Briefings: A New Production Cycle

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

If you’re making products in China that sell big in the US, the steady talk about tightening trade between the superpowers certainly can’t be great news. In fact, it’s terrible news.

But at least one company has already made news that analysts say will have a preemptive affect: a large maker of electronics announced plans to move a big plant to Wisconsin. Analysts say they think others will follow, raising these firms’ labor costs but giving them local tax breaks and wiping out any tariff threat. “There’s been a change in the zeitgeist that is pushing companies to manufacture closer to their customers,” says Alan Tonelson, founder of public policy blog RealityChek and a veteran analyst of international trade. Read more here.

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CityWire: How technology helps Cadre to stay competitive in commercial real estate

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The once-stodgy world of real estate investing is being transformed by innovative technology— a tremendous benefit to investors. Front and center in the fintech evolution is private real estate investment manager Cadre, which uses state-of-the-art machine learning and proprietary software to help lower costs and maximize returns. Read more here.

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CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor: Scotland sends the Afghanistan refugees to forbidding Caithness

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

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CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor: Twenty years after Enron; & What is to be done?

  By SIMON CONSTABLE

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WSJ: When People Refer to ‘Fiscal Space,’ What Does It Mean?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Investors may hear economists and market analysts using the term “fiscal space.” Those who are invested, or plan to invest, in countries with high debt levels should know what it means. Read more here.

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Time Magazine: How the Enron Scandal Changed American Business Forever

By SIMON CONSTABLE

It’s the kind of historic anniversary few people really want to remember.

In early December 2001, innovative energy company Enron Corporation, a darling of Wall Street investors with $63.4 billion in assets, went bust. It was the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. Some of the corporation’s executives, including the CEO and chief financial officer, went to prison for fraud and other offenses. Shareholders hit the company with a $40 billion lawsuit, and the company’s auditor, Arthur Andersen, ceased doing business after losing many of its clients.

It was also a black mark on the U.S. stock market. At the time, most investors didn’t see the prospect of massive financial fraud as a real risk when buying U.S.-listed stocks. “U.S. markets had long been the gold standard in transparency and compliance,” says Jack Ablin, founding partner at Cresset Capital and a veteran of financial markets. “That was a real one-two punch on credibility. That was a watershed for the U.S. public.” Read more here.

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CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor: Markets look to be higher by year's end

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

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