#7. Oil prices drop again
As oil supplies swell, the prices drop. A barrel of Brent crude dipped below $60 on Friday, its lowest level in more than a year, the Financial Times reports.
Since the beginning of October, the Brent price went from $86 a barrel to below $60, something President Trump has been particularly pleased with. According to the same FT article, traders wonder whether or not Saudi Arabia will be able to cut the oil supply as it is under US pressure to keep prices low.
Oil prices have fallen to their lowest level in more than a year — $60 a barrel — as the US piles pressure on Saudi Arabia https://t.co/Ou2ii150kd pic.twitter.com/rf6lQaeVTf
— Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) November 23, 2018
#6. A North Sea Megaproject
In other oil-related news this week there was a joint venture between BP, Shell, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips. The mix of UK and US energy giants has started to produce oil from a major new North Sea development, CNBC reports.
According to the same CNBC article, the project is supposed to be the largest commissioning in the North Sea in 20 years employing at least 6000 people so far. BP will hold a 45.1% stake in the field, Shell 28%, Chevron North Sea 19.4% and ConocoPhillips 7.5%.
UK and US energy giants start oil production at North Sea megaproject https://t.co/KDW0MWdMHV
— CNBC (@CNBC) November 23, 2018
#5. Taiwan’s trade war benefit
Taiwan may come out as the big winner of the US-China trade war. Bloomberg reports that the island economy is benefitting from a jump in industrial production partly because technology companies shift their production back to Taiwan.
The country’s industrial output jumped 8.25% in October, its highest level since records started in 1996. The biggest contributor to this gain (+ 9.24%) is the manufacturing sector, according to the same Bloomberg article.
There are fresh signs that Taiwan is benefiting from the U.S.-China trade war https://t.co/3S1sq842Xv
— Bloomberg (@business) November 23, 2018
#4. Trudeau’s tax cuts
The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, is offering tax breaks to businesses - instead of reducing Canada’s deficit - Yahoo! Finance reports.
The corporate tax breaks - worth around $10.5 billion - will be spread out over 6 years and the measure is the biggest sign of government support for businesses since taking power. The changes are meant to respond to the warnings on competitiveness which became louder after Trump’s tax reform.
Trudeau cuts Canadian business taxes, defers deficit reduction https://t.co/SOg0KJ9BW7 via @business pic.twitter.com/KWClzLRucK
— Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) November 22, 2018
#3. Black Friday sales to hit new record
After a record-breaking Thanksgiving ($3.7 billion in digital sales), it looks like Black Friday will also break records for the e-commerce industry. TechCrunch reports that as of 7 am Pacific Time, already $645 million had been spent online.
That’s a rise compared to yesterday’s sales at that time ($406 million) but also a jump of around 28.3% compared to the same period a year ago. Adobe expects this year to reach a total of $5.9 billion spent on Black Friday.
Black Friday predicted to hit $5.9B in online sales, $645M spent so far https://t.co/xUu7fSS1xU by @ingridlunden
— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) November 23, 2018
#2. ABB’s potential mega deal
Swiss multinational ASEA Brown Boveri (ABB) has signed several deals that could potentially be worth around $1.9 billion to supply power transmission equipment to utility companies in China, Reuters reports.
A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that Claudio Facchin, the head of Power Grids, signed memorandums of understanding with Chinese companies like the State Grid Corporation of China and China Southern Power Grid earlier this month.
ABB signs potential $1.9 billion deal for Power Grids products in China https://t.co/tszqEbqUrQ pic.twitter.com/OVCeVHM2fW
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) November 23, 2018
#1. Ghosn’s alleged misconduct
It was a tough week for auto industry legend Carlos Ghosn and the Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi Alliance he built. Ghosn is being accused of financial misconduct and was detained by Tokyo prosecutors on Monday, CNN Business reports.
Among the many consequences was the removal of Ghosn as chairman of Nissan and a 12% drop of Renault shares on Monday (which may, however, present an interesting opportunity for contrarian investors).
Nissan has removed its chairman, Carlos Ghosn, after his arrest earlier this week on suspicion of financial misconduct https://t.co/ZSF9NBuwBQ pic.twitter.com/4EUzHTwHNn
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) November 22, 2018
And that's a wrap. As always, we’ll continue to track Twitter and bring you the top financial micro-messages from the web. See you back here next week.
Source: www.scoopnest.com.