3 September 2018 FT — Articles to Read

3 September 2018

 

Question: According to MSN:News, what 10 purchases should you not put on a credit card?

 

Bond market big names battered by deepening Argentina turmoil – Pg. 1

–          US investment group Franklin Templeton’s losses have underlined how the crisis has wrongfooted many of the market’s best-known names and left investors wary of diving back in, ….

–          Franklin Templeton funds have lost $1.23bn in the past two weeks on just three of its biggest Argentine positions…

–          …flagship $36.8bn Global Bond Fund lost 4.2% in August…while …$5.4bn Global Total Return Fund dropped 4.3% – the worst month for both funds in nearly four years

–          Argentina, which last week increased rates by 15% to 60%, emerged as one of the hottest stories in emerging markets two years ago after the centre-right reformist Mauricio Macri came to power

 

Turkey braced for turmoil as inflation rises – Pg. 2

–          Rising prices have fueled the devaluation of the lira, triggering a string of announcements by companies about cash flow problems and missed debt payments

–          …predicted that annual inflation would top 17% in August – higher than the previous month’s figure of 15.85% and far above the central bank’s official 5% target

–          The lira, which has lost around 40% of its value this year, has suffered extreme swings in recent weeks

–          Turkey’s central bank stunned investors by refusing to raise rates even as the lira lost nearly a quarter of its value against the dollar in August alone

 

China: Xi’s other grand plan – Pg. 7

–          The 36km bridge connecting Hong Kong with Macau with the city of Zhuhai in mainland China is one of the most ambitious engineering projects ever undertaken, at least 15 years in the making, and coming in at a cost of nearly $20bn

–          The megaproject, scheduled to open to road traffic in the next few months, ….

–          Alongside a new $11bn rail link that will plug Hong Kong into China’s vast high-speed rail network, it is a crucial element in Beijing’s plan to integrate the semi-autonomous regions of Hong Kong and Macau with nine neighbouring urban areas – including the mega-cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou

–          Beijing wants to fashion them into what it calls a “Greater Bay Area” to rival San Francisco, New York and Tokyo as a powerhouse of innovation and economic growth

–          The Greater Bay project covers an area containing nearly 70m people with a $1.5tn economy, bigger than G20 countries including Australia, Indonesia and Mexico

–          The idea behind the Greater Bay Area plan is to capitalize  on the region’s impressive infrastructure and expertise in finance, manufacturing and technology by dropping trade barriers, promoting cross-border business and eventually creating a single market

–          The cities of the Greater Bay Area were at the heart of modern China’s first economic revolution, when Hong Kong money spurred the rapid growth of the manufacturing industry in Shenzhen after Deng Xiaopiing, China’s then paramount leader, made it the nation’s first special economic zone in 1980

–          The toughest challenge is how to integrate Hong Kong, a free port with its own customs system, into mainland China,…

–          Beijing has said it will abolish work permit requirements for Hong Kongers in the mainland, and give them access to state healthcare and education

 

What employers want from MBAs – Pg. 10

–          Soft skills are the most important

–          Some employers are questioning the value of MBAs

–          Big data matters

–          Employers find it increasingly difficult to hire graduates with the right skills

–          Most important skills: top five

o   Ability to work in a team

o   Ability to work with a wide variety of people

o   Ability to solve complex problems

o   Ability to build, sustain and expand network of people

o   Time management and ability to prioritize

 

Answer: (1) Household bills; (2) Cars; (3) Student Loans; (4) Retail therapy; (5) Medical bills; (6) A night on the town; (7) Big-ticket items you can’t pay off immediately; (8) Credit card payments; (9) “Sale” items; (10) Unsecured online purchases