You wouldn’t know it from the government’s optimistic pronouncements, but China’s banks are still under significant stress. Although the latest plan to help them out won’t solve any fundamental problems, it will buy time — maybe enough to come up with better ideas. By several measures, Chinese banks are strained. Their official loan–to-deposit ratio increased from 65.8 percent in June ...

The European Central Bank’s (ECB) policy meeting was a masterclass from President Mario Draghi in how to ride two horses at once: calling time on quantitative easing while keeping a dovish tone. The bond-buying program will end this year — but the governing council paired this with a clear message that interest rates won’t rise before the end of summer ...

The latest review of BP – one of world’s leading integrated oil and gas companies – of the world’s appetite for energy, contained a startling chart indicating that coal’s grip on electricity generation has not changed in 20 years. There were clear signs of a shift occurring at the margin when you looked at growth in different types of power ...