By signaling hawkish policy intentions that went beyond the market consensus, the Bank of England did more than convey its updated views on the UK economy and the prospects for monetary policy tightening. It also highlighted the ongoing gradual shift by central banks in advanced countries towards less stimulative policies. This evolution makes sense, given domestic economic conditions. It is ...
Read More »Cryptocurrency cynics stand to profit the most
Welcome, dear average American, to the lovely world of unregulated retail finance. Perhaps you’re young enough that you missed the tech-stock housing bubbles. Perhaps you didn’t have enough cash to “flip that house†back in 2006. Well, thanks to the invention of cryptocurrency, there’s a whole new way for you to lose your life’s savings. Plunges in the value of ...
Read More »China plays yuan to demand a ‘Powell Put’
Stop wondering why China is muddying already squishy global markets by driving the yuan lower, and right before next week’s Lunar New Year holiday. Although US President Donald Trump’s use of a rarely employed trade-protection measure against washing machines and solar panels is indeed a provocation, Washington think-tank folks can take a break: the People’s Republic has no intention of ...
Read More »What trucking tells us about the future of work
The future of trucking may tell us a lot about the future of work. It’s no secret that many Americans fear losing their jobs to automation. In a Pew Research Center poll last October, nearly three-quarters of respondents worried that “computers and robots could do most of the work currently done by humans.” And yet the job market seems to ...
Read More »China calls on companies, mutual funds to boost stocks
Bloomberg China has urged controlling investors in listed companies to boost their holdings and some mutual funds to limit equity selling this week, according to people familiar with the matter, as officials seek to stem the impact of the stock selloff. Over the weekend, the China Securities Regulatory Commission and other regulators sent informal directives to some major stockholders encouraging ...
Read More »Record $23bn flees world’s largest ETF as panic reigns
Bloomberg Investors actively abandoned the world’s biggest passive fund during the onset of market mayhem. The SPDR S&P 500 exchange-traded fund (ticker SPY) suffered a record $23.6 billion in outflows last week amid the worst momentum swing in history for the underlying U.S. equity benchmark. Outflows amounted to 8 percent of the fund’s total assets at the start of the ...
Read More »India’s attack on offshore markets clobbers SGX
Bloomberg A shock decision by Indian exchanges to cut ties with their offshore counterparts sent shares of Singapore Exchange Ltd. falling by the most in nine years and raised questions about how the world’s second-most populous nation will fit in with the global financial system. The National Stock Exchange of India Ltd., together with other Indian markets, said that they ...
Read More »$3.6bn in hidden bad loans spotlight India bank stress
Bloomberg India’s regulator unearthed about $3.6 billion of bad loans in the books of the country’s biggest bank, amplifying questions about distress in the financial sector given underreporting by some rivals as well. State Bank of India said an audit by the central bank showed soured debt was about 232 billion rupees ($3.6 billion) higher than what the state-run lender ...
Read More »Cybersecurity heads of US banks in need of more CEO face time
Bloomberg Just 8 percent of cybersecurity heads at US financial firms report to the chief executive officer directly and more should do so to help facilitate decision-making, according to the Financial Services Information Sharing & Analysis Center. The industry group’s first-ever survey on the topic showed that 39 percent of chief information security officers report directly to the chief information ...
Read More »Australia begins probe on misconduct of nation’s banks
Bloomberg Australia’s banks, rocked by years of scandals and wrongdoing, risk having further misconduct exposed as a powerful government-appointed inquiry into the nation’s financial industry starts. The yearlong Royal Commission will examine the nation’s banks, insurers, financial services providers and pension funds, and consider whether regulators have enough power to tackle misconduct. The first public hearings will focus on allegations ...
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