Week of Mar 16 2018 Weekly Recap & The Week Ahead
“when the facts change, you must change your mind” – unknown
1. China Scraps Presidential Term Limits, Clearing Way for Xi’s Indefinite Rule — China’s parliament voted to repeal presidential term limits, allowing President Xi Jinping to keep power indefinitely in a formal break from succession rules set up after Mao Zedong’s turbulent rule. The votes gives Xi more time to enact plans to centralize party control, increase global clout and curb financial and environmental risks. It comes after the U.S. reportedly asked China to import more cars, aircraft, soybeans and natural gas as part of a plan to cut its bilateral trade deficit by $100B and avoid placing tariffs on Chinese imports.
2. Trump Issues Order to Block Broadcom Takeover of Qualcomm — President Trump has issued an order to block Broadcom’s (NASDAQ:AVGO) hostile takeover of Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM). The order states “There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that Broadcom … through exercising control of Qualcomm … might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States,” .
3. Democrat Conor Lamb Apparent Winner of Pennsylvania Special Election — Democrat Conor Lamb is the apparent winner of a House seat in Pennsylvania’s 18th congressional district, a region President Trump won by 20 percentage points in 2016. The election was watched nationwide as a sign of political tides eight months ahead of congressional elections.
4. Facebook, Google Cracks Down on Crypto Advertising — following a similar hard-line approach taken by Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Google (GOOG, GOOGL) will ban crypto-related advertising starting in June, including ICOs, wallets, and trading advice across any of its platforms. Google’s director of sustainable ads stated “We don’t have a crystal ball to know where the future is going to go with cryptocurrencies, but we’ve seen enough consumer harm or potential for consumer harm,” .
5. GE Begins Flight Trials for World’s Largest Jet Engine — General Electric has begun flight trials of the world’s largest jet engine after several delays caused by technical problems. The GE9X will power the Boeing (NYSE:BA) 777-9 and 777-8, which are scheduled to enter service in 2020 and 2022, respectively. Despite the problems, GE feels “very confident” it will meet a 2019 target date for safety certification, said spokeman.
6. Ford Sets Aggressive Hybrid Timetable — Ford (NYSE:F) announced it’s going all-in on hybrids. 75% of its lineup will be replaced in the hybrid push, while the automaker will add four new trucks and SUVs. The news comes as UBER discusses the possibility of installing its self-driving systems in Toyota (NYSE:TM) minivan models, expanding its partnerships with outside companies.
The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:
