Britain’s three quoted major supermarkets are expected to report this week that they enjoyed solid Christmas trading, though investor concern about a potential squeeze on consumer spending in 2017 means the focus is on their outlooks. Shares in market leader Tesco (TSCO.L) and Morrisons (MRW.L), the UK’s fourth biggest grocer, soared 38 percent and 55 percent respectively in 2016, reflecting a recovery in trading. That coincided with […]
The UK’s Brexit vote shook the cocoa futures market in 2016, pushing the commodity that is priced in sterling to levels not seen in decades. Six months on, traders are feeling a new aftershock from the UK referendum following a filing for bankruptcy protection at the end of December by the US subsidiary of a top 10 cocoa processor Transmar Group. Transmar Commodity Group filed for Chapter […]
HELSINKI HMD Global, the Finnish company that owns the rights to use Nokia’s brand on mobile phones, announced on Sunday its first smartphone, targeted for Chinese users with a price of 1,699 yuan ($246). The launch marks the first new smartphone carrying the iconic handset name since 2014 when Nokia Oyj (NOKIA.HE) chose to sell its entire handset unit to Microsoft (MSFT.O). The new device, Nokia 6, […]
Oil started the first week of 2017 with a bang but ended it with a whimper, as the Opec fireworks that dominated the last quarter gave way to the more mundane reality of monitoring if the cartel will make good on its pledged cuts. Brent crude oil briefly touched an 18-month high above $58 a barrel on the first day of trading but there was little fresh […]
Audiophiles will soon be able to make the most of a new 32-bit wireless speaker from Samsung, which is poised to redefine the audio world. At the CES 2017, the South Korean OEM took the wraps off its H7 Wireless Speaker, which it claims “enables 32bits of rich, detailed sound from any source that provides 8 to 24bit sound.” Basically, the H7 Wireless Speaker is equipped with […]
By Ange Aboa and Loucoumane Coulibaly | BOUAKE, Ivory Coast BOUAKE, Ivory Coast Disgruntled soldiers demanding salary increases and the payment of bonuses seized control of Ivory Coast’s second-largest city, Bouake, on Friday, in an uprising that spread to at least two other cities. A statement from Defence Minister Alain-Richard Donwahi read out on state television said a group of soldiers had used their weapons to force […]
This year will doubtless throw up even more global-scale curveballs than the tumultuous previous 12 months. But whatever happens, at least there’s solace to seek from some tantalising fresh metal due to roll out between now and the end of December. Here are seven debutants we’re keenly anticipating. newslide Alfa Romeo Stelvio The Italian serpent brand is the latest to join the SUV horde, but its new […]
The amount of money making bets that US Treasuries will fall in value climbed to a new record high over the last week in a wager that faster US economic growth and higher inflation will weigh further on government bond prices. So-called “non-commercial” speculative positions selling the 10-year Treasury futures contract have been rising since the US presidential election and hit 816,156 contracts in the week to […]
Submitted by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.com, Yes, the narrative of the “new normal” has been around for so long now that many people have simply grown used to it. The assumption is that the fiscal “new normal” has become the fiscal “normal,” and though the fundamentals continue to strain under the weight of poor global demand and historic debt levitated by extraneous fiat stimulus, the masses feel […]
To understand the Xperia XZ, you need to understand the genesis of its name, and therefore the weird rollercoaster ride that has been Sony’s Xperia line of phones in recent years. In February 2016, the Japanese electronics behemoth announced that its flagship Z-line of Xperia phones had ended, and in its place would be the more mainstream X-line of devices. Essentially, this meant that Sony was going […]
By Ann Saphir and Jason Lange | CHICAGO CHICAGO Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans said on Friday the central bank could raise interest rates three times this year, faster than he had expected just a few months ago and in line with the majority of his colleagues. The comments from Evans, a voting member of the Fed’s policy committee this year, reinforced the view that the […]
Incentive payout targets compared to Apple’s 2016 numbers. Apple’s 2016 was a year marred by falling iPhone sales, and executives are now paying a price. In a regulatory filing released Friday, Apple disclosed 2016 net sales of $215.6 billion, 3.6 percent short of its target of $223.68 billion. The tech giant’s operating income of $60 billion also fell short of targets by .5 percent. As a result, […]
Submitted by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, A few week’s ago I discussed the post-election surge in the market based on rather optimistic outlooks as opposed to the technical underpinnings that currently exists. As I specially stated in the weekend newsletter entitle “Dow 20,000” the market was beginning to take on an eerily similar feeling: “If this market rally seems eerily familiar, it’s because it is. If fact, the backdrop […]
Alexa made its debut as the heart of the Amazon Echo—a family of internet-connected speakers that answer questions, run apps, and let people get weather reports or order goods on Amazon Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa is emerging as one of the big winners at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, cropping up in TVs, cars, fridges—you name it—in what may signal a breakthrough moment for the smart technology. […]
This is the first article in our series called Cool Tools. The idea is to spotlight tools that can make your professional life easier, save you some time, or help you get more done. In this inaugural column, we focus on the $69.95 Pro Tech Toolkit from iFixit. As the accompanying video shows, most of us have lots of plastic boxes filled with tools. When it comes […]
TOKYO U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) over its Mexican-built cars, but the biggest risk from a punitive tariff would be for its compatriot Nissan Motor Co (7201.T), the largest automaker operating in the country. Trump has criticized U.S. companies like General Motors (G.N) and Ford Motor Co (F.N) which manufacture abroad, accusing them of costing U.S. jobs. On Thursday he took on […]
ABU DHABI // Exercise should be the first line of defence in the fight against depression after research published in the Middle East Journal of Positive Psychology hailed its benefits in releasing ‘feel good’ brain chemicals. Doctors advocate physical activity as the best remedy in many cases, but the simple solution is often overlooked in favour of medication that can be expensive and carry side effects. Restrictions […]
January 6, 2017 by: Adam Samson in New York US wage growth accelerated to the quickest pace since 2009 last month, underscoring rising inflationary pressure as President Barack Obama prepares to pass the torch to Donald Trump. Average hourly earnings climbed 0.4 per cent in December from the previous month, beating expectations for a 0.3 per cent pick-up, the Labor Department said in the final employment report […]
As the first battery cells roll off the production line at Tesla’s 1.9m sq ft Gigafactory in Nevada a scramble is under way to secure supply of the lithium that is their key ingredient. This week a small Australian mining company sold a lithium prospect in west Africa to a Chinese buyer for $78m — or more than 2,000 times the amount it paid for the deposit […]
Oman’s sovereign net foreign assets are forecast to fall to 28 percent of GDP by 2018 from 48.5 percent at the end of 2016 due to external debt issuance and draw-downs from wealth funds to finance budget deficits, according to Fitch Ratings. The ratings agency, which also said in a statement that the earlier sharp fall in oil and gas prices had hit Oman hard, published Oman’s […]
Chinese internet company Baidu displays its new “Little Fish” voice-controlled home assistant unit which also features a touch screen Chinese internet colossus Baidu is out to make a splash with ‘Little Fish,’ a family robot that is a voice-controlled virtual valet akin to Amazon Echo or Google Home. Baidu showed off “Little Fish,” a translation of its Chinese name “Xiaoyu Zaijia,” on Thursday at the Consumer Electronics […]
Samsung Electronics has forecast its best quarterly profit in more than three years, projecting that operating profit for the last three months of 2016 surged 50 per cent as strong sales of chips and display panels offset the Galaxy Note 7 debacle. The world’s largest maker of memory chips as well as smartphones estimated its fourth-quarter operating profit at Won9.2tn ($7.8bn), the highest since the third quarter […]
China strengthened the renminbi’s trading range on Friday by the most since it depegged it in 2005, as investors awaited data expected to show Beijing is continuing to burn through its reserves to support the currency. The renminbi’s sudden strength has caught global markets off-guard and wrongfooted investors betting the Chinese currency would start the year by continuing its gradual slide as outflow pressures persisted in spite […]
In its first appearance at the annual event, Xiaomi unveiled several products at CES 2017, one of which is the ultra-thin modular TV named the Mi TV 4. CES 2017 is filled with eye-catching TVs, but the Xiaomi Mi TV 4 was able to stand out due to its unique design, both externally and internally. Xiaomi Mi TV 4: Thinner Than The iPhone The Mi TV 4, as described by […]
