He’s pink, dotty and as British as a Boots meal deal. In recent months he’s duetted with pop stars, appeared on Saturday Night Live and been declared the UK’s equivalent of Mickey Mouse. What’s behind this strange comeback? Margaret Thatcher wasn’t to blame for the closure of Britain’s coalmines. Mr Blobby was. A harrowing spoof documentary exposed this horrific truth during the finale of Saturday...
He’s pink, dotty and as British as a Boots meal deal. In recent months he’s duetted with pop stars, appeared on Saturday Night Live and been declared the UK’s equivalent of Mickey Mouse. What’s behind this strange comeback? Margaret Thatcher wasn’t to blame for the closure of Britain’s coalmines. Mr Blobby was. A harrowing spoof documentary exposed this horrific truth during the finale of Saturday Night Live UK’s debut season. Back in 1992, drilling activity at Nottinghamshire’s Grimethorpe Colliery awoke an evil entity buried underground. Mr Blobby promptly went on an unstoppable murderous rampage, ripping off miners’ limbs and becoming “an atom bomb made flesh”. Mr Blobby being disinterred is an apt metaphor. Recent months have seen the pink-and-yellow agent of chaos unearthed and on the comeback trail. He has appeared on primetime TV shows, duetted with popstars, and convinced nostalgic punters to part with a surprising amount of cash to get their hands on Blobby-themed merchandise. What has prompted the comeback of a character once considered irredeemably naff? Continue reading...
Thailand’s shrimp industry is reeling from the latest blow to its once market-dominant business after Malaysia this week suspended imports from its northern neighbour, triggering fresh despair from a sector whose revenue has nosedived in the 15 years since it claimed the crown as the world’s largest exporter. Malaysia’s temporary ban on five shrimp species – as well as tightened import requirement...
Thailand’s shrimp industry is reeling from the latest blow to its once market-dominant business after Malaysia this week suspended imports from its northern neighbour, triggering fresh despair from a sector whose revenue has nosedived in the 15 years since it claimed the crown as the world’s largest exporter. Malaysia’s temporary ban on five shrimp species – as well as tightened import requirements for Thai sea bass – came into force on Monday. The trade row comes as Thailand’s fisheries sector...
The Democratic Republic of Congo ’s Eurobonds have remained resilient even as it grapples with an Ebola outbreak, buoyed by high yields and the nation’s exposure to metals that underpin the global artificial intelligence boom. The central African nation’s dollar-denominated debt maturing in 2032 and 2037 were among the best performers across emerging markets on Wednesday, with prices holding firml...
The Democratic Republic of Congo ’s Eurobonds have remained resilient even as it grapples with an Ebola outbreak, buoyed by high yields and the nation’s exposure to metals that underpin the global artificial intelligence boom. The central African nation’s dollar-denominated debt maturing in 2032 and 2037 were among the best performers across emerging markets on Wednesday, with prices holding firmly above 100 cents on the dollar even as authorities work to contain the virus. The securities yielded 8.3% and 9.07% respectively. “Ebola for the moment is not seen as much of a risk to the economy,” said Manuel Mondia , a portfolio manager at Aquila Asset Management AG in Switzerland. The latest Ebola outbreak in Congo — caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain — has become one of the most complex epidemics in recent years, spreading through a conflict-affected region in the northeast of the country. Difficulty in curbing its spread is compounded by insecurity, population movements and distrust of authorities’ efforts to identify contacts and isolate cases. Read: Ebola Reaches New Congo Area as Contact Tracing Falls Below 40% African Lynchpin Still, investors are looking past the outbreak and taking a longer-term view of Congo’s potential, drawn by its copper and cobalt reserves — it’s the world’s second-biggest copper miner and largest cobalt producer — that are critical to the global energy transition and the buildout of AI infrastructure. “It is certainly a very good lynchpin of the Africa credit opportunity,” said Carlo Morelli , senior portfolio manager at Azimut Investments SA . “Ebola is a tragedy, but it will be overcome.” Morelli, who holds Congolese debt, likened the current AI boom to the commodity super-cycle driven by China in the early 2000s. This time, it’s focused on electricity and critical minerals rather than steel and coking coal. Traders said Congo’s bonds may have room to rally further as investors reprice debt that has lagged peers including Angola , Gha...
Broadcom shares sank about 12% in premarket trading on Thursday, a day after the company missed quarterly revenue views and disappointed investors' lofty expectations of stronger momentum from the AI boom. The chipmaker could lose more than $285 billion in market cap at the current price of $418.83, if losses hold. Broadcom vies with Nvidia, whose graphics processors remain the gold standard fo...
Broadcom shares sank about 12% in premarket trading on Thursday, a day after the company missed quarterly revenue views and disappointed investors' lofty expectations of stronger momentum from the AI boom. The chipmaker could lose more than $285 billion in market cap at the current price of $418.83, if losses hold. Broadcom vies with Nvidia, whose graphics processors remain the gold standard for AI workloads, underscoring intensifying competition at the top of the AI chip market.
Traders in Reliance Industries Ltd.’s treasury department are strategizing over where to park the company’s cash in case the Reserve Bank of India starts raising interest rates in the coming months. One proposal involves moving Reliance’s cash holdings from liquid mutual funds into short-dated money market instruments, people aware of the conglomerate’s thinking said. The switch may pay off becaus...
Traders in Reliance Industries Ltd.’s treasury department are strategizing over where to park the company’s cash in case the Reserve Bank of India starts raising interest rates in the coming months. One proposal involves moving Reliance’s cash holdings from liquid mutual funds into short-dated money market instruments, people aware of the conglomerate’s thinking said. The switch may pay off because the yield spread between money-market papers and the benchmark rate has widened beyond its five-year average and is likely to narrow in the coming months, resulting in capital gains, the people said, asking not to be named as the information is private. Markets are currently expecting about 50 basis points of rate hikes this year, they said. Traders also mulled reducing allocation to longer-dated bonds, which tend to be more sensitive to interest-rate changes, the people said. The strategy discussion cited market expectations and the conglomerate didn’t take an explicit view on interest rates. Treasury departments typically consider a range of market scenarios when evaluating trading strategies. “We categorically deny the information you have provided in your email regarding our opinion on interest rates and the behaviour of the rupee,” a Reliance spokesperson said by email. The view carries weight because Reliance runs one of the largest corporate treasuries in India. The discussion also come ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s rate decision on Friday, where the central bank is expected to announce measures to support the rupee. While most economists — 29 out of 35 — surveyed by Bloomberg News expect the authority to keep the benchmark rate unchanged, they see the RBI adopting a hawkish stance to prepare markets for potential rate hikes later this year amid inflation pressures triggered by an oil price shock. Read More: Rupee Support Measures Likely to Give RBI Room to Hold for Now India’s sovereign bond yields have remained broadly stable this quarter even as the rupee...