The IMF's meetings in Bangkok end with a warning that help with energy bills, costing 0.5% of world output, cannot last, as G20 finance ministers agree no statement and nearly half the delegates walk out on Russia's finance minister

The rest of the day

25 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

1. 02

   SoftBank in talks to buy Allied Universal

   SoftBank, the Japanese group that invests in AI and robots, is in early talks to buy Allied Universal, the biggest US security-guard company, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. [9] The deal could value Allied at about $18 billion, not counting its debts. [9][10] With its roughly $12 billion of bonds, the total could come close to $30 billion, Bloomberg reported. [11] Allied is backed by Warburg Pincus, a private-equity firm, and La Caisse, a Canadian pension fund. [9] Its sales are about $23 billion a year. [9]

   Why it matters — Allied provides guards for offices, events and New York's subway, and SoftBank would aim to replace some of them with robots over time. [10][11] Nothing is agreed, and SoftBank declined to comment. [10]

2. 03

   Venezuela expects $76 billion of oil investment

   Venezuela expects nearly $76 billion of oil investment over the next five years under new agreements, acting President Delcy Rodriguez said on Saturday. [12] A deal with the US covers 17 oilfields and plans for 250 drilling rigs, part of 61 agreements in all. [12][13] Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves but pumps far less than a decade ago, after years of too little investment and US sanctions. [12] It began reopening its oil industry to foreign firms after President Nicolas Maduro was removed in January. [12]

   Why it matters — More Venezuelan oil would add to world supply while the Iran war keeps fuel dear. [3] Rodriguez said output in Zulia state rose from 70,000 to 370,000 barrels a day, but did not say over what period. [12]

3. 04

   Asia's AI parts makers have their worst week since July

   A basket of Asian companies that make parts for AI computers, tracked by Goldman Sachs, a US bank, fell 11% last week, its steepest drop since mid-July. [8] Samsung Electro-Mechanics, a South Korean maker of electronic parts, fell 23%, and Taiwan's Unimicron fell 14%. [8] South Korea's main share index, the Kospi, lost 14.5% in the week, its worst since October 2008. [3] Investors fear the companies building AI data centres will find it harder to borrow the money they need. [8]

   Why it matters — These firms are paid only while US tech companies keep building data centres. [8] Even a delay in that building would cut what investors expect them to earn, said a fund manager at GAM, a Swiss investment firm. [8]

4. 05

   South Korea's minister says the chip boom will last

   South Korea's finance minister, Lee Hyoung-il, said on Saturday that the boom in computer chips will last at least through 2027, because demand still far outruns supply. [7] He spoke in Bangkok after chip shares fell hard during the week. [7] Lee said chips are a bigger part of South Korea's economy than of other countries', which is why its share market swings so much. [7] He expects South Korea's government to collect more tax than planned this year. [7] South Korea's central bank meets on Thursday and is expected to keep its main rate at 3.0%. [31]

   Why it matters — Not everyone agrees: a column in Maeil Business Newspaper, a big Korean paper, warned that new supply could flood the memory-chip market by 2029. [7]

5. 06

   Anthropic's co-founder tells the IMF AI could lift US output by half

   Jack Clark, a co-founder of Anthropic, the AI company that makes Claude, told the IMF meetings on Saturday that AI is improving fast. [6] One of the company's own models estimates that, if the technology keeps getting better, US output could reach $44 trillion a year by 2030. [6] It is just over $30 trillion now, so that would be a rise of almost 50%, and Clark said it 'sounds very outlandish'. [6] He asked governments to agree strict rules, above all for biology research. [6] Anthropic is expected to sell its shares to the public in November. [6]

   Why it matters — The estimate is the company's own and rests on its own assumptions. [6] At the same meetings the IMF's head warned that hopes for AI may run ahead of the real gains in output. [3]

6. 07

   Hedge funds make bond shocks likelier to spread

   Sarah Breeden, a deputy governor of the Bank of England, said hedge funds have become big buyers of government debt, so a shock in one bond market is more likely to spread to others. [5] Pension funds and insurers used to be the main buyers, and hedge funds borrow heavily and move fast, she said. [5] The IMF says hedge funds hold about $13 trillion of assets. [5] They held a record 7% of US government debt at the end of 2025, by US official figures. [5]

   Why it matters — The IMF warned this week that hedge funds' borrowed bets and crowded trades could make a market panic worse. [5] Ten-year and 30-year US borrowing costs touched their highest since 2002 this month. [5]

7. 08

   HDFC Bank just misses forecasts as a new boss arrives

   HDFC Bank, India's largest private-sector lender, said on Saturday its profit rose 4.7% to 195.1 billion rupees, about $2.05 billion, for July to September. [14][15] That narrowly missed forecasts, because its gains from trading bonds fell to 7.8 billion rupees from 23.9 billion a year earlier. [14] Its loans grew 16.3% and its deposits 18.8%. [14] Kaizad Bharucha, a deputy managing director, will leave in December. [14] Anup Bagchi, from the rival ICICI group, becomes the bank's first outside chief executive on 27 October. [14]

   Why it matters — Bond trading went worse still at ICICI, which made a loss on it as Indian bond rates rose. [18] Bagchi starts while investors look hard at how HDFC is run and how much it earns. [14]

8. 09

   ICICI and Axis profits jump

   ICICI Bank, one of India's biggest private lenders, said profit rose 20% to 148.4 billion rupees in July to September, beating forecasts. [16][19] Its loans grew 30% in a year. [19] Bad loans fell to 1.20% of all loans, from 1.58% a year earlier. [16] But the gap it earns between what borrowers pay and what savers get narrowed to 4.18%, from 4.36% the quarter before, and it expects more pressure next quarter. [16][17] Its bond trading made a loss as Indian bond rates rose. [18] Axis Bank, another big private lender, said profit jumped 38% to 70 billion rupees. [20]

   ICICI Bank20%

   Axis Bank38%

   Why it matters — ICICI expects its lending gap to narrow again next quarter, partly because of the cost of new branches. [17] Better loan quality helped Axis's profit too. [20]

9. 10

   Berkshire adds $330 million to Bending Spoons

   Berkshire Hathaway, the company Warren Buffett built, put a further $330 million into Bending Spoons, an Italian firm that buys old internet companies. [21][22] It bought new shares at $33, almost 12% below the market price, and Bending Spoons' shares jumped 41% that day. [22] Berkshire has now put about $930 million into the firm. [22] It bought Airtable for about $1.3 billion, almost 90% below its 2021 value, and much of its staff are leaving. [21] It also agreed last month to buy Miro, once valued at $17.5 billion, for $1.36 billion. [21]

   Miro's old value$17.50bn

   Price Bending Spoons agreed$1.36bn

   Why it matters — Many software start-ups lost value as AI tools began doing their work, and their investors want out with few buyers around, a former software boss told CNBC. [21] Bending Spoons says it keeps what it buys, unlike buyout firms that sell companies on. [21]

10. 11

    Berkshire's shares near their record

    Berkshire Hathaway's shares closed on Friday at their highest since May 2025, when Warren Buffett said he would step down as chief executive. [22] Its A shares ended at $798,000, 1.4% below their record. [22] Berkshire holds about $360 billion in cash, and higher short-term interest rates pay it more on that money, an analyst at the bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said. [22] Chevron, an oil company, and Coca-Cola, two of its biggest holdings, both closed at record highs. [22]

    Why it matters — Greg Abel, who replaced Buffett as chief executive, has started to spend the cash, with $4.5 billion of buybacks of Berkshire's own shares in the second quarter. [22] CNBC said Berkshire may also be helped by investors moving from tech shares to older companies. [22]

11. 12

    Big investors buy US forests

    Big investors are buying about a million acres of US forest a year, Bank of America says. [23] Timber managers bought 55% of the land that changed hands in 2025 and sold only 15%. [23] They buy for pension funds and university endowments that can hold land for decades. [23] What buyers pay South Carolina landowners for standing pine pulpwood fell about 33% in a year, to $3.79 a ton. [23] An index of private US forests returned 0.95% in the second quarter. [23]

    $5.67Pine pulpwood, 2025

    ↓→

    $3.79Pine pulpwood, 2026

    Why it matters — Pine grown for house building takes about 25 years, so the bet suits owners who will not need the money for a long time. [23] One South Carolina owner with 2,500 acres says he has cut back because timber pays so little now. [23]

12. 13

    France's budget faces its first vote on Tuesday

    France's government faces the first big vote on its 2027 budget in the National Assembly, the lower house of its parliament, on Tuesday. [24] Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu's plan would cut the deficit, the gap between spending and tax, to 5% of the economy from 5.4%. [24] France's public debt is a record $4 trillion, 119% of a year's output, the highest since just after the Second World War. [24] What France pays to borrow is at its highest in about 24 years. [24][25]

    Why it matters — If the budget fails, the cost of France's debt could rise sharply, warned Mujtaba Rahman of Eurasia Group, a firm that advises on political risk. [24] The vote comes days after protests over the cost of living turned to riots in several French cities. [24]

13. 14

    Alberta votes on a first step to leaving Canada

    Voters in Alberta, the Canadian province with most of Canada's oil, decide on Monday whether to start the legal process towards a vote on leaving Canada. [26][27] It is not a vote to leave. [26] Alberta has the world's fourth-largest proven oil reserves and sends 90% of its crude exports to the US. [26] About 23% backed starting the process in a recent poll, and Premier Danielle Smith, who called the vote, wants to stay. [26] Prime Minister Mark Carney called a vote against Canada 'a dangerous bluff'. [27]

    Why it matters — Carney wants to sell Alberta's oil to new buyers through a pipeline to Canada's west coast, so Canada depends less on the US. [26][27]

14. 15

    Conde Nast's UK profit falls by a third

    Conde Nast's UK arm, which publishes Vogue, GQ and Tatler, saw profit before one-off items fall 36% last year, to nearly 18 million pounds, its newly filed accounts show. [28] Its UK revenue fell 7% to 70.6 million pounds. [28] The figures came days after the Newhouse family, which owns the group, ruled out selling it. [28] Its former boss had called Google's AI summaries 'another sort of death blow' for websites that rely on readers clicking through. [28]

    Why it matters — Advertising and other services bring in about 86% of the group's revenue. [28] Google search brought only about a quarter of visits to its websites last year, its former boss said. [28]

15. 16

    Rolls-Royce's average car now costs 500,000 pounds

    Rolls-Royce, the luxury car maker owned by Germany's BMW, says its average car now sells for about 500,000 pounds, up from about 300,000 a decade ago. [29] Most of the rise comes from buyers paying for custom work, such as an inside lined with 3,000 feathers. [29] Its average buyer is now 43, down from 56 in 2010, often rich from technology or crypto. [29] BMW is spending 300 million pounds to nearly double the factory at Goodwood, in southern England. [29]

    Why it matters — Factories make about 9% of the UK economy, and they helped it grow unexpectedly in August. [29]

16. 17

    Musk settles lawsuits over his $1 million giveaway

    Elon Musk and America PAC, the political group he set up to back Donald Trump, agreed to settle two lawsuits over his 2024 election giveaway, filings in a US federal court in Austin show. [30] Arizona residents said Musk misled voters in seven swing states by promising $1 million a day to people who signed his petition. [30] The terms were not filed, and the deals still need a judge's approval. [30] Musk and America PAC denied wrongdoing. [30]

    Why it matters — A judge had said in June that Musk must give evidence in the cases. [30] The filings did not say how much, if anything, will be paid. [30]

17. 18

    China reports its growth on Monday

    China reports its economic growth for July to September on Monday. [31] Economists surveyed by Nikkei, a Japanese newspaper group, expect 4.4%, only a little faster than 4.3% in the three months before. [31] China's goal for the year is 4.5% to 5%. [31] China's exports rose 36% in September from a year earlier, but a long slump in housing and weak shopping at home still hold growth back. [31]

    Why it matters — Strong exports have taken pressure off China's government to spend more to lift buying at home. [31] China's central bank governor, Pan Gongsheng, speaks at a finance forum in Beijing the same week. [31]

18. 19

    GCash's owner lists in Manila

    Mynt, the company behind GCash, the Philippines' leading digital wallet, is due to list its shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday. [31] A digital wallet is an app for paying and sending money by phone. Mynt set its price at 6.60 pesos a share, valuing it at close to $7 billion. [31] The sale could raise up to 60.9 billion pesos, about $965 million, the biggest share listing in the country's history. [31]

    Why it matters — The listing comes in a week when Asian tech shares fell sharply. [8]

19. 20

    Netflix, Tesla and SpaceX report this week

    Netflix reports its results on 20 October and Tesla on 21 October. [32] SpaceX, which listed its shares in June, reports late on Tuesday, its second report as a public company. [32] Analysts expect Tesla's profit per share to fall 14% from a year earlier and Meta's to fall 8%, though Meta's sales are forecast to rise 23%. [32] Netflix has said it expects $12.5 billion of free cash flow, the money left after costs and investment. [32]

    Why it matters — The results follow a week of falling AI and chip shares, so investors will look hard at how much these firms plan to spend on AI. [32]

20. 21

    Wise raises its sales outlook

    Wise, a company listed in New York and London that moves money between countries, said its revenue rose 21% to $739 million in July to September. [33][34] Its customers sent $72 billion across borders, 22% more than a year earlier, and kept $44 billion with it. [33][34] Wise said revenue growth this year should be in the top half of its 15% to 20% target. [33] Its average fee on a transfer fell to 0.49% from 0.52%. [34]

    Why it matters — Wise is paid interest on the money customers keep with it, which brought in $238 million in the quarter, and its outlook counts on recent central bank rate rises. [33][34]

21. 22

    Malaysia's economy grows 5.3%

    Malaysia's economy grew 5.3% in July to September from a year earlier, an early official estimate showed on Friday. [35] That was slower than 6% in the quarter before. [35] Factories grew 7.5% on exports, and building rose 6%, helped by new data centres. [35] Every part of the economy grew except mining. [35] Malaysia's government raised its forecast for the year last week, to near the top of a 4.8% to 5.3% range. [35]

    Why it matters — Malaysia has become a hub for data centres, so it gains from the AI building boom that investors elsewhere in Asia began to doubt this week. [35][8]

22. 23

    Moody's raises Egypt's rating

    Moody's, a credit-rating agency, raised Egypt's rating to B3 on Friday, lifting it out of the 'substantial risk' group. [36] A better rating makes it easier for a country to borrow. [36] Moody's said stronger tax collection and tighter spending had cut Egypt's government debt and interest bills. [36] B3 is still six steps below investment grade, the level of a safe borrower. [36] Egypt's prices rose 13.9% in the year to September, pushed up by energy. [36]

    Why it matters — Egypt buys more energy than it makes, so the Iran war's fuel prices hit it hard. [36] Moody's said Egypt coped by raising fuel prices and holding back spending instead of undoing earlier reforms. [36]

23. 24

    The IMF moves to lend to Iraq and Lebanon

    Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF's head, said on Saturday the fund will 'support Iraq very firmly' after Iraq asked for a loan programme. [37][4] Iraq's oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz have been disrupted, and on 7 October its central bank made the dinar about 15% cheaper against the dollar. [38] Georgieva said talks with Lebanon had made 'significant progress'. [37] Lebanon's economy is forecast to shrink 6.4% this year, by the World Bank's estimate. [37]

    Why it matters — Iraq imports much of its food and medicine, so a cheaper dinar raises their price for people paid in dinars. [38] Georgieva said Gulf states were cushioned by reforms and savings made before the war. [37]

24. 25

    Dubai's economy shrinks 2.3%

    Dubai's economy shrank 2.3% in the first half of 2026 from a year earlier, once rising prices are taken out, official figures released on Sunday showed. [39] The Iran war, which began on 28 February, hit travel and trade. [39] Shops and wholesale trade, the biggest part of Dubai's economy, fell 6%, and transport fell 7.4%. [39] Finance and insurance grew 8.8%, and health care 14.3%. [39] In the first three months alone, Dubai had grown 2.4%. [39]

    Why it matters — Dubai earns much of its money from people and goods passing through, so a war that closes routes hits it directly. [39] The whole UAE grew just 0.4% in the first half. [39]

25. 26

    China answers India's complaint about trade barriers

    China said on Friday it was ready to work with India on 'each other's' trade concerns, after India's finance minister criticised its limits on Indian goods. [40] Nirmala Sitharaman said at the IMF meetings that rules other than tariffs, such as food-safety checks, are the biggest barrier to Indian sales of medicines, meat and vegetables. [40] India's trade deficit with China reached $105.9 billion in January to September, up 20.7%, by China's customs figures. [40]

    Why it matters — India sold China about $19 billion of goods in that time and bought about $125 billion, so the gap keeps growing even though India's own sales rose 41%. [40]