Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day

(Bloomberg) --

Deutsche Bank swings its ax from Sydney to London to New York. Wall Street hasn’t been this pessimistic on Apple in decades. And Asian equities are barely higher after U.S. stocks dropped. Here are some of the things people in markets are talking about today.

Cuts from New York to Sydney

Deutsche Bank shares plummeted, falling as much as 7.3%, as CEO Christian Sewing's radical restructuring plans fell flat. CFO James von Moltke said the firm sees about 2% per year revenue growth for the core bank, “with no business growth forecast for our investment bank.” Employees left the bank’s London and New York offices with exit packages in hand as layoffs began. In Asia, the 91,000-person workforce is set to be reduced by a fifth. 

A Demand China Hates

Hong Kong’s protesters are calling for real elections. The lack of direct elections is “the root of all evils,” the protesters argue, preventing any leader from claiming popular support for their policies. But the declaration has little chance of swaying the Chinese Communist Party. That sets the stage for a drawn-out battle between Beijing and the protesters, many of whom had not been born at the time of the Tiananmen Square crackdown 30 years ago.

Cautious Approach

Asian equity futures are barely higher after U.S. stocks fell as investors gauged what this week’s Fed speakers will emphasize. Tech shares lead declines. Treasuries edged up, with 10-year yields hovering around 2.05%. The dollar advanced modestly against all G-10 peers, while the lira and other Turkish assets dropped after Recep Tayyip Erdogan sacked the central bank governor. Oil and gold were little changed.

Another Downgrade

Apple fell as Rosenblatt Securities downgraded the stock, bringing the total number of bearish analysts up to five. That's the highest number of sell ratings on the iPhone maker since at least 1997. Apple “will face fundamental deterioration over the next 6-12 months,” analyst Jun Zhang wrote. The caution has been largely driven by uncertainty surrounding demand for the company’s critical iPhone line, with the U.S.-China trade war seen as a particular headwind. 

Busy Day Ahead

The early clamor for listings on China's new technology board intensifies this week as subscriptions for nine companies open Wednesday. That’s the highest number for a single day in China since June 2015, as regulators speed up IPOs on the Nasdaq-style venue, which the government hopes will attract some of the country’s best companies. The first batch of 25 firms will begin trading on July 22, just eight months after President Xi Jinping first announced the project.

What we’ve been reading

This is what's caught our eye over the last 24 hours.

• China’s debt defaults look set to pick up again. 
• Bitmain crypto-billionaire launches a new startup as Bitcoin rises.
• The Japan-South Korea spat threatens to upend the global technology chain.
• Mystery swirls around Jeffrey Epstein's fortune and how he made it.
• Foreign robots are eating into Thailand’s trading business.
• An oil behemoth is worth less than its energy reserves underground. 
• The rise of the professional dungeon master.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Newcomb at pnewcomb2@bloomberg.net

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