September, 2022

• 3 September

  UK predicts up to $199 billion excess profits for energy firms

  

    Bloomberg UK gas producers and electricity generators may make excess profits totalling as much as £170 billion ($199 billion) over the next two years, according to Treasury estimates that lay bare the revenue-raising potential of a windfall tax. Treasury officials will deliver the assessment to the next prime minister when they take office on September 6, according to a ...

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• 3 September

  Germany is turning more pessimistic on Russian gas this winter

  

  Bloomberg Germany says it can’t rely on gas supplies from Russia this winter as Europe faces a crunch point in its energy crisis, with Nord Stream flows disrupted by maintenance this week and more works expected next month. Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck is becoming increasingly pessimistic about the role of Russia’s Gazprom PJSC in supplying the vital fuel during ...

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• 3 September

  France to extend help with energy costs for small firms

  

    Bloomberg France will extend aid for small and mid-sized companies struggling with surging energy costs until the end of the year, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told business leaders. The government will also loosen the conditions for firms to request financial help from the 3 billion-euro ($3 billion) fund, Le Maire said. “At the heart of our policy is ...

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• 3 September

  Spain to reduce VAT on gas bills

    Bloomberg The Spanish government will cut value-added tax on natural gas to 5% from 21%, in the latest step to blunt the impact on households and businesses of inflation running at its highest level in nearly four decades. The cut will start in October and last until the end of the year, Sanchez said in an interview with Spanish ...

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• 3 September

  India’s top refiner to spend $25 billion to cut emissions

  

    Bloomberg Indian Oil Corp., the country’s biggest refiner, said it plans to spend 2 trillion rupees ($25 billion) to achieve carbon neutrality in its operations by 2046. The company will target Scope 1 and 2 emissions under its net zero aim, Shrikant Madhav Vaidya, chairman of the state-owned refiner-cum-fuel retailer, said. It plans to achieve 60% of the goal ...

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• 3 September

  The race for missiles in Asia’s danger zone

  

    It’s no surprise that for US allies in Asia, “Top Gun: Maverick” is the year’s most-watched American movie, topping the box office in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. The simple tale of US might and gumption against an evil faceless opponent certainly resonates in a region that’s facing intensifying threats. But no one is placing bets that Tom Cruise ...

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• 3 September

  The Fed’s messaging needs an upgrade

  

  Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at last week’s central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, was brief — but financial markets took notice. The S&P 500 fell sharply as investors adjusted their thinking on how tough the Fed was willing to be to get inflation back under control. Powell underlined that restoring price stability is the Fed’s “overarching focus” ...

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• 3 September

  Junk bond traders ought to check in with experts

    Corporate junk bonds in the US are paying investors a paltry premium for the risk of holding them into a looming recession. Either spreads need to widen or the recession clouds need to vanish, but something’s got to give. Consider the first possibility, the base case. Junk spreads typically track recession risk closely, and the economic gloom has been ...

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• 3 September

  Mikhail Gorbachev defied convention in Cold War

    Mikhail Gorbachev, who died on Tuesday at 91, defied convention in ways small and large throughout some of the most tumultuous years of the Cold War. He failed in his most basic ambitions. But the world was better for them all the same. Born to peasants in a rural village that had been ravaged by collectivization, Gorbachev grasped the ...

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• 3 September

  O’Hare sells $1.8bn of debt in year’s biggest airport deal

  

    Bloomberg Chicago has sold the largest municipal airport transaction this year amid swirling volatility in fixed-income markets, pricing $1.8 billion of debt that will partially fund improvements at O’Hare International Airport. The $1.1 billion Series 2022A includes bonds due in January 2031 which priced with a 5% coupon and 3.69% yield, while debt due 2055 with a 5% coupon ...

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