The corporate bonds are getting junkier

Much has been made of the degradation of the $7.5 trillion US corporate debt market. High yield offers too little, well, yield. And “high grade” now requires air quotes to account for the growing dominance of bonds rated BBB, which is the lowest rung on the investment-grade ladder before dropping into “junk” status. And then there’s the massive market for ...

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Europe should give May’s soft-Brexit plan a chance

Britain’s endless self-inflicted turmoil over Brexit has taken a fresh turn, with Prime Minister Theresa May’s new plan for a post-Brexit trade agreement and the resignations of key ministers from her government. She’s accused of betraying those who voted for Brexit, and her leadership might soon be challenged. The prospect of a maximally disruptive “hard Brexit” draws ever closer. Yet ...

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Oil and gas companies will lead energy revolution

When it comes to climate change, I have always been a believer: not in hand-wringing debate, not in unrealistic solutions like the elimination of hydrocarbons, but in the power of action. In 1997, as chief executive of BP, I was the first leader of a major oil company to acknowledge that climate change was a problem, and that the industry ...

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ECB throws water on investor Sunlounger

The European Central Bank lost control of the euro money market yield curve, and it wants it back. It has just snapped back on the leash by sending as clear a message as it can – within the incredibly tight framework it has set for itself – that it thinks rate expectations are too low. At its last policy meeting, ...

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RIP Nano. World’s cheapest car goes up in smoke

A moment of silence, please, for the world’s cheapest car, which has all but died in India. It was almost 10 years old. The Nano’s death was confirmed by production numbers: Tata Motors Ltd produced 1 unit in June, down from 275 in the same month last year. Exports were zero, versus 25 in June 2017. The company acknowledged that ...

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Deutsche bank woos buyout giants to finance more deals

Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG is deploying top executives, as well as billions of dollars, as it seeks to win more business with Wall Street’s most active dealmakers. Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing and other senior managers at the bank have fanned out in recent weeks to meet leaders of big US private equity firms, looking to strengthen relationships and drum ...

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Goldman conjures $20bn bond trade from ETF boom

Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is using its position in the $800 billion market for exchange-traded bond funds (ETF) to build a business that its Wall Street rivals now want to emulate. The bank has this year almost tripled the volume of ‘‘credit portfolio trades,’’ whereby it buys or sells large scale blocks of securities through ETFs, to around $20 ...

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Barclays ends 100-year-old Africa presence

Bloomberg Barclays Africa Group Ltd. is no more. And with that a chapter closes on its former British parent’s 100-year history on the continent. The lender on Wednesday ditched the name to revert to Absa Group Ltd. as it severs ties with Barclays Plc after the London-based company sold down the controlling stake it bought in 2005. The Johannesburg-based company ...

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New Malaysia central bank chief strikes neutral tone on rate

Bloomberg Malaysia’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate steady in the first policy meeting under a new governor, providing support to an economy that Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is trying to revamp. Bank Negara Malaysia held the overnight policy rate at 3.25 percent, it said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, as predicted by all 19 economists ...

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Danske fine may be $670mn as analysts look at new evidence

Bloomberg There are so far no charges or convictions, but analysts are already guessing how big a fine Danske Bank A/S might have to pay following allegations it became a major hub for money laundering in Europe. A potential penalty could be as high as $4.7 billion or as low as $315 million, and estimates average out at $670 million, ...

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