Aurelia Butler

The top eight US media groups plan to spend at least $115bn on new movies and TV shows next year in pursuit of a video streaming business that loses money for most of them. The huge investment in new content comes amid concerns that it will be harder to attract customers in 2022 after the pandemic-fuelled growth of 2020 and 2021. One entertainment executive called the planned expenditures, which the Financial Times calculated based on company disclosures and analyst reports, “mind boggling”. Including sports rights, the aggregate spending estimate rises to about $140bn. “There is no turning back,” said media analyst Michael Nathanson of MoffettNathanson. “The only way to compete is spending more and more money on premium content”. Among Disney’s programmes earmarked for 2022 are a retelling of Pinocchio starring Tom Hanks, a new instalment of the Cars franchise and Obi-Wan Kenobi starring Ewan McGregor. Netflix, ViacomCBS, Fox and Apple also intend to spend billions of dollars on content.Three more stories in the news1. Former Senate majority leader Harry Reid dies The longtime Democratic lawmaker, who was a driving political force behind many of former US president Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievements, died yesterday. James “Jimmy” Cayne, the executive who presided over the New York investment bank Bear Stearns in the run-up to its collapse in the 2008 financial crisis, has also died.

Jimmy Cayne blamed the collapse of Bear Stearns on market rumours and short sellers, although he later conceded the bank had taken on too much debt © Bloomberg

2. Hedge funds bet against market pessimism The so-called steepener trade — a bet that yields on long-term US government bonds will rise more quickly than yields on shorter-term debt — proved painful for macro funds this year as central banks acted to control inflation. But data shows that once again funds are attracted to this trade. 3. HK police raid pro-democracy news outlet More than 200 officers from Hong Kong’s national security police descended on the offices of Stand News, an independent news site known for its critical coverage of government policies. Current and former senior executives were arrested for alleged “conspiracy to publish seditious publication”, according to police.Coronavirus digest The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has sharply cut its estimate for how much of the country’s Covid-19 wave has been caused by the Omicron coronavirus variant to just over half from three-quarters a week ago.Germany’s highest court has demanded greater protection for disabled people when doctors treat only those Covid patients with a greater chance of survival.A sharp rise in NHS staff absences because of coronavirus risks delaying patient care, health leaders in England have warned, as the number of hospitalisations in the country hit a nine-month high.What else we’re readingBull market heads into New Year on a shaky foundation What might have to happen for you to think you might get a double-digit equity market return in 2022 — the fourth year in a row, asks Merryn Somerset Webb. She explains the key things to consider.Graphics of the year — making sense of 2021 From Covid charts to technological explainers and chronicles of human tragedy, we are living in an era that is increasingly captured by visual reporting. Graphics have a language as rich and expressive as the written word. Here are some of this year’s standouts, including a map showing carbon released by raging fires in the remote Siberian republic of Sakha, selected by the FT’s data team.

Trump’s vaccine heresy shows populism is not a monolith The friendly fire against Trump over comments about Covid vaccines reveals his vulnerability. The trouble is that it also shows how much populism has hardened. If we have learned anything in 2021, writes Janan Ganesh, it is that populism is now much more than a personality cult.Our most-read Markets article of the yearWe have to travel back in time almost a year to find 2021’s most-read Markets story: Philip Stafford’s piece looking at how EU share trading fled London on the first day after Brexit. Almost €6bn of dealing rerouted to newly created European hubs and primary exchanges.If you’re interested in Britain’s future in Europe post-Brexit, sign up for Peter Foster’s Britain after Brexit newsletter, which will keep you up to date on everything you need to know. More

Investing.com — Omicron cases continue to soar in both Europe and the Americas, but stock markets remain buoyant. Elon Musk has exercised all of his Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) options, potentially reducing the selling pressure on the stock, while U.S. crude inventories fall again. Bitcoin remains highly centralized. Here’s what you need to know in financial markets on Wednesday, 29th December.1. Omicron cases soarRisk sentiment may be on the rise as the year draws to a close, but so are Covid cases. This means trading could be volatile as investors return in force next year.The World Health Organization’s weekly update, published on Tuesday, showed that the number of new Covid infections grew by 57% in Europe in the week before Dec. 26, and by 30% in the Americas region.France led the way, reporting Europe’s highest ever daily number with 179,807 cases on Tuesday, but Italy, Greece, Portugal and England all reported record highs as well.While there are some mobility restrictions in place in Europe, many national governments have been reluctant to implement wholesale lockdowns again, clinging to studies that suggest the dominant Omicron strain of the Covid-19 virus is less harmful than the previous Delta variety.It’s debatable how long this stance can last if cases continue to soar, especially with the World Health Organization warning that the surge in cases will push health systems towards the brink of collapse.2. Stocks to edge higher; Omicron in focusU.S. stocks are set to open marginally higher Wednesday, continuing the recent rally amid optimism that the Omicron variant will not be as economically damaging as first feared.By 5:25 AM ET (1025 GMT), Dow Jones futures were up 45 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 futures were up 10 points, or 0.2% and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 60 points, or 0.4%.The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed almost 100 points higher on Tuesday, its fifth straight day of gains, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite dropped marginally.The number of Covid cases are on the rise in the U.S., with more than 4.1 million Covid cases this month, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, well above November’s tally of 2.54 million.However, the Biden administration has made it clear that a national lockdown is not on the cards while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently shortened its isolation recommendation for people who test positive if they don’t have symptoms. In corporate news, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) suspended operations for its iPhone product line at Foxconn in Sriperumbudur, India, citing poor working conditions, while JD.com (NASDAQ:JD).com has increased its share repurchase scheme to $3 billion from $2 billion.3. Bitcoin still too centralizedThe recent selling in Bitcoin continued Wednesday, with the world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency dropping over 3% to $47,668. This follows on from a fall of over 6% on Tuesday, meaning the digital currency is down 31% from the year’s high of $69,000 on Nov. 10.The cryptocurrency market has come into the mainstream of investor thinking this year, with Bitcoin hitting $1 trillion in market value for the first time in February.That said, a new study finds that after more than 12 years in existence holdings of Bitcoin are still concentrated in too few individuals. According to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the top 1% Bitcoin holders own 27% of the 19 million Bitcoin currently in circulation. “This inherent concentration makes Bitcoin susceptible to systemic risk,” researchers Igor Makarov and Antoinette Schoar wrote, “and also implies that the majority of the gains from further adoption are likely to fall disproportionately to a small set of participants.”Read also: 5 Cryptocurrencies Beyond Bitcoin To Keep On Your Radar In 20224. Tesla selling pressure easesInvestors in Tesla, the American electric vehicle manufacturer, will be pleased to hear that CEO Elon Musk has exercised all of his options expiring next year, potentially signaling an end to his stock sales.Tesla shares lost about a quarter of their value after Musk in November asked his followers on Twitter if he should sell 10% of his holding, primarily to pay a tax bill.Musk said last week that he would reach his 10% target “when the 10b preprogrammed sales complete,” something that the company said was done on Tuesday. 5. Crude helped by falling U.S. inventoriesOil prices stabilized Wednesday, after the previous session’s rally as industry data pointed to a large fall in U.S. crude oil stockpiles, suggesting continued demand from the world’s largest consumer.By 5:25 AM ET, U.S. crude futures were down 0.1% at $75.92 a barrel, and Brent futures rose 0.1% at $78.78 a barrel. Both contracts are trading near their highest levels in a month.Data from the American Petroleum Institute, released late Tuesday, showed U.S. crude stocks fell by 3.1 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 24. Official data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration are due later Wednesday, and if the draw is confirmed it would be a fifth consecutive weekly decline, the longest run since September.The global recovery from the Covid pandemic, the rise of the Omicron variant notwithstanding, coupled with the cautious approach of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in restoring supply is pushing crude towards its biggest annual gain in more than a decade.  OPEC and its allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, is due to meet next week to assess production policy heading into 2022.  More

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -The German financial regulator BaFin on Wednesday said it had fined Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) $10 million for controls related to the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (EURIBOR), a setback for the nation’s largest lender as it seeks to restore its reputation. The fine of 8.66 million euros ($9.77 million) is the first imposed by BaFin under a 2018 regulation that seeks to prevent manipulation of the rate, a benchmark used in the financial industry.”The bank at times did not have in place effective preventive systems, controls and policies,” BaFin said.Deutsche Bank said it accepted the fine and had implemented measures to improve its controls regarding EURIBOR.”Deutsche Bank has no indication that the fined issue led to incorrect submissions to the benchmark administrator,” the bank said.The bank has been the subject of numerous regulatory and legal investigations over the past decade.In April, BaFin ordered Deutsche Bank to enact further safeguards to prevent money laundering.Under new leadership, BaFin has also been trying to restore its image https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/germanys-new-finance-watchdog-vows-further-supervision-reforms-2021-10-13, which was battered after it failed to spot wrongdoing ahead of the collapse last year of German payments company Wirecard.($1 = 0.8853 euros)($1 = 0.8861 euros) More

NEW YORK (Reuters) – “Challenge the status quo and do not settle.” That is the mantra of Magali Muratore, who joined New York-based fashion brand Tory Burch LLC in July as executive vice president and chief technology officer.”It’s not about being perfect, but instead always reaching for better, jumping in with both feet and not being afraid of change,” said Muratore, who moved from Capital One, where she was senior vice president and chief information officer of Retail, Direct and Small Business Banking.”Change is a good thing – with it comes new challenges and opportunities.” Muratore talked to Reuters about the power of change. Edited excerpts are below.Q. What was your very first job? A. My very first job after graduation was in Paris at Hyperion, which has since been acquired by Oracle (NYSE:ORCL). It was my first introduction to data integration. I discovered I was motivated by driving change in large organizations and blending strategic vision and a customer-focus with rigorous engineering execution. Q. How did these recent times change your approach to technology strategy in a corporation? A. Even before the pandemic, we (at Capital One) had been focused on designing and creating physical and digital workspaces that foster rapid innovation and fluid collaboration, which are more important than ever at a time when the majority of our associates are working from home. Being built like a modern technology company allowed us to respond like a modern technology company: rapidly identifying stresses in the system, harnessing data and software to reimagine new ways of thinking and quickly scaling solutions to our associates and customers. Q. What advice do you have on work-life balance?A. The pandemic has not only changed how we work, but also how we live. It’s not uncommon for a meeting to briefly pause to wave to a child or say “hi” to a pet. In planning team events, we strive to make them family-friendly. We adjusted what were previously in-person lunches to create remote small group sessions, where I met with the team to hear directly from them on what challenges they might be facing, and together, we discuss context and solutions.In the absence of previous organic moments in the office, these sessions enabled me to connect and hear directly from the team. Based on the feedback from our associates, we scheduled monthly “meeting-free days” and “Airplane-Mode Fridays” (a four-hour block every Friday afternoon meant to be meeting- and Slack-free) to ensure that the team had the space they need to not only take care of themselves, but their loved ones, too. Q. You’ve been quoted as saying, “The pandemic has been challenging, but I believe it has turned me into a more effective leader.” How so?A. Throughout my career, I’ve found that it’s important to listen to the team and their needs, provide a sense of purpose and to be empathetic. The pandemic has further reinforced these values, but also reminded me of ways to be a more effective leader. For me, those reminders have included being more aware of the importance of emotional wellness.This includes creating safe forums where associates can talk about their well-being and providing resources like additional coverage for virtual healthcare appointments, including mental health visits, to increase mental health support. Also, showing vulnerability – the pandemic reinforced how important it is to show up authentically as a leader, share my own struggles and shortcomings and to be more open. The pandemic has been a helpful reminder about how important it is to adapt, change and grow and to bring our teams along with us on that journey. Overall, I think we’ve all learned a lot about resiliency, communication and the importance of well-being, which is something we can leverage in all parts of our lives. Q. What job advice do you often give?A. Always stay open to new possibilities and opportunities.If I had followed a rigorous career plan and path, I would have missed the ability to grow, learn and ultimately find what I enjoy doing most – leading technical teams. If you had told me at graduation that I would support major tech transformations at Fortune 500 companies, I would have been surprised. But, embracing curiosity and saying yes to new opportunities outside of my comfort zone has been an important part of my professional journey. I’ve learned throughout my career that no experience is a bad one, just another opportunity to grow. More

The clusters will be built in the northern Inner Mongolia region, northwestern Ningxia region, Gansu province and southwestern Guizhou province, the National Development and Reform Commission said in four separate statements. The four locations can use their energy and environmental advantages to set up green and low-carbon mega data centres, the state planner said. The move comes as energy-hungry data centres located in China’s east have found it difficult to expand due to limits imposed by local governments on electricity consumption.Some cities in China’s northern and western regions rich in renewable energy resources such as wind and solar power have already built data centres to serve the economically developed coast. But their distant locations have meant the centres have struggled to provide the near-instantaneous retrieval demanded by coastal clients with little tolerance for delays.It is unclear how China would turn western and northern regions such as Ningxia and Gansu, which are 1,000 km (600 miles) from the coast, into actively operating centres of computing power given the data latency caused by the huge distances to data users in the east.A marine economy development plan published on Dec. 14 encouraged major coastal cities such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai to relocate high energy-consuming data centres to underwater locations to cut energy used for cooling.China aims to expand its big data industry into a more than 3 trillion yuan ($470 billion) sector by 2025 through the building of several clusters of data centres, according to a 2021-2025 plan by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released in November.($1 = 6.3714 Chinese yuan renminbi) More

The EU’s trade commissioner has urged Chile’s incoming leftwing government, led by president-elect Gabriel Boric, to sign a deal with the bloc negotiated by the country’s rightwing predecessor.Valdis Dombrovskis told the Financial Times he hoped the new administration, which takes office in March and includes the Communist party, would endorse the pact. He is also pressing EU member states to do the same after France held up the deal, which updates and deepens a 2002 agreement. “We very much hope that the incoming government in Chile will endorse this modernised agreement,” Dombrovskis told the FT. “This is a good deal for both Chile and EU member states, boosting our mutual trade and doing so in a way that is sustainable — in fact, the most sustainable trade deal we will have done so far.“Strategically, it also gives the EU greater access to lithium, which will bolster our capacity to produce batteries.”He also warned EU countries, which make up the world’s largest trade bloc, against growing protectionism.“We should not lose sight of the benefits that trade deals bring for our economies, our businesses and workers, especially as we emerge from the [Covid-19] crisis,” he said.France has persuaded the European Commission, which negotiates such deals on behalf of the union, to delay the Chile deal and talks with New Zealand. President Emmanuel Macron faces an election in April and was nervous about French farmers’ reactions to cheap Chilean chicken imports, diplomats said. Chile would get an 18,000 tonne tariff-free quota for chicken — less than 0.2 per cent of EU consumption. Paris has cited sustainable development issues and agricultural sensitivities as reasons for its opposition. An EU deal with Mercosur, the South American trade bloc, has been held up because some countries want binding commitments from Brazil to protect the Amazon rainforest.Chile’s incoming president Boric is part of a broad leftwing coalition. His election ends three decades of moderate centrist governments, which have attracted investment to what today is the wealthiest nation in Latin America.Boric has unnerved investors with opposition to some mining projects. However, he said at an October meeting with diplomats in Santiago that the EU deal was hugely relevant and that he would respect the results of the negotiations if elected.Rodrigo Yáñez, director of international economic relations for the Chilean foreign ministry, said 60 per cent of the country’s economy depended on foreign trade and added that any leader must prioritise international partnerships.“The EU deal is also the greenest accord Chile will have and the environment is a key part [of Boric’s] mandate,” Yáñez, who is involved in the EU negotiations, told the FT. Boric’s team has plans for greater multilateralism, “with a Latin American vocation, respectful of human rights, international law, co-operation, international treaties and sustainability”, said senator Juan Ignacio Latorre, who was a foreign affairs spokesperson during the Boric election campaign. More