Breakingviews readers’ top picks for 2021

China Traditional Chinese Medicine Holdings Co

30/12/2021 14:31

(The authors are Reuters Breakingviews columnists.  The
opinions expressed are their own.)
    By Amanda Gomez and Sharon Lam
    NEW YORK, Dec 30 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Breakingviews
readers displayed eclectic financial curiosity in 2021. As the
pandemic ran into its second year, our most-read agenda-setting
financial insights spanned mergers and acquisitions, Wall
Street, cryptocurrencies, airlines, meme stocks and a decent
sampling of Chinese companies. 
    On Breakingviews.com, dealmaking was at the forefront of
readers’ minds. Our best-read story of the year was about U.S.
telecommunications giant AT&T’s  T.N  clumsy $16
billion spinoff of its pay-TV business  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2KW0DL. Next came
our take on pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm’s  1099.HK  attempt
to take private herbal supplements company China Traditional
Chinese Medicine  0570.HK  via a consortium  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2K30DN. Third
was a peek at British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline's  GSK.L 
troubles  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2MS326. Embattled People's Republic property
developer Evergrande’s  3333.HK  downward
spiral  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2P50AI also appeared in the top 10, as did
the GameStop  GME.N  meme-stock whodunnit  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2K32GX.  
    Over on Refinitiv’s Eikon platform, Morgan Stanley’s  MS.N 
brush with the failure of Archegos Capital Management took top
billing  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2M91C6. Coinbase Global’s  COIN.O  listing came
second, highlighting
crypto’s paradoxical moment  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2M713N. Archegos featured in
third spot, too, with a look at how the mess highlighted Wall
Street’s weak spots  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2LR0IP.  
    Meanwhile clicks on Reuters.com, which showcases a selection
of Breakingviews articles, emphasized U.S. news. The possibility
of an American airline going bust  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2IU1AB – something that
has yet to transpire – made the top spot. The top 10 also
encompassed the challenges President Joe Biden’s economic dream
team faced in his first year in office  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2JV1ZW. Even here,
though, China featured: The second most-read item was about
Chinese consumer-credit default risks  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2K30GT. Meme stocks
and crypto inevitably made the list, too.
    Our readers still major on Western financial markets,
especially America's. But in comparison with recent years, they
were less likely in 2021 to be spooked by Covid-19 and more
likely to scrutinize Chinese companies and trends. As the
pandemic evolves into something endemic, that may be the way the
world is going, too.
    
    BREAKINGVIEWS.COM TOP 10  
    AT&T clumsily cuts the cord on DirecTV  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2KW0DL  
    Sinopharm inhales invigorating Chinese herbs  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2K30DN  
    GSK CEO’s best defence is a graceful exit  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2MS326  
    Evergrande’s downward spiral runs off the page  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2P50AI 
    Bumble IPO is less alluring than its profile
pic  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2JT06L  
    McKinsey’s public problem may have public
solution  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2KU2DJ  
    Bolloré and Ackman will beat the Vivendi
activists  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2NX1XC  
    Breakdown: GameStop, a financial markets
whodunnit  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2K32GX  
    Chinese developer undercuts Wall Street’s ESG
push  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2L21Y3  
    Credit Suisse’s spring clean has barely
started  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2LZ1EU  
    
    REFINITIV EIKON TOP 10 
    Morgan Stanley picked good time to back bad
client  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2M91C6 
    Coinbase float is crypto’s paradoxical moment  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2M713N  
    Archegos mess revisits Wall Street weak spots  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2LR0IP  
    Short squeezers could end up strangling
themselves  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2K22TV  
    Banks’ prime broking blowup reveals lurking
danger  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2LR2E7  
    Morgan Stanley serves up best of two weird
worlds  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2JV12F  
    Tesla will give up pole position in China  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2MZ08N 
    AT&T shows breaking up can be worth it  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2N417M  
    Running Wells Fargo just got even more
thankless  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2MK1ZA  
    How to pick the hydrogen industry’s future
Amazon  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2JX2FZ 
    
    REUTERS.COM TOP 10 
    "Big Four" U.S. airlines may go down to three  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2IU1AB  
    China creates a bigger consumer credit mess  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2K30GT 
    White supremacy dies hard on the grocery
shelf  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2L31BG  
    America’s safe-haven status gets violent test  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2JH2UH 
    AMC’s valuation is a date with derangement  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2NL23U  
    Chancellor: Was I totally wrong about
bitcoin?  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2JN3II  
    Robinhood free lunch was never really free  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2K41JA 
    Big U.S. banks keep their powder a bit too
dry  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2JQ169  
    Biden’s SEC pick is ominous sign for Wall St  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2JO2RP 
    Biden’s dream team faces a nightmare  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2JV1ZW 
    Follow @alpgomez https://twitter.com/alpgomez and
@sharonlamhk https://twitter.com/sharonlamhk on Twitter
             

     
    
 

 (Column by Amanda Gomez in New York and Sharon Lam in Toronto. 
Editing by Richard Beales and Karen Kwok)
 ((For previous columns by the authors, Reuters customers can
click on  GOMEZ/  and  LAM/ 
SIGN UP FOR BREAKINGVIEWS EMAIL ALERTS https://bit.ly/BVsubscribe
 | amanda.gomez@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
amanda.gomez.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net;
sharon.lam@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
sharon.lam.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))