The US president signed an executive order yesterday banning US transactions with Chinese apps, including Alipay, owned by Ant Group Co., and WeChat, held by Chinese tech giant Tencent. The order takes effect in 45 days after the end of the current administration. The administration claims the apps access private information from US users that can be used by the...

The world’s largest initial public offering has been disqualified by Chinese regulatory agencies. Fin-tech giant Ant Financial Group’s controlling shareholder Jack Ma and two other top executives got the news from Chinese regulators today. As a result, The Shanghai Stock Exchange suspended the IPO, which was scheduled for Thursday. A concurrent Hong Kong listing will also be suspended. The halted...

US Retail Sales Jump In June (But It Could Be the Last Increase for Some Time) Retail sales were up in May and June as economies reopened. A better-than-expected 7.5% jump in June, following a record-breaking 18.2% increase in sales in May, surpassed economists’ predictions. The rebound occurred after businesses reopened and pent-up demand for retail goods and services came...