January, 2018

• 8 January

  Indian economy faces an ominous new year

  

  You’d think the Indian economy had returned to rosy health. It seems to have recovered from two enormous disruptions—Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision just over a year ago to withdraw 86% of the currency in circulation, and the poorly-planned rollout in the middle of 2017 of the new goods and services tax (GST). Exports are no longer declining, as they ...

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• 8 January

  Apple effort to make amends is bad for iPhone business

  

  I hate to be a party pooper, but I am. Apple Inc.’s decision to do the right thing for customers will be bad for business. You probably know that Apple (sort of) apologized for not telling people about a software tweak it made about a year ago that slowed performance of iPhones with worn out batteries, to prevent them from ...

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• 8 January

  A tool for making sense of cryptocurrency markets

  

  Bitcoin rose 88 percent from December 1 to 19, then fell 23 percent by December 30, 2017, a net 44 percent increase for the month. Attention naturally focused on those events, but the important longer-term story is what’s happening within the entire cryptocurrency sector. The market value of all non-bitcoin crypto assets rose 153 percent during bitcoin’s upswing, and 4 ...

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• 8 January

  UBS in talks to buy majority stake in China securities JV

  

  Bloomberg UBS Group AG is in discussions to acquire a majority stake in its Chinese securities joint venture, Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti said, as global banks rush to take advantage of Beijing’s pledge to further open its financial markets. UBS has started talks with its local partners on taking a 51 percent stake in the venture, Ermotti said in ...

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• 8 January

  Ex-RBS trader Danziger banned, fined $338,000 over Libor manipulation

  

  Bloomberg A former Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc trader was fined 250,000 pounds ($338,000) and banned from working in the industry by the UK markets regulator for manipulating Libor, five years after the bank was penalised for its role in the scandal. The Financial Conduct Authority issued the penalty against Neil Danziger on Monday, saying the ex-trader “routinely” made ...

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• 8 January

  Bigger bets on pound poised to come back into play

  Bloomberg After a quiet start to January, this week could see bigger bets come back into play on the pound. With the UK Parliament returning from recess and a slew of data, investors will be looking to put on fresh sterling positions, according to Neil Jones, head of currency sales at Mizuho Bank Ltd. Despite lingering Brexit uncertainty and a ...

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• 8 January

  Romania surprises with first rate hike in a decade

  

  Bloomberg Romania unexpectedly raised borrowing costs for the first time in almost a decade as inflation bounces back and its economy expands at one of the continent’s quickest paces. The central bank lifted its benchmark interest rate to 2 percent from a record-low 1.75 percent on Monday, according to an emailed statement. The move was predicted by five of 15 ...

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• 8 January

  Fed’s monetary policy lodestar attacked at economists’ gathering

  

  Bloomberg Milton Friedman put a nail in the coffin of the original version of the Phillips Curve 50 years ago when he correctly foresaw that the US could simultaneously suffer from high unemployment and lofty inflation. A growing number of economists are now trying to lay to rest Phillips Curve 2.0, still in use at the Federal Reserve and other ...

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• 8 January

  More JFK flights diverted as Port Authority pledges probe

  

  Bloomberg Travellers from around the world faced more chaos after flooding at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport caused fresh flight delays and diversions amid operations already strained by a snowstorm and freezing temperatures. The meltdown, two days after the year’s first major snowstorm, left passengers to deal with long lines to rebook cancelled flights and to search through ...

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• 8 January

  Chinese airline shares jump as fares eased

  

  Bloomberg Chinese airline shares surged after the government gave airlines more freedom to set fares for domestic flights, easing state control over prices. China removed the caps on full fares and airlines can decide on prices for routes as long as they are served by at least five carriers, according to a joint statement by the Civil Aviation Administration of ...

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