "experts at exploiting the fact people want to
grow their assets, and that we can sometimes put our better judgement aside
for a high return opportunity".

 

Barclays said that was reflected in its research, with three in 10 people
admitting they would be willing to go with an investment or savings provider
they'd never heard of if they thought the returns would be higher than their
existing provider.

 

Barclays said real phone calls from a bank will never ask customers to share
their pin number or security information or to transfer money to a "safe
account".

 

The bank said its advice was "always to question whether something appears
too good to be true, and not to be afraid to be suspicious".

 

But it warned "worryingly", almost a third of 2,002 people it polled
admitted they "wouldn't know what to do if they found themselves being
targeted".

 

If you, or someone you know, have been affected by fraud, help and support
is available from Action Fraud and at BBC Action Line.-BBC

 

 

 

Petrol and diesel prices reach new record high

Fuel prices have hit a new record high at the pump across the UK, tightening
the squeeze on UK consumers, the motoring organisation the AA has said.

 

Over the weekend petrol reached 148.02p a litre, while diesel hit a new
record high of 151.57p a litre last Thursday.

 

Fuel previously hit a record in November, before wholesale and retail prices
fell back.

 

"The cost of living crisis has been ratcheted up yet another notch," said
Luke Bosdet of the AA.

 

The RAC's fuel spokesman Simon Williams said the price of filling a 55-litre
family car was now an "eye-watering" £81.41.

 

Graphic showing the change in fuel prices since the start of the pandemic

"With the oil price teetering on the brink of $100 a barrel and retailers
keen to pass on the increase in wholesale fuel quickly, new records could
now be set on a daily basis in the coming weeks," he said.

 

Fuel prices at the pump are driven largely by the wholesale price of energy
which has shot up due to tensions over whether Russia will invade Ukraine.

 

On Monday, oil prices hit their highest level since 2014, reaching $95.56 a
barrel.

 

If the situation in Ukraine deteriorates, oil and gas supplies from Russia
to Europe may be interrupted, pushing up wholesale prices further.

 

The supply of oil and gas has already struggled to keep up with growing
demand as the global economy picked up in recent months as Covid
restrictions eased.

 

The RAC's Mr Williams said: "On a positive note, retailer margins - which
were the reason drivers paid overly high prices in December and January -
have now returned to more normal levels of around 7p a litre."

 

He said the big four supermarkets, which dominate fuel sales, should "play
fair" with drivers by keeping their profit margins low.

 

Day-to-day prices for food, household bills and other items such as used
cars, have risen sharply in recent months, in part due to rising energy
prices.

 

The Petrol Retailers' Association (PRA), which represents independent
retailers, said it would continue to ensure that the price of fuel was "as
competitive as possible".

 

But tensions between Russia and Ukraine, as well as other key factors such
as tightness in the oil market and the dollar-sterling exchange rate, were
likely to cause further volatility in the oil price, said Gordon Balmer,
PRA's executive director.

 

Inflation

UK inflation is now at a 30-year high of 5.4%. New inflation figures for
January will be released by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday.

 

Mr Bosdet said the AA had surveyed 15,000 of its members after prices spiked
at the end of last year and found higher fuel prices were leading 43% of
them to cut back on the amount they used their car as well as other areas of
spending.

 

Mike Johnson at the energy consultancy Portland Analytics said what happens
to energy prices next depended both on the situation in Ukraine and whether
the Organisation of Petrol Exporting Countries (Opec) was able to boost
supply.

 

"Opec and its allies have struggled to increase production in line with
their output targets due to a combination of production outages and
technical issues, whilst demand continues to rise," he said.

 

While oil producing nations had agreed to increase production by 400,000
barrels per day in February Mr Johnson said it seemed unlikely that target
would be met-BBC

 

 

 

Stock markets fall as Ukraine invasion fears rattle investors

Europe's stock markets closed sharply lower on Monday, but recouped some
losses in afternoon trading on hopes of a deal to resolve Ukraine tensions.

 

The FTSE 100 ended 1.7% down, and the main markets in Paris and Frankfurt 2%
lower, with travel stocks hard hit.

 

Reports from Russia that talks with the West over Ukraine should continue
helped improve investor sentiment.

 

That limited losses on Wall Street, where at lunchtime in New York the Dow
Jones was down 0.5% and Nasdaq up 0.7%.

 

According to reports, Sergei Lavrov has suggested to Russia's President
Vladimir Putin that diplomatic efforts should continue because there might
be a chance of doing a deal.

 

On the FTSE 100, IAG, the owner of British Airways and Iberia, fell 5.6%.
Shares in the major banks closed between 4% and 5% down. The biggest loser
was London-listed Russian mining company Evraz, which tumbled 29%.

 

The FTSE 100's fall, the worse session in three weeks, followed a fall in
Asian stock markets.

 

"The fact that the door has not been shut to further talks... is a good
thing," said Patrick O'Hare, at Briefing.com. "Hence, the negativity seen
earlier has dissipated some, yet there is still a major cloud of uncertainty
hanging over the market."

 

Oil initially rose sharply with Brent crude topping $95 (£70) per barrel,
stoking fresh inflationary worries, although the price has eased back
slightly.

 

With oil demand high as global economies emerge from lockdown, there are
fears a war or severe sanctions on Russia will cut supplies, sending the
price above $100 a barrel, something not seen since 2014.

 

Inflation

"Just as the storm of Covid appeared to be receding, the growing expectation
of an invasion of Ukraine is the fresh threat now unnerving investors, with
confidence plunging in many parts of the world," said Hargreaves Lansdown
analyst Susannah Streeter.

 

She added: "With worries that inflation is already running far too hot, the
possibility Russia troops could move across the border has led to another
surge in the oil price. Energy markets are clearly on edge and if supplies
are threatened there is a risk oil will shoot up even higher."

 

Analysts at Capital Economics estimate war or sanctions could add to
inflation in Europe, forcing central banks to lift interest rates faster and
further.

 

"Over the longer term, whether Russia ends up invading or not, this
geopolitical flare-up is likely to speed up the process of Russia's
decoupling from the West," Capital Economics said in a research note.

 

Moscow has amassed an estimated 100,000 troops along Ukraine's border but
denies any intent to invade.

 

Despite this, more than a dozen countries have urged their citizens to leave
Ukraine, with the US saying Moscow could begin an attack "at any time".-BBC

 

 

 

Ukraine vows to keep airspace open despite tensions

Ukraine is taking moves to keep its airspace open after KLM became the first
major airline to suspend flights to the capital Kyiv.

 

It comes as tensions over Russia's military build-up on Ukraine's border
intensify despite diplomatic efforts to ease the situation.

 

Ukraine said it was ready to assume financial obligations for flight safety
in the country's airspace.

 

Other airlines could follow KLM because of the rising insurance costs.

 

Ukraine's deputy head of the office of the president, Kirill Tymoshenko,
said at the weekend that the country was willing to underwrite some of the
costs.

 

He wrote in a Facebook post: "Ukraine is ready to make financial commitments
for the safety of aircraft in the Ukrainian sky.

 

 

"To ensure flight safety, the government today decided to allocate funds
from the State Budget Reserve Fund to the Infrastructure Ministry.
Guarantees will be provided for insurance companies, reinsurance companies,
leasing companies and airlines."

 

Reports said the money allocated was about 16.6bn hryvnyas (£404m).

 

The travel industry is still haunted by the memory of Malaysia Airlines
flight MH17, which was shot down while flying near eastern Ukraine's
conflict zone in July 2014. All 298 passengers and crew on board the
Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur flight were killed.

 

On Sunday, Ukraine's budget airline SkyUp said its flight from Portugal to
Kyiv was forced to land in Moldova on Sunday after the plane's Irish leasing
company revoked permission for it to cross into Ukraine.

 

SkyUp said European leasing companies were demanding that Ukrainian airlines
return their planes to EU airspace within 48 hours.

 

The BBC understands that British Airways, which has not operated flights to
Ukraine for several years, is not using Ukrainian airspace. It is unclear
how long this policy has been in place.

 

A BA pilot said on Twitter over the weekend that there was a long flight
time for a freighter service from London to Bangkok because of "current
geo-politics".

 

Germany's Lufthansa said it was considering a suspension of flights to
Ukraine.

 

However, Wizz Air said: "Currently, we have not made any changes to our
schedule and all of our flights to/from Ukraine continue to operate as
normal.

 

"All passengers with booked flights to and from Ukraine are advised to
regularly check their mailboxes for further information about booked
flights."

 

The airline said it was closely monitoring the situation.

 

Data from the global tracking service FlightRadar24 shows the airspace over
northern Turkey, on the other side of the Black Sea from Ukraine, is
particularly busy. Airspace in Russia just over its eastern border with
Ukraine is also busy. But there are relatively few planes over Ukraine
itself, the analysis suggests.

 

Reuters reported that an adviser to Ukraine's president said that,
regardless of what airlines chose to do, Kyiv would not close its airspace
as that would resemble "a kind of partial blockade".

 

Mark Zee, founder of flight operations advisory firm OPSGROUP, told Reuters:
"My guess would be that Ukraine will become unavailable pretty soon if what
we've seen over the weekend crystallises into a couple of more carriers
actually pulling the pin.

 

"I don't think it will be government advice that's doing it so much as it
will be insurance-based unavailability or carriers looking at other
carriers."

 

Graphic showing positioning of Russian troops.

Concerns about rising tensions over Ukraine cast a shadow over European
stock markets on Monday.

 

Shares in British Airways owner IAG, Wizz Air and travel group Tui fell
about 6.5%. In morning trading the main stock markets in Paris and Germany
were down more than 3%, while London's FTSE 100 share index fell 2%.

 

More than a dozen countries have urged their citizens to leave Ukraine amid
warnings from Western powers that an invasion by Russia could be imminent.

 

The US, UK and Germany are among those who have told their nationals to
leave.

 

Moscow has amassed an estimated 100,000 troops along Ukraine's border but
denies any intent to invade.-BBC

 

 

 

Blackstone takes $6.3bn gamble on troubled casino operator

Troubled Australian gaming group Crown Resorts agreed to be taken over by US
private equity giant Blackstone.

 

The Melbourne-based firm said on Monday that its board has backed
Blackstone's A$8.9bn (£4.7bn; $6.3bn) buyout offer.

 

The deal gives high-profile billionaire James Packer the opportunity to exit
the business, which has faced scandals and regulatory scrutiny.

 

Crown, which runs integrated resorts in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney,
previously rejected a lower bid from Blackstone.

 

Chairman Ziggy Switkowski said the latest offer was more than 10% higher
than Blackstone's initial bid, which it made almost a year ago.

 

"We believe the Blackstone transaction represents an attractive outcome for
shareholders," he said.

 

Crown is under scrutiny from regulators, who allege the company had
knowingly dealt with criminal organisations then misled authorities about
it.

 

The gambling licence for its flagship casino in Sydney remains suspended
more than a year after it was scheduled to open.

 

Meanwhile, Crown's casino in Melbourne has been told it must operate under
the supervision of a government-appointed manager for two years.

 

Mr Packer, who has trimmed his stake in the business, still has a 37% share
of the company.

 

He stepped down from Crown's board in 2018 because of "mental health
issues".-BBC

 

 

 

Air fare rises are unavoidable, warns Air France-KLM

The cost of air travel is set to rise this year as airlines face soaring
overheads, the UK boss of Air France-KLM has told the BBC.

 

Fahmi Mahjoub said his airline faced significantly higher fuel and airport
costs, and as a result higher air fares were "quite unavoidable".

 

The airline advised people in the UK to book early as travel rules were
eased and demand picked up.

 

It said it was already seeing strong demand for Easter and summer.

 

Mr Mahjoub told the BBC's Today programme: "The increase in cost of living
is a very concrete issue for many households but also the airline industry.

 

"So I think there is an expectation that airline tickets could become more
costly as we move forward and I think the advice we have for customers is
simply to plan earlier to be able to avoid those prices increases."

 

 

On Monday, oil prices hit their highest level since 2014 on fears that a
possible invasion of Ukraine by Russia could drive up costs in an already
tight market.

 

A barrel of benchmark Brent Crude reached $95.56 (£70.13) - up from under
$65 a year ago.

 

The rising price of oil has affected everything from heating bills to petrol
prices, and Mr Mahjoub said the cost of jet fuel was also going up sharply.

 

On top of this, Air France-KLM now has to pay 40% more to fly in and out of
Heathrow airport, he said.

 

It is not the first travel firm to warn on prices. Last year, airline
Ryanair and tour operator TUI both predicted holiday costs would be higher
than in 2019 as the pandemic eased and demand rebounded.

 

Despite the challenges, Air France-KLM says bookings from the UK have jumped
since pre-departure and Day 2 Covid tests were scrapped for vaccinated
travellers.

 

Mr Mahjoub said bookings for winter sun destinations such as Dubai, the US
and Thailand had been strong. Demand for half-term, Easter and summer
flights was also healthy.

 

Air France acquired the Dutch airline KLM to create Air France-KLM Group in
2004, one of the largest air carriers in the world. The deal allows the two
airlines to operate as separate companies.

 

On Sunday, KLM said it would stop services to Ukraine amid concerns Russia
is preparing to invade. Germany's Lufthansa is also considering suspending
flights.-BBC

 

 

 

Musk donated over $5.7 bln in Tesla shares to charity in Nov

(Reuters) - Tesla chief executive Elon Musk donated a total of 5,044,000
shares in the world's most valuable automaker to a charity from Nov. 19 to
Nov. 29 last year, its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) showed on Monday.

 

The donation was worth $5.74 billion, based on the closing prices of Tesla
shares on the five days that he donated the stock. The filing did not
disclose the name of the charity.

 

The donation came as the billionaire sold $16.4 billion worth of shares
after polling Twitter users about offloading 10% of his stake in the
electric-car maker in early November.

 

He said on Twitter that he would pay more than $11 billion in taxes in 2021
due to his exercise of stock options set to expire this year.

 

He also traded barbs with politicians Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren
who called on wealthy people to pay more taxes.

 

Analysts have said there would be a tax benefit for Musk potentially gifting
Tesla stock, since shares donated to charity are not subject to capital
gains tax, as they would be if sold.

 

"His tax benefit would be huge," said Bob Lord, an associate fellow at the
Institute for Policy Studies who studies tax policy.

 

"He'd save between 40% and 50% of the $5.7 billion in tax, depending on
whether he could take the deduction against his California income and he'd
avoid the gains tax he would have to pay if he sold the stock."

 

Lord added that Musk might have contributed the stock to intermediaries such
as "donor-advised funds," not outright to charitable groups.

 

Tesla was not immediately available for comment.

 

MUSK FOUNDATION

 

The donation ranks Musk as America's second-biggest donor after Bill Gates
and Melinda French Gates last year, data from the Chronicle of Philanthropy
shows.

 

Musk's public philanthropy gestures have so far trailed other billionaires.
Musk and Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos have donated less than 1% of
their net worth, whereas Warren Buffett and George Soros had given away more
than 20% by early September, according to business magazine Forbes.

 

Musk is president of the Musk Foundation, offering grants for the
"development of safe artificial intelligence to benefit humanity" among
other causes, according to its website.

 

Last year, Musk and the foundation offered $100 million prizes to those who
can come up with a technology to help remove carbon from the atmosphere.

 

Last year, he said he was donating $20 million to schools in Cameron County,
Texas, the location of a Space X rocket launch site, and $10 million to the
City of Brownsville.

 

Musk has also flirted with more ambitious philanthropy goals.

 

On Twitter last year he said, "If (the United Nations World Food Programme)
can describe ... exactly how $6 billion will solve world hunger, I will sell
Tesla stock right now and do it."

 

He was responding to a plea for a donation from David Beasley, the executive
director of the World Food Programme.

 

In January last year, he asked Twitter users about "ways to donate money
that really make a difference (way harder than it seems.)"

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

iPhone maker Foxconn to make chips in India with Vedanta

(Reuters) - Taiwan's Foxconn (2317.TW) said on Monday it had partnered with
Indian conglomerate Vedanta Ltd (VDAN.NS) to make semiconductors in the
South Asian country, as the electronics giant looks to diversify its
business amid a global chip shortage.

 

Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer and a major
Apple (AAPL.O) supplier, has expanded into areas including electric vehicles
(EVs) and semiconductors in recent years.

 

In a statement, Foxconn said it had signed a memorandum of understanding
with oil-to-metals group Vedanta to make semiconductors, calling it "a
significant boost to domestic manufacturing of electronics in India."

 

Foxconn said it would invest $118.7 million to set up a joint venture
company with Vedanta, which would be the majority shareholder of the new
venture. Foxconn would hold 40% of the venture's shares, it added.

 

"This first-of-its-kind joint venture between the two companies will support
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to create an ecosystem for
semiconductor manufacturing in India," the statement said.

 

The Taiwan company has in recent years counted semiconductors among its core
businesses and last year formed a partnership with Yageo Corp to make
semiconductor chips, following a global chip shortage that has rattled
producers of goods from cars to electronics.

 

The company has also in recent years announced plans to become a major
player in the global EV market, and has said it was in talks with "related
foundries" on possible collaboration to make chips for EVs.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Buffett's Berkshire bought Activision shares before Microsoft takeover

(Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) acquired nearly
$1 billion of shares in Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI.O) before Microsoft
Corp (MSFT.O) agreed to buy the video game maker for $68.7 billion,
according to a Monday regulatory filing.

 

Berkshire said that as of Dec. 31, it owned 14.7 million shares worth about
$975 million of the "Call of Duty" maker.

 

Microsoft announced its plan to buy Activision Blizzard on Jan. 18, in its
largest ever acquisition.

 

Activision shares are up 23% this year to $81.50, though they remain well
below the proposed $95 per share takeover price, reflecting potential
antitrust concerns. read more

 

Another prominent investor, Daniel Loeb's hedge fund Third Point, bought 2
million Activision shares in the fourth quarter.

 

Berkshire disclosed its Activision stake in a filing detailing its
U.S.-listed stock investments as of Dec. 31.

 

Investors monitor Berkshire's investments closely to see where Buffett and
his investment managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler see value.

 

The filings do not say who bought and sold what, though Buffett generally
handles larger investments.

 

Other media have quoted Buffett, a longtime friend of Microsoft co-founder
Bill Gates, as saying he would not buy Microsoft shares because of potential
conflicts of interest.

 

Gates ended his 16-year run on Berkshire's board in 2020. Buffett had been a
trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation but resigned in 2021. read
more

 

In the fourth quarter, Berkshire also added to its stake in oil company
Chevron Corp (CVX.N), while reducing its holdings in healthcare companies
including Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and Abbvie Inc (ABBV.N).

 

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) remains Berkshire's largest common stock holding.

 

Stock sales and Buffett's six-year drought in buying large whole companies
have contributed to Berkshire's record $149.2 billion cash stake as of Sept.
30, 2021, despite at least $21.9 billion of stock buybacks that year.

 

Berkshire is expected to disclose more about its stock purchases, buybacks
and cash on Feb. 26 when it releases year-end results and Buffett's widely
read annual shareholder letter.

 

The Omaha, Nebraska-based company also owns dozens of businesses including
the BNSF railroad, Geico auto insurance and Dairy Queen ice cream.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Cryptoverse: Bitcoin runs into Russian rules and regiments

(Reuters) - Bristling tensions and looming laws in Europe could offer clues
to two questions: Can bitcoin be a safe-haven asset? And can Russia emerge
as a crypto superpower?

 

The answer to the first, for now at least, is no; while fortress gold has
risen 2.3% over the past week, as Western warnings about Russian aggression
have intensified, bitcoin has lost 3%. That was worse than the 0.9% decline
of the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) index.

 

"I don't see any evidence of bitcoin being a safe haven," said Chris Weston,
head of research at Melbourne-based brokerage Pepperstone. "The Ukraine
situation with Russia is a really hard one to price, so in that situation,
you just buy crude futures."

 

Yet it's too early to dismiss the argument made by many bitcoin advocates
who say the cryptocurrency, just into its teens, is destined to be a form of
digital gold that should retain its value when riskier assets such as stocks
tumble.

 

While bitcoin has slipped towards levels of around $42,000 in recent days,
it hasn't surrendered all the gains made from lows of $32,950 hit on Jan.
24.

 

Some investors also point to how relatively calm trading has been, at a time
of high geopolitical tension, with Russia having massed more than 100,000
troops near Ukraine, though rejecting Western prophecies of invasion as
"hysteria".

 

Bitcoin's average 30-day volatility has fallen to 3.48%, versus its 2021
average of 4.56%, according to BuyBitcoinWorldwide's volatility index.

 

Data platform Coinglass' bitcoin Fear & Greed index, which measures market
sentiment - 0 indicates extreme fear and 100 is extreme greed - stands at
46, above the nervy 11-33 range where it had been trading since late
November.

 

Matthew Dibb, chief operating officer of Singapore-based crypto platform
Stack Funds, said he was bullish on crypto in the longer term as an
alternative asset and a hedge to world events - "But not quite yet."

 

"We are beginning to see some discorrelation between bitcoin and the
equities market, which is very nice," he added. "But while we're seeing some
traditional safe havens pop off with the Ukraine and Russia situation, we
haven't really seen that in crypto."

 

CRYPTO SUPERPOWERS

 

Meanwhile: A new law for crypto assets expected to be announced in Russia
this week could potentially shape the global scene.

 

Russia's importance for cryptocurrencies has been growing over the past year
after a ban on bitcoin mining in China, previously the world's dominant
centre for the activity, sent miners scrambling for alternatives. read more

 

Russia had become the third-largest centre for bitcoin mining in the world
as of last August, according to data from Britain's Cambridge Centre for
Alternative Finance.

 

The United States accounts for the largest share of mining, about 42.7% of
the global "hashrate" - the computing power being used by computers
connected to the bitcoin network - followed by Kazakhstan and Russia with
18.1% and 11.2% respectively.

 

Some industry watchers believe Russia might have since overtaken Kazakhstan,
where miners have contended with government internet shutdowns during unrest
this year. read more

 

It remains unclear, though, what the Russian regulations will hold.

 

Last week authorities said they were working on rules that would allow
cryptocurrency purchases to take place, but only through locally registered
and licensed companies. Industry players saw this as a positive development
after the central bank had proposed banning the use and mining of
cryptocurrencies in January.

 

Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev said on Monday that ensuring
that money flows and crypto transactions could be traced was crucial,
including being able to identify users. If included in the draft law, that
may diminish one of cryptocurrencies' major selling points - their
anonymity.

 

Moiseev also told reporters that banks and exchanges, required to comply
with anti-money laundering laws, would be the only legal entry point for
crypto into the Russian market.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Intel nears $6 bln deal to buy Tower Semiconductor - source

(Reuters) - Intel Corp is close to buying Israeli firm Tower Semiconductor
(TSEM.TA) for about $6 billion, a source familiar with the matter said, as
the U.S. company looks to advance its strategy of contract manufacturing
chips for other businesses.

 

A deal could be unveiled as soon as this week, the person said on Monday,
declining to be named as the matter was private.

 

The potential purchase would deepen Intel's presence in a space dominated by
Taiwan-based TSMC , the world's largest contract chipmaker. It also comes at
time when the global semiconductor shortage has hampered the production of
everything from smartphones to cars.

 

Tower Semiconductor, whose U.S. shares surged 53% in extended trading,
specializes in analog chips used in the automotive, mobile, medical and
aerospace industries. It had a market capitalization of $3.6 billion as of
Monday's close.

 

Both Intel and Tower Semiconductor did not immediately respond to requests
for comment.

 

The U.S. chipmaker said last month it would invest up to $100 billion to
build potentially the world's largest chip-making complex in Ohio. The move
is aimed at restoring Intel's dominance in chip-making and reducing
America's reliance on Asian manufacturing hubs.

 

Intel was also looking to buy GlobalFoundries (GFS.O) for about $30 billion,
according to a Wall Street Journal report in July, but the chipmaker went
public a few months later.

 

Chipmaking is expensive and difficult, so most companies either design or
produce. Intel has opened up its factories to rival semiconductor designers
to spread costs.

 

Intel shares were up 0.4% after the news on the Tower Semiconductor deal,
which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

South Africa's Discovery, AIA to partner for Asian insurance tech venture

(Reuters) - South Africa's Discovery Ltd (DSYJ.J) said on Tuesday it would
set up an Asia-focused health insurance technology business in partnership
with Hong Kong-listed AIA Group Ltd (1299.HK).

 

Discovery will own 25% of the joint venture, to be called Amplify Health,
while AIA will own the rest.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Johnson & Johnson defends talc bankruptcy strategy called 'rotten' by cancer
plaintiffs

(Reuters) - A Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) subsidiary came under attack in
court on Monday for attempting to use the bankruptcy process to resolve tens
of thousands of claims that its baby powder and other talc-based products
caused cancer.

 

The subsidiary, LTL Management, is fighting to remain in bankruptcy, arguing
that is the best way to reach an "equitable, efficient, and consensual
resolution" of more than 38,000 claims alleging that J&J's talc-based
products caused cancers including mesothelioma. J&J maintains that its
consumer talc products are safe.

 

J&J used a legal maneuver known as the "Texas two-step," which allows
companies to split valuable assets from liabilities through a so-called
divisive merger.

 

Lawyers representing cancer patients say that the bankruptcy case is meant
to delay and frustrate lawsuits that would otherwise go to a jury trial
against J&J directly.

 

"At its core, this case is rotten," Jeffrey Jonas, a lawyer for one of the
plaintiffs' committees said during Monday's opening arguments.

 

Robert Wuesthoff, president of LTL Management, testified that it would be
impossible to take all of the cases to trial. Before LTL was formed, J&J had
completed about 10 talc trials per year, Wuesthoff said.

 

Most of the cancer plaintiffs would be better off resolving their claims in
a bankruptcy settlement than hoping to join the "select few" who won
"lottery-sized awards" in jury trials, he added.

 

As Reuters has reported, J&J secretly launched "Project Plato" last year to
shift liability from its pending talc lawsuits to the newly created
subsidiary, which was then to be put into bankruptcy.

 

If J&J gets bankruptcy-court approval, such a strategy, while rarely used,
could be adopted more widely by big companies facing liability, according to
lawyers for talc plaintiffs, as well as some legal experts.

 

Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives in July 2021 proposed a
bill that would block the maneuver.

 

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan in New Jersey has scheduled a five-day
trial to consider a bid by committees representing the plaintiffs to dismiss
the bankruptcy case. Kaplan has said he intends to rule before the end of
the month.

 

NO 'FINANCIAL DISTRESS'

 

Lawyers for the plaintiffs argue that allowing the LTL bankruptcy to proceed
would unfairly cap the payout at the $2 billion that J&J has proposed to
make available for people who have been harmed.

 

Brian Glasser, an attorney who represents mesothelioma claimants, said on
Monday that J&J settled 6,846 talc cases for $966 million before deciding to
push those legal risks into LTL.

 

If J&J reached comparable settlements in all of the 38,000 talc cases
pending against it, the company would have about $5.5 billion in liability,
which would not cause "financial distress" to a company of J&J's size,
Glasser said.

 

"Just because Johnson & Johnson is both rich, and fearful of reputational
harm, does not give it a right to opt out of the jury system," Glasser said.

 

Shares of J&J ended down 1.3% at $165.60.

 

The talc lawsuits have been temporarily halted while J&J, which has a market
value exceeding $446 billion, awaits the outcome of the LTL bankruptcy
proceedings.

 

A 2018 Reuters investigation found that J&J knew for decades that trace
amounts of asbestos, which has been linked to mesothelioma, lurked in its
baby powder and other cosmetic talc products.

 

The company stopped selling baby powder in the United States and Canada in
May 2020, in part due to what it called "misinformation" and "unfounded
allegations" about the talc-based product.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Meta exec pitches metaverse business to advertisers

(Reuters) - The metaverse will open up more ways for businesses to make
money, an executive from Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc (FB.O) told an
advertising conference on Monday, in a presentation complete with a video
showing holographic avatars fencing and playing basketball.

 

The company's head of metaverse, Vishal Shah, cited opportunities for brands
around digital goods and immersive shopping, speaking over video conference
at the Interactive Advertising Bureau's annual leadership meeting in New
York.

 

"Without the physical limitations that exist today that put pressure on
businesses' bottom line, things like real estate, supply chain and
geographical reach, the metaverse will open up more opportunities for
businesses to make money," Shah told the audience.

 

Facebook, which makes most of its revenue through digital advertising,
changed its name to Meta in October to reflect its new bet on the metaverse,
a futuristic idea of a network of virtual environments accessed via
different devices where users can work, socialize and play.

 

On the advertising conference's agenda later this week is a fireside chat
with Neal Stephenson, the science-fiction author who coined the term
"metaverse" in his 1992 dystopian novel "Snow Crash." Stephenson will speak
on the same day that features panels with Unilever Plc's (ULVR.L) marketing
vice president and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co's (HPE.N) head of global
media investment.

 

Meta, which is betting the metaverse will be the successor to the mobile
internet, has invested heavily in virtual and augmented reality. It has not
shared many details about how brands will monetize in the metaverse.

 

Shah, who said the Foo Fighters would perform a concert in its virtual
reality events app Horizon Venues after the Super Bowl on Sunday, pointed to
the company's partnership with the National Football League that allows
users to outfit their VR avatars with team jerseys as an experiment in
digital goods.

 

Meta suffered major share losses last week after reporting sputtering user
growth and giving a weaker-than-expected earnings forecast, which it
partially blamed on Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) privacy changes which have made it
harder for brands to target and measure ads on Facebook and Instagram. read
more

 

Shah said that before the metaverse is fully realized - which he said could
be a decade away - businesses should continue to use its commerce channels
on Facebook and Instagram and told advertisers to try out building augmented
reality ads.

 

"Everything you're doing now across our apps will benefit you in this
metaverse future," he said.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 


Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

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INVESTORS DIARY 2022

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


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) 2022 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
344 1674

 


 

 

 

 

 

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