Selling pressure on French bonds ebbed on Thursday, pushing the yield on the 10-year bond back below 1 per cent, as the prospect of a centrist alliance in the country’s presidential election eased anxiety that far-right candidate Marine Le Pen will win. The decision on Wednesday by independent candidate François Bayrou not to stand in the country’s elections, and instead throw his support behind fellow centrist Emmanuel […]
“What’s up with the dollar?” has been the recurring question for investors lately as the reserve currency has slipped from a 14-year high set at the start of January. The answer may lie in the link between the dollar and real yields, a proxy for how investors in the bond market view prospects for stronger economic growth and the normalisation of interest rates. Whereas nominal yields give […]
A HoloLens display visualization Microsoft “You take the high road and I’ll take the low road and I’ll be in Scotland before you,” assert modernized lyrics of The Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond. The 176 year-old song is a metaphor for the state of virtual reality. Scotland represents a promised land of market leadership, Oculus and HTC, with their pricey high-end products, are taking the high road, […]
The arrival of Mike Flynn’s replacement, Gen. H.R. McMaster as Trump’s new national security advisor could mean sweeping changes of the White House foreign policy team, giving him control of Homeland Security and guarantee full access to the military and intelligence agencies. In a report by the NYT, Mr. McMaster is said to be weighing changes to an organization chart that generated consternation when it was issued […]
Frank Sorrentino used to do a lot of mortgages. But since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act seven years ago, he has mostly shied away. Rules have been tightened so far as to make home loans uneconomic, says the chairman and chief executive of ConnectOne, a bank with $3.7bn in assets based in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. “Community banks used to be able to cut through the […]
For footloose international money, the safest place to hide in the European financial system may be two-year German debt. The government of Europe’s largest economy not meeting such obligations in euros is as close to inconceivable as things get. The debt is also easy and cheap to trade, which means it can be a market signal of investor angst. The price of such safety set a record […]
Many fear electronic voting machines can be hacked and tampered with. Image: iStock The hacking campaign around the US presidential election, cyberattacks against Ukrain’s power grid, and even the internet crippling Mirai botnet DDoS attack all demonstrate how cyberattacks have grown to threaten the very fabric of society itself, NATO has warned. Citing the impact of high profile incidents like these, Jamie Shea, deputy assistant secretary general […]
By Mehreen Zahra-Malik | LAHORE, Pakistan LAHORE, Pakistan Pakistani real estate giant Rafi Group made a ten-fold profit last year from its sale of hundreds of acres of land in the remote fishing town of Gwadar, acquired soon after the government announced plans for a deep-sea port there. The windfall came after 12 years of waiting patiently for the Gwadar port to emerge as the centrepiece of […]
Stainless steel is regaining its shine. After falling victim like many other basic industries to the global commodities downturn, companies that specialise in the rustproof metal are enjoying a change in their fortunes. An upwards spiral in share prices, bigger profits and increased payouts to investors is helping to restore the lustre in this niche of the steel market. “It’s very clear we are now in a […]
Rob Garratt Hidden Figures Director: Theodore Melfi Stars: Taraji P Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst Three stars Hidden Figures is engaging, entertaining and enlightening – but by playing fast and loose with historical fact, it risks blunting some of the story’s eye-opening emotional force. This Oscar-nominated feel-good ensemble drama is already the highest-grossing film fronted by African-American actresses, with an international haul of […]
Instagram just introduced its most controversial feature since Stories. The app added the ability to attach up to 10 photos and video clips to a single post, which is either the absolute worst or, maybe, kind of okay — depending on where you stand. But no matter where you stand, the update will absolutely change how you share and view posts and it could take some getting […]
By Nichola Saminather | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Asian stocks pulled back from a 19-month high on Thursday, while the dollar tried to steady from losses suffered in the wake of the U.S. Federal Reserve minutes indicating a cautious approach to more interest rate increases. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was fractionally lower. Japan’s Nikkei slid 0.1 percent, while Australian shares retreated 0.3 percent. Overnight on […]
People infected with salmonella often suffer from fever, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps between 12 and 72 hours after infection. The illness often lasts between four and seven days and most people recover even without getting medical treatment. Some Salmonella Serotypes May Cause DNA Damage Findings of a new study conducted by food scientists from Cornell University, however, showed that some serotypes, or variations of salmonella species, may have […]
What is the most dangerous job in the UAE? Firefighting? High-rise window cleaning? How about photographing people as you are tumbling through the air after jumping out of an airplane? So far in his high-flying career, Juan Mayer, from Argentina, has jumped more than 11,000 times. He admits being a skydiving photographer is a risky job. “I’ve been on many jumps that have gone wrong and led […]
Tesla is likely to turn to Wall Street for another big cash infusion as it gears up to launch its first mass-market electric vehicle later this year, chief executive Elon Musk indicated on Wednesday. His comments came as the US electric carmaker disclosed that chief financial officer Jason Wheeler would leave the company after little more than a year. Mr Musk said only that Mr Wheeler was […]
Photo Nigerians displaced by Boko Haram insurgents last February at Dikwa camp in northeastern Nigeria. The United Nations raised the alarm on Wednesday about the risk of famine in northern Nigeria. Credit Agence France-Presse — Getty Images UNITED NATIONS — In a world filled with excess food, 20 million people are on the brink of famine, including 1.4 million children at imminent risk of death. In the […]
Goldman Sachs, the last bank on Wall Street to handle significant physical volumes of oil and gas, has pushed back against a planned crackdown on combining finance with commodities trading. The institution warned the Federal Reserve to carefully weigh the effects on markets and companies as it sought to levy steep capital charges against a bank’s holdings of bulk materials. In its letter to the Fed dated […]
SOUTH OF MOSUL, Iraq A few hundred civilians have fled their homes in the outskirts of western Mosul, the first reported displacement since a U.S.-backed offensive on the jihadists’ remaining stronghold there began at the weekend. A Reuters correspondent saw about 200 women and children being transported on buses by federal police on Wednesday to the town of Hammam al-Alil, some 20 km (12 miles) south of […]
When Ford borrowed a €750m bond in euros at the start of the year, the US carmaker was following a path that has become familiar to corporate America. The deal was an example of so-called “reverse Yankee” issuance, where US companies sell bonds in euros, tapping demand from eurozone investors. Ford added to the more than €100bn of debt sold in the eurozone over the past two […]
Fitch Ratings-Moscow-22 February 2017 Fitch Ratings has affirmed the Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of five UAE banks with Stable Outlook and maintained Rating Watch Positive (RWP) on First Gulf Bank’s (FGB) IDRs. The agency also downgraded the Viability Rating of Union National Bank (UNB) to ‘bbb-‘ from ‘bbb’. A full list of rating actions is at the end of this commentary. KEY RATING DRIVERS IDRs, SUPPORT […]
We live in a society where it seems like the only way to meet someone new to start a serious relationship with is through dating apps. But using these platforms leave users at risk of finding out the one they have been talking to was too good to be true after finally meeting in person. Not to mention there is always the worst case scenario: getting catfished. […]
French small-cap investors are showing little sign of nerves ahead of this spring’s presidential election, setting a strong pace since the start of the year. In a week when the possibility that Marine Le Pen, the anti-immigrant National Front leader, could win May’s presidential vote started to worry bond investors, the small-caps market, consisting of 187 members, maintained its sangfroid. The CAC small index stands 4.3 per […]
Submitted by Chris Hamilton via Econimica blog, I’m dazed & confused…economists and the consensus all acknowledge 2001 and 2007 were low interest rate, debt driven financial and economic bubbles. However, somehow today’s even lower interest rate environment resulting in an additional $9.5 trillion in equity valuation from the last bubble peak…this one is legit and isn’t a bubble??? What I’m even more confused about is who, exactly, is buying all the […]
Wednesday 12:45 GMT Overview US equity futures suggest Wall Street will dip from record levels that were reached amid a positive outlook for economic growth. Political concerns leave the euro carrying the wooden spoon in the forex markets, while the rush for supposed havens pushes short term German bond yields to their lowest ever. Hot topic The FTSE All-World equity index is at another record, up 0.1 […]
