In a new season of Tech Tonic, longtime FT China reporter Jame Kynge travels around the world to see how China is pushing towards tech supremacy. Will China be able to get an edge in crucial technological areas? What does China’s attempt to leapfrog the west look like on the ground? A 6-part series looking at China’s tech industry.

Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. The producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.

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Three years ago, chaos struck Wall Street. Companies saw their share prices tumble, seemingly out of nowhere. Major banks lost billions of dollars in the fallout. Eventually, that chaos was linked to a family office, Archegos Capital Management, and its founder Bill Hwang. 

This week, Hwang heads to trial in New York, where he faces charges including racketeering, and securities and wire fraud. The FT’s US legal correspondent Joe Miller examines the “novel” case prosecutors plan to pursue.

Clips from CNBC, Fox Business

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For further reading:

‘To what end?’: the murky question of Bill Hwang’s motive in Archegos trial

Archegos founder’s charity was financial ‘escape pod’, suit alleges

Hedge funds and brokers take aim at post-Archegos trading reforms

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On X, follow Joe Miller (@JoeMillerJr) and Michela Tindera (@mtindera07), or follow Michela on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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For decades, countries in the Middle East have dominated the oil market, pumping large quantities of the world’s supply. Along with that has come a pattern: when there’s conflict in the region, oil prices rise. The pattern seems to be breaking though, mainly because of one thing: US shale. The FT’s Myles McCormick explains how production in the country shifted oil’s epicentre away from the Middle East, and how long that may last. 

Clips from Al Jazeera, CBS, CNN

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For further reading:

How US shale keeps sheltering America from the next oil price surge

On markets and geopolitics, it is a mistake to forget about shale

Why oil prices remain steady even as Middle East tensions escalate

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On X, follow Myles McCormick (@mylesmccormick_) and Michela Tindera (@mtindera07), or follow Michela on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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When a company is sold there tends to be a standard playbook: There’s some tough negotiations. Then, the buyer gets a business and the seller gets a check. Everyone’s happy. That’s not what happened when a private equity firm recently bought a California grocery store chain. The FT’s Wall Street editor Sujeet Indap explains how the deal went off the rails, and how the supermarket’s owners might end up paying millions of dollars to sell their company. 

Clip from KCRA 

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For further reading:

The inequity method of accounting

Opposition shadows Cerberus windfall from Albertsons supermarket deal 

The pool is closed, part 1

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On X, follow Sujeet Indap (@sindap) and Michela Tindera (@mtindera07), or follow Michela on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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A few years ago, four men went on a hunting trip to Wyoming. That trip would end up changing their lives — and possibly, the future of the public’s access to millions of acres of land in America's western states. The FT’s Oliver Roeder expands on the saga that’s played out since 2021 inside courtrooms and within thousands of pages of legal documents.  

Clips from KGWN, Ludlow Music and The Richmond Organisation

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For further reading:

Battle for the American West

Seven states, 3,000 miles: a trip across the US energy divide

Wyoming’s Carbon Valley aims to turn ‘coal into gold’

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On X, follow Oliver Roeder (@ollie) and Michela Tindera (@mtindera07), or follow Michela on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

WeightWatchers is struggling. Launched in the early 1960s, the brand grew by helping members shed pounds through behavioural change programmes. Then, GLP-1 anti-obesity drugs hit the market, long-time spokesperson and board member Oprah Winfrey announced her departure, and the company’s credit rating was downgraded. FT reporter Anna Mutoh examines whether WeightWatchers’ latest strategy can produce the turnaround investors are hoping for.  

Clip from Lionsgate Television

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For further reading:

WeightWatchers faces an era when weight loss comes in a syringe

Behold the Ozempic effect on business 

The race to develop the next generation of weight-loss drugs

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On X, follow Anna Mutoh (@anna_mutoh) and Michela Tindera (@mtindera07), or follow Michela on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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The US and China’s battle for dominance in the semiconductor industry is having some surprising knock-on effects: Companies are looking to insulate their supply chains from rising geopolitical tensions. And many from around the world are setting their sights on Malaysia to set up or expand their chip factories. FT correspondent Mercedes Ruehl explains how the country earned a prized spot in the supply chain, and what it needs to do to keep hold of it. 

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For further reading:

Malaysia: the surprise winner from US-China chip wars

Vietnam dangles semiconductor incentives to draw foreign companies

AI boom broadens out across Wall Street

Plus, sign up for the FT’s Alphaville pub quiz on April 9 in New York. 

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On X, follow Mercedes Ruehl (@mjruehl) and Michela Tindera (@mtindera07), or follow Michela on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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The past several years in the US Treasury market have not been what you’d call smooth sailing. Three crises in a decade recently pushed regulators to introduce important changes to the world’s largest and most liquid market. The Securities and Exchange Commission passed the most significant reform a few months ago. The FT’s capital markets correspondent Kate Duguid examines that change — plus the potential pitfalls and promise that come with it. 

Clips from CNBC, Bloomberg

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For further reading:

The radical changes coming to the world’s biggest bond market

Has Gensler’s SEC pushed Wall Street too far?

SEC tussles with shadow trades in the US Treasury market

Ransomware attack on ICBC disrupts trades in US Treasury market

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On X, follow Kate Duguid (@kateduguid) and Michela Tindera (@mtindera07), or follow Michela on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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More questions — more answers! We’ve partnered with the FT’s Unhedged podcast for a special two-part episode, fielding questions you have submitted about markets and finance. The host of Unhedged, Ethan Wu, plus the FT’s US financial commentator Rob Armstrong and markets editor Katie Martin join Michela to traverse topics ranging from the longevity of the Magnificent Seven stocks to Japan’s economic outlook. 

To listen to the other part of the episode, visit the Unhedged podcast feed.

Clips from The Magnificent Seven, The Mirisch Company/United Artists, music by Elmer Bernstein 

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For further reading:

The Magnificent 7 value trade

Japan’s market rally lacks solid backing

How fatalistic should we be on AI?

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On X, follow Ethan Wu (@EthanYWu), Robert Armstrong (@rbrtrmstrng), Katie Martin (@katie_martin_fx) and Michela Tindera (@mtindera07), or follow Michela on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.