Globescan: Apple Grapple

The iPhone-maker has $148 billion of its record $257 billion cash pile invested in corporate debt alone, according to a company filing recently. That’s enough to buy all the assets in the world’s largest fixed-income mutual fund, the Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund, which has about $145 billion of assets including company, government and mortgage bonds.

Like many technology companies, Apple has resisted transferring the money it earns abroad back to the US to avoid triggering corporate income taxes on the earnings. Instead, the Cupertino, California-based company invests in corporate bonds and other assets like money market funds and US Treasuries.

Priceless for a price: The 1964 Ferrari 275 GTB/C Speciale could well be the Ferrari, the most rare and storied specimen from a brand built on scarcity and lore. It may also be the world’s first car to break the $100 million mark, provided it finds its way to the auction block. The car lost its driver recently when millionaire Preston Henn, a South Florida flea-market magnate and racing aficionado, died at age 86.

Tech tiger by the tail: IT services firm Infosys plans to hire 10,000 US workers in the next two years and open four technology centres in the United States, starting with a centre this August in Indiana, the home state of US Vice President Mike Pence.

The move comes as Infosys and some of its Indian peers such as Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro have become political targets in the United States and have been accused of displacing U.S. workers’ jobs by flying in foreigners on temporary visas to service US clients.

The IT service firms — which advise large companies on tech issues and carry out a range of tasks for them, from managing back-end computing systems to high-level programming — rely heavily on the H1-B visa programme, which US President Donald Trump told federal agencies to review.

Other Indian outsourcing firms have recruited in the United States, but Infosys is the first to give concrete hiring numbers and a timeline for its plans, following Trump’s visa review.

The move marks a huge increase in US hiring by Infosys.

Hot water: Starbucks Corp may be in a bit of hot water over its Unicorn beverage as a New York City coffee shop has filed a federal trademark infringement lawsuit against the coffee chain over the popular drink.

The End Brooklyn and its owner, Montauk Juice recently said it created the Unicorn Latte, its own bright pink and blue drink, and began selling it in December, four months before Starbucks launched the Unicorn Frappuccino, according to a lawsuit filed recently in the U.S. District Court in New York.

Baby blues: Johnson & Johnson was recently ordered by a Missouri jury to pay over $110 million to a Virginia woman who said she developed ovarian cancer after decades of using its talc-based products for feminine hygiene.

The verdict in state court in St. Louis was the largest so far to arise out of about 2,400 lawsuits accusing J&J of not adequately warning consumers about the cancer risks. of talc-based products including Johnson’s Baby Powder. Many lawsuits are pending in St. Louis, where J&J has faced four prior trials, three of which resulted in $197 million verdicts against J&J and a talc supplier.

Taking orders: Iran will go along with whatever decision OPEC makes at its meeting later this month on whether to extend oil production cuts beyond June, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said.

“All indications are that the members want a renewal of the deal and we will go along with what they agree upon,” Zanganeh said on the sidelines of an energy trade show in Tehran. Producers outside OPEC that joined the oil pact will probably agree to keep the cuts for longer, he said.

Helping hands: Japan pledged to provide $40 million to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help developing nations introduce advanced technology for their growing infrastructure needs.

Finance Minister of Japan Taro Aso said, “Japan hopes the ADB will maintain its focus on infrastructure projects while also allocating more resources to improve health care and disaster prevention. The money will be provided over a two-year period to a newly created fund of the ADB”.

Japan is extending a $2 million grant to fund the Water Operators’ Partnership in Asia project, which will be administered by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The funding comes from the Japan Special Fund.

Being Ambitious: China’s home-grown C919 passenger jet completed its long-delayed maiden flight recently, a major first step for Beijing as it looks to raise its profile in the global aviation market and boost high-tech manufacturing at home.

Under overcast skies, the white, green and blue aircraft, with “C919” emblazoned on its tail, touched down at Shanghai’s international airport after an 80-minute flight to cheers from thousands of dignitaries and enthusiasts. The jet is a symbol of China’s ambitions to muscle into a global jet market estimated to be worth $2 trillion over the next two decades, as well as of Beijing’s broader “Made in China 2025” plan to spur home-made products, from medicines to robots.

‘Improvement’ vows: Volkswagen’s core brand has pledged to end losses in the United States, Latin America and Russia by the end of the decade, counting on cost cuts and higher-margin new models as it tries to move beyond its diesel emissions crisis.

Europe’s largest automaker is pursuing efficiency measures to generate billions of euros for investment in electric cars, new mobility services and automated driving to try to reposition the business following the 2015 emissions cheating crisis.

VW expects a “significant contribution” at its core division to come by 2020 from the Americas and Russia, which account for almost a fifth of its global sales, brand chief executive Herbert Diess said recently.

To the rescue: The World Bank announced that it will provide around 1.6 billion Euro to fund the private sector in Mozambique.

The strategy focuses on a set of objectives reflecting the five-year plan of the Mozambican government, the development priorities identified in the World Bank Group’s diagnosis and the comparative advantages of the institution.

The focus of the World Bank is now on how to help Mozambique deal with the macroeconomic consequences of the undisclosed debt and restore confidence, and it will do so in coordination with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), making use of budgetary consolidation and debt management advisory services, among other instruments.