#7. Thomas Cook collapses

The week started with news about travel company Thomas Cook. The travel agent collapsed, leaving thousands of travelers and hundreds of staff members stranded abroad, Reuters reports.

To get everyone back home, the British Civil Aviation Authority launched the largest peacetime reparation operation ever.

#6. General Motors strike affects Michigan economy

The United Auto Workers strike at General Motors Co. is starting to affect other businesses in the state of Michigan in the US, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Michigan relies far more on the automotive sector than the rest of the US: with around 15 GM manufacturing facilities employing tens of thousands of people, the sector represents 7% of the income compared to 2% nationally, according to the same WSJ article.

#5. Huawei not against licensing 5G technology

On Thursday, Ren Zhengfei, the CEO of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, said that his company wouldn’t be against licensing its 5G mobile technology to a US company, Yahoo Finance reports. Zhengfei’s licensing offer is Huawei’s latest attempt to minimize the impact of the US trade ban.

The world’s largest telecoms gear maker has been on a US trade blacklist since May this year following espionage concerns regarding its devices.

#4. Dutch bank ABN Amro under investigation for money laundering & terrorism financing

On Thursday, the Dutch bank ABN Amro announced it is being investigated by the country’s public prosecutor for potential money laundering and terrorism financing, the Financial Times reports.

ABN Amro, still for 50% in the hands of the Dutch government, said it will fully cooperate with the investigation. The bank’s shares fell 9.3% following the news.

#3. GlaxoSmithKline aims for a virus that causes lung infections

After the success of its last ‘blockbuster’ vaccine, GlaxoSmithKline is now aiming for a virus that causes lung infections and kills tens of thousands of children each year, Bloomberg reports. Glaxo hopes to move the vaccine against the RSV virus into the final testing phase by the end of 2020.

The new vaccine is an essential part of the company’s ambitions to build on the success of its singles shot vaccine Shingrix which is expected to generate sales of around $1.8 billion this year, according to the same Bloomberg article.

#2. Beyond Meat up 13%

Consumers increasingly look for alternatives for meat out of health and environmental concerns. McDonald’s is following this trend and going to test a new plant, lettuce and tomato burger using Beyond Meat patties in 28 restaurants next week, CNBC reports.

As a result of this announcement by McDonald’s on Thursday, the shares of Beyond Meat went up 13%.

#1. Oil prices steady a little

After falling to their lowest level since the attacks on Saudi Arabia on the 14th of September on Wednesday, oil prices steadied again on Thursday amid optimism about the US and China (soon) coming to a trade deal, Reuters reports.

The oil market seems to have gone back to business as usual, focusing on the soft economy and stagnant oil demand again, according to the same Reuters article.

Well, there you have it, the 39th week of 2019 captured in 7 Tweets. As always, we’ll continue to track Twitter and bring you the top financial micro-messages from the web. See you back here next week.

Source: www.scoopnest.com.