General Wire — 21 August 2026

Business

Sourced from Bloomberg’s World in Brief and Evening Briefing Americas.

Evergrande founder Hui Ka Yan, once Asia’s second-richest man, was sentenced to life in prison by a Chinese court for “multiple combined crimes” after pleading guilty in April to fraud and misuse of funds. The former property giant inflated the value of its assets and concealed liabilities before defaulting on $300 billion of debt in 2021; it and a subsidiary were fined $2.4 billion. — Bloomberg

Beauty conglomerate Coty fell 7.6% even after its revenue beat expectations, after the company declined to give guidance and instead predicted a “transition” period this year. The move underscores how skittish investors have become about companies withholding forward guidance. — Bloomberg

Economics

Sourced from Bloomberg’s Markets Daily and Evening Briefing Americas.

US public debt surpassed $40 trillion for the first time, and the Treasury responded by boosting its long-term debt buybacks to at least $4 billion per operation after 30-year yields hit a 19-year high. Wall Street’s initial rally on the news fizzled by the next session, with 30-year yields climbing back as investors judged the move a short-term fix rather than a solution to the underlying borrowing problem. — Bloomberg · Bloomberg

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is cementing his position as the most interventionist Treasury chief in decades, putting his own credibility on the line to keep a lid on yields. Most respondents to Bloomberg’s latest Markets Pulse survey still expect the 10-year Treasury yield to top 5% before the year is out. — Bloomberg

Finance

Sourced from Bloomberg’s Markets Daily.

Bitcoin surged past $70,000, unleashing the biggest wave of short liquidations in records going back to 2021, as easing Treasury yields fed a broader risk-on move across crypto and equities. Crypto-linked stocks extended the gains, with Coinbase up 7.6% and Strategy up 7.8% in early trading. — Bloomberg

Quant firm Hudson River Trading posted $11.4 billion in trading revenue and $7.4 billion in net profit for the second quarter, as Iran-war volatility and swings in AI stocks created rich opportunities to trade. The result contrasts with a rougher July for peers: Jane Street reported a $15 billion loss last month, partly tied to the collapse of hedge fund Situational Awareness. — Bloomberg

Politics

Sourced from Bloomberg’s Evening Briefing Americas and Morning Briefing Asia.

China agreed to eliminate almost all tariffs on Swiss goods under a new trade accord, granting tariff-free treatment to 99.8% of Switzerland’s exports as Beijing looks to deepen European ties even as Trump wages trade wars against traditional US partners. The deal offers Switzerland relief after Trump initially hit it with a 39% tariff last summer, though a preliminary US-Swiss agreement capping tariffs at 15% remains unsigned. — Bloomberg

North Korea fired about ten ballistic missiles, its third launch this month, shortly after Pyongyang cast doubt on Trump’s claim that high-level talks between the two governments had been revived. The launch underscores the challenges facing Trump’s efforts to restart personal diplomacy with Kim Jong Un. — Bloomberg

Tech / AI

Sourced from Bloomberg’s Morning Briefing Asia and Evening Briefing Americas.

Anthropic expects to match or exceed the size of SpaceX’s record-setting $75 billion initial public offering as preparations for the AI company’s debut pick up speed, people familiar with the matter said. The deal would rank among the largest IPOs on record if it proceeds at that scale. — Bloomberg

Broadcom is in talks with a group of lenders to raise more than $60 billion in its latest AI chip financing deal, part of a debt package that will benefit Anthropic and other AI companies. The scale of the raise underscores how much of the AI buildout is now being financed through debt rather than equity. — Bloomberg