December, 2018

• 10 December

  Worry less about inflation, more about recession

  

  Any move by the Federal Reserve is the subject of concern and debate, as it should be. President Donald Trump has gotten involved in that debate, breaking a tradition of recent decades of presidential silence about Fed policy. He is “not even a little bit happy” about higher interest rates. Some economists join Trump in thinking that the Fed is ...

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• 10 December

  US equities slump with Europe as pound falls

  

  Bloomberg US equities slumped with stocks in Europe and Asia as traders mulled the outlook for global growth and a potential escalation of tension between Washington and Beijing. The pound weakened as Theresa May was said to delay a crucial Brexit vote. The S&P 500 Index was led lower by banks and energy companies as technology shares fared better following ...

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• 10 December

  Pound slips over ‘Brexit-deal vote’ to 18-month low

  Bloomberg The pound dropped to its weakest level in almost 18 months and government bonds rallied as UK Prime Minister Theresa May was said to have called off a crucial vote in Parliament on her Brexit deal. Sterling weakened versus all its Group-of-10 peers as the vote, set originally for Tuesday, would be rescheduled, according to a person familiar with ...

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• 10 December

  Banks comb US data for recession hints

  

  Bloomberg Wall Street’s biggest banks are scouring US data for signals of an impending recession. On balance, they’ve been finding that a 2019 downturn still isn’t likely — though it’s becoming slightly more so. The current expansion is eight months away from becoming longest in postwar history. Most indicators remain solid enough to suggest it’ll get there. But sell-off in ...

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• 10 December

  RBI head quits amid rift with govt

  

  Bloomberg Urjit Patel resigned as governor of India’s central bank amid growing differences with the government on addressing issues ranging from problems at the country’s lenders to utilisation of capital reserves. “On account of personal reasons, I have decided to step down from my current position effective immediately,” Patel said in a statement posted on the central bank’s website. Patel, ...

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• 10 December

  Commerzbank loses execs as corporate unit struggles

  

  Bloomberg Commerzbank AG is replacing two top executives as progress in Chief Executive Officer Martin Zielke’s turnaround plan remains uneven. Michael Reuther, who heads the corporate clients unit, will leave when his term expires next September, while Chief Operating Officer Frank Annus-cheit is stepping down at end of the year for health reasons. The changes touch on two key pieces ...

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• 10 December

  Fed says growth still modest or moderate

  

  Bloomberg Optimism over prospects for growth at US firms has begun to fade even as a majority of Federal Reserve districts continued to report modest to moderate economic expansion in recent weeks. “Most districts reported that firms remained positive,” according to a Federal Reserve report. “However, optimism has waned in some as contacts cited increased uncertainty from impacts of tariffs, ...

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• 10 December

  ‘Credit Suisse to buy back stock, boost dividend’

  Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG will announce a share-buyback program worth “billions” and increase its dividend at an investor day this week, newspaper SonntagsZeitung reported, without saying where it got the information. There’s pressure on Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam to follow in the footsteps of Sergio Ermotti, head of rival UBS Group AG, and use his own money to ...

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• 10 December

  Bombardier sees shift to ‘growth cycle’ on luxury jet

  

  Bloomberg Bombardier Inc., which has been reeling from a weaker cash-flow forecast and a heavy debt load, says it’s about to transition to a new phase of sales growth. The Global 7500 luxury jet, which will debut in the coming days, will add at least $2.5 billion a year in revenue by 2020, Bombardier said in a presentation. The company ...

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• 10 December

  AirAsia’s Vietnam venture aims to begin operations in August

  

  Bloomberg The Vietnam partner of AirAsia Group Bhd. expects their new carrier to begin operations in August, joining the ranks of low-cost airlines in Southeast Asia as a growing middle class spurs many to travel by air. The domestic airline will apply for its aviation license in February and expects to gain the necessary regulatory approvals within six months, said ...

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