March, 2019

• 6 March

  Three things Trump can do to keep economy humming

  

  President Donald Trump promised to hit 3 percent growth in 2017 — and the economy just barely made it, according to figures released last week. To keep it going, the administration is going to have to change its approach on the three main issues that will drive future growth: trade, taxes and immigration. The biggest drag on growth came from ...

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• 6 March

  Europeans are leaving UK ‘poorer’

  

  Even before Britain has left Europe, Europeans are leaving Britain. The latest figures confirm the trend: Since the 2016 Brexit referendum, net migration from European Union (EU) countries into the UK has been declining, while that from non-EU members has been climbing. But the most striking of the figures published last week are those showing that more central and eastern ...

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• 6 March

  Change is good, even for insurance companies

  After searching far and wide for a new CEO for the past five months, Aviva Plc is sticking with a familiar face: on Monday, it named a 26-year company veteran as its new boss. More of the same may be just what the British insurer needs, but changing investors’ negative view of that strategy could require time. It’s a luxury ...

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• 6 March

  China’s bond market frenzy may end badly

  Last August, when a paramilitary group almost became the first default among local government financing vehicles, few would have thought that another asset frenzy was afoot in China. Yet off-budget local government debt is having a fun ride. After that scare, yields for AA rated, three-year bonds issued by local government financing vehicles compressed to 3.9 percent from about 5 ...

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• 6 March

  UK inequality is running deeper than you think

  

  From left to right, British politicians have taken one particular issue to heart. “When it comes to opportunity we won’t entrench the advantages of the fortunate few, we will do everything we can to help anybody,” said Theresa May in her maiden speech as prime minister in July 2016. Since becoming Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn has lambasted “grotesque” disparities that ...

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• 6 March

  India, China fall into ‘monetary’ leadership

  

  India and China are leading the world. Kind of. In the dovish tilt that’s defined interest rates lately, only two noteworthy central banks have actually loosened monetary policy: the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Both have indicated there’s more to come. When people talk about Asia’s two giants moving out front, they tend ...

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• 6 March

  Central bankers confronted with climate threats

  

  Towards the end of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony before Congress this week, US Senator Brian Schatz asked him, “Do you agree that climate change creates financial risks for the individual financial institutions and for our financial system as a whole?” His answer reveals the challenge in finding a long-term, universal answer to business as usual. It also raises ...

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• 6 March

  US stocks edge lower as dollar rallies for fifth day

  

  Bloomberg US stocks edged lower as investors struggled to find inspiration after a torrid start to the year. The dollar rallied for a fifth day. The S&P 500 Index fell 0.1 percent. Equities opened lower amid a lack of progress on the US-China trade deal before briefly erasing losses on home-sales and service-industries data that beat estimates. General Electric Co. ...

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• 6 March

  A $1trillion rally’s reward is billions of ETF outflows

  

  Bloomberg European stocks may be off to a roaring start this year, but exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking them aren’t immune to the outflows that hit US equity funds earlier in the quarter. Despite an 11 percent surge for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, ETFs targeting region’s shares have bled more than $4 billion in 2019. Among the biggest losers: benchmark ...

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• 6 March

  Swiss banks an Italian target after record UBS French fine

  

  Bloomberg Italian financial police are demanding Swiss lenders disclose the names of bankers working in Italy, setting up a potential clash with regulators after UBS Group AG was hit with a record fine by French authorities. The Guardia di Finanza has sent a letter to Swiss lenders asking for a list of all their Italian units, data on local relationship ...

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