Good morning dear readers,
how many times have we heard that the fossil age is just as over as the analogue age? But now the war is on and the governments are bringing in lots of oil, gas and coal. Yes, US President Joe Biden is even drilling for shale oil in environmental protection areas so as not to leave his European friends stranded in the fight against Vladimir Putin.
The run on the lubricants of the old economy is so great that suddenly the Saudi Arabian oil company Saudi Aramco is the most valuable company in the world. Two and a half years after the IPO, the market capitalization is $2.43 trillion, thanks to high oil prices. And what about the Apple group, which was worth three trillion just a few weeks ago? The prospect of rising interest rates has investors fleeing tech companies in panic. And so Apple is suddenly only worth 2.41 billion.
Investors who have been led astray should relax with a saying by André Kostolany: “If you have stocks, you tremble, they could fall; if you don’t have any, you tremble, they might rise.”
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The word “Jamaica” has been used more frequently than in the past in German attempts to form a government in recent years – but no major successes have been reported. The exception is Schleswig-Holstein: the government work of Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) with the Greens and the FDP was considered so successful that the people clearly put him number one in the election. The Greens also made strong gains, unlike the FDP.
But now the surprise: The prime minister simply wants to continue in the old constellation, although it would also be enough for a duet either with the Greens or with the FDP alone. Nor has this preference come from smoking a substance that, in real Jamaica, can be found on every street corner to Bob Marley music. Daniel Günther simply believes that there is an “extremely large majority” in the population for the continuation of the alliance of three.
There were enough people who had warned the German chemical company Bayer about Monsanto. Monsanto is a toxic addition for the Dax company. Among other things, the former CEO Marijn Dekkers is counted among the critics. But his successor, Werner Baumann, believed he was capable of this deal – and now has to accept defeat in the legal dispute over the health risks of Monsanto’s weed killer glyphosate. The US Department of Justice advises the Supreme Court not to accept an appeal against a negative judgment sought by the Leverkusen group.
This finally shattered Bayer’s dream of a peaceful solution. The share fell by nine percent yesterday, and claims for damages are in the offing. Those responsible at Leverkusen have initially set aside 3.8 billion euros in the balance sheet for new Monsanto comparisons.
Incidentally, the specialists from Chempark are in very good company. The Munich insurance giant Allianz is also putting aside another 1.9 billion euros to ward off the risk of legal action in the USA – it’s about failed hedge fund bets. Overall, the provisions add up to 5.6 billion, but that’s really it.
Some experience work as a treadmill, others as a brain park. HR managers – sorry, human relations managers – would like to know just as much as professors what exactly makes us happy. The sociologist Martin Schröder has now immersed himself in the subject: “From 2200 euros net, a higher salary does not make you happier,” he explains in an interview with the Handelsblatt. In detail he says about…
- … the value of a job: “It’s not about earning huge sums of money, it’s about making enough. It also makes people feel needed and therefore recognized.”
- … gender differences: “When men move to a more prestigious job, they gain about twice as much life satisfaction as women. Women seem to have more roles to choose from to build self-esteem from.”
- … Leisure time: “The data do not suggest that only those who have a lot of free time are happy. Statistically, happiness increases until you have about two hours of free time a day. But the effect is not very strong either.”
At the latest when the crowd on the golf course is larger than in the canteen, you want to go back to the office.
And then there’s manager Jorge Gomez, who came, saw and… went at Corona vaccine maker Moderna. On Monday the chief financial officer said “Hello”, then on Tuesday “Goodbye”, everything like the old Beatles hit: “I say, high / you say, low / you say, why? / And I say, I don’t know.” The reason for the express farewell is an internal investigation of the financial reports at his former employer, the dental product specialist Dentsply Sirona. At Moderna, former CFO David Meline has to come out of retirement. Gomez, on the other hand, can afford a little house and a set of tuxedos for his brief assignment. There are twelve monthly salaries totaling $700,000 for a few hours of presence. Moderna does not have to pay an entry fee or bonus for this – a normal, fair deal.
This time we console ourselves with Aristotle Onassis: “A rich man is often just a poor man with a lot of money.”
I wish you a productive day with a really nice work relation between input and output.
Her
Hans Jürgen Jakobs
Senior editor
hp: One realization is gaining ground: the energy transition will not succeed without H2. The Handelsblatt Hydrogen Summit is about current developments and the right strategy. Thyssen-Krupp boss Martina Merz and RWE CEO Markus Krebber provide impetus. In case you would like to be there live in Essen on June 8th and 9th, I have put ten guest tickets aside. With the access code 37D2101443GSP you can win one of them.
