Bloomberg Donald Trump expressed confidence in the Treasury secretary, Federal Reserve and US economy, moving to calm financial markets further roiled after Bloomberg News reported that the president had discussed firing the central ba-nk’s chairman over raising interest rates. Trump, asked if he has confidence in Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, said, “Yes I do, very talented guy, very smart person.†...
Read More »Banking
China weighs plans to boost bank capital
Bloomberg Chinese authorities are studying plans to help banks replenish capital as they look to continue with their crackdown on financial risk without hurting credit growth. The move to promote sales of perpetual bonds as soon as possible comes as new regulations on asset management force banks to absorb off-balance-sheet debts. Swelling soured loans and a slump in share prices ...
Read More »CLO market faces record callable debt
Bloomberg A record amount of collateralised loan obligations will be eligible to be reset or refinanced next month, potentially putting more pressure on prices. But the concerns may be for naught as the malaise weighing on credit markets could derail part of the push. More than $52 billion of CLOs originally issued in 2017 and 2018 could be refinanced or ...
Read More »Cevian Capital builds 2.3% stake in Nordea
Bloomberg Swedish activist investment firm Cevian Capital has built a 2.3 percent stake in Nordea Bank Abp in a move that may put pressure on the Nordic region’s largest bank to improve its revenue development and profitability. Cevian’s comment that it “sees significant value potential in Nordea†and that it “will work with Nordea’s owners, board and management to realise ...
Read More »Dreams die hard for Wall Street crypto bankers
Bloomberg Limbo—that’s where to find Wall Street when it comes to cryptocurrencies. Squeamish from the start about pursuing profits in one of the darker corners of finance, established firms this year slowed their already halting efforts to make a business out of Bitcoin mania. While none has thrown in the towel, and some continue to develop a trading infrastructure, most ...
Read More »Trump rips Fed as economy’s only problem
Bloomberg US President Donald Trump renewed his attacks on the Federal Reserve, commenting publicly on the central bank for the first time following last week’s interest-rate hike and reports he has discussed firing Chairman Jerome Powell. “The only problem our economy has is the Fed. They don’t have a feel for the Market, they don’t understand necessary Trade Wars or ...
Read More »Currency strategists, traders differ on future of euro in 2019
Bloomberg Currency strategists are convinced that 2019 will be the year of the euro. Money managers and traders aren’t buying it. Morgan Stanley, Credit Agricole SA and Toronto Dominion Bank are all calling for the common currency to surge next year as investors shift focus away from an overvalued dollar. That’s not a view shared by Janus Henderson Group Plc ...
Read More »Wells Fargo cuts estimates for stocks
Bloomberg Wells Fargo cut estimates for stocks next year on concern the Federal Reserve is making a policy mistake that will throttle economic growth. Chris Harvey, head of equity strategy at the bank, cut his year-end target for the S&P 500 Index to 2,665 from 3,079. While new forecast represents a 10 percent gain from current levels, he replaced Michael ...
Read More »PBOC’s new lending facility echoes earlier programmes by ECB, BOJ
Bloomberg China’s central bank reached into the toolkit of its peers around the world, announcing a new facility to encourage bank lending to companies that looks very similar to what others have done. The People’s Bank of China is trying to balance competing demands of a debt crackdown and ensuring that banks lend to support growth. The clampdown has made ...
Read More »Year-end inflation surge new headache for Russia
Bloomberg The latest data on Russian inflation are sending up warning signals that the first few months of 2019 could be even more hazardous than most economists had predicted. The latest weekly numbers indicate that Russia might end up starting next year with price growth around the central bank’s worst-case forecast of 4.2 percent, according to economists at ING Groep ...
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