Feb 5

1. #oil Oil drops get dramatic (Finimize)

What’s going on?

Coronavirus is weighing heavily on international and Chinese economics growth, which in turn drag oil demand down. Therefore, OPEC+, who owns 50% world oil supply and 90% oil reserves, met on Tuesday to discuss making an emergency cut.

Why dramatic? 

British energy giant BP will suffer seriously due to 2 reasons

• BP’s reported earnings drop in Q4, 2019. This cut, along with a prediction of 40% global decrease in total, will put the company into troubles.
• The UK’s announced ban for sale of gasoline, diesel and hybrid cars by 2035, while road transportation accounts for 50% of oil demand in developed countries.

2. #politics Iowa caucus did not go smoothly (Morning Brew)

What’s going on?

Iowa Caucus is expected to take place on Feb 3, but technical problems left Iowa Democratic Party (IDO) officials and volunteers scrambling to transmit and validate vote totals.

Zooming out

Read this if you don’t know what Iowa Caucus is. This year, instead of following the traditional method, IDP rolled out a mobile app for precinct workers to share total votes with party officials. IDP did not test it with precinct organizers and rushed its development, then the app could not handle the volume of the nationwide election. It is becoming even worse when the security and validity of data is brought into the table

3. #pharmaceutical Pharmacity (backed by Mekong Capital) raised $31.8M in Series C round

What’s going on?

Mekong Capital-backed Pharmacity Pharmacy JSC, which owns the largest pharmacy network in Vietnam, has raised VND735 billion ($31.8 million) in a Series C funding round. The company said that this fresh funding will help its expansion plan.

Why do I need to know?

1. The pharmacy sector in Vietnam is active, with a number of players are jumping in to capture the market share
2. Pharmacity has a bright future ahead as this industry is very promising with (1) The shift from prescriptions to OTC drugs; (2) Low-regulated Vietnam market and (3) The rising of middle class with increasing expense for drugs. Read more here