Quartz Daily Brief—European QE, McDonald’s goes clean, Etsy IPO, Indian sex toys
Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The second of China’s “two meetings”. The National People’s Congress kicks off its year today after the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, an advisory body to the congress, had its own opening ceremony on Tuesday. Expect to hear about the country’s GDP growth goals and a potential 10% increase in military spending.
Novartis Japan gets mothballed. For 15 days beginning today, the drug maker will suspend a majority of its operations (paywall) in the country because it failed to report 3,264 cases of side-effects on over two dozen drugs within the legally required span of time. Last year Japan charged Novartis with falsifying drug research data.
Stress test results. The US Federal Reserve reports the first half of its annual stress tests on big banks, which look at how much capital they’d lose in a hypothetical future crisis. The real test is a week from now, when the Fed decides which banks’ capital plans it’ll accept; Citi has had its plans rejected two of the last three years despite passing the basic test.
When will Europe start QE? The European Central Bank will probably put a date on the start of the quantitative easing—€60 billion ($66 billion) a month of debt purchases—that it promised for some time this month. A Reuters poll of analysts found that most think the stimulus will do little to reverse the euro’s slide against the dollar, at least this year.
Nuclear talks in Switzerland. Officials from Iran and the P5+1 nuclear powers meet in Montreux, still hoping to reach a deal by the end of March. The US is downplaying expectations after Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s fiery speech to Congress on Tuesday. Iran has said no to the US’s proposal that it freeze nuclear activities for a decade.
While you were sleeping
McDonald’s moved to cut out human antibiotics. The fast-food company said that within two years it will stop using poultry treated with antibiotics also used in people, in an attempt to fight the rise of antibiotic-resistant “superbugs.” It might also helps the chain’s crumbling image, though so far the move will be limited to its US restaurants.
A big bid on biologic medicines. Pharma giant Johnson & Johnson is planning to acquire Pharmacyclics, which makes biopharmaceutical cancer drugs, according to the Financial Times (paywall). The deal, likely worth more than Pharmacyclics’ market cap of $17.5 billion, adds to what we’ve argued is an overheated market in biotech.
Mexico nabbed the boss of the Zetas. Police in Monterrey captured Omar Treviño Morales, the man they say ran one of Mexico’s most brutal drug cartels, and who had $7 million in combined Mexican and US bounties on his head. Last week authorities caught Mexico’s most-wanted man—Servando “La Tuta” (the teacher) Gómez, another cartel leader.
Etsy filed for an IPO. The online marketplace for all things handcrafted and artisanal plans to raise $300 million according to Bloomberg (though its filing provisionally says $100 million). The predictable jokes about hand-woven and monogrammed share certificates have already started.
Dozens of coal miners were trapped in Ukraine. An underground explosion claimed the life of one worker and 32 others are unaccounted for—the worst is feared. The blast at the Zasyadko mine in Donetsk was not caused by shelling in the separatist-held region, but Ukrainian officials said rebels had blocked a Ukrainian rescue team.
The US Justice Department blasted the Ferguson police. A scathing report found the cops in the Missouri town where 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot last year guilty of systematic racial bias, brought on in part by the city’s running the police as a money-making operation. But Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Brown, won’t face federal civil-rights charges.
Quartz obsession interlude
Ankita Rao on how India’s sex-toy industry confronts its puritanical laws. “The laws, however, can’t seem to be able to control India’s appetite for such things. More couples than ever are opening up about sex and trying out new toys in the bedroom. And the burgeoning online sex-toy market is there to help them out. Some estimate that India’s online sexual wellness industry will be worth Rs8,700 crore ($1.4 billion) by 2020, a massive increase from about Rs1,000 crore ($161 million) in 2014.” Read more here.
Matters of debate
Janet Yellen could have worked on Wall Street. As central bankers go, she’s exceptionally good at forecasting.
Globalization is going in reverse. Fewer goods are crossing international borders and the financial crisis may be to blame.
OPEC is dead. As other oil producers have emerged, the cartel no longer has any control over oil prices.
Netanyahu put Israel on a dangerous path. Israel’s prime minister unwavering attitude towards Iran is putting his country at odds with the Americans.
Argentina can’t turn itself around. Because all president Cristina Fernández wants to do is talk about how rosy everything is.
Tinder’s new ageist business model won’t work. Instead of charging older people more, the dating app should filter out creeps and connect you to people with similar interests.
Surprising discoveries
China’s movie theaters have crossed a new threshold. They made $650 million in revenues in February, more than US cinema chains.
Dubai is building a “museum of the future.” It’ll be one of the strangest-looking museum buildings ever.
If you’ve lost something in Switzerland, this guy has it. Roland Widmer buys—in bulk—all the items people leave on buses, trains, and at the airport.
Natural born diggers. Danish archeologists are using moles to discover buried ruins.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, museum designs, and lost-property receipts to [email protected]. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates throughout the day.