Aurelia Butler

Good morning. The activist fund Elliott Management has become one of the largest shareholders of Dai Nippon Printing — a 146-year-old Japanese conglomerate with a huge but unheralded global share in components of electric vehicle batteries and smartphone screens. The stakebuilding adds to only a handful of investments that Elliott has previously made in Japan — with Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Group and Toshiba the most prominent. People close to the fund characterised it as an experiment in extracting trapped value that could pave the way for significantly more activity. Elliott has quietly increased its investment in DNP over the past few months, according to people familiar with the situation, and now holds a stake of a little less than 5 per cent worth about $300mn, making it the third-largest external shareholder. People close to DNP said Elliott’s initial engagement with the company, which has a market capitalisation of $6.3bn and currently trades where it did 20 years ago, has focused on a series of demands: a more aggressive share buyback scheme, the sale of its sprawling real estate holdings and an accelerated disposal of its extensive portfolio of shares in other Japanese companies.Five more stories in the news1. Germany to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine Germany is to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, in a move that marks a significant breakthrough in western efforts to bolster Kyiv’s fight against the Russian army. The decision to send tanks marks a U-turn for German chancellor Olaf Scholz, who had long hesitated to provide Ukraine with heavy armour.Related read: Several senior Ukrainian officials have resigned after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy swiftly sought to defuse concerns over corruption at a time when he is requesting more western weaponry to repel Russian forces.2. China property bonds rebound on support from Beijing Bonds issued by China’s highly indebted real estate developers have rebounded sharply over the past two months, in a sign that efforts by Chinese authorities to bolster the hard-hit sector are bearing fruit. China’s high-yield dollar bond index, which is dominated by property developers, has recovered almost 50 per cent from the record low hit in early November.3. US sues Google over its digital ad ‘dominance’ The US Department of Justice is suing Google for allegedly exercising monopolistic control of the digital advertising market. It is the latest legal broadside against the company as Washington seeks to crack down on the dominance of Big Tech. 4. Classified documents found at Pence’s private residence Former US vice-president Mike Pence turned over classified documents to the Department of Justice last week as federal authorities continue to probe how sensitive government files ended up at the private residences of Joe Biden and Donald Trump. The discovery adds to growing scrutiny of how current and former leaders handle classified information. 5. US touts Biden green subsidies to lure clean tech from Europe The row between EU and US politicians over subsidies linked to Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act is deepening as governors across America try to lure European clean energy businesses to their states.

Video: US offshore wind: tapping an underused resource | FT Energy Source

The day ahead Inflation figures Inflation updates are due from the UK, Australia, Spain, Sweden and Singapore. Japan will also report its Consumer Price Index (CPI) cost of living measure. Use our global inflation tracker to see how your country compares on rising prices.

Tesla earnings It will be another week for Elon Musk watchers (just like every other week) with Tesla reporting fourth quarter figures. The company has been cutting prices of its electric vehicles to bolster demand in the US and Europe.🎧 Listen: In a recent episode of the Behind the Money podcast, the FT’s Richard Waters answers whether Tesla’s golden age of growth is over. To coincide with the publication of Martin Wolf’s new book, ‘The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism’, join him and other thought leaders online for a subscriber-exclusive event on January 31. Register for free here.What else we’re readingWhat I learnt in my days on the mountain in Davos At the World Economic Forum last week, the general mood on the economy in the high-income countries was one of great optimism about the near-term future. Yet these optimists may be getting ahead of themselves, writes the FT’s Martin Wolf. Wagner Inc: a Russian warlord and his lawyers Russian entrepreneur Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the private mercenary operation known as the Wagner Group, is one of the most sanctioned individuals on the planet. An FT investigation shows how he has used leading corporate lawyers around the world to try to keep western governments at bay.Seven must-stay hotels in Singapore Whether you’re after a close look into the cocktail-bar scene or a poolside loll followed by a Michelin-starred dinner, here is a selection of the city’s very best accommodations. The rise of Esther Crawford in Musk’s ‘hardcore’ Twitter The social media giant’s director of product management has become one of the few women at Twitter to join Elon Musk’s trusted lieutenants. Some insiders believe the 39-year-old has the energy needed to transform the company’s flailing business. Others say she’s a sycophant and opportunist.Why passive investing makes less sense in the current environment Passive portfolio management is attractive in a world where investment outcomes are heavily influenced by a common global factor — as in the decade of artificially floored interest rates and massive central bank injections of liquidity. But in a world where the macro outlook is murky dynamic asset allocation trumps low fees, writes Mohamed El-Erian.Take a break from the newsJapanese eyewear remains unmatched. It uses elements from the past, refashioned into something by modern means, designed for the future. We find out how the country’s glasses are made.

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OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Tuesday her approach to this year’s budget, due out sometime this spring, would be carefully calibrated due to a high level of uncertainty in the global economy.”There is still a lot of uncertainty in the world economy, and that means that we do need to continue to take a fiscally prudent approach,” Freeland said in answer to a reporter’s query about this year’s budget that was streamed online.”We still do not know for sure how the plane is going to land. We do not know for sure how the COVID recession is going to finally play out,” she said in Hamilton, Ontario on the sidelines of a meeting of cabinet ministers.Last fall, Freeland promised not to make the central bank’s job of taming decades-high inflation harder when she presented a fall fiscal update, which did however include C$11.3 billion in new spending that some analysts said was too much.Inflation is still over 6% – more than three times the central bank’s 2% target. The Bank of Canada will announce its latest interest-rate decision on Wednesday, with analysts forecasting a quarter-point increase and then likely a pause.The government has already said it was willing to increase health transfers to the provinces this year, and that it wanted to invest to make Canada more competitive with the United States as it pivots toward green technologies. Canada has also pledged to bolster its own military and to keep helping Ukraine with weapons and aid. More

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has played an integral role in debt ceiling negotiations in the past, predicted that no solution formulated by the Democratic-led Senate is likely to win approval from the House, which Republicans control by a slim margin. “In this current situation, the debt ceiling fix – if there is one, or how it’s to be dealt with – will have to come out of the House,” McConnell told reporters.House Republicans want to exact spending cuts from Biden in exchange for a deal on the debt ceiling. But the White House has repeatedly rejected negotiations over spending cuts, arguing that Congress has an obligation to increase the borrowing limit and avoid a default and the possibility of economic chaos.”It’s entirely reasonable for the new speaker and his team to put spending reduction on the table. I wish him well in talking to the president. That’s where a solution lies,” McConnell said. “I can’t imagine any debt ceiling provision passed out of the Senate with 60 votes could actually pass this particular House,” he added. Biden and McCarthy have agreed to meet to talk about the debt ceiling and other issues. But no meeting has been scheduled. McConnell spoke days after the U.S. government hit its $31.4 trillion borrowing limit, prompting the Treasury to begin extraordinary measures that could stave off a default until early June. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has called on Congress to move quickly to address the borrowing limit. More

While weeks of deadly protests have affected some sectors, particularly tourism, minister Alex Contreras said, the economy could grow “close to” 4% this year, while the Peruvian sol remains the most stable currency in the region.Contreras said the economy is still expected to grow 3% in the first quarter of this year, maintaining a projection from last month.Nonetheless, protests have already caused 2 billion soles ($516.65 million) in damages to production and 3 billion soles in infrastructure damages, President Dina Boluarte said on Tuesday in a separate briefing.Attempts to manage the economic impact of the unrest, which began following the ouster and detention of her predecessor, former President Pedro Castillo in December, include the $1.55 billion plan announced late last year.Targeting the regions most affected by the protests, the plan includes the expansion of welfare provisions such as pensions, soup kitchens and access to natural gas in homes as well as public works, and investments in mining and agriculture.Contreras added Tuesday that Peru was looking to promote lithium development and will be creating a lithium working group, though he said a formal announcement had yet to be made.Peru is the world’s second-biggest copper producer, but so far has limited lithium production.Contreras said mining companies had expressed interest in expanding their operations in the country despite the unrest.President Boluarte repeated her calls for dialogue to end the protests this week, claiming the violence was being caused by a group of “radicals with their own political agenda.”($1 = 3.8711 soles) More