Facebook Is Hiring Like Crazy (Bloomberg)
Mark Zuckerberg is going to need to find some more pinball machines and rock-climbing walls. The social networking company, known for its many perks that make it a regular on the hottest-places-to-work lists, is increasing headcount at an incredible pace.
China Still Has Plenty of Savings to Unleash (Bloomberg)
The People’s Bank of China lowered banks’ required reserve ratios on Monday, making the largest cut since Nov. 2008. Even so, they still have about 23 trillion yuan ($3.7 trillion) to lock away, begging the question: how much will be allowed to flow into the nation’s slowing economy and boost lending?
Here’s How Uber’s Co-Founder Is Going to Take on Amazon and eBay (Bloomberg)
Garrett Camp made a fortune helping people navigate the digital world, then a far larger fortune helping them navigate the physical one. The Canadian-born Camp co-founded StumbleUpon, the early online links hub, in 2002, sold it to eBay for $75 million in 2007, and bought it back for 40 percent less in 2009. That same year, it occurred to him that many taxi drivers tooling around in search of their next fares had smartphones in their pockets and could be easily summoned by an app that made use of GPS data. The idea became Uber, and co-founder Camp is now worth an estimated $5.3 billion. As Uber’s chairman, he doesn’t have an operational role at the company, so he had enough time last year to found the tech industry incubator Expa, spread lavishly across the 27th floor of a downtown San Francisco office tower.
Putin’s Feed-Russia-First Push Has Global Grain Markets on Edge (Bloomberg)
Vladimir Putin is determined to make sure that Russians don’t run out of affordable bread, even if it means a few bankrupt farmers and a disrupted grain market.
The country that last year was the fourth-largest wheat exporter is now taxing all overseas sales of the grain. Shipments dropped by more than half, and the loss of income is squeezing already thin profits for growers. While Putin’s move kept more wheat at home, farmers have cut back spending to stay solvent, including using less fertilizer and pesticide.
Euro-Region Output Growth Slows as Economy Awaits QE Effect (Bloomberg)
Growth in euro-area manufacturing and services slowed in April in a sign that bond purchases by the European Central Bank will take time to revive a fragile recovery.
A Purchasing Managers Index for both industries fell to 53.5 from 54 in March, London-based Markit Economics said on Thursday. While the reading remains well above the 50-point mark that divides expansion from contraction, it is below the 54.4 forecast by economists in a Bloomberg survey.
We're Just Learning the True Cost of China's Debt (Bloomberg)
The true cost of the debt that China’s real estate developers peddled to eager international investors during a five-year property boom is now becoming clear.
Here's Why This Fed President Thinks Inflation's About to Rebound (Bloomberg)
Inflation continues to underwhelm the Federal Reserve's 2 percent target, with the overall personal consumption expenditures price index picking up just 0.3 percent for the year ending February. Even so, New York Fed President William Dudley said Monday he expects inflation to "begin to firm later this year." Fed officials say they won't raise interest rates until they are "reasonably confident" that inflation is heading up. (Read more)
Petrobras Lost $2.1 Billion to Graft (Bloomberg)
Brazil’s national oil company said a graft scandal cost it 6.2 billion reais ($2.1 billion) after a five-month internal debate that shut off access to bond markets, cost the chief executive her job and destabilized the country’s politics.
Half of U.S. Fracking Companies Will Be Dead or Sold This Year (Bloomberg)
Half of the 41 fracking companies operating in the U.S. will be dead or sold by year-end because of slashed spending by oil companies, an executive with Weatherford International Plc said.
There could be about 20 companies left that provide hydraulic fracturing services, Rob Fulks, pressure pumping marketing director at Weatherford, said in an interview Wednesday at the IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston. Demand for fracking, a production method that along with horizontal drilling spurred a boom in U.S. oil and natural gas output, has declined as customers leave wells uncompleted because of low prices.
Apple Software Bug Lets Hackers Crash IPhones, Researchers Say (Bloomberg)
Apple Inc.’s iOS operating system contains a bug that lets attackers crash iPhones and iPads within range of a wireless hotspot, security company Skycure Ltd. said.
The devices’ applications and even the entire base software shut down when served with manipulated SSL encryption certificates, Skycure Chief Executive Officer Adi Sharabani said in a phone interview. If hackers manage to force devices within range onto their own wireless network, they can effectively create a “no iOS zone,” according to Tel Aviv, Israel-based Skycure. (Full article)
China Manufacturing Gauge Drops to Lowest Level in 12 Months (Bloomberg)
A Chinese manufacturing gauge fell to a 12-month low in April, suggesting government efforts to cushion a slowdown are yet to revive the nation’s factories.
The preliminary Purchasing Managers’ Index from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics was at 49.2, missing the median estimate of 49.6 in a Bloomberg survey, which was also March’s final reading. Numbers below 50 indicate contraction.
China Won’t Let Toyota Ditch Its Electric Cars (Bloomberg)
Toyota Motor has made its view loud and clear: Hydrogen-powered cars are the future. That’s why the world’s largest automaker pulled the plug last year on the all-electric RAV4 EV crossover it developed with Tesla Motors. China, the world’s largest auto market, isn’t listening.
The government has begun a strategic initiative to build electric cars on the mainland and is encouraging foreign manufacturers and their local partners to get with the program. So as many as 40 electric models will go on sale in China this year—triple the number available two years ago—as automakers hew to the policies, Bloomberg Intelligence estimates. (More)
Empty Cocoa Sacks Herald Ghana’s Worst Crop in Five Years (Bloomberg)
Gabriel Kwesi Enoku rakes the dried cocoa beans with his hands. He doesn’t have enough to fill a 64-kilogram (141 pounds) sack on his farm in western Ghana.
By this time last year he had stuffed five.
“This season has been scary,” Enoku said in an interview on April 18 in Enchi, about 423 kilometers (263 miles) northwest of the capital, Accra. “It isn’t going well at all. There aren’t enough cocoa pods on the trees.” (More)
Sweden Targets New Investment Plan for Infrastructure Next Year (Bloomberg)
Sweden’s government targets introducing an investment program for infrastructure projects as early as next year as part of its plan to cut the nation’s jobless rate to the lowest in the European Union by 2020.
“We are working on an investment plan,” Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson said in an interview after a speech in Stockholm on Wednesday. “At the earliest, we could present this with next year’s infrastructure proposal,” she said. “We will see how it will be financed.” (Read here)
Swiss Left Helpless in Currency Wars as Franc Keeps on Surging (Bloomberg)
Switzerland is running out of ammunition to fight the global currency wars.
In the three months since the Swiss National Bank scrapped the franc’s ceiling against the euro, it’s intervened in currency markets, cut interest rates and on Wednesday made more depositors subject to its negative rates. Yet the franc has still gained the most among its Group-of-10 peers this year, with traders positioned for further strength. On Thursday, it advanced against every other major currency. (More)
U.K. March Retail Sales Unexpectedly Fall as Fuel Plunges (Bloomberg)
U.K. retail sales unexpectedly fell in March and the government undershot its borrowing forecasts in the latest fiscal year, providing a mixed set of data as parties spar over the economy in the final days of the election campaign.
The volume of sales including auto fuel fell 0.5 percent from February, the Office for National Statistics said in London Thursday. Economists had forecast a 0.4 percent increase, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. Sales excluding auto fuel rose 0.2 percent, less than predicted. (Continue here)
European Stocks Drop as Manufacturing, Services Miss Estimates (Bloomberg)
European stocks declined as data showed euro-area output expanded at a slower pace in April, and Ericsson AB led technology shares lower.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 0.6 percent to 406.75 at 11:17 a.m. in London, having earlier tumbled as much as 1 percent and gained 0.4 percent. A report showed euro-area manufacturing and services missed forecasts, signaling it may take longer for European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s quantitative-easing plan to revive the economy. (Read here)
Exclusive Look Inside the Four Seasons’ New Private Jumbo Jet (Bloomberg)
Spending three weeks touring the world’s wonders and staying in four-star hotels is better by private jet—right?
Well, naturally. But the Four Seasons is hoping that up to 52 passengers will pay $119,000 each for the honor on their shiny new plane. Before it took off on its maiden voyage (a 16-day “Backstage With the Arts” tour round Europe’s highlights) we snuck aboard at Paris's Le Bourget airport to get a first look at the multi-million dollar conversion and find out just how they’re seeking to change up the face of luxury group tours. (Read here)
South Africa Has No Immediate Risk of Junk Rating, Kganyago Says (Bloomberg)
South Africa has no immediate risk of credit rating companies downgrading the nation’s debt to junk, central bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said.
Bono’s Neighborhood Shows World’s Hottest Market Wilting (Bloomberg)
For Tom Kelly, a 68-year-old living in a wealthy neighborhood on the south Dublin coast, the world’s hottest property market is cooling at the worst time.
In October, Kelly and his wife offered their five-bedroom home for sale for 1.45 million euros ($1.6 million). Six months and a 14 percent price cut later, the property still hasn’t been sold. (Full article)
Here’s What It’s Like to Eat in the House of Lords’ Exclusive Parliament Dining Room (Bloomberg)
Going for lunch at the House of Lords is like taking a stroll through history—in terms of food as well as architecture.
The Peers' Dining Room is briefly open to the public for the first time as an experiment to see if the common people are a useful source of income while Parliament isn't in session. (More)
Luxury French Chocolate Maker Valrhona Opens a School in Brooklyn (Bloomberg)
This week the luxury French chocolate company Valrhona opened a new school and hub for their brand in the U.S., L'École Valrhona Brooklyn. Though the school has hosted a couple of confectionery classes already, this week it hosted a two-day conference with parties for visiting chefs and a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the school. (Here)
German Bonds Recovery on Weak Data Shows No Time for Going Short (Bloomberg)
There’s still life in the German government-bond rally after data showed the euro-area economy still in need of Mario Draghi’s medicine. (More)
The Clash Over Israeli Inflation (Bloomberg)
Prices in Israel are too high as far as newly re-elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is concerned. For the central bank, they're not rising fast enough.
In fact, they are declining. Israel's inflation rate held at minus 1 percent in March, matching the steepest slump since 2007, as a drop in global commodity prices met political efforts to lower the cost of living in the country. The Bank of Israel has already cut interest rates close to zero and is considering alternative tools to avert deflation and weaken the shekel. At its next policy meeting on April 27, it will probably sit tight, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg, monitoring the pass-through of previous decisions as a new government is formed.
AT&T Tops Profit Estimates as Tablet Sales Boosted User Base (Bloomberg)
AT&T Inc., the second-largest U.S. wireless carrier, posted profit that topped analysts’ estimates as the company added more tablet customers even as discounting by smaller rivals made subscriber growth challenging. (More)
EBay Profit Outlook Tops Estimates (Bloomberg)
Bay Inc. is on track for a “smooth separation” of its PayPal business in the third quarter as profit growth recovers after the company cut costs in preparation for the split. (Read here)
Congressional Democrats Reignite Efforts to Control Money in Politics (Bloomberg)
A week after a Florida man illegally landed his gyrocopter at the U.S. Capitol to deliver a message on the need for campaign finance reform, U.S. House Democrats on Wednesday announced the "relaunch" of a task force to push toward that same goal. (Continue)
China's Growing Breastfeeding Problem (Bloomberg)
Two years ago, the British medical journal the Lancet published a study arguing that higher rates of exclusive breastfeeding could be even more effective than improved sanitation at preventing "a large proportion of child deaths and disease” in developing countries. It's unclear whether Chinese officials ever saw that research, but they seem to have arrived at the same conclusions. (Read here)
Kochs Eye Five Republican Presidential Prospects for Support (Bloomberg)
The Republican megadonor brothers Charles and David Koch have identified five presidential contenders who may receive their support in the primary, Charles Koch told USA Today in an interview published Tuesday. (Here)
South Koreans Bicker Over Their Tanking Economy (Bloomberg)
As South Korea slides toward deflation, officials in Seoul seem mostly interested in pointing fingers at one another. Central bank chief Lee Ju Yeol says the government should boost spending and implement structural reforms. President Park Geun Hye's team thinks lower interest rates are the answer. Until they resolve their differences, 50 million Koreans will be forced to suffer an underperforming economy. (Full article)
Google Wireless Threat to Big Carriers Muted by Limited Coverage (Bloomberg)
Google Inc.’s new mobile phone service has features, such as low price and credits for unused data, that will ratchet up pressure for market leaders Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. (Read more)
The Village Turns Against Free-Range Parents (Bloomberg)
Last week I wrote about free-range parenting and the madness of declaring the streets off-limits to unaccompanied children until they’re old enough to run for Congress. This morning, I wrote about the pernicious effects of child support, and how the government, in attempting to fill the roles that were once taken care of by communities, can end up making matters worse, often with the tragic result that poor people who can’t make their payments are punished so severely that their earning power is further eroded. (Here)
Pound Declines After Retail Sales Unexpectedly Drop; Bonds Rise (Bloomberg)
The pound declined and U.K. 10-year government bond yields pared their biggest increase in almost two years as a report showed retail sales unexpectedly fell in March. (Here)
Justices Drop Another Clue About Obamacare's Future (Bloomberg)
Is it better to follow the strict letter of the law or to adjust it where appropriate to produce a more equitable result? This is one of the oldest questions in legal thought, one that can be traced back at least to Aristotle — and on Wednesday the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in, 5-4, on the side of equity, with Justice Anthony Kennedy providing the deciding vote. (Continue)
Lyft Hires Facebook, Nike Executives in Push to Challenge Uber (Bloomberg)
Lyft Inc. hired two vice presidents with experience at consumer giants Facebook Inc. and Nike Inc., doubling the ride-sharing startup’s executive team in six months as it mounts a challenge to Uber Technologies Inc. (More)
Grexit Is So 2012. Citigroup Introduces Grimbo to Crisis Lexicon (Bloomberg)
Citigroup Inc. economist Ebrahim Rahbari is again trying his hand at etymology.
In February 2012, he coined the term “Grexit” to describe the risk of Greece leaving the euro area. At the time, he and his fellow economists at Citigroup put the probability at 50 percent within the next 18 months and later raised it to 90 percent by 2014. (Here)
De Beers Cuts Diamond Production Goal for 2015 as Demand Weakens (Bloomberg)
De Beers, the world’s biggest diamond producer, cut its output target for the year as demand for the gems weakens and prices fell for a second quarter. (Full article)
Europe’s Top Asset Manager Warns of Possible Stock Market Crash (Bloomberg)
Allianz SE, Europe’s biggest insurer and asset manager, warned that stock-market turmoil may follow a recent rally.
“We see generally meager growth prospects, political dangers and risks of a stock market crash,” Oliver Baete, board member and designate chief executive officer, said in an interview with Germany’s Manager Magazin published on Thursday. Holger Ullrich, a spokesman for Allianz, confirmed the comments. (Full article)
Kochs Eye Five Republican Presidential Prospects for Support (Bloomberg)
The Republican megadonor brothers Charles and David Koch have identified five presidential contenders who may receive their support in the primary, Charles Koch told USA Today in an interview published Tuesday.
