Hong Kong’s airport operator plans to raise at least HK$15 billion ($1.9 billion) from its only public bond sale this year, according to people familiar with the matter, adding to a surge in debt sales denominated in the city’s currency. Airport Authority has hired investment banks for the issuance and plans to price the multi‑tranche deal as early as Tuesday, the people said, asking not to be ide...
Hong Kong’s airport operator plans to raise at least HK$15 billion ($1.9 billion) from its only public bond sale this year, according to people familiar with the matter, adding to a surge in debt sales denominated in the city’s currency. Airport Authority has hired investment banks for the issuance and plans to price the multi‑tranche deal as early as Tuesday, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private matters. The offering highlights the rising appeal of public bonds denominated in Hong Kong dollars, a market long dominated by private placements, as geopolitical tensions and the currency’s peg to the US dollar boost investor demand. The transaction follows deals from the government-backed public transport operator and developer MTR Corp. , and flagship carrier Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. , both of which priced their first public Hong Kong dollar bonds earlier this month. A spokesperson for Airport Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The operator plans to sell bonds with maturities of three, five, and 10 years, one of the people said. The funds will be used to refinance debt, invest in projects, and support general corporate needs, the person added. Airport Authority first sold a public bond in the local currency in 2024.
In a tragic and mysterious ancient custom in China, unmarried girls were chosen as brides by a legendary “Cave God” and sent to live in caves, where they would fast to death as a form of sacrifice. The practice, known as Luo Hua Dong Nv is a folk legend from the Miao communities in Xiangxi, located in western Hunan province in southern China. It is an ancient practice which no longer exists and it...
In a tragic and mysterious ancient custom in China, unmarried girls were chosen as brides by a legendary “Cave God” and sent to live in caves, where they would fast to death as a form of sacrifice. The practice, known as Luo Hua Dong Nv is a folk legend from the Miao communities in Xiangxi, located in western Hunan province in southern China. It is an ancient practice which no longer exists and its origins are unclear. The custom has been described as a “marriage between humans and deities” and...
Nikada/iStock via Getty Images Fellow shareholders, Equities struggled for traction during the first quarter, challenged by the war in Iran, concerns over the direction of monetary policy, and, to a lesser extent, uncertainty over how the uptake of Artificial Intelligence (AI) could negatively impact prominent elements of the broader economy. The Russell 2000 Index posted a 0.89% total return for ...
Nikada/iStock via Getty Images Fellow shareholders, Equities struggled for traction during the first quarter, challenged by the war in Iran, concerns over the direction of monetary policy, and, to a lesser extent, uncertainty over how the uptake of Artificial Intelligence (AI) could negatively impact prominent elements of the broader economy. The Russell 2000 Index posted a 0.89% total return for the quarter. The Baird Equity Opportunity Fund underperformed, generating a net return of -11.39%. * Following a solid start to the year, equities sold off toward the latter part of the quarter due to the conflict in the Middle East, though the Russell 2000 managed to eke out a 0.89% gain. While our 3-month results did not follow, we are encouraged by the relatively solid performance of small-caps. From a sector standpoint, energy, materials, and industrials led the way. By contrast, consumer, healthcare, and technology – software, in particular – posted notable declines. Sector moves during Q1 were a headwind to portfolio results given our smaller exposure to energy and materials and larger stakes in software and related shares. Market weakness and sector impacts aside, the war in Iran caused few direct impacts on the portfolio. While a spike in the oil price impacted Norwegian Cruise Line’s stock price (NCLH, down 16% in the quarter), it helped boost shares of energy holding Oceaneering International (OII, up 48% in the quarter). Indirectly, however, the war has disrupted the formerly expected path of accelerating economic growth and more accommodative monetary policy, sapping some enthusiasm for small-cap stocks in March. Unlikely just three months ago, it is now a proverbial coin flip whether the next Fed action is an interest rate cut or a hike thanks to elevated energy prices and disrupted supply chains brought on by the conflict. More impactful to our Q1 performance was the heightened exuberance for all things related to AI. The consensus narrative is that, to reap t...
Reset Germany: Breaking With An Exhausted Ruling Class Authored by Frank-Christian Hansel via American Greatness, Germany is not, in the first place, suffering from an economic crisis, an energy crisis, a migration crisis, or a crisis of state. Germany is suffering, chiefly, from a crisis of its elites. More precisely, Germany is suffering from a crisis brought on by that milieu which regards itse...
Reset Germany: Breaking With An Exhausted Ruling Class Authored by Frank-Christian Hansel via American Greatness, Germany is not, in the first place, suffering from an economic crisis, an energy crisis, a migration crisis, or a crisis of state. Germany is suffering, chiefly, from a crisis of its elites. More precisely, Germany is suffering from a crisis brought on by that milieu which regards itself as the country’s morally, intellectually, and administratively legitimate leadership class but which has, for years, sustained a regime of reality-avoidance, self-congratulation, and rhetorical substitutes for genuine action. The misery of our situation is not that mistakes have been made. Mistakes are part of politics. The real misery is that Germany has produced a class of managerial elites that refuses to change course even when the consequences of its actions lie plainly exposed. That class does not correct itself, because it no longer measures itself against reality; rather, it measures itself against the approval of its own circles. It does not want to be right before the tribunal of reality; it wants to be right before the tribunal supplied by its own milieu. That is the root of Germany’s decline. The Federal Republic was once—for all its flaws—a country that drew its strength from a peculiar mixture of sobriety, an ethic of performance, technical reason, institutional discipline, and bourgeois self-restraint. This country was not great through pathos but through seriousness, not through visions but through reliability, and not through moral grandstanding but through quiet competence. That was precisely why it was strong: because it had the capacity to concentrate on what was necessary, instead of losing itself in what was desirable. Of that Germany, little remains inside the ruling apparatus. In place of prosaic sobriety, a political-media class has emerged that mistakes governing for pedagogical world-improvement. Its first instinct is no longer to secure, to en...
Apollo Global Management Inc. agreed to buy Forvia SE ’s auto interiors business for an enterprise value of €1.82 billion ($2.1 billion), according to an announcement Monday. The transaction, which is subject to closing conditions including regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed in the second half of this year, Apollo said in a statement on its website. Formed in 2022 following the merg...
Apollo Global Management Inc. agreed to buy Forvia SE ’s auto interiors business for an enterprise value of €1.82 billion ($2.1 billion), according to an announcement Monday. The transaction, which is subject to closing conditions including regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed in the second half of this year, Apollo said in a statement on its website. Formed in 2022 following the merger of Faurecia SE and Hella GmbH , Forvia is a supplier of automotive technologies such as systems for automated driving and energy management. The sale of its interiors business, which manufactures parts including door panels and center consoles, is part of Forvia’s Ignite strategy to streamline its profile and accelerate growth.