Donald Trump gave a well-timed speech on Thursday, laying out his policies on energy. That day, for the first time in six months, oil hit $50 a barrel, and he was in North Dakota, which produces more oil than any other state but Texas. The audience there welcomed his calls for greater production of fossil fuels, an end to ...
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South Korea, THAAD, and the China problem
Many questions have yet to be answered regarding the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea. It has been widely reported that discussions regarding deployment have been underway since early March 2016 but after initial hopes of a quick resolution, no end to the discussions seems to be in sight. What will South ...
Read More »Bonds fall on Fed outlook as US stocks swing; crude climbs
BLOOMBERG Bonds fell as the Federal Reserve seems intent to raise interest rates this summer amid signs inflation is picking up, while oil headed for its longest run of monthly gains in five years and stocks in the U.S. were little changed. Treasuries retreated in the first full day of trading since Fed Chair Janet Yellen said late Friday ...
Read More »Risky reprise of debt binge stars USA firms, not consumers
Bloomberg Consumers were the Achilles’ heel of the U.S. economy in the run-up to the last recession. This time, companies may play that role. Among the warning signs: rising debt, lagging profits and mounting defaults. While the financial vulnerabilities aren’t likely to lead to another downturn soon, economists say they point to potential potholes down the road for an ...
Read More »Indexes diverge but end the month at a loss
Dubai / Reuters Share market indexes in the Middle East diverged on Tuesday, with Saudi Arabia’s index outperforming peers as some positive news lifted shares, but all markets ended with losses for the month. Riyadh’s index rebounded 1.4 percent, ending three sessions of declines, although volumes were the lowest since last October. The index was down 5.3 percent in ...
Read More »Deutsche under radar in Treasury rigging probe
Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG has emerged as a focus of a probe into whether traders rigged auctions for USA government debt, the New York Post reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. No bank has been accused of wrongdoing, but investigators are narrowing their focus after requesting documents and communications from all of the 22 primary dealers in ...
Read More »CCB, ICBC plan to sell asset-backed securities
Bloomberg China Construction Bank Corp is planning to sell asset-backed securities tied to non-performing loans, said a person familiar with the matter. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd is also planning an offering, other people said. CCB is preparing to make an offering of ABS tied to soured loans, and the size and price haven’t yet been decided, ...
Read More »ECB to keep deploying tools to combat low inflation risk: Visco
Bloomberg The European Central Bank will keep using all instruments at its disposal to counter the risk of low inflation in the euro region, Governing Council member Ignazio Visco said. “For monetary policy, the main challenge remains the persistence of excessively low inflation,†Visco, who is also governor of the Bank of Italy, said in a speech delivered on ...
Read More »Saudi to hire HSBC banker for debt office
Bloomberg Saudi Arabia hired HSBC Holdings Plc banker Fahad Al Saif to start a debt management office that will be responsible for the kingdom’s first international bond sale, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Al Saif joined the Ministry of Finance on an open-ended secondment from HSBC’s Saudi British Bank, the people said, asking not to be ...
Read More »Egyptian pound holds steady against dollar
Reuters Egypt’s central bank kept the pound steady against the dollar at its official foreign currency auction on Tuesday, central bank data showed, and the currency was stable on the black market. The central bank sold US$118.6 million at a cut-off price of 8.78 dollar, unchanged from last week. The central bank has kept the pound artificially strong since ...
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