The UK statistics agency delayed the launch of its new labor market survey into 2027, a setback for its attempt to rebuild trust in the country’s economic data. The Office for National Statistics said Wednesday it will postpone the transition from its previously planned November launch date to some time in 2027 at the earliest. The decision was taken because statisticians will have less data than ...
The UK statistics agency delayed the launch of its new labor market survey into 2027, a setback for its attempt to rebuild trust in the country’s economic data. The Office for National Statistics said Wednesday it will postpone the transition from its previously planned November launch date to some time in 2027 at the earliest. The decision was taken because statisticians will have less data than initially expected in July, when they next meet with users to assess the new design. The ONS intends to complete a final review no later than January 2027. If the new labor force survey is approved in January, it could be rolled out in July 2027. Bloomberg previously reported that the ONS had outlined a 2027 alternative launch scenario. The delay prolongs a credibility crisis that started in 2023 when the statistics agency temporarily stopped publishing unemployment estimates due to a plunge in responses. Since then, the problems have complicated the Bank of England’s inflation fight and stripped the government of key data at a time when millions were quitting the jobs market. The crisis culminated with the resignation of the UK’s National Statistician. Read more: How Britain’s Stats Geeks Lost Track of the Economy The ONS implemented major changes to its labor data gathering in April, such as cutting back repeat questions and asking respondents only to confirm or update key information during repeated rounds of surveys. These changes were initially planned for January, but the redesign turned out to be more complex than originally expected. The delayed implementation means that the ONS will not yet have one complete quarter of fully checked data by July. It will also not have finalized methods for weighting, handling breaks in the data or adjusting for seasonal patterns by the July assessment which it called an “important milestone.” The reliability of the UK’s labor market data hinges on the success of the so-called “Transformed Labour Force Survey.” The redesigned questi...
Commerzbank AG Chief Financial Officer Carsten Schmitt said a takeover of the German lender by Italian rival UniCredit SpA could impede its ability to support the economy and wouldn’t create value for investors at this time. “With the heavy burden of an integration, of bringing banks together in such a vulnerable situation in the economy, we simply feel that we would not be able to actually stand ...
Commerzbank AG Chief Financial Officer Carsten Schmitt said a takeover of the German lender by Italian rival UniCredit SpA could impede its ability to support the economy and wouldn’t create value for investors at this time. “With the heavy burden of an integration, of bringing banks together in such a vulnerable situation in the economy, we simply feel that we would not be able to actually stand at the side of our customers,” Schmitt said at a banking conference in Frankfurt. That’s “besides the fact that we don’t see the value being created over the next years.” UniCredit announced a takeover bid for the German lender last month and the two lenders have held talks. Commerzbank Chief Executive Bettina Orlopp said earlier this week that for the time being, “opinions differ quite a lot, starting with the valuation of the two companies and the exchange ratio.” Commerzbank can also count on the backing from the German government, which has reiterated its opposition to a takeover. Separately, Schmitt said that Commerzbank has introduced daily risk meetings to assess the impact from the Iran war. So far, the direct impact has been limited. “Contrary to previous crises, credit risk and credit spreads are actually not rising that much,” Schmitt said. “There’s more trust in the market to actually deal with this.” Clients’ demand for currency and commodity hedging has spiked, and some have started to bring procurement forward, including of computer components, he said. In the longer term, Commerzbank expects additional capital burdens to be imposed by regulators “because many of the base case scenarios have gone completely out of the window, and the adverse scenarios are the ones that are now a base case scenario.”
Unitree Robotics began selling its cheapest humanoid robot on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. ’s AliExpress on Wednesday, expanding its international presence in a white-hot race featuring heavyweight players like Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. Hangzhou-based Unitree’s R1 model will cost roughly $8,150 with import fees factored in, and shipping to the US will be free of charge, the company said on Wednesday. I...
Unitree Robotics began selling its cheapest humanoid robot on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. ’s AliExpress on Wednesday, expanding its international presence in a white-hot race featuring heavyweight players like Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. Hangzhou-based Unitree’s R1 model will cost roughly $8,150 with import fees factored in, and shipping to the US will be free of charge, the company said on Wednesday. It’ll also offer a scaled-down version priced at about $6,800. The R1 robots will be sold to markets including the US, Canada, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, and Singapore via AliExpress, according to a Unitree spokesperson. It’s an aggressive move to seek out customers in Tesla’s home market, at a time when the US company is still developing its Optimus humanoid product line. Unitree’s partnership with Alibaba, which is making a bigger effort to sell Chinese goods to overseas markets, comes ahead of a 4.2 billion yuan ($615 billion) initial public offering on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-like Star Market. The robotics specialist is widely seen as China’s leader in developing humanoids, and its founder Wang Xingxing rubbed shoulders with Alibaba’s Jack Ma and Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s Pony Ma at a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in February last year. Read more: Unitree Robots That Dance, Fight Earn Founder Beijing’s Acclaim Chinese robot makers led global shipment volumes in 2025, far outstripping US rivals including Tesla and Figure AI, according to research agency Omdia. Unitree launched the R1 in July in three configurations, starting at $4,900 for the lower-spec R1 Air version, setting a new mark for affordability of such machines. Unitree already sells its robots overseas through JD.com Inc. ’s JoyBuy platform and via Amazon.com Inc. Backed by Xiaomi Corp. Chief Executive Officer Lei Jun ’s venture Shunwei Capital, Alibaba and food delivery giant Meituan , Unitree sold some 5,500 humanoid robots in 2025, mostly to universities and research labs. Rising demand both at hom...
London ( UKX ) +0.02% to 10,606. Germany ( DAX:IND ) +0.01% to 24,047. France ( CAC:IND ) -0.80% to 8,261. France inflation rises to 1.7% in March, meeting estimates. In other parts of Europe, t he annual inflation rate in Poland rose to 3% in March. Slovakia’s annual inflation rate eased to 3.5% in March. Norway’s trade surplus widened to NOK 97.5B in March. The pan-European Stoxx 600 ( STOXX) tr...
London ( UKX ) +0.02% to 10,606. Germany ( DAX:IND ) +0.01% to 24,047. France ( CAC:IND ) -0.80% to 8,261. France inflation rises to 1.7% in March, meeting estimates. In other parts of Europe, t he annual inflation rate in Poland rose to 3% in March. Slovakia’s annual inflation rate eased to 3.5% in March. Norway’s trade surplus widened to NOK 97.5B in March. The pan-European Stoxx 600 ( STOXX) traded 0.04% lower to 619.6, as investors awaited further developments in the Middle East and assessed a fresh batch of corporate earnings from major companies. Luxury stocks fell to the bottom of Stoxx 600 after Hermes ( HESAY ) and Kering ( PPRUY ) reported Q1 sales missed expectations as the Iran conflict hit Middle East demand and tourism in Europe. Both stocks dropped sharply after weak Q1 updates, with Hermès ( HESAF ) hit by macro/geopolitics and Kering ( PPRUF ) by Gucci-specific weakness, dragging the entire European luxury sector lower. In the bond market, the yield on the US 10-year Treasury was almost flat at 4.26%. UK's 10-year yield was down 1 basis point to 4.78%. Germany's 10-year yield was down 1 basis point to 3.02%. Currencies: ( EUR:USD ) ( GBP:USD ) ( CHF:USD ) ETFs: (NYSEARCA: EWG ), (NYSE: GF ), (NYSEARCA: EWI ), (NYSEARCA: EWQ ), (NASDAQ: FGM ), (NASDAQ: DAX ), (NYSEARCA: FLGR ), (NYSEARCA: FXB ), (NYSEARCA: EWU ), (NASDAQ: FKU ), (BATS: EWUS ), (NYSEARCA: FLGB ), (NYSEARCA: GREK ) More on Europe FX Levels For EUR/USD, USD/CAD And GBP/USD: USD Dumps Amid Peace Repricing The Petrodollar Trade Is Over, Dollar Tumbles - EUR/USD, AUD/USD And Dollar Index Overview CEF Insights: New Germany Fund For European Growth Opportunities France inflation rises to 1.7% in March, meeting estimates ECB seeks greater control in setting eurozone bank capital buffers
primeimages/E+ via Getty Images “How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you’re on.” – Zall’s Second Law To My Partners and Friends: Black Bear Value Fund, LP (the “Fund”) returned +1.9% in March and +13.2% YTD. The S&P 500 returned -5.0% in March and -4.4% YTD. The HFRI Index returned -4.6% March and -1.2% YTD. We do not seek to mimic the returns of the S&P 500 and there wi...
primeimages/E+ via Getty Images “How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you’re on.” – Zall’s Second Law To My Partners and Friends: Black Bear Value Fund, LP (the “Fund”) returned +1.9% in March and +13.2% YTD. The S&P 500 returned -5.0% in March and -4.4% YTD. The HFRI Index returned -4.6% March and -1.2% YTD. We do not seek to mimic the returns of the S&P 500 and there will be variances in our performance. Note: Additional historical performance can be found on our tear-sheet. Zall’s second law (quoted above) succinctly describes the past couple of years. Time stretched uncomfortably as our positioning diverged from a market that rewarded very different, and often reckless behavior. Periods of underperformance are never pleasant, but they are often the price of maintaining a differentiated approach. During the early stages of COVID, the Fund underperformed only to see rationality return and 3 years of strong absolute and relative performance. Year-to-date results have been strong, particularly against a declining market, offering a reminder that patience – while rarely enjoyable in real time – has its benefits. So far in 2026, both our long and short investments have been profitable for the fund year-to-date. We own businesses with significant upside and remote risks of permanent capital impairment. Our investments have long-term tailwinds that should stand to benefit the businesses for many years going forward. Our shorts are starting to have their business fundamentals questioned and have a long way to go down. We are in the early innings of a recognition of the underlying value in our portfolio. We have long held investments across the energy/commodity space where chronic capital underinvestment left the industry vulnerable to any unforeseen increases in demand or reduction in supply. The recent experience in Iran has brought some increased attention to this issue which is not going away without significant investment. We have been short...
Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) has struggled in recent years as consumers have focused increasingly on health. Older consumers seem to be drinking less, and younger consumers have sworn off alcohol in higher numbers than in past generations. Amid that stock sell-off, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway took a significant interest as a probable contrarian play. Indeed, given an enduring consumer ...
Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) has struggled in recent years as consumers have focused increasingly on health. Older consumers seem to be drinking less, and younger consumers have sworn off alcohol in higher numbers than in past generations. Amid that stock sell-off, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway took a significant interest as a probable contrarian play. Indeed, given an enduring consumer trend, the consumer discretionary stock could be poised for a comeback. Image source: The Motley Fool. Continue reading