January, 2018

• 16 January

  Profiting from the next market crash won’t be easy

  

  Current debates about stock valuations resemble the arcane meditations of medieval monks. But the real drivers are more mundane. Traders, weaned on tales of financial derring-do like ‘The Big Short,’ want to be the ones who profit from the next crash. The problem is that it may be easier to predict the crash than to profit from it. To make ...

  Read More »
• 16 January

  Sorry, no one wants your used clothes anymore

  

  For decades, the donation bin has offered consumers in rich countries a guilt-free way to unload their old clothing. In a virtuous and profitable cycle, a global network of traders would collect these garments, grade them, and transport them around the world to be recycled, worn again, or turned into rags and stuffing. Now that cycle is breaking down. Fashion ...

  Read More »
• 16 January

  Saudi Aramco snubs Bank of America, UBS for listing roles

  

  LONDON / Reuters Saudi Aramco has not invited UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to pitch for senior advisory roles in its stock market listing because they have not lent money to the state oil giant in recent years, according to five finance sources. The two investment banks, among the world’s biggest, have not been asked to attend meetings ...

  Read More »
• 16 January

  ECB’s bond purchases may end after September

  

  Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) should adjust its policy guidance before the summer and shouldn’t have any problems ending net asset purchases in one swoop after September, Governing Council member Ardo Hansson said. While the Estonian policy maker judged the ECB’s current stance as broadly appropriate, he argued in an interview with German newspaper Boersen-Zeitung that there was a ...

  Read More »
• 16 January

  Banks must manage own rate risks: RBI

  

  Bloomberg Indian sovereign bonds and the rupee tumbled after a central bank official warned banks they can’t keep relying on the regulator to manage their interest-rate risks, as the rout in the debt market extended into its sixth month. The regular use of regulatory help “isn’t desirable from the point of view of efficient price discovery” in the bond market ...

  Read More »
• 16 January

  PBOC boosts injections to counter liquidity tightening

  

  Bloomberg China’s central bank boosted injections via open-market operations to the most in two months to counter seasonal tightening of liquidity. The People’s Bank of China pumped in a net 270 billion yuan ($42 billion) on Tuesday, as sales of reverse-repurchase agreements more than offset maturities. That’s the most since Nov. 16, data compiled by Bloomberg show. As much as ...

  Read More »
• 16 January

  No rush for dollars in Morocco as looser peg boosts currency

  

  Bloomberg It finally happened: Morocco eased its grip on the dirham. But there was no stampede for dollars and the currency strengthened. Bank al-Maghrib set the reference rate at 9.2184 per dollar even after the central bank widened the dirham fluctuation band to 2.5 percent above or below its peg. And the regulator allocated less than a fifth of the ...

  Read More »
• 15 January

  ENOC holds talks with banks for retail unit IPO

  

  Bloomberg Emirates National Oil Co, the state-owned oil refiner in Dubai, has held discussions with banking advisers for a potential initial public offering of its fuel-retailing unit, on the heels of a similar move in Abu Dhabi, according to people familiar with the matter. The retail arm of ENOC, as the company is known, could be valued at more than ...

  Read More »
• 15 January

  Abu Dhabi aims for second solar plant

  

  ABU DHABI / Reuters Abu Dhabi is pushing ahead with a second solar power plant and will invite bidders by the middle of the year, a top official of the emirate’s utility said on Monday. Last year the Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (Adwea) closed a $872 million financing package for its first solar power plant with capacity of ...

  Read More »
• 15 January

  FAB issues $610mn Formosa bond

  Abu Dhabi / Reuters First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the largest bank in the United Arab Emirates, has issued a $610 million Formosa bond, it said on Monday, confirming an earlier Reuters report. Formosa bonds are sold in Taiwan by foreign borrowers and are denominated in currencies other than the Taiwanese dollar. First Abu Dhabi Bank priced the deal last ...

  Read More »