Renault, a general manager before Christmas? The name of Seat's boss (Volkswagen Group), Luca de Meo, is circulating to take over Renault's operational management, of which he could become Managing Director before taking the wheel of the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance. In addition, an article in Le Monde details an "explosive" letter from former CEO Thierry Bolloré, just before his departure, on how Nissan is run. "The letter depicts a management at the highest level where suspicion, denunciation and withholding of information between the group's management and the directors, between the directors themselves", writes Le Monde.

Threat taken seriously. China threatens Germany with retaliation against its automotive industry if Berlin bans Huawei from 5G tenders. The power of the German automobile is also its Achilles heel: when the sector colds, the whole economy suffers. And beyond that, the entire ecosystem, including equipment manufacturers.

Puzzle. The Comco is expected to decide this week to prohibit ETA, the subsidiary of the Swatch Group, from delivering watch movements to third parties. A press release is expected on Thursday. In 2013, the regulator and Swatch had agreed on a quantity that ETA would deliver to third parties, with a gradual reduction over time. The objective was to encourage the emergence of competition in this market, which is highly dominated by the Biel-based giant's subsidiary. But this competition has had difficulty materializing and there are risks of shortages in 2020 if the Comco prohibits ETA from supplying the rest of the industry.

IFF is purchasing DuPont Nutrition. International Flavors & Fragrances acquired DuPont's nutrition division for $26 billion in cash and securities. The transaction will give DuPont shareholders a majority in the new merged entity. Among the disappointed contenders was the Irish Kerry Group. IFF is thus strengthening its footprint in the fragrances and flavors sector. This will create a new group that will be valued at 45 billion dollars.

New on the B737 MAX. Boeing could announce today the new schedule for its B737 MAX, according to the Wall Street Journal. In particular, the industrialist will have to decide whether to continue his production, while stocks are accumulating and storage poses serious problems. At this time, the FAA has not provided any indication of a possible resumption of flights. Boeing is convening its board of directors for two days and according to a source close to the file, the group is considering reducing or stopping production of the 737 MAX after the Federal Aviation Administration's decision not to approve the return to service of this model before 2020.

New purchase for WPX Energy. The oil and gas producer announced today that it will buy the unlisted company Felix Energy for $2.5 billion.

In other news. Daimler's main Chinese industrial partner, BAIC, wants to double its share to around 10% in the German manufacturer to counter its compatriot Geely. In Germany, unions are calling for a strike in Amazon.com's logistics centers before the holidays. Romande Energie appoints its new Chief Financial Officer. Rome is injecting €900 million into Banca Popolare di Bari, which is under special administration on Friday. Credit Suisse sells its Geneva headquarters for CHF 300 million to a fund linked to Schroder, according to Schweiz am Wochenende. Flatex (Fintech Group) could afford the DeGiro broker, according to Bloomberg. Novartis fails in Phase III with fevipipiprant in asthma.