Just when shoppers are putting more jars of coffee and bottles of shampoo into their baskets, there’s another worry for the big consumer goods groups: they don’t want to pay more for them. Last week both Nestle SA and Unilever NV announced a return to volume growth in the first quarter of their financial years — and pricing that was ...
Read More »The sooner economic policy is fixed the better
Policymakers from some 180 countries wrapped up the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington on Sunday with a warning: Take steps now, while the global economy is still strengthening, to head off escalating risks of instability looming just over the horizon. The message was reminiscent of the “yes, but†theme that dominated the same ...
Read More »Banks’ push for Libor substitute gains pace on ‘Sonia’ new version
Bloomberg Tarred by a fixing scandal that struck at the height of the financial crisis, bankers and investors for years have been grappling with finding a replacement for the Libor benchmark used to set borrowing rates on trillions of loans and derivatives. Now the Bank of England has finally unveiled a key part. On Tuesday, the BOE for the first ...
Read More »Euro bulls feel fatigue as signs of slowing economic growth cloud ECB path
Bloomberg Some euro bulls are wondering if the party is over, for now. The outlook for the past year’s best-performing major currency is being clouded by skepticism the European Central Bank will be able to tighten policy as early as previously thought, given signs of slowing economic growth. OppenheimerFunds Inc.’s multi-asset money manager Alessio de Longis is moving toward a ...
Read More »Deutsche Bank mulls cuts to US cash equities
Bloomberg Barely two weeks into the job, Deutsche Bank AG’s Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing is considering a retreat that could mark the end of the bank’s two-decade quest to compete with Wall Street. Sewing is weighing extensive cuts to the lender’s cash equities business in the US and may announce details as part of a wider restructuring of its ...
Read More »Banks told by EU to solve their $134 trillion Brexit headache
Bloomberg The European Union spurned UK calls for a legislative fix to the threat posed by Brexit to trillions of dollars of financial contracts, telling banks and insurers to solve the problem themselves. Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU’s financial-services policy chief, said the private sector must take the lead in ensuring that existing contracts can continue and not be disrupted when ...
Read More »UBS’s freshly-combined global wealth management disappoints
Bloomberg UBS Group AG’s freshly-combined wealth management unit didn’t get off to the best start. The business, which accounts for about half UBS’s pre-tax profits, posted first-quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates. That disappointment and lower-than-expected asset management results eclipsed a star performance at the investment bank, sending the shares down the most in three months. Chief Executive Officer Sergio ...
Read More »Rolls-Royce considers China venture for new wide-body jet
Bloomberg Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc is in talks with Aero Engine Corporation of China on a possible partnership that would see the companies jointly supply engines for a new wide-body aircraft planned by China and Russia, according to people familiar with the matter. The two companies met earlier this year on whether to cooperate on the turbine for the CR929 wide-body, ...
Read More »Southwest plans more NYC, Washington flights as Alaska Air retreats
Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co. plans to expand service from New York City and Washington this year after completing a deal to lease slots from Alaska Air Group Inc. at maxed out airports. Southwest will be able to add six round-trip flights at New York’s LaGuardia Airport and four at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The 10-year lease begins in October ...
Read More »Activist Jana takes Pinnacle Foods stake, explores a sale
Bloomberg Jana Partners, the activist fund run by Barry Rosenstein, disclosed a stake in Pinnacle Foods Inc. and is urging the packaged food manufacturer to explore a sale or another transactions in the frozen food space. The New York-based hedge fund and its partners own 9.5 percent of the food manufacturing company, according to a regulatory filing. Jana said in ...
Read More »