What's going on?

Japanese conglomerate SoftBank announced on Tuesday that it lost money last quarter.

What does this mean?

When the going gets tough, the tough get going � so it�s a real shame the Japanese giant isn�t named �ToughBank�. Instead, the conglomerate showed it was aptly named last quarter, adopting a softly-softly approach and a more �defensive� position. Thing is, that didn�t actually help: SoftBank�s Vision Fund business � which oversees the world�s biggest tech-focused investment funds � saw the value of its holdings in unlisted companies take a nosedive. And the firm�s listed investments didn�t fare much better, with losses in companies like Coupang and WeWork overshadowing some small recoveries. The end result was that the Vision Funds lost $5.5 billion. That�s about half what they lost the quarter before, sure, but it�s the fourth straight time they�ve finished in the red � meaning SoftBank startled analysts by posting an overall loss too.

Why should I care?

For markets: Loser�s quandary.
These back-to-back losses have tied SoftBank�s hands and hampered its ability to make the big, bold bets it�s best known for. And that has the firm facing a tricky Catch-22, because a successful moonshot could be just what SoftBank needs to lift it out of the hole it�s stuck in. Last quarter, though, the firm split under $350 million in investments between a handful of startups � chump change compared to the $144 billion plus it invested over the previous five and a half years.

The bigger picture: Armed and dangerous.
SoftBank�s having a tough time right now, and the firm�s counting on a big upcoming move to turn things around. The firm�s planning to list chip design giant Arm on the stock market � but while the venture could be a whopper, success is far from guaranteed. After all, the plan is to list by December, but weak markets could cause all kinds of delays, keeping poor old SoftBank cash-strapped.