Wall Street is bathing in nostalgia. This week the cover of Barron’s, the bible of US retail investors, proclaimed “Dow 20,000”. Presenters on CNBC are wearing Dow 10,000 caps first donned in 1999. And each day the thinning crowds on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange have watched the boards to see if the Dow Jones Industrial Average, having passed 19,900, can top the 20,000 […]
A series of big events shaped financial markets in 2016. Here is a selection of FT analyses and commentary, alongside charts, highlighting a tumultuous year. The new year rout January proved brutal for investors. After just 10 trading days, global equity markets had lost more than $4tn of value, with sentiment hammered by fears about China’s economic slowdown and a depreciating currency. In turn, bond markets were […]
Venezuelans are bracing for Christmas without cash after the country’s highest denomination banknote was withdrawn from circulation with new larger bills not due until January, as many fear that the country is spiralling towards hyperinflation. Embattled President Nicolás Maduro this week announced plans to scrap the ubiquitous 100 bolívar bill, which makes up about half the country’s banknotes but is increasingly worthless as annual inflation is forecast […]
Our round-up of the week’s best comment and analysis from the Financial Times focuses on expectations of a Trump-presidency stimulus and the danger of complacency. The selection is taken from our Markets Insight and Smart Money columns, written by industry contributors and FT commentators. Wall Street might be too complacent about Donald Trump’s corporate tax stimulus and are not pricing in an upsurge in volatility, argues the […]
By David Stanway | PINGDINGSHAN, China PINGDINGSHAN, China China has ordered state firms to smash the decades-old system of providing cradle-to-grave welfare support, known as the country’s “iron rice bowl”. But the order, part of a plan to reduce financial pressure on bloated and heavily indebted state-owned enterprises (SOEs), is likely to be easier said than done as cities navigate the social and financial wrenches the changes […]
It was a clear and chilly afternoon in Moscow – March 18, 2014 – when Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the documents to formally annex the Crimean Peninsula away from Ukraine. Frustrated Western governments soon began rolling out the only response they could agree on to Mr. Putin’s brazen redrawing of Europe’s borders: economic sanctions. Over the next two days, the United States would designate 27 individuals […]
The number of passenger cars in use in the GCC region is expected to grow at 5 percent annually from an estimated 10.3 million in 2015 to 13.2 million in 2020, according to Alpen Capital. Its report said new passenger car sales are projected at 1.4 million in 2020, compared to 1.2 million in 2015. Although new sales declined in 2016 and will be under pressure in […]
By EconMatters We discuss a preview of January`s Earnings releases and how massive the gap down in most of these stocks will be when they report in a month. There have already been two earning`s guide downs from industrial companies this past week in UTX, and HON. But with the run up in financials and energies for the last month we are going to experience big $5 […]
Christmas is coming: an event as exciting for the toymakers hoping to fill stockings with this year’s hottest new playthings as it is for the children who will open them on December 25. Expectations of a bumper festive period have brought early Christmas presents for investors in companies such as Spin Master, Hasbro and Nintendo — manufacturers behind some of the biggest hits — that have all […]
By Lucia Mutikani | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. homebuilding fell more than expected in November, tumbling from a nine-year high as construction activity declined broadly, the latest sign of slower economic growth in the fourth quarter. But the housing market remains on solid ground, with Friday’s report from the Commerce Department showing permits for the future construction of single-family homes, the biggest segment of the market, rising to […]
Where there was discord, Donald Trump has remarkably brought harmony. He has brought peace between the markets and Janet Yellen, as traders at last appear to believe her forecast for interest rates over the next year. The Federal Reserve says it intends to raise rates three times next year, and the market implicitly, through Fed Funds futures, puts the chance of this happening at almost exactly 50 […]
‘You can’t put a price tag on anybody’s life’ Two years after the overdose that killed her 21-year-old son, Terri Bartlett traveled to Illinois’ state capital to champion an unlikely cause: revamped painkillers. Bartlett’s son Michael became hooked on Vicodin and later graduated to heroin. In emotional testimony last year, she urged lawmakers to support a bill that would prioritize the new harder-to-crush pills, saying she believed […]
Shock is a matter of perspective and expectation. Imagine a time traveller stepped through the door a year ago and said the UK would vote to leave the European Union, a presidential candidate who advocated debt renegotiation would be headed for the White House, and Italy would reject the reforms of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Who would have predicted a worldwide bull market for stocks and bonds? […]
Toronto worker Kristy Milland looks for data jobs that she can pick up to make ends meet. Image: Sam Santos/George Pimentel Photography This article originally appeared on TechRepublic. Each morning when she wakes up, Kristy Milland powers up her home computer in Toronto, logs into Amazon Mechanical Turk, and waits for her computer to ding. Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT), which has been around for over a decade, […]
There’s a great scene in The Big Short, the movie of Michael Lewis’ book about the mortgage crisis, where two shiny-suited brokers brag about how many loans they’ve been producing — for big commissions — to unsuitable borrowers. “We call those loans ‘Dorothys’ ‘cause they’re magic,” grins the one in black. “No credit, no income, no problem: just tap your shoes together three times and say ‘There’s […]
If there was a way to end the year on a bright note for as many businesses as possible, a deal to cut oil production was probably the most likely news to hit the spot. Of course, there will be some sectors not sharing in the joy – those that rely heavily on oil to fuel, such as aviation, manufacturing and agriculture, may be dreading increased costs. […]
Real estate investment made easy as 1,2,3; lucrative rental yields await investors Dubai, United Arab Emirates – 15 December 2016 DAMAC Properties, one of the leading luxury real estate developers in the region, today announced the launch of MOD, a collection of townhouses in the heart of international golf community AKOYA Oxygen. The homes in this community, with a contemporary expression of luxury, are priced to be […]
Although residential and commercial industries are widely adopting energy-efficient light emitting diodes (LEDs), the drop in LED prices is driving away manufacturers because of decreased profitability, dramatically dislocating and restructuring the solid-state lighting marketplace, says a new American report. (via WSJ)
South Korea’s IT export for November rose 3.3 percent compared to a year ago thanks to semiconductors and displays, the country’s trade ministry has said. The rise ends 14 straight months of decline caused by the rise of Chinese competitors and the global economic downturn. Total IT export for the month was $14.8 billion, a rise of 3.3 percent from a year ago, while import was $8.08 […]
By Henning Gloystein | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil prices were stable on Friday as evidence increased that producers in the Middle East were informing customers of upcoming supply cuts as part of a coordinated effort to drain a global glut. But since any production cuts will only hit markets early next year and Iraq is still raising sales to Asia, analysts at Goldman Sachs said that the price […]
If you or someone on your holiday list wants flagship smartphone at a discounted price, B&H has some great deals to check out. The retailer is offering the Samsung Galaxy S7, S7 edge, LG G5, Google Nexus 6P, and free extras as part of its holiday sale. ( Samsung ) For anyone looking to get a great deal on some of the most popular flagship smartphones, B&H […]
Chinese government bond yields retreated slightly after the central bank eased a credit squeeze that has been exacerbated by the US Federal Reserve’s rate increase. On Friday morning the People’s Bank of China injected a net Rmb45bn ($6.5bn) into the interbank market through reverse repos, bringing total net injections for the week to Rmb250bn. This marked a reversal from last week when the central bank drained more than […]
YOKOHAMA, Japan Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said on Friday he expected the Japanese automaker to post record sales in 2017, which would be a strong year for the auto industry despite volatility in currency and commodity markets. Ghosn also said he was confident that U.S. trade policy under President-elect Donald Trump would continue to promote strong ties with Mexico, where Nissan operates production […]
Investors have piled into Russian equity and bond funds over the past week as oil prices have rallied and President-elect Donald Trump named an oil executive with close ties to Vladimir Putin as US secretary of state. Russian stock funds recorded inflows of $451m in the week to December 14, the biggest weekly haul since the first quarter of 2011, according to EPFR. Mutual funds and exchange […]
