Money Talks

The 2022 Winter Olympics are under way in Beijing. China says this year's event will be the cheapest in decades. That stands in contrast to recent Summer and Winter Games, which almost always go over budget, and saddle their host countries with expensive infrastructure that gets little to no use after the closing ceremonies. But as Aadel Haleem reports from the Chinese capital, there's more to the government's estimates.

#WinterOlympics2022 #ChinaOlympics #BeijingWinterGames

We were joined by Economist Vicky Pryce in London and Carsten Brzeski in Frankfurt.

Vicky Pryce is a board member at the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

Carsten Brzeski is global head of macro research at ING.

#Brexit #VickyPryce #CarstenBrzeski

Brexit was sold to voters as a way for the U-K to regain its financial and economic independence. And in that sense, yes, British policymakers have more power now.

Downing Street has gained control over its trade rules. It can set up its own border controls, and send its own representative to bodies like the World Trade Organization. The UK has also signed a free trade deal with Japan and Singapore, and is working on other agreements with the U-S, New Zealand and Australia.

But Britain's biggest trading partner is its closest neighbour, the European Union. And the exit from the single market has been tricky.

#BrexitWinners #BrexitLosers #BrexitAnniversary

Two years after the UK left the EU, many of the most contentious issues between London and the economic bloc remain unresolved. The movement of people and goods across borders has been impacted by the introduction of more red tape. On 1st of January, additional customs requirements kicked-in, causing long delays for truck drivers at the Port of Dover. Unless an agreement is reached, trade and tourism could face devastating consequences.

#Brexit #UKTrade #UKCustom

Co-founder and CEO of Spyke Games, Rina Onur Sirinoglu joined us in the studio in Istanbul.

#RinaOnurSirinoglu #SpykeGames #RoyalRiches

While many industries have been badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, for videogame developers, it's been a major boom. Research shows binge gaming is up 13% over last year with some age groups spending as much as 6 hours at a stretch glued to their screens. The rising demand is attracting investment to the sector, and Turkish developers are among the biggest winners.

#TurkiyeGamingIndustry #GameDevelopers #TurkishStartups

Amazon shares rallied in after-hours trading on Thursday after the company posted a big earnings beat for the fourth quarter, helped by its invesment in electric vehicle company Rivian. Earnings per share stood at $5.80, significantly higher than the expected $3.57. But sales numbers were weaker-than-expected, and the guidance was disappointing. In fact, fourth-quarter sales grew 9.4%, Amazon's first period of single-digit growth since 2017. Despite this, shares popped as much as 14% in extended trading, as Amazon disclosed revenue from its fast-growing advertising business for the first time as well as a gain of almost $12 billion from its investment in Rivian.

For more on Amazon earnings, Susannah Streeter joined us. She is an investment analyst at Hargreaves Landsdown in Bristol.

#Amazon #AmazonEarnings #AmazonShares

- Japan's services sector shrinks fastest in 5 months

- China invested $60B in B&R projects in 2021

- Hackers steal $323M from DeFi platform Wormhole

#JapanServices #BeltandRoad #Wormhole

Facebook's shares have tumbled more than 20% in after-hours trade on Wednesday as the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings. The company also issued disappointing guidance for the first quarter. Daily Active Users were slightly down in the fourth quarter compared to the previous three months, marking its first quarterly decline in users on record.

For more on the story, Victoria Scholar joined us live from London. She is head of investments at Interactive Investors.

#Meta #Facebook #MetaEarnings

- Turkiye's exports hit record high of $17.6B in January

- J&J, drug firms to pay Native Americans $590M

- US national debt tops $30T as borrowing surges

#TurkiyeTrade #OpioidSettlement #USDebt