Bloomberg A political brawl between British Columbia and Alberta over a stalled pipeline expansion is being blamed for handing Vancouver a somewhat dubious municipal distinction. The city recently recorded the highest retail gasoline price on record for a major North America metro, according to GasBuddy, a motor-fuel pricing website. The price hit almost $4.80 a gallon (C$1.70 a liter), a ...
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Exxon seeks $280m from Cuban firms over seized assets
Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp. is suing two Cuban companies for $280 million, saying they benefited for decades from Exxon property seized after 1959 revolution. The suit was filed in US District Court in Washington, the first day American corporations were allowed to file after the Trump administration lifted a long-standing ban against such actions. The complaint names gov- ernment conglomerate ...
Read More »Pemex dismal earnings rekindle investor jitters
Bloomberg Just as Petroleos Mexicanos’ bonds finally recovered from last year’s rout, a dismal earnings report sent them tumbling back down. Pemex said that its oil output declined 12 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, while its refineries operated at just 34 percent of capacity. In the next five days, yields on the company’s bonds maturing in ...
Read More »Trade-war scenarios force investors to rewrite playbook
Bloomberg All it took was two lunchtime tweets, sandwiched between posts complaining about the results of the Kentucky Derby and another gripe about “Angry Democrats,†for investors around the world to rip up their playbooks for 2019. What has replaced those playbooks now that US President Donald Trump has made good on his Twitter threats to boost tariffs on $200 ...
Read More »Bitcoin’s first $1,000 weekend since 2017 marks 9-month high
Bloomberg Bitcoin surged more than $1,000 this weekend to the highest level since August, as cryptocurrencies extended their rebound from a slump last month amid the New York attorney general’s investigation of a key part of the market. Bitcoin rose as much as 6.9 percent to $7,445, before trading at $7,323.86 in Hong Kong on Sunday, according to Bitstamp. All ...
Read More »Fed faces skepticism over plan to improve monetary strategy
Bloomberg A posse of Federal Reserve policy makers met with skepticism when they described ways to potentially improve their management of the economy. Participants at a Hoover Institution monetary conference questioned whether the central bankers have the will or the way to implement the fresh strategies they outlined, including average inflation targeting. The experts also voiced concern that the US ...
Read More »Shadow banks feel sting as Indian mutual funds cut exposure
Bloomberg India’s biggest investors in shadow bank debt are getting cold feet, spelling more trouble for the hard-hit sector. Mutual fund investments in commercial paper and bonds that mature within 90 days dropped to 3.24 trillion rupees ($46.4 billion) at the end of March, the lowest in six quarters, data from the securities regulator show. The fallout from shock defaults ...
Read More »Philippines cuts rate, mulls easing reserve ratio to bolster economy
Bloomberg The Philippine central bank cut its benchmark interest rate and will consider easing the reserve ratio for lenders next week to boost economic growth from a four-year low. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas lowered the overnight borrowing rate by 25 basis points to 4.5%, the first reduction since an operational adjustment to the rate in 2016. The Philippines joins Malaysia ...
Read More »Brazil holds key rate, signals no cuts in sight
Bloomberg Brazil held its benchmark interest rate at a record low and signaled that a period of weaker-than-expected growth is still insufficient for reduced borrowing costs. The bank’s board, led by its President Roberto Campos Neto, voted unanimously to keep the Selic rate unchanged at 6.50 percent. The monetary authority has held borrowing costs steady for roughly a year. In ...
Read More »Bank secrecy rules get rethink after Danske laundering shock
Bloomberg Danske Bank A/S is turning into a case study for European regulators, legislators and bankers to rethink fundamental assumptions about how the finance industry should operate. First up is the principle that bank clients should be protected by secrecy laws. The sheer scale of the Danske money-laundering scandal means those rules may now get a review. The financial regulator ...
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