What we’re reading (2/27)
“Western Allies Agree To Expel Some Russian Banks From SWIFT Payments System” (Axios). “Why it matters: The measures will effectively cut Russia out of the world's most important financial messaging system and undermine the Kremlin's ability to use its central bank reserves to blunt the impact of other sanctions.”
“U.S. Stocks Poised To Plunge Over Ukraine-Russia Worries. Nasdaq Futures Down 3%.” (Barron’s). “On Sunday night, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 466 points, or 1.4%, while the S&P 500 futures lost 2.5% and Nasdaq Composite futures lost 2.9%. The price of West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark oil, jumped 6.6%, to $97.60 a barrel as of 6:24 p.m. Eastern time Sunday.”
“Car Parts, Chips, Sunflower Oil: War In Ukraine Threatens New Shortages” (Wall Street Journal). “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is piling new troubles onto the world’s already battered supply chains. The fighting has shut down car factories in Germany that rely on made-in-Ukraine components and hit supplies for the steel industry as far as Japan. It has severed airways and land routes that had become crucial since the pandemic began gumming up sea trade.”
“‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli Banned for Life From Public-Company Roles” (Bloomberg). “The former pharmaceutical company CEO, better known as “Pharma Bro,” faced Securities and Exchange Commission allegations of misleading investors in a hedge fund he founded and misappropriating funds. He’s ‘unfit to serve as an officer or director of any public company,’ the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York said.”
“Who Buys The Dirty Energy Assets Public Companies No Longer Want?” (The Economist). “The first law of thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, just transferred from one place to another. The same seems to apply to the energy industry itself. Pressed by investors, activists and governments, the West’s six biggest oil companies have shed $44bn of mostly fossil-fuel assets since the start of 2018.”
