The B737MAX could fly this spring. The head of the American aeronautical certification agency estimates that a first test flight of the Boeing 737 MAX could take place in a few weeks. "We're working on the latest software revision and documentation issues, and I think we should see a certification flight in a few weeks," Dickson told an aviation conference in Washington.

Efficient participation. Petershill, a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, is reportedly ready to take a stake in the Permira fund by injecting €500m, which would add €4.5bn to the value of the fund, the Wall Street Journal has learned.

Syngal to lead Gap. Sonia Syngal, the director of Old Navy, has been promoted to the helm of Gap Inc. Initially, Old Navy was supposed to be split, but the group has given up. At the same time, Bobby Martin, currently a member of the Board of Directors, was appointed Executive Chairman of the Board.

A strategy to rethink. Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler will have to rethink their strategy in China after the completion of their merger in order to boost sales there, Carlos Tavares said today during a meeting with journalists. The president of PSA took the opportunity to state that he does not see any demand concerns at this stage.

Not much to see in February. Airbus did not record any orders or cancellations during the month of February, but delivered 55 aircraft to 35 customers. This zero score is not very surprising given the context of the coronavirus. But the manufacturer can take solace from a very good month of January, which enabled it to record 274 orders.

Veto on Cypress? American officials have recommended to Donald Trump to block the purchase of Cypress Semiconductor by Infineon, according to Bloomberg, for reasons of national security. The German group is said to have failed to convince Washington of the merits of its $8.7 billion deal, even though the financial agency had no explanation for the threats to national security invoked.

Very tight coffee. Starbucks estimates that its sales in China will halve in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the same period last year. However, business is on an upward trend, with many stores reopening in February. The impact on earnings for the quarter will be $0.15 to $0.18 per share, but management is confident that the recovery will continue for the rest of the year.

Express operation. JPMorgan Chase boss Jamie Dimon rests after emergency heart surgery. He suffered an aortic dissection, treated quickly. "The good news is that it was treated quickly and the surgery was successful. He is awake, alert, and recovering well," he wrote in an internal email obtained by AFP. His right-hand men Daniel Pinto and Gordon Smith will take over the interim.

In other news. Facebook and Google are asking their staff in San Francisco to arrange to work from home because of the coronavirus. The contenders for the takeover of Alitalia must make themselves known by March 18, announced the administrator in charge of the transalpine airline, in a timing that could probably not be worse. Activist shareholders Macellum and Ancora are taking over 10% of the capital of Big Lots. Twitter boss Jack Dorsey is abandoning his plans to relocate to Africa, while the Elliott fund is campaigning to replace him, deeming him too little involved in the management of the social network.