Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 12 January 2022

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 12 January 2022 

 


 

 


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

 


 

 


ü  World Bank warns global economy faces grim outlook

ü  Afghanistan crisis: Taliban expands 'food for work' programme

ü  How the soaring cost of living is hitting Sri Lankans hard

ü  Moxie Marlinspike leaves encrypted-messaging app Signal

ü  Evergrande: Real estate giant moves from Shenzhen head office to cut
costs

ü  British Gas owner Centrica warns high energy bills to last two years

ü  Ikea cuts sick pay for unvaccinated staff forced to self-isolate

ü  Tesla adds chill and assertive self-driving modes

ü  BOJ offers most upbeat view on regional Japan in 8 years

ü  Delinquent Shimao, Kaisa units named and shamed as defaults rise

ü  Tech leads equities' rebound as Powell sticks to script

ü  Morgan Stanley to award bonus rises of over 20% on Thursday to top
performers -sources

ü  Time to buy: Retail investors swoop in when stocks falter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

World Bank warns global economy faces grim outlook

The global economy faces a "grim outlook", World Bank president David
Malpass has warned, as the aftershocks of the pandemic continue to weigh on
growth - especially in poor countries.

 

His organisation's latest forecast predicts global growth will slow to 4.1%
this year from 5.5% in 2021.

 

It attributed the slowdown to virus threats, government aid unwinding and an
initial rebound in demand fading.

 

But Mr Malpass said his greatest worry was widening global inequality.

 

"The big drag is the inequality that's built into the system," he told the
BBC, noting that poorer countries were especially vulnerable to economic
damage from efforts to fight inflation.

 

"The outlook for the weaker countries is still to fall further and further
behind. That causes insecurity."

 

 

By 2023, economic activity in all advanced economies, such as the US, Euro
area and Japan, is likely to have recovered from the hit it took during the
pandemic, the bank said.

 

But output in developing and emerging countries is expected to remain 4%
lower than it was before Covid struck.

 

Mr Malpass blamed stimulus programmes in the richest countries for worsening
the divide by driving global inflation. While officials in many countries,
including the US, are now expected to raise interest rates to try to rein in
price increases, Mr Malpass warned higher borrowing costs could hurt
economic activity - especially in weaker economies.

 

"The problem with rate hikes is it hurts people that need floating rate
money... and that's usually new businesses, women-owned businesses,
developing country businesses," Mr Malpass said.

 

Separately, the World Economic Forum (WEF) warned that divergent economic
recoveries were making it harder to collaborate on global challenges such as
climate change.

 

"Widening disparities within and between countries will not only make it
more difficult to control Covid-19 and its variants, but will also risk
stalling, if not reversing, joint action against shared threats that the
world cannot afford to overlook," the WEF said in its annual global risks
report on Tuesday.

 

The World Bank's Global Economic Prospects report said that in 2021 the
world's economy bounced back from the pandemic with the strongest
post-recession expansion in 80 years.

 

But the gains are expected to slow this year, as virus variants and rapidly
rising prices for items such as food and energy weigh on households.
Globally, inflation is at its highest rate since 2008, the report says.

 

The bank, which lends to countries around the world, also warned that supply
chain bottlenecks and the unwinding of stimulus programmes posed risks.

 

The slowdown in the second half of 2021 was already larger than the bank had
expected in its June forecast due to the spread of the Omicron and Delta
Covid variants. It expects a "pronounced slowdown" this year, and predicts
global growth will decelerate further in 2023, to 3.2%.

 

"The reality is that Covid and the shutdowns are still taking a huge toll
and that's especially true on people in poorer countries," Mr Malpass said.
"Just a grim outlook."

 

Driving the global slowdown are China, where the rate of growth is expected
to drop to 5.1% from 8% last year, and the US, which is forecast to expand
by 3.7% this year compared with 5.6% in 2021. In the eurozone, expansion
will slow to 4.2% this year from 5.2%, the bank predicts.

 

India presents a bright spot, with the growth rate expected to rise from
8.3% to 8.7% this year.

 

But many emerging markets continue to struggle with additional challenges,
such as lower vaccination rates.

 

In Latin America and the Caribbean, for instance, growth is expected to slow
to 2.6% in 2022, from 6.7% last year.-BBC

 

 

 

Afghanistan crisis: Taliban expands 'food for work' programme

The Taliban has said it is expanding its "food for work" programme, in which
donated wheat is used to pay tens of thousands of public sector workers.

 

It comes as the United Nations (UN) has appealed for $4.4bn (£3.2bn) in
humanitarian aid for Afghanistan.

 

The UN says the funds are needed this year as more than half the country's
population is in need.

 

Afghanistan's economic and humanitarian crisis has deepened since the
Taliban took control in August.

 

The Taliban's latest announcement underlined the financial crisis engulfing
the country.

 

It could also raise questions among donors over the Taliban using
humanitarian aid to fund their government, even as strict rules remain in
place over money going into Afghanistan.

 

Still, some humanitarian aid has continued after the Taliban takeover as
foreign governments attempt to prevent millions of people from starving.

 

However, the aid is meant to bypass the Afghan government and is mostly
distributed by international organisations.

 

Now, wheat which was mostly donated by India to the previous US-backed
Afghan government is being used by the Taliban to pay around 40,000 workers
10kg of wheat a day, the country's agriculture officials said.

 

The programme, which had mostly been used to pay labourers in the capital
Kabul, will be expanded around the country, they added.

 

The Taliban has already taken delivery of 18 tonnes of wheat from Pakistan
with a promise of another 37 tonnes and is in talks with India over 55
tonnes more, according to Fazel Bari Fazli, the deputy minister of
administration and finance at Afghanistan's Ministry of Agriculture.

 

He did not say how much of the newly-donated wheat may be used to pay
workers and how much would be distributed as humanitarian aid.

 

In recent months, the country's finances have been hit hard by a number of
major issues such as sanctions being placed on members of the Taliban, the
central bank's assets being frozen, and the suspension of foreign aid, which
until last year supported the economy.

 

Also on Tuesday, the UN launched an appeal for $4.4bn of humanitarian aid
for Afghanistan.

 

"We go into 2022 with unprecedented levels of need amongst ordinary women,
men and children of Afghanistan. 24.4 million people are in humanitarian
need - more than half the population," the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs said.

 

The UN highlighted that, on top of a series of crises the country has
suffered, Afghanistan is now in the midst of one of its worst droughts in
decades.

 

Meanwhile, the Biden administration said it would provide another $308m in
humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.

 

It brings the total amount of US aid for Afghanistan and Afghan refugees in
the region to almost $782m since October.

 

The White House said the aid was aimed to alleviate suffering caused by the
pandemic as well as "drought, malnutrition, and the winter season".

 

-BBC

 

 

 

How the soaring cost of living is hitting Sri Lankans hard

"Cooking gas cylinder prices have almost doubled and we cannot afford it
anymore," says Niluka Dilrukshi. The 31 year-old mother-of-four has always
cooked with gas to prepare food for her family, but now says firewood is her
only option.

 

"I used to provide fish and vegetables daily to my children. Now we are
giving them one vegetable with rice," she says. "Earlier we used to have
three meals a day, now sometimes we can afford only two."

 

Mrs Dilrukshi and her family live in a suburb of Colombo, in Sri Lanka. Her
husband is a day-wage labourer but the soaring cost of essential items,
particularly food, means they are suddenly struggling to make ends meet.

 

Over the past four months, the price of a standard cooking gas cylinder has
shot up from $7.50 to $13.25 - an increase of around 85%.

 

Sri Lanka, an island nation of 22 million people, is facing an unprecedented
economic crisis. Its foreign exchange reserves dropped to around $1.6bn by
the end of November, only enough to pay for just a few weeks of imports.

 

As a result, the government has been forced to restrict the import of
several essential commodities - including food items - in a desperate bid to
hang on to its vital dollar reserves. This move, combined with increasing
fuel and freight costs, has pushed the price of essentials such as milk
powder and rice much higher.

 

 

This sharp rise in living costs is not just a problem for Sri Lanka. Several
other nations in Asia, such as neighbouring India and Pakistan are also
battling soaring inflation - people across the continent are having to
tighten their belts to cover the cost of every day food and energy costs.

 

The situation is particularly acute in Sri Lanka, because it is a smaller
island nation that's very reliant on overseas imports to feed its
population. For example, the country's tiny dairy industry cannot meet local
demand so it imports powdered milk.

 

But in the bustling main vegetable market in Colombo dozens of shop owners
are selling plentiful supplies of carrot, beetroot, curry leaves and many
other greens. Many shoppers openly complain about the surging prices and are
bargaining hard to reduce the price, or buying very limited quantities.

 

"With our current monthly salary, we can survive only for two weeks because
the prices have shot up. We don't have any hope for the future. Rice prices
have also increased. There's a long queue outside government-run shops," one
of the shoppers, Ms Swarna explains.

 

With several essential food items in high demand, Sri Lanka's food prices
increased by a record 21.1% last month on a year-on-year basis.

 

Following a sharp hike in milk powder prices - up 12.5% - the café owners'
association has decided to suspend selling popular staple, milk tea,
entirely. They say milk tea will only be offered on demand, at a higher
price.

 

"Sri Lankans are quite sensitive to food price inflation. There has been
already a lot of negative sentiment regarding the constraints that we are
seeing," says Deshal de Mel, an economist with think tank Verité Research.
"I think it is probably close to a point of a lack of tolerance if this
level of price escalation [continues]."

 

Just before the New Year, the government managed to increase the reserves to
$3.1bn reportedly through currency swap arrangements.

 

But Sri Lanka's total external debts are estimated to be more than $45bn and
it needs to find more than $6bn this year for debt servicing. It's not the
only nation in this position, Pakistan and the Maldives are also thought to
be suffering.

 

The pandemic and the rising global fuel costs have added to Sri Lanka's
woes. The country's biggest revenue earner, tourism, has taken a huge hit
due to the pandemic with international flights grounded.

 

Sri Lanka earned nearly $4bn from tourism in 2019 - and that has dropped by
around 90% due to the pandemic.

 

The government says its options are limited.

 

"We had to go into a restriction of imports because the pressure on our
current account, as well on our trade deficit, was increasing due to the
pandemic situation. But as a responsible government we need to manage it,"
Shehan Semasinghe, a Sri Lankan minister tells the BBC.

 

The opposition has party meanwhile has held protests over rising living
costs. "This has been building up for a long time. We have been living
beyond our means. We have been absorbing more than we have been producing,"
says Harsha De Silva, an opposition MP and a former minister of economic
reforms.

 

To calm growing public anger over rising costs, the government recently
announced a $1bn relief package - including a pay and pension hike for
government employees. It also lifted tax on some food and medicine and
simultaneously announced income support for its poorest citizens.

 

This is set against a backdrop of high global oil prices, the average cost
of shipping a standard container from Europe to Asia has increased from
around $2,000 in 2020, to over $10,000 last year.

 

The UN agency, Unctad, recently warned that the recovery of the global
economy is threatened by high freight rates. It forecasts that small island
nations like Sri Lanka - which are dependent on deliveries by sea - are
likely to be hard hit by a spike in import prices.

 

The rising fuel and energy prices have a had a cascading effect on wholesale
prices with transporters increasing charges. In neighbouring India, the
annual wholesale price-based inflation reached an all-time high of 14.2%
last November.

 

And in Pakistan, consumer price inflation rose to 12.3% in December, the
highest in nearly two years - the hike in food prices and other essentials
being blamed on rising fuel costs.

 

Recent Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) data show global food price
index in 2021 averaged 28% higher than the previous year.

 

Price comparisons

"The high cost of inputs, ongoing global pandemic and ever more uncertain
climatic conditions leave little room for optimism about a return to more
stable market conditions, even in 2022," says FAO senior economist Abdolreza
Abbassian.

 

Meanwhile, back in Colombo, people like Mrs Dilrukshi, now living on the
breadline, are worried that if local prices rise just a little bit further,
it will be difficult to keep the firewood burning in their kitchens at
all.-BBC

 

 

 

Moxie Marlinspike leaves encrypted-messaging app Signal

Moxie Marlinspike, the co-founder and chief executive of encrypted-messaging
app Signal, has resigned.

 

He blogged it was a "good time to replace myself as CEO" after working on
Signal for over a decade.

 

Signal recently enabled crypto-currency payments within the app, which has
concerned some users.

 

Mr Marlinspike remains a board member of the Signal Foundation, while the
board's executive chair, Brian Acton, becomes interim chief executive.

 

Sitting alone

Mr Marlinspike - whose real name is Matthew Rosenfeld - blogged he had
always hoped to reach a point where Signal could "grow and sustain" beyond
his involvement.

 

"I was writing all the Android code, was writing all of the server code, was
the only person on call for the service, was facilitating all product
development, and was managing everyone," he wrote.

 

"I couldn't ever leave cell service, had to take my laptop with me
everywhere in case of emergencies, and occasionally found myself sitting
alone on the sidewalk in the rain late at night trying to diagnose a service
degradation."

 

More than 40 million people now use Signal.

 

Instant-messaging apps

The app's popularity increased after planned changes to WhatsApp's privacy
policy caused some users to switch.

 

It is free, and like WhatsApp, messages are automatically encrypted by
default.

 

Both Signal and WhatsApp have benefited from Mr Marlinspike's skills as a
programmer and cryptographer.

 

The Signal Protocol, which he developed, was also integrated into WhatsApp,
as it has been into several other prominent instant-messaging apps.

 

'Real-life harms'

While Mr Marlinspike's tenure as chief executive has seen Signal grow in
popularity, a recent experiment with crypto-currency has troubled some
users.

 

In November, the app rolled out to all users a trial of an integrated
payment system using a crypto-currency called MobileCoin - which claims to
be both highly secure and environmentally friendly.

 

Mr Marlinspike has reportedly provided technical advice to the
crypto-currency start-up.

 

Integrating a crypto-currency is, some say, a risky strategy, creating
avenues for criminal misuse of the app and putting it within scope of
financial legislation - such as anti-money-laundering laws - and regulation.

 

Alex Stamos, formerly Facebook's chief security officer, told The Verge:
"The addition of pseudo-anonymous money-transfer functions greatly increases
their legal attack surface, while creating the possibility of real-life
harms."

 

Mr Marlinspike's replacement, Mr Acton, is also a veteran of the
secure-messaging sector.

 

Mr Acton left WhatsApp, which he co-founded, in 2017 - the messaging app had
been sold to Facebook, in 2014, in a deal worth $19bn (£11.4bn) in cash and
shares.

 

He cites " differences surrounding the use of customer data and targeted
advertising" as reasons for his departure from WhatsApp.

 

And, in 2018, with Mr Marlinspike, he launched the Signal Foundation,
providing funding of $50m.-BBC

 

 

 

Evergrande: Real estate giant moves from Shenzhen head office to cut costs

Cash-strapped Chinese real estate giant Evergrande has moved out of its
Shenzhen headquarters to cut costs.

 

Evergrande said it had moved to a property that it owns, but that it was
still in the same city.

 

It comes as its rival Shimao Group said on Tuesday it is in talks with
potential buyers for some properties as it tries to reduce its debts.

 

The firms have come under intense pressure in the last six months after
Beijing moved to curb their borrowing.

 

China's property crisis is estimated to have wiped more than a trillion
dollars off the value of the sector last year.

 

Evergrande, the world's most indebted property developer, is struggling to
make payments on its more than $300bn (£220bn) of liabilities and has missed
payments on its offshore debt.

 

 

"In order to save costs, the company has gone through the lease cancellation
procedures for Houhai Excellence Center in December 2021 and moved to its
own property in Shenzhen," Evergrande said in a statement on its website.

 

"The company's registered place has not changed and is still in Shenzhen,"
it added.

 

In September, the building was the scene of protests by Evergrande investors
who crowded its lobby to demand repayment of loans and financial products.

 

Evergrande's logo was seen being removed from the skyscraper's facade on
Monday.

 

However, it kept hopes alive that it could avoid defaulting for the first
time on its onshore yuan bonds.

 

That came as it extended until Thursday a deadline for bondholders to agree
to a six-month deferral on a $706m payment.

 

Evergrande's Hong Kong-listed shares have lost almost 90% of their value in
the last year as investors became increasingly concerned that it could be
close to collapse.

 

Separately on Tuesday, real estate company Shimao denied a media report that
it had entered into a preliminary agreement to sell one of its prime
properties, the Shanghai Shimao International Plaza.

 

But the company did say in the statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
that it was "in discussions with certain potential purchasers and may
consider disposing of certain properties if the terms and conditions are
appropriate in order to reduce the indebtedness of the Group".

 

Shimao's shares were trading slightly lower on Tuesday, after surging by
almost 20% the previous day.-BBC

 

 

 

British Gas owner Centrica warns high energy bills to last two years

Soaring energy prices which threaten the living standards of millions could
last up to two years, the boss of the UK's biggest energy supplier has said.

 

Chris O'Shea, chief executive of British Gas owner Centrica, said there was
"no reason" to expect gas prices would come down "any time soon".

 

He said hopes that bills rising by more than 50% to about £2,000 a year
would be short-lived may be misplaced.

 

Rising energy bills have raised concerns over the cost of living.

 

"The market suggests the high gas prices will be here for the next 18 months
to two years," Mr O'Shea told the BBC.

 

Many countries see gas as an intermediate solution while they wean
themselves off more carbon-intensive energy sources, such as oil and coal,
creating an international dash for gas as the world economy wakes up after
its Covid-related slumber.

 

"As we move towards net zero, gas is a big transition fuel," Mr O'Shea said.

 

"And so as you turn off coal-fired power stations in other countries, there
isn't an abundance of gas that you can just turn on quickly."

 

The idea of re-badging gas as a "transitional fuel", rather than as a
traditional hydrocarbon, has growing political support and has encouraged
those calling for increased investment in boosting the supply of gas from
domestic sources such as the North Sea.

 

However, Mr O'Shea was doubtful that higher levels of UK-sourced gas would
have made much difference to surging prices.

 

"I'm not sure an increase in UK supply would have brought the price down
from £3 a therm, as it was in December, from 50p as it was a year ago," he
said.

 

"We bring gas in from the United States, from Norway, from Europe, from
Qatar, from other places. So we're not in a position to simply have the UK
as an isolated energy market. We are part of a global market."

 

Mr O'Shea suggested three moves the government could make to help households
cope with what has been described as a "cost of living crisis".

 

Defer the cost incurred by surviving suppliers from taking on customers of
the many companies that have gone bust, rather than it be added to upcoming
bills.

Take the 5% VAT off energy temporarily or permanently.

Move levies charged to fund a green transition from bills to general
taxation.

"Those three things together, could be enacted very quickly, without
regret," he said. "And that would take care of half of the price rise. And
then you could get a further relief targeted to those households that needed
most."

 

Government officials have discussed targeting relief through changes to the
warm homes discount plan, which currently offers a one-off payment of £140
to those in receipt of certain benefits.

 

Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, has proposed increasing that
payment to £300 and widening the number of people eligible.

 

Prices rising

Mr O'Shea said the current design of the scheme would see relief for some
result in rises in everyone else's bills.

 

"The way the warm homes discount works is that the cost of that scheme is
met by customers. So if you increase it, you increase energy bills and we
think that whatever relief comes is got to not be at the expense of
hard-pressed energy consumers," he added.

 

Another option proposed by some in the energy industry is to find a way to
provide support to energy companies via loans or a fund, which firms could
borrow from when wholesale prices are high and pay back once they've fallen.

 

But according to Mr O'Shea, that plan would rely on the assumption that
prices would fall which he said might be wishful thinking.

 

"Ultimately, everybody in the UK is a taxpayer and an energy consumer. So
the cost of this is going to have to be paid by UK citizens," he added. "The
question as to whether that's paid for the energy bill, or for general
taxation is one for government."

 

The government has indicated it will decide on what support it will offer
before the new energy price cap, which is the maximum rate suppliers can
charge for a default tariff, is set on 7 February.-BBC

 

 

 

Ikea cuts sick pay for unvaccinated staff forced to self-isolate

Ikea has cut sick pay for unvaccinated staff who need to self-isolate
because of Covid exposure and in some cases for workers who test positive.

 

The retail giant acknowledged it was an "emotive topic" but said its policy
had to evolve with changing circumstances.

 

>From this week, sick pay cuts will be implemented at Wessex Water and in the
US several major companies have started penalising unjabbed workers.

 

It comes as firms struggle with mass staff absences and rising costs.

 

At Ikea unvaccinated workers, who do not have mitigating circumstances, who
test positive will be paid in line with company sick pay.

 

Unvaccinated workers, without mitigating circumstances and required to
isolate owing to being identified as a close contact, could now receive as
little as £96.35 a week - the Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) minimum.

 

 

Self-isolation guidance for people who have been jabbed was relaxed last
month. However, there was no change to the guidance for unvaccinated people
who come into contact with positive cases, and who must still self-isolate
for 10 full days after their date of exposure to the virus.

 

Average wages at Ikea are between about £400 and £450, depending on location
and, as is the case at many companies, staff get enhanced sick pay. The move
was first reported by the Mail on Sunday.

 

Ikea, which employs about 10,000 people in the UK, said in a statement:
"Fully vaccinated co-workers or those that are unvaccinated owing to
mitigating circumstances which, for example, could include pregnancy or
other medical grounds, will receive full pay.

 

"Unvaccinated co-workers without mitigating circumstances that test positive
with Covid will be paid full company sick pay in line with our company
absence policy.

 

"Unvaccinated co-workers without mitigating circumstances who have been
identified as close contacts of a positive case will be paid Statutory Sick
Pay."

 

In England, people who are vaccinated with at least two doses need not
self-isolate if they have been in close contact with someone infected with
Covid. Unvaccinated people contacted through the government's test-and-trace
system must still isolate by law.

 

Many companies complained of labour shortages throughout 2021, and now are
seeing mass absences due to the more infectious Omicron Covid strain.

 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson repeated on Monday that the data continued to
show those people most seriously affected by Omicron remained the
unvaccinated.

 

Wessex Water's sick pay rule change comes into force this week.

 

Any employee without at least one Covid-19 vaccination - who does not have a
valid medical reason - or does not have a confirmed vaccination appointment,
will get only statutory sick pay if required to self-isolate due to close
contact with someone testing positive.

 

A Wessex Water spokesperson said absences have soared this year: "The vast
majority of our workforce has been vaccinated and it's important as a
company providing essential services with key worker employees, the
remainder get vaccinated to protect themselves, customers and their
colleagues.

 

"Absences due to Covid have doubled in the last week, so we need everyone to
be available so we can continue to provide uninterrupted essential water and
sewerage services."

 

Legal risks

The company said that throughout the pandemic it had not furloughed staff
and those self-isolating had received full pay.

 

Last year, supermarket Morrisons cut sick pay terms, while several
companies, including banking giant Citigroup, introduced a "no jab, no job"
policy. Delta Airlines imposed a surcharge on unvaccinated staff members of
its healthcare plan.

 

Ben Willmott, head of public policy at the Chartered Institute of Personnel
and Development (CIPD), told the BBC there were pros and cons with changing
sick pay terms for certain workers.

 

It could encourage staff to get vaccinated, but others might be less likely
to test themselves or self-isolate because they could not afford time off
work at the statutory rate of about £96.

 

His organisation's official guidance was not to differentiate between
employees, as the consequences could be complex and there were potential
legal problems.

 

"You would have to manage it on a case-by-case basis because of legal
risks," Mr Willmott said.

 

Earlier this month, David Josephs, boss of food importer and retailer All
Greens, told the BBC that staff at some firms were ignoring Covid rules for
financial reasons.

 

"We know that in our sector a lot of staff do not get paid sick pay. Ours do
- but staff who are on limited contracts or on minimum wage cannot afford to
be off work," he said.

 

Employment lawyer Sarah Ozanne, of CMS, also warned of complex legal issues
and said striking the right balance was difficult.

 

"This action [by Ikea] seems more of a reaction to staff shortages and how
to manage them than any intended 'discrimination' of the unvaccinated," she
said.

 

"But employers should consider whether their actions are proportionate as a
means of achieving the aim of getting employees back into work."-BBC

 

 

 

Tesla adds chill and assertive self-driving modes

Tesla's automated driver assist feature has added an assertive driving mode.

 

The setting will follow other cars more closely, change lanes more
frequently, not leave the overtaking lane, and perform rolling stops.

 

Such driver behaviour by humans is often discouraged by safety groups.

 

However, it could sometimes be safer for an automated system to be more
assertive, like a human driver, rather than being overly cautious, one motor
safety expert said.

 

The three driving profiles - chill, average, and assertive - were first
added in Tesla's October update. That update, however, was quickly pulled
because of other issues, but the driving profiles feature has now been
restored.

 

A screenshot of the update was posted to Twitter by David Zipper, a
technology writer and visiting fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, and was
first reported by The Verge.

 

 

It shows the assertive mode described as: "Your Model X will have a smaller
follow distance, perform more frequent speed lane changes, will not exit
passing lanes and may perform rolling stops."

 

Potentially safer

The list of behaviours has been criticised by some on social media as being
less safe.

 

But Matthew Avery, from the UK's Thatcham Research, said that well-designed
driverless systems are theoretically safer than human drivers because they
eliminate human error.

 

As such, if a more assertive driving style encourages more drivers to take
up self-driving systems than a very cautious style would, that could be a
net gain for safety.

 

"If we want widespread adoption of automation, drivers are going to expect
the vehicle to do and make the decisions that you would do as a human
driver, not some very benign and very safe algorithm," he explained.

 

Human drivers come to an impasse regularly, such as when one has to pull
over in a single-lane country road or at a four-way intersection, and one
driver must make the move first. Two extremely careful automated cars might
both wait for the other to act.

 

"This is what the manufacturers are trying to learn at the moment," Mr Avery
explained.

 

"So, a degree of being slightly less cautious, If that means more people use
the systems more of the time because they feel that they're more human-like,
that's a good thing."

 

But he warned that it depends on how "assertive" the system is - and said it
must avoid aggressive driving.

 

"It's a fine line between assertive and aggressive, but definitely there are
situations when automation going through some very basic rules will
eventually sort of stop because it just can't progress," he said.

 

"I don't think we're there yet. I don't think the technology is
sophisticated enough."

 

'Rolling stops'

In many jurisdictions, failing to come to a complete halt at a stop line is
illegal, and can result in someone failing their driving test. As a habit,
many drivers simply come to a slow crawl - or a rolling stop - instead, but
it is considered a dangerous technique.

 

These appear to be part of both Tesla's average and assertive modes. The
description that the car "will not exit passing lanes" also seems to
contradict some regional rules.

 

Tesla's so-called "Full Self-Driving" feature is currently only available in
the US as part of a limited test.

 

But in the US, where they drive on the right, several states - but not all -
have made it illegal to leave the right-hand lane unless overtaking.
Similarly, in the UK, the Highway Code says motorists should always stay in
the left lane unless overtaking, and return to the left when safe to do so.

 

It is not clear if Tesla's system will account for national or state-based
variations in the rules about staying in the overtaking lanes, or what the
term rolling stops means in relation to stop signs.

 

The company has disbanded its media relations department and does not
respond to queries from journalists.

 

Tesla's so-called full self-driving has been subject to much scrutiny, with
crashes and incidents involving the technology gaining widespread media
coverage.

 

It is not, despite its name, a self-driving technology, but is rather
considered a driver assistance feature similar to other car-makers' lane
assist technology. It is at level two on a five-point scale of automated
systems.

 

Tesla owners must remain in control of the vehicle and alert at all times,
ready to take over in an instant for safety.-BBC

 

 

 

BOJ offers most upbeat view on regional Japan in 8 years

(Reuters) - The Bank of Japan offered on Wednesday its most optimistic view
of the country's regional economy in more than eight years, in a sign of its
confidence that a recent resurgence in coronavirus infections would not
derail the country's fragile recovery.

 

The upbeat assessment heightens the chance the BOJ will revise up its growth
and price forecasts for the year beginning in April in fresh projections due
next week. read more

 

"Japan's economy is picking up as a trend, although it remains in a severe
state due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic," BOJ Governor Haruhiko
Kuroda said in a speech to the bank's regional branch managers on Wednesday.

 

Kuroda also said consumer inflation was likely to gradually accelerate on an
expected increase in demand.

 

In a sign rising energy and raw material costs were emerging as a fresh risk
to Japan's recovery, however, the Reuters Tankan poll showed on Wednesday
manufacturers turned less positive about their business conditions in
January. read more

 

The survey highlights the dilemma Japan faces as a country that relies
heavily on fuel and food imports, making its economy vulnerable to the type
of cost-push inflation now under way.

 

While rising inflation is welcome progress for the BOJ's effort to achieve
its 2% price target, there is a risk the higher cost of living could cool
consumption and discourage firms from raising prices - pushing Japan back
into deflation.

 

A separate survey showed that while service-sector sentiment improved in
December, an index gauging the outlook worsened on uncertainty over the
impact of the Omicron variant. read more

 

So far, the BOJ is taking such risks in stride.

 

In a quarterly report on regional Japan, the central bank raised its
economic assessment for all nine regions - the first time it has done so
since October 2013.

 

The assessment on consumption was also revised up for all nine regions for
the first time since the BOJ began publishing the report in 2005.

 

"All of the regions said their economies were picking up or showing signs of
a pick-up as the hit to service consumption from the pandemic eases
somewhat," the BOJ said in the report.

 

Japan's economy shrank in the third quarter of last year as supply
constraints and curbs on activity to contain the pandemic hit factory output
and consumption.

 

Analysts expect growth to have rebounded in October-December and the current
quarter as output and consumption pick up, though a recent spike in Omicron
infections clouds the outlook.

 

The regional report and Reuters Tankan will likely be among factors the BOJ
will scrutinise at next week's policy review.

 

The BOJ is widely expected to maintain ultra-loose policy but emphasise
rising inflationary pressure that may shift the balance of risk on the price
outlook. read more

 

With inflation distant from the BOJ's 2% target, however, Governor Kuroda is
likely to stress the central bank's readiness to keep monetary settings
loose.

 

While wholesale prices in November climbed to a record 9.0% from a year
earlier, soft wage growth and consumption have kept core consumer inflation
stuck at a more modest 0.5% in November.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Delinquent Shimao, Kaisa units named and shamed as defaults rise

(Reuters) - Property firms controlled by developers Shimao Group Holdings,
Kaisa Group Holdings and Greenland Group have been named and shamed in a
list of Chinese companies "consistently overdue" on commercial paper
payments.

 

The total number of such delinquent firms jumped 26% in December from the
previous month, according to the list published by the Shanghai Commercial
Paper Exchange.

 

 

The spike in defaults on commercial paper - a popular short-term debt
instrument that Chinese developers use to delay payment to suppliers - shows
sustained liquidity stress in the real estate sector despite some policy
easing.

 

The list also contains an increasing number of defaults by construction
material suppliers and decoration companies, suggesting developers' debt
troubles could be spreading.

 

 

A total of 484 companies were overdue on at least three commercial paper
payments during the Aug. 1 to Dec. 31 period, according to the list,
published on the exchange's website.

 

The December total was 100 more companies than in November and included 95
in the real estate sector, or nearly one-fifth of the total.

 

 

Four of the names are project companies of developer Shimao Group (0813.HK),
which is discussing payment arrangements with creditors after announcing a
default on a trust loan last week. read more

 

The list, which does not disclose financial figures, also includes real
estate firms controlled by Kaisa Group (1638.HK), which is also struggling
to repay investors, according to an analysis of the firms by Reuters.

 

Companies controlled by Greenland, Risesun Real Estate Development Co
(002146.SZ), China Grand Enterprises (CGE), Zoina Group and Seedland are
also on the list.

 

Shimao and Kaisa did not immediately respond to requests for comment and
Greenland declined to comment. Risesun, Zoina, Seedland and CGE could not be
reached for comment.

 

China's CSI 300 Real Index (.CSI000952) retreated 1% on Wednesday morning
after dropping as much as 3.2%, while the Hang Seng Mainland Properties
Index (.HSMPI) lost 1.4%.

 

Property bond performance was mixed, with a Shimao bond slumping 18% in
Shanghai.

 

China's commercial paper market came under renewed scrutiny in 2021 with
regulators demanding greater disclosure as part of efforts to rein in
ballooning debt in the property sector. read more

 

Commercial paper, which is not counted as interest-bearing debt,
increasingly became a source of funding for developers locked out of other
financing channels.

 

China Evergrande Group (3333.HK), the world's most indebted developer
struggling amid a debt crisis, owes more than 200 billion yuan ($31.42
billion) in commercial paper.

 

($1 = 6.3644 Chinese yuan)

 

 

 

Tech leads equities' rebound as Powell sticks to script

(Reuters) - Stocks and commodities rose in relief on Wednesday and the
dollar hit a six-week low after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
sounded less hawkish than expected in testimony to Congress, while economic
data showed more room for policy easing in China.

 

Treasuries have also steadied after beginning the year with a rout, though a
new test looms later in the day when U.S. inflation data is expected to come
in red hot.

 

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS)
rose 1.4% to a one-and-a-half month high, led by a 4.3% jump for tech stocks
in Hong Kong (.HSTECH).

 

Japan's Nikkei (.N225) rose about 2%.

 

Powell told a congressional hearing on his confirmation for a second term at
the helm of the central bank that the economy could weather the COVID-19
surge and was ready for tighter monetary policy. read more

 

But he did not go into any new details beyond what traders already gleaned
from the minutes of last months' Fed meeting and that turned out to be
enough to staunch selling in the Treasury market and U.S. tech stocks.

 

"One of our main takeaways ... was that the sense of urgency on tightening
has not obviously heightened compared to the last time we heard from Powell
in December," analysts at NatWest markets said in a note.

 

The Nasdaq (.IXIC) and S&P 500 (.SPX) recorded their best sessions of 2022,
rising 1.4% and 0.9%, respectively.

 

S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% in the Asia sessionand European futures rose 0.8%.
FTSE futures rose 0.6%.

 

In the bond market, benchmark 10-year Treasury yields were steady at 1.7321%
and have pulled back more than 7 basis points (bps) from an almost two-year
high hit on Monday.

 

Commodities also caught a boost and oil touched pre-Omicron highs in Asia.

 

Brent crude futures touched $84 a barrel for the first time in two months
and U.S. crude futures crept up slightly to $81.69 a barrel.

 

DOLLAR STALLS

 

While traders are bracing for headline U.S. inflation to hit an almost
four-decade high of 7% year-on-year, a softer than expected reading on
prices in China has drawn bets on policy easing. read more

 

Five-year Chinese government bond futures rose eight ticks to an 18-month
high. Yuan gains were also capped.

 

U.S. data is due at 1330 GMT, though after Powell already sketched a
timeline for higher rates and balance sheet runoff in the year ahead it is
unclear how it might shift the outlook or move markets.

 

The greenback has dropped through its 200-day moving average against a
basket of currencies overnight touched six-week low of 95.538 on Wednesday.

 

At $1.1378, it is also at a 2022 low against the euro . It has steadied at
115.33 yen but is slipping on the Aussie and kiwi .

 

"There is already a lot of hawkish news in the price," said Rabobank
currency strategist Jane Foley.

 

"The dollar may need to see some pullback and fresh news on the interest
rate front before finding direction."

 

Sterling , meanwhile, has been surging and touched a two-month top of
$1.3645in Asia as investors see Britain overcoming a wave of COVID-19 cases
led by the Omicron variant and have priced in a nearly 80% chance of Bank of
England rate hike in February.

 

The dollar's weakness has helped gold , though at $1,820 an ounce it is
still hemmed in a range it has kept for half a year.

 

Cryptocurrencies were steady with investors comforted that bitcoin's support
at $40,000 held this week. Bitcoin last bought $42,720.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

Morgan Stanley to award bonus rises of over 20% on Thursday to top
performers -sources

(Reuters) - Morgan Stanley (MS.N) will raise its annual bonus for
top-performing staff on Thursday by more than 20%, people with direct
knowledge of the matter said, with a dealmaking boom set to usher in bumper
payouts by banks this year.

 

Bankers in equity underwriting and M&A advisory businesses are expected to
receive some of the highest increases at the Wall Street firm due to the
strong performances of those divisions over the past year, said two of the
sources.

 

 

Investment banks globally adjust their bonus pools according to business
momentum. Higher bonuses help them to retain talent in a cut-throat
competitive business environment.

 

Staff at Morgan Stanley will be informed of their bonus payouts on Thursday,
kicking off the busy and much-awaited annual bonus season, and then receive
the cash in early February, the two sources said.

 

 

Morgan Stanley declined to comment.

 

The sources could not be named as the information was not yet made public.

 

 

Staff within M&A and equity capital market (ECM) divisions are anticipating
bonuses up at least 15% on the previous year and, in some cases, up 20% or
more, two separate sources within those businesses said.

 

Other businesses that have "just" performed will likely see flat or
single-digit increases in their bonus pool, said one of the sources.

 

Top performers in M&A advisory and equities divisions will reap the rewards
when the bank holds its 'communications day' on Thursday, where staff are
informed about 2021 bonuses and promotions, the first two sources said.

 

The bonus payouts at Morgan Stanley are, however, likely to be lower than
those at Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), which, according to a Bloomberg News
report last week, is planning to increase the bonus pool for investment
bankers by more than 40%.

 

Sales and trading operations at Bank of America could see a rise of more
than 30% in bonuses on average, according to the report.

 

LEAGUE TABLES

 

Morgan Stanley's equity underwriting business has been one of its brightest
spots over the past year.

 

Revenues at the division have surged on the back of bumper stock market
listings and due to companies taking advantage of heightened market
liquidity by issuing new shares.

 

Morgan Stanley ranks third in the global investment banking league table for
fees, having earned $9.1 billion, up 28% in 2021 compared to the prior year,
according to Refinitiv data.

 

JPMorgan (JPM.N) and Goldman Sachs (GS.N) topped the table, the data showed.

 

M&A advisory revenues have benefitted from global merger & acquisitions
activity shattering all-time records during 2021. read more

 

Morgan Stanley topped Asia Pacific's M&A league table for announced deals
and was No.3 globally, Refinitiv data showed.

 

In Asia Pacific, including Japan, the bank was third in the ECM league
table, behind CITIC and Goldman, according to the data.

 

The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles

 

 

 

Time to buy: Retail investors swoop in when stocks falter

(Reuters) - U.S. retail investors have been dip-buyers so far in 2022,
snapping up equities that funds have shed from their portfolios in light of
a more hawkish Federal Reserve, but with a focus on quality stocks as
opposed to speculative names.

 

Growth and technology stocks, which typically generate lower returns in
higher-interest rate environments, have had a rocky start to the year as big
investors respond to expectations the Fed will raise interest rates as many
as four times in 2022, driving short-dated Treasury yields to nearly
two-year highs.

 

Still, weakness in stocks has been met with retail investors seeing
opportunities to buy. On Monday, after falling almost 3% earlier in the day
the technology-heavy Nasdaq recouped all its losses for the day in afternoon
trading, and it gained again on Tuesday. read more

 

"Buy the dip has been successful for how many – 8 or 10 years now – and I
think that people still see opportunities when they look around for
potential investments and the U.S. stock market is still the best game in
town," said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at retail brokerage TD
Ameritrade, which is owned by Charles Schwab Corp .

 

Clients of TD Ameritrade returned to buying this month after having been
net-sellers in December, with heavy selling in the final week of the year as
the Omicron COVID-19 wave began to hit hard, said Kinahan.

 

The busiest day this year for Apex Clearing, which processes trades for
brokerages including SoFi Technologies Inc (SOFI.O) and Firsttrade, was Jan.
5, when the S&P 500 (.SPX) dropped around 2%, with a buy-to-sell ratio of
1.91, a spokesperson for the company said. The S&P experienced a similar
drop the next day, and retail investors were again net-buyers, she said.

 

Individual investors have been focusing on stocks such as Tesla Inc (TSLA.O)
and Apple Inc (AAPL.O), as well as tech-focused and leveraged
exchange-traded funds (ETFs), while they have been net-sellers of stocks
related to gaming, sports, and cannabis themes, said Giacomo Pierantoni,
analyst at investment research firm Vanda.

 

"Retail investors have continued to buy massively large-cap tech, providing
a cushion, and ETFs, but they've stopped buying all the speculative assets,"
such as cryptocurrencies and highly speculative stocks, he said.

 

With risk appetite still low, some of the main picks in the past week for TD
Ameritrade clients have been big tech stocks such as Apple and Microsoft Inc
Corp (MSFT.O), as well as blue-chips, including McDonald's Corp (MCD.N),
Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) and AT&T Inc (T.N), Kinahan said.

 

A BIGGER FORCE

 

Retail investors have become a bigger force in the markets in the past
couple of years as retail brokerages have moved to commission-free trading
and social media has made it easier for individuals, many working from home
due to the pandemic, to coordinate on trading ideas. That can put them at
odds with the patterns of institutional investors.

 

Bank of America Securities analysts said retail clients and hedge funds were
buyers of U.S. equities last week, with around $500 million in net buys, as
the S&P 500 fell 1.9%.

 

The bank's institutional clients, meanwhile, began the year with their
biggest outflows since mid-January of 2021.

 

That phenomenon was also seen on Monday when retail investors notched their
third consecutive day of buying more than $1 billion in equities, according
to a note from JPMorgan analysts.

 

Monday's net total of $1.07 billion in equities bought by retail was in the
93rd percentile of historical data, they said. That stands in contrast to
institutional investors which have been net-sellers.

 

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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