China Exports Fall, Russian Asset, Detroit Auto Show, PG&E, Aquaman, Roma
Caracal Global Daily
January 14, 2019
Curation and commentary from Marc A. Ross
Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia
Caracal Global Daily = News + Analysis at the Intersection of Globalization + Disruption + Politics
TOP FIVE
✔️ Impact of China’s slowdown is spreading
✔️ 18 reasons Trump could be a Russian asset
✔️ Detroit holds its last winter auto show
✔️ Aquaman hit the $1 billion mark in global ticket sales
✔️ Roma a top winner at the Critics' Choice Awards
GLOBALIZATION
China exports fall most in 2 years as slowdown bites: FT reports, trade surplus with US hits record as importers step up purchases before tariff deadline.
From cars to smartphones, signs of weakening demand worry multinationals.
Oil falls to $60 on concerns about China slowdown.
FT - Editorial: The impact of China’s slowdown is spreading
Trade war with the US has exposed a deeper economic malaise.
Nikkei: Chinese tech startups confident Made in China 2025 plan will carry on
Tim Culpan and Alex Webb: Huawei spy case sets up a new Warsaw Pact: With many developed markets effectively closed, and China already in the bag, the company is looking elsewhere.
Chinese court sentences Canadian national to death for drug crimes: WSJ reports, a Chinese court ordered the death penalty for a Canadian national after convicting him in a hurried retrial that legal experts called an attempt by Beijing to up its leverage over Ottawa for the arrest of a prominent Chinese executive.
Downtown LA development is a focus of FBI corruption probe: LAT reports, billions of dollars are being invested in skyscrapers rising in the downtown core of Los Angeles, much of it from Chinese companies. Now some of those developers have become a focus of federal agents.
Rebels hatch bill to delay Brexit: The Times reports, opponents of a no-deal Brexit will unveil a plan today to force Theresa May to delay or revoke Article 50 if parliament cannot unite on a way to leave the European Union. In a move to upend the “default” setting of Brexit a cross-party group of MPs will publish a draft bill this afternoon
AFP: British PM Theresa May makes last-ditch appeal to save Brexit deal
Bloomberg: May warns that Parliament will kill Brexit by voting down her deal
DISRUPTION
American auto sales:
-Sedan models including the Honda Accord and Ford Fusion accounted for 30% of U.S. auto sales in 2018, a record low.
- Sales of passenger cars will sink to 21.5% of the U.S. market by 2025, per LMC Automotive.
POLITICS
NYT: Trump confronts the prospect of a ‘nonstop’ war for survival
Questions about whether President Trump is a Russian agent made clear that the shutdown may be just a preliminary skirmish in this new era of divided government.
With Democrats now in charge of the House, the president faces the prospect of an all-out political war, our correspondent writes in a news analysis.
Max Boot: Here are 18 reasons Trump could be a Russian asset https://wapo.st/2DaBvLz
William Barr to face tough Senate hearing on attorney general nomination: LAT reports, Barr will seek Senate confirmation to lead the Justice Department and oversee the special counsel's Russia investigation as it nears its conclusion.
LAT: Old, young, liberal, centrist: Democrats will have no end of choices for president in 2020
Election 2020 rankings: How Caracal Global sees the 2020 presidential candidates by tier - click here.
COMMERCE
WSJ: PG&E prepares for bankruptcy amid wildfires fallout
Newmont Mining agreed to buy rival Canadian gold producer Goldcorp in an all-stock transaction the companies valued at $10 billion.
WSJ: Slush, snow, the ‘Cobo Cough.’ Detroit holds its last winter auto show
Most Germans are no-shows. For other auto executives, it’s a long, chilly goodbye to Detroit in January; ‘it just won’t be the same.’
Come 2020, the show will debut in June; an outdoor event will allow for driving demonstrations and, hopefully, give the show a jump-start.
Nikkei: Foxconn December sales plunge as consumers abandon iPhone
MNG Enterprises offers to buy USA Today publisher Gannett: Reuters reports, newspaper chain MNG Enterprises Inc said on Monday it had offered to buy USA Today publisher Gannett Co Inc for $12 per share in cash, or $1.36 billion.
Viacom is reportedly looking to sell a majority stake in some of its China businesses.
CULTURE
Aquaman hit the $1 billion mark in global ticket sales, becoming the third DC Comics adaptation to pass that threshold.
HBD: T Bone Burnett, record producer, musician and songwriter, 71
HBD: LL Cool J, rapper, Radio (1985), 51
AFP: Cuaron's Roma a top winner at the Critics' Choice Awards
Roma won trophies for best picture, best foreign-language film, and for both director and cinematography for Cuaron.
Christian Bale, who portrayed former US vice president Dick Cheney in Vice, won awards in the Best Actor and Best Actor in a Comedy categories, while Glenn Close (The Wife) and Lady Gaga (A Star is Born) jointly won in the Best Actress category.
Mahershala Ali (Green Book) walked away with a Best Supporting Actor win, while Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk) won for Best Supporting Actress.
Offbeat 18th-century royal romp The Favourite won the award for Best Acting Ensemble, while its star Olivia Colman won the Best Actress in a Comedy award.
