May, 2016

• 2 May

  ECB deep freeze on €500-note risks German cold shoulder

  

    Bloomberg When European Central Bank policy makers discuss the fate of the €500-note this week, they may want to consider the case of Fabio Rizzi. After the local politician in the Italian region of Lombardy was arrested on corruption charges in February, police found more than €17,000 including €500- and €200-bank notes stashed in his home, according to the ...

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• 2 May

  French prez Hollande could nix TTIP if agriculture threatened

  

    Paris / AFP France will reject the ambitious TTIP transatlantic trade pact if it endangers the future of French agriculture, President Francois Hollande warned on Sunday. “We in France have to defend a certain number of principles” and be “extremely vigilant as it is the future of agriculture which could be at stake,” Hollande’s office said. French politicians have ...

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• 2 May

  Merkel’s €1.2bn German e-car push boosts Infineon, STMicro

  

    Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel’s €1.2 billion ($1.4 billion) electric-car push is a boon to another industry seeking to benefit from the shift beyond gasoline: chipmakers such as Germany’s Infineon Technologies AG. The subsidy program, which kicks off in May with rebates for vehicle buyers and plans for 15,000 battery-charging stations, translates into about $300 million of chips by 2019, ...

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• 2 May

  Polish manufacturing gauge in 2nd-largest drop since 2008

    Bloomberg A gauge tracking Poland’s manufacturing industry had its second-biggest one-month decline since the global financial crisis in late 2008, marking “an abrupt loss of momentum” at the start of the second quarter, according to Markit Economics. The Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 51 last month from 53.8 in March, remaining above the 50 threshold that separates contraction from ...

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• 2 May

  Threat of $227bn power market break up is pain for traders

  

    Bloomberg Germany and Austria’s prospective breakup of their shared €200 billion-($227 billion) power market is vexing traders and companies that say splitting the union will push up manufacturing costs and drive away investment. Lechwerke AG, a German utility, is resisting supplying its Austrian clients with longer-dated power contracts because it doesn’t know how much to charge them if the ...

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• 2 May

  Brazil’s embattled Rousseff courts base with more popular spending

  

    Bloomberg President Dilma Rousseff promised increased spending on her party’s most popular social program and took other measures aimed at her electoral base, less than two weeks before Brazil’s Senate is expected to vote in favor of the impeachment process she calls a coup d’etat. At a rally of labour unions and Workers’ Party faithful in Sao Paulo on ...

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• 2 May

  May is kindest month for dollar bulls after six straight gains

  

    Bloomberg After falling for three months, the dollar is set to rebound, if this historical seasonal chart is any guide. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback versus 10 peers, has appreciated in May in every year but one since 2007, according to a Bloomberg Seasonality Chart. That’s the best record among the 12 months. Analysts’ theories ...

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• 2 May

  Halliburton, Baker Hughes call off merger

  

    San Francisco / AFP US oil services companies Halliburton and Baker Hughes announced they were calling off their massive multibillion-dollar proposed merger that had met strong resistance from regulators. The deal, announced in November 2014, foresaw a $34.6 billion takeover by Halliburton of its rival, creating a powerful competitor to global industry leader Schlumberger. “Challenges in obtaining remaining regulatory approvals ...

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• 2 May

  Puerto Rico set to default on Govt Development Bank debt

  

    Bloomberg Puerto Rico will default on a $422 million bond payment for its Government Development Bank, escalating what is turning into the biggest crisis ever in the $3.7 trillion market that U.S. state and local entities use to access financing. Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla invoked a debt moratorium law approved last month, saying during a televised address that the ...

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• 2 May

  USA in desperate bid to save Syria truce as Aleppo bombed

  

    Geneva / AFP Fresh air strikes pummelled the Syrian city of Aleppo on Monday as US Secretary of State John Kerry made a desperate bid to salvage a two-month ceasefire in the war-torn country. The top US diplomat gave some of his most downbeat comments yet after meeting the UN peace envoy on Syria, saying the conflict was “in ...

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