Weekly Market Update - 13 November 2023

Short Stop

South Korea will prohibit stock short-selling until June 2024 to allow regulators to “actively” improve rules and systems, the Financial Services Commission said, following the discovery of “massive illegal naked short-selling by global investment banks.” Trading with borrowed shares, an essential component of short selling, will be banned for companies in the Kospi 200 Index and Kosdaq 150 Index from Monday until the end of June, the commission said.

Source: Bloomberg

WeWork Grinds to a Halt

Just two years after it went public, the once high-flying real estate business WeWork Inc. filed for bankruptcy without ever having figured out how to make flexible workspaces into a profitable enterprise. It caps a wild ride for a company that began with the idea of re-imagining staid offices as fun places to hang out and grew to a behemoth worth $47 billion at its peak.

Source: Bloomberg

New Obesity Drug

Eli Lilly & Co. won US approval for its diabetes drug to treat obesity, unlocking blockbuster sales potential and sparking a battle for dominance of a market that’s expected to hit $100 billion by 2030. The weight-loss drug contains the same active ingredient as the firm’s diabetes product Mounjaro but will be branded as Zepbound and cost $1,059.87 for a month’s supply. That’s cheaper than Wegovy, a similar weight-loss drug made by Novo Nordisk A/S, which is $1,349 per month.

Source: Bloomberg