2020年经济学人 一周要闻 农夫山泉老板问鼎首富 中芯国际股价缩水 软银股价暴跌

The world this week

本周国际要闻

Business

经济

A sell-off in tech stocks led to the worst trading period for the Nasdaq since mid-March, at the start of the COVID-19 crisis. Over a few days the share prices of Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook and Microsoft fell by more than 10% from recent highs; Apple’s dropped by 16%. The rout¹ also put a dent² in the S&P 500, which fell back from a record close, and other stockmarkets. Tech companies’ share prices have soared this year, far ahead of the rest of the market. Some investors³ think they are long overdue⁴ for a price correction; others that this week was just a blip.

科技股的抛售导致纳斯达克出现自3月中旬新冠肺炎危机开始以来最糟糕的交易期。几天内，亚马逊、Alphabet、Facebook和微软的股价从近期高点下跌了超过10%；苹果的股价下降了16%。这次暴跌也对标准普尔500指数和其他股市造成了影响，标准普尔500指数从创纪录的收盘点位回落。科技公司的股价今年飙升，远远领先于股市的其他公司。一些投资者认为，他们早就应该进行股价调整了；其他人则认为本周的情形只是暂时的。

SoftBank’s share price fell by 7% in a day, after it was revealed as the mystery “whale” making risky⁵ bets in tech stocks. The Japanese conglomerate⁶ has reportedly placed huge amounts of call options (derivatives that allowed it to buy shares at a set price on a specific date) on companies listed on the Nasdaq.

在被曝对科技股进行高风险押注后，软银的股价一天内下跌了7%。据报道，这家日本企业集团向在纳斯达克上市的公司购买了巨额的看涨期权(允许其在特定日期以确定价格购买股票的衍生品)。

Slack’s quarterly earnings⁷ disappointed investors. Although revenue was up by 49% year on year, the messaging platform has not done as well as other team-communication services during the pandemic, such as Zoom⁸, and expects sales to slow this quarter. It also faces an assertive⁹ challenge from Microsoft’s Teams app. In July Slack filed an antitrust suit in the eu accusing Microsoft of unfairly bundling Teams with Office software.

Slack的季度收益令投资者失望。尽管收入同比增长了49%，但该消息服务平台在疫情期间的表现不如Zoom等其他团队的消息服务平台，预计本季度的销售将放缓。Slack还面临着来自微软团队应用程序的强势挑战。7月，Slack在欧盟提起反垄断诉讼，指控微软不公平地将团队与Office软件捆绑在一起。

It was also a rough week for the oil market. The price of Brent crude slipped below $40 a barrel for the first time since June, after it emerged that Saudi Arabia had reduced its oil rates for Asia and America.

对石油市场来说，这也是艰难的一周。自从沙特下调了对亚洲和美洲的石油价格后，布伦特原油价格自6月以来首次跌破每桶40美元。

The Pentagon confirmed that it was considering adding SMIC, China’s biggest chip manufacturer, to a list of companies deemed to be working against America’s national-security interests. The news that SMIC might be put on the list wiped out almost a quarter of its value on the Hong Kong stockmarket. It insists it is a purely¹⁰ commercial entity¹¹ with no ties to the Chinese armed forces.

五角大楼证实，正在考虑将中国最大的芯片制造商中芯国际(SMIC)列入被认为危害美国国家安全利益的公司名单。中芯国际可能被列入该名单的消息导致该公司在香港股市的市值缩水了近四分之一。该企业坚称自身是一家纯粹的商业实体，与中国军方没有任何联系。

The IPO of Nongfu Spring, a Chinese bottled-water company, was a sparkling success on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The flotation left its founder¹², Zhong Shanshan, who left school at 12, as one of China’s richest men, with a fortune roughly equal to that of Jack¹³ Ma, Alibaba’s founder.

中国瓶装水公司农夫山泉的首次公开募股(IPO)在香港证交所取得了耀眼的成功。上市后，12岁辍学的创始人钟睒睒成为了中国首富，其身家与阿里巴巴创始人马云(Jack Ma)不相上下。

CaixaBank and Bankia, two banks in Spain, confirmed they were talking about merging¹⁴, which would create the country’s biggest lender.

西班牙两家银行CaixaBank和Bankia证实，它们正在讨论合并事宜，这将缔造西班牙最大的银行。

1 rout   

n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮

参考例句：

• The enemy was put to rout all along the line.敌人已全线崩溃。
• The people's army put all to rout wherever they went.人民军队所向披靡。

2 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

5 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

6 conglomerate   

n.综合商社，多元化集团公司

参考例句：

• The firm has been taken over by an American conglomerate.该公司已被美国一企业集团接管。
• An American conglomerate holds a major share in the company.一家美国的大联合企业持有该公司的大部分股份。

7 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

8 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

9 assertive   

adj.果断的，自信的，有冲劲的

参考例句：

• She always speaks an assertive tone.她总是以果断的语气说话。
• China appears to have become more assertive in the waters off its coastline over recent years.在近些年，中国显示出对远方海洋的自信。

10 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

11 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

12 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

13 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

14 merging   

合并（分类）

参考例句：

• Many companies continued to grow by merging with or buying competing firms. 许多公司通过合并或收买竞争对手的公司而不断扩大。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• To sequence by repeated splitting and merging. 用反复分开和合并的方法进行的排序。