Anyone looking for good economic news will be disappointed by the latest inflation report, which showed the Consumer Price Index (CPI) advancing by 0.5 percent in January. By itself, this isn’t especially alarming — prices jump around month to month — but it has troubling implications for the future. To some economists, it suggests the possibility of another financial crisis ...

The Indian central bank is shutting down its halfway houses for debt addicts. In the process, it’s also throwing out an infuriating alphabet soup: CDR, SDR, S4A and their ilk. Lenders will now have a much cleaner—and stricter—system for dealing with distressed large borrowers. If they still try to hide bad loans, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will whack ...

Time and space are wonderful things — except South Africa doesn’t really have the luxury of either. The ruling African National Congress party are trying to smooth the end of President Jacob Zuma’s political career, and decided not to set a deadline for him to respond to their decision that he should leave office. An extended exit has the capacity ...

Two days before the horrific school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people on February 14, Remington Outdoor Co. announced that it was filing for bankruptcy protection. Remington Outdoor is the world’s biggest gun company. In addition to Remington rifles, its brands include Bushmaster, Marlin and DPMS. It is owned by the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, which ...

It looks like one of the world’s best central bankers will get another term. Reports indicate that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will nominate Haruhiko Kuroda for another term as head of the Bank of Japan. The decision to stay the course is just one more sign that things are going right in the Land of the Rising Sun. It’s ...

This month, 6.5 million Chinese will travel abroad for the Lunar New Year holiday. They’ll bring luggage, smartphones and a desire to use the same technological conveniences they’ve grown accustomed to at home. For China’s tech companies, that’s a potent combination — one that may help them finally compete in overseas markets. Just as foreign companies often fail in China, ...

It’s hard to find anyone optimistic about the future of conventional retail as internet giants like Amazon continue to accumulate customers. But where’s the bottom? There is a helpful parallel — just not an obvious one — that might shed some light on the question. The best way to measure retail’s role in the economy while simultaneously accounting for population ...

Bloomberg Want a neat narrative? There isn’t one. Stocks buckled, $3 trillion was lost, then just as quickly, roughly half of it came back. Nothing quite explains every little twist and turn. Much of it remains a blur. But there are clues to be gleaned from the behaviour of buyers and sellers. Several key facts stand out. One: a very ...

ABU DHABI / Reuters The Nasdaq Dubai exchange launched equity index futures on Sunday for the main indexes of Dubai Financial Market and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, a top official said. The new instruments could help to attract fresh money to the exchanges by giving investors more opportunity to hedge. Nasdaq Dubai began trading single-stock futures for shares in ...

DUBAI / Reuters Middle Eastern stock markets may have an upward bias on Sunday because of a gradual recovery in oil prices and in Egypt’s case, last week’s interest rate cut, although there appears to be little reason for any strong rise in equities. Wall Street closed marginally firmer while Brent oil continued its gradual recovery, settling up 51 US ...