US earnings season is just around the corner and a number of big companies have started to release early reports. Last month, FedEx cited flagging demand and high costs and dramatically withdrew its predictions for annual income. The company's stock price dropped by a fifth and about $11 billion came off its value.
State media have taken to calling President Xi Jinping “the helmsman”; at the five-yearly meeting he defended his means of steering the country. We ask how to read between his tightly prepared lines. Many of America’s firms will soon deliver disappointing profits—and there is more to blame than simple business cycles. And research suggests that parenthood causes fathers’ brains to shrink.
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