Hong Kong edges Switzerland as US$2.95t wealth hub
Hong Kong has overtaken Switzerland as the world’s largest cross‑border wealth centre, holding about US$2.95 trillion of foreign assets compared with Switzerland’s US$2.94 trillion.
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Anthropic’s US$965b valuation intensifies rivalry with OpenAI
Anthropic’s new US$965 billion post‑money valuation, following a US$65 billion raise, has pushed it ahead of OpenAI’s roughly US$852 billion and set up a high‑stakes race for a trillion‑dollar valuation.
OpenAI files for US$730–850b IPO despite US$44b loss
OpenAI has confidentially filed to go public at a reported valuation between US$730 billion and US$850 billion, even after losing about US$44 billion last year.
BMW Sees Profit Margin as Low as 1% as China Demand Weakens
BMW said its profit margin will fall to as little as 1% this year as weakening Chinese demand and fallout from the Middle East conflict take a growing toll. The German automaker plans additional cost savings beyond those already announced. Danny Lee reports on Bloomberg Television.
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Insights
The great white-collar contraction
The era of "AI augmentation" — that polite corporate fiction where software was merely a "co-pilot" designed to help humans work faster — has ended.
In its place, 2026 has ushered in a period of cold, clinical replacement.
The unintended green revolution
For decades, the global transition to renewable energy was a project of incrementalism — a slow-moving mosaic of carbon taxes, solar subsidies, and earnest international accords that often felt more aspirational than urgent.
Policy wonks argued over the nuances of the Inflation Reduction Act, while climate activists lamented the glacial pace of the "energy pivot."
The Boomer gold rock is back
For the better part of a decade, the gilded youth of the financial world — the "crypto-native" generation — dismissed gold as a "boomer rock."
To them, the heavy, yellow metal was an analog relic, a petrous souvenir of an era before the lightning-fast efficiency of the blockchain.
The bull market in bloodshed
For years, the global defence industry existed in a sort of polite exile.
In the era of ESG mandates and the "peace dividend," shares in weapons manufacturers were often treated as the "tobacco stocks" of the new millennium — profitable, perhaps, but unseemly.
Economy
US–Iran peace deal hits oil and lifts stocks
A US–Iran peace agreement to halt nearly four months of fighting, including in Lebanon, sent oil lower and global stocks higher as markets priced in a planned Friday signing.
Economy
Australia's productivity slump threatens economic growth
Australia's economic engine is stalling as labour productivity slipped by 0.6% in the March quarter.
Economy
Rising mental health prescriptions spark national debate
Australian mental health prescriptions surge as nearly one in five citizens are prescribed psychiatric medications.
Economy
Environment leads R&D spending despite real funding drops
Australia's government expenditure on research and development crawled to $4.4 billion in 2024–25, marking a 1% increase from 2022–23.
