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Commerzbank extends more bond gains as market underestimates ECB

Bloomberg Bonds are set to extend this week’s gains because investors are underestimating the power of the European Central Bank’s stimulus, says Commerzbank AG, ranked as the top dealer by Germany’s debt agency. Government securities across the euro zone rose this week as the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it will raise interest rates more slowly than previously anticipated. Its ...

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Pound traders get new risk gauge before June 23 vote

Bloomberg Next Wednesday marks exactly three months until Britain’s referendum on its European Union membership. That gives another opportunity for an insight into how concerned pound traders are about the outcome. The benchmark three-month gauge of volatility in sterling versus the dollar will cover the June 23 vote for the first time next week, giving traders another instrument to protect ...

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In oil price plunge, North Sea industry faces perfect storm

Aberdeen / AP It’s Thursday night and the Spider’s Web watering hole is packed with beefy guys in windproof jackets and massive backpacks. The exhausted oil rig workers pile their bags against the wall, play pool or just slump in the leather seat. But despite the crowded atmosphere, there’s not much laughter. It’s not work that bothers them, but the ...

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Cuba plans to lift penalty on dollar, demands embargo end

WASHINGTON / AP Cuba’s government said it plans to do away with a penalty on converting U.S. dollars, but warned the Obama administration not to expect more changes until the U.S. trade embargo is lifted. Three days before President Barack Obama visits the island, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez dismisses Obama’s lofty rhetoric about using his visit to speak directly ...

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Colombia lifts key rate to curb fastest inflation

Bloomberg Colombia’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate for a seventh straight month as the inflation outlook continued to worsen and economic growth unexpectedly accelerated. In a split decision, the seven-member board voted to lift the key rate by a quarter point to 6.5 percent, bank Governor Jose Dario Uribe told reporters after the meeting in Bogota. Policy makers ...

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Brazil’s central bank shifts policy after Real’s surge

Bloomberg Brazil is moving closer to unwinding a measure designed to shore up the nation’s currency as speculation President Dilma Rousseff will be impeached sparks a rally in the real. On Friday, the central bank said it will offer up to 20,000 foreign-exchange reverse swap contracts, which are equivalent to buying dollars in the futures market. The auction, which will ...

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Signs are flashing that the ‘greenback’ plunge has gone too far, too fast

Bloomberg The dollar’s third straight weekly decline is triggering signals that U.S. currency weakness may be overdone. The greenback has gone from beating its major peers last year to losses against every one of those currencies this month. That’s pushed one measure of dollar momentum, the relative strength index, to its most extreme in almost four years as the Federal ...

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Iron Range investments may not create many jobs

AP A state body that invests in the Iron Range poured $17 million into a money-losing ski resort, gave financial assistance to businesses that may not have needed it and failed to require job creation in return for many of the loans it doled out, according to an audit of its activities released on Friday. The Office of the Legislative ...

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Istanbul suicide attack kills 4, wounds 20

Baikonur / AFP A suicide bombing rocked a major shopping street in Istanbul on Saturday, killing four people and wounding 20 others just six days after a deadly attack in Ankara, Turkish authorities said. The attack took place on Istiklal Caddesi, a pedestrian street that was relatively quiet Saturday morning but is usually thronged with shoppers, strollers and buskers later ...

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