The world’s largest traditional entertainment companies face a reckoning in 2024 after losing more than $5bn in the past year from the streaming services they built to compete with Netflix. Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, Comcast and Paramount — US entertainment conglomerates that have been growing ever larger for decades — are facing pressure to shrink
Central bankers are rethinking their approach to economic forecasting after their high-profile failures to spot the most recent inflationary outburst, as officials argue for greater candour with the markets about the uncertainties they are confronting. The European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and other official forecasters failed to see how the
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese business & finance myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Nearly nine-tenths of the foreign money that flowed into China’s stock market in 2023 has already left, spurred by mounting doubts about Beijing’s willingness to take serious action to boost flagging growth. Since
Over the decades that the Post Office wrongfully prosecuted sub-postmasters using flawed evidence, the state-owned business turned to a series of lawyers to pursue the cases and then to avoid scrutiny. The public inquiry into the scandal has now shone a harsh light on the solicitors and barristers who are linked to what MPs have
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Geopolitics myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The writer spent much of his diplomatic life working on and in China. He is an associate fellow of the Council on Geostrategy, Rusi and Merics Those of us who spend our lives thinking about China
Municipals were steady to slightly firmer Wednesday as inflows returned to muni mutual funds. U.S. Treasury yields fell and equities ended up. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Wednesday was at 60%, the three-year at 60%, the five-year at 60%, the 10-year at 60% and the 30-year at 87%, according to Refinitiv Municipal Market Data’s 3 p.m.
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Jacques Delors, the former president of the European Commission and one of the main architects of today’s EU, has died at the age of 98. Delors was one of the most consequential figures in post-war
Puerto Rico’s General Fund has collected $212 million more than was projected in Q1 2024, and $207 million higher than was collected in the same period last year, the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico said. Fiscal year 2024 began on July 1 and despite the positive results, which were driven mostly by
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. A US appeals court has halted a trade tribunal order banning Apple from selling the Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the US, the latest development in an ongoing patent battle with health technology
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Aerospace & Defence myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The order books of the world’s biggest defence companies are near record highs after growing by more than 10 per cent in just two years because of rising geopolitical tension, including the conflict in
A constitutional challenge to an Oklahoma law prohibiting state and local government contracts with companies that “boycott” the fossil fuel industry is moving forward after it was revised and refiled. Federal claims in the litigation, which was brought in Oklahoma County District Court in November, were dropped in the case refiled last week against state
The Riverside County Transportation Commission, California, won a Fitch Ratings upgrade for a $152.2 million Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act senior loan. Fitch lifted the rating on the TIFIA debt to BBB-plus from BBB-minus. The rating outlook is stable. The funding supports a managed lane project on Interstate 15 in a 15-mile stretch through
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s proposed $136.6 billion 2024-2026 biennium budget focuses on ways to continue the state’s economic rebound and provides substantial new funds for education and infrastructure. The Democratic governor’s budget proposal will be debated by the Republican-dominated General Assembly when it reconvenes on Jan. 2. Beshear’s plan, which he calls “Forward, Together,” would
BB: What is considered the intermediate duration? CH: In broad terms, five to seven years on average offers an attractive balance of risk and reward in our view. BB: What makes it attractive in the current market environment? CH: We have seen the intermediate term bonds rise quite a lot recently. With the Bloomberg Muni
The year 2024 is shaping up to be a landmark one for the Securities and Exchange Commission, not only through their own rigorous enforcement agenda but the regulator is in for continued industry backlash and a Supreme Court case that could test its enforcement powers and change how the SEC operates. Through its own enforcement
From the late 1980s to the second decade of the 21st century, few politicians in the democratic world shaped the course of European history more profoundly than Wolfgang Schäuble, the German statesman who has died at the age of 81. His political acumen, financial expertise and grasp of international affairs made him an indispensable assistant
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Artificial intelligence myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The New York Times has become the first major US media company to sue OpenAI and Microsoft over their artificial intelligence chatbots, alleging the tech companies have taken a “free-ride” on millions of articles to
Rishi Sunak’s government has been criticised by a leading Brexiter, after it quietly announced it would not be legislating to expand the use of imperial measures in the UK. The decision to drop the idea, which had been hailed as a potential “Brexit freedom”, came after it turned out that only a tiny fraction of
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The writer is president of the Open Society Foundations and a former deputy secretary-general of the United Nations In 1948, 75 years ago this month, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. As 2024 approaches and the Covid lockdowns recede further into memory, companies everywhere are trying to establish a new normal. Some top Wall Street firms have opted for five full days back in the office.
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced that the Spring Budget 2024 will be held on March 6. The fiscal event is seen by Downing Street as a crucial milestone in the run-up to a general