Bhinneka News Online: Tuesday Morning Briefing: Spotify prepares to go public

Tuesday, 3 April 2018

Tuesday Morning Briefing: Spotify prepares to go public

Highlights

Spotify’s unusual route to becoming a public company is a test case for other multibillion-dollar tech companies that are looking to sell their shares but are not in need of cash. Investors will be able to buy and sell shares in the Swedish music streaming service in the New York Stock Exchange’s first-ever direct floor listing.

Breakingviews: Spotify’s direct listing piles risks upon risks. The music-streaming service’s market debut was unusual already – but it comes as specific fears over Facebook and Amazon are spilling over into wider tech valuations.

Commentary: President Donald Trump’s approach to trade policy – threatening U.S. tariffs against foreign countries unless they change their behavior – is unlikely to work, write Simon Lester and Inu Manak. A better strategy, which would also appeal to the president’s ego, would be a “Trump Round” of trade talks.

World

In some of the Mexican towns playing host to a “caravan” of more than 1,200 Central American migrants heading to the U.S. border, the welcome mat has been rolled out despite Trump’s call for Mexican authorities to stop them.

Hong Kong’s once thriving pro-democracy movement, weighed down by growing pessimism among its supporters over China’s ever-increasing control in the city, is facing a crisis of confidence about its future.

Luke Baker

@BakerLuke

It could be a long, frustrating spring for commuters as French rail workers begin three months of rolling strikes in showdown with Macron https://reut.rs/2IrIf7x

5:16 M - APR 3, 2018

Maayan Lubell

@MaayanLubell

Under pressure from his right wing voter base, @netanyahu has just announced he is scrapping the deal just reached with the UNHCR to relocate about 16,000 African migrants in Western countries and grant legal status in Israel to about 16,000 more. https://reut.rs/2GxzSqn

5:45 AM - Apr 3, 2018