Mark Whitehouse Later this week, European regulators will report on stress tests designed to determine whether the region’s banking system could withstand a crisis. Judging from a separate indicator of financial strength, the truth is probably more than they can handle. The tests will focus on 51 banks in the European Union and Norway, subjecting them to an adverse …

  A worrying trend is developing in the corporate bond market: Even with borrowing costs at or near their lowest ever, companies are increasingly unable to pay their debts. There have already been enough defaults around the world this year to suggest that the record set in 2009 might be beaten. And that should ring alarm bells for traders and …

  Bloomberg The Group of 20 meeting in China added to the chorus of voices calling for more fiscal measures to boost growth, which could have important implications for asset prices if carried out successfully. With markets accustomed to a world of ever more innovative monetary policy, analysts from Deutsche Bank to Morgan Stanley say such a shift could in …

  Bloomberg Instances like the London Interbank Offered Rate better known as Libor are enough to make those who remember the 2008 financial crisis shudder with apprehension. Back then, bank borrowing costs ticked up as investors fretted over the soundness of lending unsecured short-term money to potentially troubled financial institutions. Nowadays, though there’s plenty of handwringing about the state of …

  BLOOMBERG The cost for banks wanting to move their U.K. staff abroad after Britain decided to leave the European Union is 50,000 pounds ($65,660) per employee, according to consulting firm Synechron Inc. Synechron’s analysis, which was published on Monday, included the cost of relocating staff, hiring and firing other employees and setting up new offices in cities that could …

  Bloomberg The Bank of Israel left its benchmark interest rate near zero, as growth slowed, home prices rose and exporters braced for the impact of the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union — Israel’s largest trading partner. The decision to hold the rate at 0.1 percent was forecast by all 17 economists in a Bloomberg survey. The central …

  Bloomberg The Central Bank of Kenya maintained its benchmark interest rate at 10.5 percent with an eye on accelerating inflation and concerns that Britain’s exit from the European Union may trigger capital flight. The decision by the monetary policy committee led by Governor Patrick Njoroge was anticipated by seven of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. One economist predicted a …

  AFP Yahoo sealed a deal Monday to sell its core business to telecom giant Verizon for $4.8 billion, ending a two-decade run as an independent company for the internet pioneer. The agreement announced by the two companies after months of negotiations comes following a years-long decline for the iconic firm that introduced many people around the world to the …

  Relaxnews After its first presentation in May 2016 at the Google I/0 conference, summer brings more news on the latest version of Android — version 7.0, also known as Nougat — ahead of its official launch this fall. VIRUS DETECTION BLOCKS SYSTEM BOOTING Android is the world’s most popular mobile operating system (84.1% market share for Q1 2016, according …

  Relaxnews The first ever genuine Star Wars drones are official and despite not going on sale until the fall and currently not being available to US fans even to reserve, the buzz they’re creating can be heard in a galaxy far, far away. Built by Propel and called ‘Battle Quads’ rather than drones, the range will launch with a …