Saudi Aramco IPO set to value company up to $1.7 trillion - CNBC

Amin H. Nasser, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco, speaks during a news conference at the Plaza Conference Center in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia November 3, 2019.

Hamad Mohammed | Reuters

Saudi Aramco has set a price range for its listing that implies the oil giant is worth between $1.6 trillion to $1.7 trillion, below the $2 trillion that the Saudi crown prince had previously targeted, making it potentially the world's biggest IPO.

Aramco said on Sunday it plans to sell 1.5% of its shares or about 3 billion shares, at an indicative price range of 30 riyals ($8.00) to 32 riyals, valuing the initial public offering (IPO), as much as 96 billion riyals ($25.60 billion) at the top end of the range.

Aramco could just beat the record-breaking $25 billion raised by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba when it made its stock market debut in New York in 2014.

Aramco's listing is due in December and the company said last weekend that it will sell up to 0.5% of its shares to individual investors. Speculation and delayed announcements on the public listing of the world's most profitable company have riveted investors and market watchers since plans for the float were first disclosed three years ago.

The oil giant has delayed the IPO — originally scheduled for 2018 — multiple times, reportedly over Saudi concerns about public scrutiny over its finances and because of the complexity of its corporate structure.

Analysts' valuations of the company have varied from $1.2 trillion to $2.3 trillion. In comparison, Aramco's closest U.S. rival, Exxon Mobil, has a market cap of nearly $300 billion and Chevron is valued at about $229 billion. When the IPO was first flagged in 2016 by the now-Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, he said then that he believed the company was worth around $2 trillion.

The Aramco listing would aim to drum up cash for a government looking to significantly reduce its budget deficit and diversify its economy beyond oil as part of the crown prince's Vision 2030 program.

The country's economy is still largely reliant on oil exports. Lackluster oil prices (a barrel of Brent crude is currently priced near $63) have prompted the country's budget deficit (the amount by which its spending exceeds its revenues) to widen.

In 2018, the budget deficit was forecast at around 136 billion riyals (or around $36 billion), according to the kingdom's Ministry of Finance. It's expected to be a similar amount in 2019. And in 2020, the kingdom expects the deficit to widen to $50 billion, the kingdom's finance minister said in October, according to Reuters.

—CNBC's Natasha Turak, Holly Ellyatt and Joanna Tan contributed to this article.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/17/saudi-aramco-ipo-set-to-value-company-up-to-1point7-trillion.html

2019-11-17 06:50:00Z
52780439062755

Bill Gates overtakes Jeff Bezos as the richest person in the world at $110 billion - Daily Mail

Bill Gates overtakes Jeff Bezos as the richest person in the world at $110 BILLION after Microsoft secures a $10 billion contract with the Pentagon and Amazon’s stocks drop

•  Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has topped Amazon's Jeff Bezos as richest person in the world
• Gates has a total net worth of $110 billion, while Bezos has $109 billion as of Friday
• Gates gained the title briefly in October, but this is his first official reclamation in more than two years
• Microsoft shares are up almost 48 percent this year and the company signed a $10 billion contract with the Pentagon 
• Bezos took a financial hit after his divorce from longtime spouse Mackenzie Bezos this year 

By Lauren Edmonds For Dailymail.com

Published: 14:08 GMT, 16 November 2019 | Updated: 15:21 GMT, 16 November 2019

Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has surpassed Amazon's Jeff Bezos as the world's richest person, reclaiming the distinction for the first time in more than two years. 

As of Friday, the Bloomberg Billionaire Index reported the Gates' total net worth comes in at a staggering $110 billion. 

Gates' was able to regain the title because Microsoft shares are up almost 48 percent this year and a recent gain of $485 million, helping bolster the tech company's value. 

Microsoft's Bill Gates (left) has officially topped Amazon's Jeff Bezos (right) as the richest person in the world with a total net worth of $110 billion

Microsoft also beat out Amazon for a lucrative $10 billion cloud-computing contract with the Pentagon. 

The contract -named Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI- includes Microsoft providing cloud storage of sensitive military data and technology for the Department of Defense over a 10 year period. 

Awarding the contract to Microsoft was a huge loss for Amazon and marked another notch in the ongoing war between the two global tech giants. 

Gates' (pictured) company Microsoft secured a $10 billion contract with the Pentagon in October, upsetting Amazon's attempt to confirm the deal 

World's 10 richest people 

The Bloomberg Billionaire Index lists the following: 

1. Bill Gates - $110 billion

2. Jeff Bezos -$109 billion 

3. Bernard Arnault - $103 billion

4. Warren Buffet - $86.6 billion

5. Mark Zuckerberg - $74.5 billion

6. Amancio Ortega - $67.6 billion

7. Larry Page - $64.3 billion

8. Sergey Brin - $62.4 billion 

9. Charles Koch - 61.7 billion

10.  Julia Flesher Koch - $61.7 billion

Gates briefly bested Bezos last month when Amazon reported that profits for the three months ending in September dropped almost 28 percent last year.   

Bezos currently sits in second place with a total net worth of $109 billion, who at his maximum had a $166 billion in September 2018.

Amazon's stock is down 2 percent, according to Bloomberg, and Bezos lost 845 million. 

The Amazon CEO recently took a cut to his finances after his divorce from ex-wife Mackenzie Bezos this year.  

The settlement saw Mackenzie receive 25 percent of Bezos' stake in Amazon and became one of the company's biggest shareholders. 

She is worth a reported $35 billion, but Mackenzie has publicly shared her plans to donate a sizable chunk to charities like the Giving Pledge. 

In a letter, she wrote: 'I have a disproportionate amount of money to share. My approach to philanthropy will continue to be thoughtful. It will take time and effort and care. But I won’t wait. And I will keep at it until the safe is empty.'

Jeff Bezos (right) faced a substantial cut to his finances after separating from his wife Mackenzie Bezos (left) in 2019 

Gates' has a similar philanthropic spirit and has given $35 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation since 1994. 

Recently, Gates spoke about a proposed wealth tax being campaigned by some Democratic political candidates, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren. 

He revealed he already paid more than $10 billion in taxes. 

Gates said: 'If I’d had to pay $20 billion, it’s fine. When you say I should pay $100 billion, then I’m starting to do a little math about what I have left over.'  

Read more:

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7692679/Bill-Gates-overtakes-Jeff-Bezos-richest-person-world.html

2019-11-16 14:08:00Z
52780437396405

Fans Getting Charged Up To See Ford's New Electric Mustang SUV - NPR

Enlarge this image

Ford's Mustang Mach-E will be unveiled Sunday. It's part of the Detroit-based company's $11 billion investment in electric cars. Ford hide caption

toggle caption

Ford

The Mustang — one of the most quintessentially American cars — is about to kick off a new chapter. After years of secrecy, Ford is unveiling the Mustang Mach-E, an electric SUV "inspired" by the classic car's key design elements.

The big reveal is happening Sunday in Los Angeles, days ahead of the annual auto show there.

The Detroit-based company's classic hush-hush marketing strategy has had fans of the iconic car scouring the Internet for clues about how it will look and drive. And, on Thursday night, they hit the mother lode. Or at least, it's possible they hit it.

For a brief window, someone at Ford published the SUV's reservations website, complete with photos, specs and pricing. But the site was quickly taken down and Ford has not confirmed any of the details that it contained, which seems top have fanned the flames for eager fans.

Among them, is Gary Hankins, who said he's been trying to piece together bits of information about the car for the last two years — an admirable feat considering he didn't even know the name of the car until this week.

All Ford is officially saying for now is that the SUV will be on the market in late 2020 — part of the company's $11 billion investment in electric cars. The automaker also says the estimated range of the SUV will be a whopping 300 miles on a single charge.

That was enough to make Hankins, a retired D.C. cop, "go absolutely gaga," according to his friends. For Hankins, the fact that it'll look a little like a Mustang is "really icing on the cake."

Finally owning a car with the Mustang named attached would be the fulfillment of a teenage dream.

"I was in high school in the '60s when the Mustang came out," he recalled wistfully. "I would love to have had a Mustang. [I] couldn't afford one."

More than five decades later, Hankins is thrilled he's got a lot more money in the bank. "Here I am, now 71 years old, I'm finally getting my Mustang," he said.

Hankins is angling to get on a pre-order list for the teched-out pony car, which Ford says he'll be able to do as early as Sunday night.

The only official peek of what the SUV will look like, is a vague swooping blue drawing on Ford's website. But, Thursday's leaked photos along with others captured by eagle-eyed enthusiasts last week, show it's a fairly compact and sporty version of an SUV.

Car designer Camilo Pardo is a skeptical of attaching the Mustang name to an SUV. "If an SUV could speak, the first thing it would say is, I want to be a Mustang," he said and laughed.

Pardo, the former head of Ford's Living Legends studio and the chief designer of Ford's GT, says hardcore Mustang fans should manage expectations when it comes to any family friendly crossover. But he suspects the reimagined version will possess three essential iconic elements.

First, it's got to have the big grill, which "is supposed to look intimidating."

"Like it's out to get you," he said.

Second, he said, the headlamps have to have the trademark "frowny" shape that give it "the personality of an angry animal."

Finally, it has to have the unmistakable taillights. Pardo said experimenting with those has always been a fun thing for designers. The challenge is figuring out how to modernize the three little bars the Mustang is known for.

Gail Wise is widely recognized as the first person to buy a Mustang in the U.S. She got hers on April 15, 1964, two days before it debuted at New York's World Fair. Courtesy of Gail Wise hide caption

toggle caption

Courtesy of Gail Wise

Based on the sales track record of most electric cars, it's unlikely this Ford model will prove as popular as the 1964 original. That had one of the most successful product launches in American history.

Gail Wise remembers the frenzy around the campaign, which much like today's was shrouded in mystery. "Ford had not shown the car on TV. They only advertised the logo," she recalled.

Wise is widely recognized as the first person in the U.S. to buy the car. She was 22 and wanted a convertible. The salesman said he had just the car.

He walked Wise, and her parents, past all of the cars on the showroom floor saying he had something special to show her.

"And in the back room, under a tarp, was a skylight blue Mustang and I was like, wow, that's for me," she said.

Enlarge this image

Gail Wise sits in her 1964 Mustang as Ford celebrates the production of the 10 millionth Mustang at in August 2018. Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images

It was April 15, 1964, two days before the car debuted at the New York World's Fair. The salesman wasn't supposed to sell it. But he did. It cost $3,447.50.

Fifty-five years later, Wise still has the skylight blue beauty. (Her husband Tom fully restored the car as a retirement project.)

Wise says she knows she's biased, but she wonders if being Mustang "inspired" will be enough to make Ford's new venture an icon, too.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.npr.org/2019/11/16/779773223/fans-getting-charged-up-to-see-fords-new-electric-mustang-suv

2019-11-16 13:01:00Z
52780437275191

Dubai Air Show: Aerospace industry meets for deals and displays - BBC News

The eyes of the world's aerospace and defence industries will be on Dubai this weekend as one of the industry's biggest air shows takes off.

While the larger Farnborough and Paris events may attract more visitors and exhibitors, Dubai has in recent years been where most of the biggest deals have been done.

Like its European rivals, the Gulf emirate's five-day show will be a battleground for commercial aircraft sales between Airbus, Boeing, and the second-tier manufacturers.

But Dubai is also a key venue for arms deals. The sensitivity of defence contracts means many are negotiated below the radar. Given the scale of Middle East defence budgets few arms manufacturers can afford not to have a presence at Dubai.

All the major names will be among the 1,300 exhibitors showing up this week, including Britain's BAE Systems, France's Dassault, and the biggest defence firm of all, America's Lockheed Martin, will all be out in force.

Regional insecurity

The latest Military Balance report from the Institute of Strategic Studies says that as a proportion of gross domestic product - the size of the economy - seven of the top 10 biggest spenders are countries in the Middle East or North Africa.

Oman is top of the rankings, committing 11% of GDP to defence spending, followed by Saudi Arabia with 10.8%. Last year the US defence budget was 3.1% of GDP, while in Europe - as President Donald Trump has often critically noted - many NATO members fail to hit the 2% target.

Greater insecurity in the region means, inevitably, that defence spending will rise, says Charles Forrester, analyst at the information and intelligence group Jane's.

He says: "Events over the past year, as Iran has become increasingly aggressive, have shown that there is a strong need for surveillance capabilities to ensure that critical national infrastructure remains secure, and that governments have the right information to respond."

Britain's Royal Air Force has, without the usual fanfare that often accompanies such things, decided to send out a Typhoon fighter jet, made by BAE Systems and its European partners. And the French Air Force is displaying its rival Rafale jet, spurring speculation there could be contracts in the offing for both fighters.

Dubai will, for the first time, see an appearance of America's F-35 Lighting II fighter, whose development costs are estimated to be $1.5tn (£1.2tn) over the lifetime of the decades-long programme.

Given the geo-political nature of the defence industry, the appearance of the F-35 may influence whether Russia sends its rival stealth fighter, the Sukhoi Su-57.

Boeing vs Airbus

In addition to this supersonic hardware there will be an array of surveillance and electronic warfare aircraft, missiles, drones, infrastructure and innovations - much of it of a highly classified.

For the United Arab Emirates' military, the biennial Dubai show is a chance to "discover new technology and equipment, and network with key industry players from around the world", says assistant undersecretary for defence Major General Abdulla Al Hashmi.

The show, though, is not just a chance to buy in equipment. Dubai and the larger emirate, Abu Dhabi, as well as Saudi Arabia, are increasingly developing their own capabilities in aerospace manufacturing, maintenance, and repair in both the civil and military spheres.

Major General Al Hashmi adds that the show is a chance "to demonstrate what the UAE is capable of".

The UAE's Tawazun Economic Programme, for example, includes ambitious plans to make the emirates a centre of 3D printing, blockchain, smart sensors and quantum computing. Last month 25 state-owned and independent companies in the UAE were consolidated under a defence company called Edge.

Mr Forrester says: "The UAE will be well-positioned as both and investor and manufacturer in the global aerospace industry."

The show is not all about defence, of course. Civil aircraft sales will make most of the headlines.

At the 2013 Dubai show there were $206bn worth of firm orders and options for passenger aircraft, most shared between Boeing and Airbus. In 2017 there were $114bn worth of sales.

This week's event won't scale those heights, partly because the finances of the major Middle East airlines are shakier, and partly because airlines already have so much on order that the production lines at Boeing and Airbus are committed for years ahead.

But Boeing's latest forecast for commercial jets estimates that the Middle East aircraft and services market will be worth $1.5tn over the next 20 years.

Last minute haggling

The Dubai show could be especially important for Boeing, given the sales and reputational damage of the 737 Max crashes and grounding of the aircraft. Boeing has so far this year logged more aircraft cancellations than orders.

There will be a focus on Dubai-based airline Emirates, which always likes to make a splash on its home turf.

Earlier this year Emirates cancelled orders for the Airbus A380 superjumbo, and said it would switch to A330s and A350s. The airline has also promised to buy Boeing 787 Dreamliners. However, neither the Airbus nor Boeing orders have been finalised.

It's thought that Turkish Airlines is in the market for aircraft, as is fast-growing Emirati budget carrier Air Arabia. Look out, too, for announcements from airlines in Asia, where air travel is growing apace.

Air shows are an ideal marketing venue to promote blockbuster deals if companies can agree contracts in time. Behind the closed doors of the chalets and meeting rooms set up near Dubai's Al Maktoum International Airport, executives are engaged in some intense last-minute haggling.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50422795

2019-11-16 07:58:43Z
52780437066718

U.S. industrial output falls by most in 17 months in October - MarketWatch

Getty Images

A Ford Motor Company worker works on a new truck at a plant in Dearborn, Michigan.

The numbers: U.S. industrial production dropped 0.8% in October, the largest decline since May 2018, the Federal Reserve reported Friday. It was the third decline in output in the past four months. The drop was steeper than Wall Street expectations of a 0.5% fall.

The report was impacted by the United Auto Workers strike at General Motors GM, +0.22%  , which pushed down auto production by 7.1%.

The weakness was not limited to auto manufacturing though. Excluding autos, industrial production was down 0.5%.

Manufacturing output fell 0.6% in October. Manufacturing ex-autos in October was down 0.1%.

Industrial capacity in use slumped to 76.7 in October. That’s the lowest level in 25 months.

What happened: No sector showed a gain in output.

Mining output, which has been a driver for growth, fell 0.7% in October. That’s the third decline in the past four months. Utility production slumped 2.6% after a sharp rise in the prior month.

On a year-on-year basis, U.S. industrial production is down 1.1%.

Big picture: The manufacturing sector is being hit hard by several headwinds, including weak global demand, uncertainty over international trade policy and the woes at Boeing Co. Some economists had detected a trough in the manufacturing sector but this report belies that impression.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told lawmakers this week that his economists are watching closely to see if weakness in the manufacturing sector spills over into the consumer side of the economy. But the October retail sales data, released earlier Friday, was generally positive.

Market reaction: Stocks DJIA, +0.45%   were set to open higher on Friday as investors digested the retail sales data.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/industrial-output-falls-by-most-in-17-months-in-october-2019-11-15?mod=economy-politics

2019-11-15 14:24:00Z
52780437352219

US retail sales rebound, but big-ticket purchases drop - CNBC

U.S. retail sales rebounded in October, but consumers cut back on purchases of big-ticket household items and clothing, which could temper expectations for a strong holiday shopping season.

The Commerce Department said on Friday retail sales increased 0.3% last month, lifted by motor vehicle purchases and higher gasoline prices, reversing September's unrevised 0.3% drop, which was the first decline in seven months.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales gaining 0.2% in October. Compared to October last year, retail sales advanced 3.1%.

Excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, retail sales increased 0.3% last month. Data for September was revised lower to show the so-called core retail sales slipping 0.1% instead of being unchanged as previously reported. Core retail sales correspond most closely with the consumer spending component of gross domestic product.

The rebound in core retail sales added to reports this week showing firming inflation in supporting the Federal Reserve's signal that it will probably not cut interest rates again in the near term. Other reports this month have shown solid job growth in October and an acceleration in services sector activity.

The data and easing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing have diminished financial market fears of a recession. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told lawmakers on Thursday that "the U.S. economy is the star economy these days," compared to other advanced economies and "there's no reason that can't continue."

The U.S. central bank last month cut rates for the third time this year and signaled a pause in the easing cycle that started in July when it reduced borrowing costs for the first time since 2008.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy, increased at a 2.9% annualized rate in the third quarter. The economy's engine is being powered by the lowest unemployment rate in nearly 50 years and has helped to blunt the hit on the economy from the White House's 16-month trade war with China, which had led to a decline in capital expenditure and a recession in manufacturing.

Auto sales increased 0.5% in October after declining 1.3% in September. Receipts at service stations surged 1.1%, reflecting higher gasoline prices, after dipping 0.1% in the prior month. Online and mail-order retail sales increased 0.9% after gaining 0.2% in September.

But sales at electronics and appliance stores fell 0.4%. Receipts at building material stores dropped 0.5% and sales at clothing stores declined 1.0%. Spending at furniture stores fell 0.9%, the largest decline since December 2018.

Americans also cut back on spending at restaurants and bars, with sales falling 0.3%, the most in nearly a year. Spending at hobby, musical instrument and book stores dropped 0.8%.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/15/retail-sales-october-2019.html

2019-11-15 13:31:00Z
CAIiEMgv2ISRgyyhST-JkHtfjOkqGQgEKhAIACoHCAow2Nb3CjDivdcCMP3ungY

FDA issues warning to Dollar Tree about selling ‘potentially unsafe drugs’ - WJW FOX 8 News Cleveland

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

FDA issues warning to Dollar Tree about selling ‘potentially unsafe drugs’  WJW FOX 8 News ClevelandView full coverage on Google News
https://fox8.com/2019/11/15/fda-issues-warning-to-dollar-tree-about-selling-potentially-unsafe-drugs/

2019-11-15 11:44:00Z
CAIiEHwF1dR4ER4H4dLY6gIXwbwqGQgEKhAIACoHCAow0Yj_CjDpgvgCMOO15AU