Global:
Contracts on the S&P 500 Index nudged higher and most Asian stocks gained. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. sank more than 8% in Hong Kong after China kicked off an investigation into alleged monopolistic practices at the tech giant. Volumes were subdued in many countries on Thursday. All derivatives trading is shut on Eurex and most equity markets will be closed Friday for Christmas Day.
Congressional Republicans face high-stakes decisions in coming days over two giant pieces of bipartisan legislation. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer plans to introduce his call for $2,000 checks today, but GOP members intend to block it. If it fails, Democrats will vote Dec. 28 on new legislation to codify the payments and possibly on another stopgap spending measure. It’s still unclear what Trump plans to do with the stimulus bill Congress passed Monday.
China stocks dip as anti-trust probe into Alibaba hits tech shares hindustantimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from hindustantimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Article content
SHANGHAI China’s blue-chip stock index and Hong Kong shares inched higher on Thursday morning as progress in Brexit talks lifted sentiment globally, although Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group tumbled after Beijing launched an anti-monopoly probe. China’s benchmark CSI300 index rose 0.1% to 5,013.48 by the end of the morning session, though the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2% to 3,375.21. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index added 0.2% to 26,386.56. The Hong Kong China Enterprises Index lost 0.5% to 10,430.53. Investors cheered news that Britain and the European Union were on the cusp of striking a narrow trade deal on Thursday, which would help avoid shipping and travel chaos on both sides of the English Channel.
I will analyse below (blue annotations are my comments) to understand the nature of the claims. It is really hard to find time to investigate all their claims – the evidence provided is comprehensive and will take a lot of time to study. In the main they explore what would be called a conspiracy theory and corruption. The standard of proof to meet in order prove conspiracy is going to be much higher than the ordinary proofs (of harms, breaches of the laws) needed to prove crimes against humanity.
I may return to this letter in due course. At the moment, I can confirm that this is a SUPERB piece of analysis, and well worth devoting time.