There has been a ton written over the past few months — some but far from all of it inspired by Amazon.com Inc.’s “second headquarters” search — about the diverging economic fortunes of America’s metropolitan areas. A lot of it has been very interesting and informative. Taken as a whole, though, it can be pretty confusing. Are we, for example, ...

Italy’s populist rulers may have been hoping for some market contagion fear to help them win their budget standoff with Brussels, but so far it’s been a dog that didn’t bark. The economic program of the League and Five Star spooked investors in Italian government bonds, but failed to affect any other member state of the monetary union, barring Greece. ...

Bloomberg If you asked investors a few months ago what they’d remember about this year’s market, it would’ve been the storm of volatility that laid everything low in February. That episode is starting to seem quaint. Maybe nothing out of the ordinary is happening to stocks by historical standards, but try telling that to traders, who instead of relaxing for ...

Bloomberg Foreign investors piling into South Korean bonds have made them the second-best performers in emerging Asia in the past six months. The coming week may give them more reason to keep buying. Seen as a haven from this year’s sell-off in emerging-market assets, the nation’s debt has drawn $45.6 billion from global funds this year. A weakening won — ...

Bloomberg When it comes to reversing their crisis-era bond buying, central bankers are focussed on the destination. Traders in risk assets care more about what could be a painful journey. The contrasting views upset markets this week. Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated the notion that the Federal Reserve would remain on auto pilot when trimming its $4 trill- ion portfolio, and ...

Bloomberg Investors pulled money out of US loan funds at a record pace, withdrawing $3.3 billion in the week ended December 19, as they grew increasingly spooked by market turmoil. It was the fifth straight week of outflows of more than $1 billion, an exodus that’s driven prices to the lowest since September 2016, according to the S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan ...

Bloomberg Morgan Stanley is planning to increase bonuses for dealmakers and traders, businesses that are on pace for a bigger revenue jump than at the firm’s rivals, according to a person familiar with the matter. Percentage increases for Morgan Stanley’s institutional-securities group will be in the low-to-mid single digits, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing pay ...

Bloomberg The Federal Reserve spent early 2018 assuring investors it wouldn’t fret if inflation climbed above its 2 percent target. That possibility now looks increasingly distant. Oil prices have slumped, weighing on expectations. Housing, a big inflation contributor throughout this cycle, is cooling. And while the core version of the Fed’s preferred price index touched 2 percent this year, Fed ...

Bloomberg UniCredit SpA is seeking to sell as much as 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) of German real-estate assets as part of a plan to boost capital, people with knowledge of the matter said. The Italian bank is working with real estate company Cushman & Wakefield on the sale of office buildings and bank branches belonging to its HypoVereinsbank unit, ...

Bloomberg Nike Inc. surged the most since June after its second-quarter results soared past projections, particularly in its two most important regions: North America and Greater China. Domestically, the world’s largest sportswear company posted its third-straight quarter of growth. That sustained momentum is a critical benchmark for investors. Nike was previously in a yearlong slump at home, letting rival Adidas ...