Money Talks

Natural gas and oil prices rise after Russia halts some shipments of natural gas to the European Union. International crude benchmark Brent is up 0.7%, and is trading at around 105$ a barrel. The cost of natural gas is also 1% higher. Meanwhile, the possibility of fresh stimulus in China is also fueling the rally in energy markets.

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor in London, joined us for more.

#EnergyPrices #Russia #China

The Twitter board has agreed to a $44 billion buyout offer from billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Under the terms of the deal, Musk is paying $54.20 per share in cash for Twitter. The purchase price represents a 38 per cent premium to the company's closing price on April 1, the day before Musk revealed he had built a 9 per cent stake in the company. Elon Musk is providing about $21 billion and has secured $25.5 billion of debt and "margin loan financing".

In order to discuss details of the deal, we were joined by Naeem Aslam, who is chief market analyst at AvaTrade in London.

#Twitter #TwitterBuyout #ElonMusk

China's worst outbreak of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic shows no signs of slowing down. Millions of people in Shanghai have entered their fourth week under a strict lockdown, aimed at curbing the spread of the virus. The International Monetary Fund has warned that strict health measures could result in a slump in the world's second-largest economy. Meanwhile stocks in Europe are down, as concerns over global economic growth outweigh the re-election of the business-friendly President of France, Emmanuel Macron.

For more, we were joined by Einar Tangen, who is a senior fellow at the Beijing-based think tank, the Taihe Institute.

#China #COVID-19 #PandemicLockdowns

After two years of widespread caution, passengers are returning to the skies. As more countries around the world lift pandemic restrictions, mask mandates, and open their borders to tourists, airlines are preparing for a busy summer travel season. But is the industry prepared for the upsurge? Tayyibe Aydin reports.

Aviation analyst Alex Macheras says he expects global air traffic to return to pre-pandemic levels within just a few months.

#AviationBoom #AirTraffic #TravelRestrictions

Streaming services were among the biggest winners from lockdowns and other social restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. But as economies around the world continue to reopen, many people are switching off. The industry pioneer, Netflix lost subscribers for the first time in a decade, in the first quarter. And it could be facing even tougher times ahead.

#Netflix #SubscriberNumber #NetflixEarnings

This week, Libya's National Oil Corporation shut down operations at its El Sharara oilfield, because of protests at the site. It's one of the largest fields in the oil-rich country, accounting for nearly one-third of Libya's production. In a global oil environment that's already overheated, this supply shock caused the price of crude to rise further. Also, geopolitical tensions will likely move oil prices in only one direction, and that is upward. Easing lockdowns in China are supporting the price of crude, which has hovered around a 14-year peak.

#OilDemand #OilPrices #LibyaOilFieldShutdown

The Russian economy is expected to shrink significantly this year, as financial sanctions mount on Moscow over its attack on Ukraine. That's pushing a growing number of Russians to take their money out of the country, and invest elsewhere. As Paolo Montecillo reports, Türkiye has emerged as one of the preferred destinations.

#Türkiye #RealEstate #RussianInvestors

Surging inflation is hitting consumers everywhere and the World Bank warns most governments can do nothing to stop it. It says food prices are up by nearly 40% since the beginning of Russia's attack on Ukraine. And energy costs are likely to remain high for months to come. The collective price hike is also taking a toll on consumer spending and the growth of businesses worldwide. As a consequence the World Bank expects global growth to slowdown from its previous estimate of 4.1% to 3.2%. It's also warning of a looming food crisis.

For more on this, we were joined by economist Vicky Pryce who's a board member of the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

#WorldEconomy #EconomicGrowth #Inflation

Oil prices are on track to decline for the third-consecutive week as concerns over global economic growth outweigh supply fears caused by the crisis in Ukraine. The international crude benchmark Brent is down 4% in the last seven days, and is now trading around $106 a barrel.

Crude prices have already given up most of the gains made since the start of Russia's attack on its neighbour.

We had David Madden, market analyst for Equiti Capital in London. He said that despite demand concerns, prices are likely to stay at higher levels in the medium to long term.

#OilPrices #GlobalEconomicGrowth #Inflation

Electric car maker Tesla has reported better-than-expected earnings for the first three months of the year. That's as the company successfully navigated supply chain issues that have slammed the brakes on the rest of the auto industry. The world's most valuable EV firm says profits reached $3.7B or three times higher year-on-year.

Victoria Scholar joined us from London. She is head of investment at Interactive Investor.

#Tesla #ElectricVehicles #AutoIndustry