As the climate changes, avoid green energy bets

Hurricanes, severe winter storms, wildfires, droughts and several recently issued reports have raised fresh concerns about climate change and the threat it may pose to the planet. The first thing investors should do in reaction to the global warming issue is not panic. Steven Koonin, a theoretical physicist who served as undersecretary of energy and science in the Obama administration, ...

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Macron just doesn’t get it

The sorry truth is that both progressives and neoliberals still don’t get it and that seems to be true in France most of all. Since the election of President Emmanuel Macron in 2017, I have read or heard that he is the leader of the free world, the hope for Europe and a model for the US. Instead, he increasingly ...

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GM doesn’t need Trump’s advice

President Donald Trump is mad at General Motors Co. He’s been mad at the automotive giant since late last month, when GM announced a major overhaul that would likely involve closing four US factories (and three foreign ones) and shedding thousands of jobs. This week, he reiterated his displeasure in an interview with Fox Business, calling GM’s action “nasty.” This ...

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May’s victory is a vote against no-deal Brexit

Conservative lawmakers in the UK voted on one question, but decided another. Their choice may not make the path for an orderly Brexit any easier, but it may make a disorderly Brexit a little less likely. The ballot presented to 317 Tory members of parliament was straightforward: It asked them whether they had confidence in their party leader, Prime Minister ...

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Analysts see no imminent turnaround for asset class

Bloomberg If Jason Daw is right, some of the world’s biggest investors are setting themselves up for a major disappointment. The Singapore-based strategist at Societe Generale, one of the few to anticipate the slump in emerging markets beginning in January, sees no imminent turnaround for the asset class. He said the modest rally in currencies since September, led by Brazil’s ...

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Bain-backed crypto startup shuts down over securities laws

Bloomberg The worst thing you can call a cryptocurrency project isn’t a “scam” — although many have been called that. It’s a “security.” By casting digital assets in with stocks and bonds, the more stringent rules governing those traditional asset classes will be applied to cryptos. For proof of what that can mean for the nascent market, look no further ...

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Bond trading at Canada’s big banks hits lowest since 2011

Bloomberg Canada’s biggest banks suffered the worst decline in bond trading revenue since 2011 as volatility pushed investors to the sidelines. Revenue from trading fixed income, currencies and commodities fell 8.1 percent to C$6.32 billion ($4.72 billion) at the six large Canadian lenders in the latest fiscal year, a further erosion from the 6.1 percent decline in 2017, according to ...

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Peru holds rates at 2.75% as economic recovery loses steam

Bloomberg Peru’s central bank held borrowing costs unchanged as tame inflation allows it to keep stimulating the economy after growth slowed in the third quarter. The central bank board, led by President Julio Velarde, kept benchmark lending rate at 2.75 percent for the ninth consecutive month. That matched the forecast of all 11 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. “The board considers ...

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Draghi defends euro as bastion against ‘illiberal’ regimes

Bloomberg European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi defended the results of two decades of European political and monetary integration against the return of “illiberal” policies and regimes. Speaking in his native Italy, where a euro-skeptic populist government is openly flaunting European Union rules, Draghi listed the euro’s successes, while admitting that not all have benefited equally from it. He ...

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Nordea Bank sees thaw despite IPO freeze

Bloomberg The Nordic listings market has cooled off in recent months, with several companies cancelling their initial public offerings amid plunging stock prices. But the biggest Nordic bank isn’t ready to call an end to an environment that has produced a record number of listings in recent years. “It’s far too early to say that the positive fundamentals for the ...

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