2022年经济学人 Meta单日市值蒸发两千亿

The world this week -- Business

本周国际要闻——商业

SoftBank said it would seek to list Arm, a British chip designer that it bought in 2016, on the stockmarket, after a proposed sale of the business to Nvidia collapsed¹.

软银表示将寻求让其在2016年收购的英国芯片设计公司Arm上市，此前该公司向英伟达出售Arm的计划以失败告终。

Valued at as much as $60bn, the deal would have been the biggest ever in the semiconductor² industry, but it ran into regulatory hurdles³ from the outset when antitrust concerns were raised in America, Britain and the EU.

这笔交易价值高达600亿美元，本将成为半导体行业有史以来最大的一笔交易，但它从一开始就遭遇了监管障碍，当时美国、英国和欧盟提出了反垄断担忧。

Companies that use Arm's chip designs, including Microsoft and Qualcomm, had argued the acquisition would give too much market power to Nvidia, which is based in California.

包括微软和高通在内的使用Arm芯片设计的公司曾表示，此次收购将赋予总部位于加州的英伟达过强的市场影响力。

Toshiba, another Japanese conglomerate⁴ under pressure to increase shareholder⁵ returns, ditched a plan to split into three companies and said it now proposed spinning off just its devices business, which includes semiconductors⁶.

另一家面临增加股东回报压力的日本企业集团东芝放弃了拆分为三家公司的计划，并表示现在只打算将包括半导体在内的设备业务剥离出去。

The original plan was criticised by foreign investors⁷.

最初的计划遭到了外国投资者的批评。

The new restructuring will avoid a complex vote among shareholders⁸, making it easier for management to try to win over the naysayers.

新的重组将避开复杂的股东投票，使管理层更容易赢过反对者。

BP made an annual headline profit of $12.8bn in 2021, its biggest in eight years.

英国石油在2021年实现了128亿美元的年度总体利润，这是该公司8年来的最高利润。

Similar to other energy giants, BP was boosted by soaring prices for oil and gas.

与其他能源巨头一样，英国石油公司也受到了石油和天然气价格飙升的提振。

Coming on the back of huge profits at Chevron⁹, ExxonMobil and Shell, there are some calls in Britain and on the European continent to impose a windfall tax on energy companies.

在雪佛龙、埃克森美孚和壳牌均赚取了巨额利润的背景下，英国和欧洲大陆有人呼吁对能源公司征收暴利税。

Revenues at TUI, Europe's largest tourism company, were five times higher in the last three months of 2021 than in the same quarter of 2020, but still well below those of 2019.

欧洲最大的旅游公司途易2021年最后三个月的收入是2020年同期的5倍，但仍远低于2019年的水平。

Now that many travel restrictions¹⁰ have eased, TUI expects bookings this summer to come close to pre-pandemic levels.

由于许多地区的旅行限制已放松，途易预计今年夏天的订单量将接近疫情前的水平。

In another sign of returning confidence in travel, Frontier, a low-cost airline in America, agreed to buy Spirit, a rival.

另一个使人们对旅游业恢复信心的迹象是，美国廉价航空公司Frontier同意收购其竞争对手Spirit。

The $6.6bn takeover is the biggest in the industry since the start of the pandemic.

这笔66亿美元的收购是自疫情爆发以来该行业规模最大的一次收购。

Stockmarkets clawed back most of their losses from the worst trading day in a year, triggered by Meta's warning about slower revenue growth.

由于Meta发布了关于收入增长放缓的警告，股市出现大量抛售，这是今年在股市最糟糕的单日表现。

The share price of Facebook's parent company tumbled by 26% on February 3rd, wiping $230bn off its market value.

2月3日，Facebook母公司的股价暴跌26%，市值蒸发2300亿美元。

But the rout¹¹ in tech stocks was not evenly spread.

但科技股并不是都在暴跌。

Amazon's share price rebounded¹² on the back of solid earnings¹³.

亚马逊的股价在稳定收益的支撑下反弹。

Disney also provided a fillip to investors by reporting a big rise in subscribers to its Disney+ channel, allaying¹⁴ fears that the streaming revolution has run out of steam.

迪士尼的Disney+频道的订阅人数大幅增加，这也激励了投资者，缓解了人们对流媒体革命已失去动力的担忧。

Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank, tried to reassure¹⁵ markets that any tightening¹⁶ of monetary¹⁷ policy in the euro zone would not be rushed.

欧洲央行行长克里斯蒂娜·拉加德试图安抚市场称，欧元区不会仓促采取任何紧缩货币政策。

Ms Lagarde triggered a sell-off in euro bonds recently when she signalled a shift to a more hawkish¹⁸ position at the ECB by refusing to rule out an interest-rate rise this year.

拉加德女士最近引发了欧元债券的抛售，原因是她拒绝排除今年加息的可能性，这暗示欧洲央行转向更加强硬的立场。

Persistently¹⁹ high inflation is forcing central banks to think hard about quickening the pace of rate rises.

持续的高通胀正迫使各国央行认真考虑加快加息步伐。

The Bank of England recently lifted its benchmark rate to 0.5% having raised it to 0.25% in December.

英格兰银行在去年12月将基准利率上调至0.25%后，最近又将基准利率上调至0.5%。

1 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

2 semiconductor   

n.半导体

参考例句：

• In the beginning,engineers hoped to use semiconductor lasers.在开始时，工程师们希望能够利用半导体激光器。
• The main agent of the company brand semiconductor sales.本公司主要代理各品牌半导体销售。

3 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 shareholder   

n.股东，股票持有人

参考例句：

• The account department have prepare a financial statement for the shareholder.财务部为股东准备了一份财务报表。
• A shareholder may transfer his shares in accordance with the law.股东持有的股份可以依法转让。

6 semiconductors   

n.半导体( semiconductor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Crystals may be insulators, semiconductors, or conductors. 晶体可以是绝缘体，半导体，或导体。 来自辞典例句
• Semiconductors containing such impurities are called p-type semiconductors. 含有这类杂质的半导体叫做P型半导体。 来自辞典例句

7 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

8 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

9 chevron   

n.V形臂章；V形图案

参考例句：

• He wore shoulderstrap rank slides with sergeant's chevrons.他佩戴标示级别的肩章，上面有中士的V形标志。
• The chevron or arrow road sign indicates a sharp bend to the left or right.V形或箭头路标表示有向左或向右的急转弯。

10 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

11 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。

12 rebounded   

弹回( rebound的过去式和过去分词 )； 反弹； 产生反作用； 未能奏效

参考例句：

• The ball rebounded from the goalpost and Owen headed it in. 球从门柱弹回，欧文头球将球攻进。
• The ball rebounded from his racket into the net. 球从他的球拍上弹回网中。

13 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%。

14 allaying   

v.减轻，缓和( allay的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Most important, improving the government's reputation means allaying political and human-rights concerns. 最重要的在于提高政府的声誉，这意味着需要缓和政治策略和关注人权间的矛盾。 来自互联网
• More reading may be allaying your doubt. 多读书或许可以减少你的疑惑。 来自互联网

15 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

16 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

17 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

18 hawkish   

adj. 鹰派的, 强硬派的

参考例句：

• My staff's advice that first day was amazingly hawkish. 在第一天，我的僚属们的意见是令人吃惊的鹰派意见。
• Antiwar groups fear Barack Obama may create hawkish Cabinet. 反战团体担心巴拉克·奥巴马可以创建强硬派内阁。

19 persistently   

ad.坚持地；固执地

参考例句：

• He persistently asserted his right to a share in the heritage. 他始终声称他有分享那笔遗产的权利。
• She persistently asserted her opinions. 她果断地说出了自己的意见。