December, 2018

• 23 December

  Attorneys General seek to bar seismic oil tests in Atlantic

  

  Bloomberg Attorneys general from nine coastal states are intervening in a lawsuit aimed at blocking seismic surveys that could help pinpoint oil under Atlantic waters but also imperil whales and dolphins. The move brings the heft and resources of top state law enforcement officials to a fight over the future of oil and gas exploration along the US East Coast. …

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• 23 December

  Solar power buyers loved 2018; panel makers loathed it

  

  Bloomberg Solar-panel makers had an awful 2018, but their customers really enjoyed it. Module manufacturers lost about 40 percent of their market value this year, even as the number of installations hit another record. The problem? Most makers are having to sell solar modules for below cost to compete with Chinese supplies. That’s helped buyers of solar power, which in …

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• 23 December

  BlackRock Energy ETF sends big investor fleeing as oil dips

  

  Bloomberg With oil hovering just above its lowest level since August 2017, at least one large investor is dumping a BlackRock Inc exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking the global energy industry. Two large blocks of the $1.4 billion iShares Global Energy ETF, or IXC, sold. The first was 1.1 million shares worth $34 million at 10:37 am in New York, and …

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• 23 December

  Wall Street trading explodes as stock rout sparks angst

  

  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 …

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• 23 December

  S Korea’s won not stopping bond bulls

  

  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 — …

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• 23 December

  Quantitative tightening is rattling markets

  

  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 …

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• 23 December

  US loan fund sees record outflows

  

  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 …

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• 23 December

  Morgan Stanley plans to boost bonus pool

  

  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 …

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• 23 December

  Inflation overshoot fades over Fed hike

  

  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 …

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• 23 December

  UniCredit to sell $1.1bn of German realty assets

  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, …

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