Weekly News Summary For October 25-30, 2019

Friday, October 25, 2019: Amazon Profits Fall on Same-day Delivery Service

Amazon.com saw a sharp drop in its profits during the third quarter, as the US e-commerce giant continued to allocate a significant amount of its resources in same-day delivery for its Prime subscription service.

Amazon’s net income was down by 26% to $2.1 billion in the three months to September, with EPS equating to $4.23, while revenue turned out better than what analysts had expected climbing by 24% to $70 billion.

Monday, October 28, 2019: UK PM Johnson Agrees to Brexit Deadline Extension

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday has formally agreed to extend the deadline for Brexit until the end of January, delaying UK’s scheduled Thursday departure from the European Union, despite Johnson’s, “do or die” Brexit promise.

The EU’s offer is what can be described as a “flextension”, meaning the UK could leave before the deadline provided that a deal has been approved by the Parliament, according to EU Council President Donald Tusk.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019: Saudi Aramco Reportedly Plans to Start IPO

Saudi Aramco reportedly plans to start its initial public offering on November 3 after putting the deal earlier in October on hold, resulting in selling in European stock markets on Tuesday.

While the kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had targeted a valuation of $2 trillion, reports suggest bankers have estimated somewhere between $1 trillion and $1.5 trillion.

Wednesday, October 30, 2019: Fiat Chrysler and PSA Discussing Potential Merger

Fiat Chrysler and PSA Group on Wednesday confirmed discussions over a potential partnership that could establish one of the world’s leading auto companies.

A source familiar with the matter said the two companies are negotiating a merger deal that might lead to the creation of a major automaker worth $50 billion, while another source stated that PSA’s supervisory board was set to meet later in the day to talk about the potential deal.