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  Barry Ritholtz Are we in a short-term cyclical bull market, one that is already long in the tooth and coming to an end? Or are we in the early years of a secular bull market, one that might last a decade or more? The answer could have a significant impact on how your portfolios perform during the next few ...

  Bloomberg Africa’s many small and under-capitalized banks, laden with bad debt, are inflicting more pain on already embattled economies. Regulators may have no choice but to force lenders to consolidate or close. A third of Nigeria’s 21 banks may be under-capitalized. Much smaller Uganda has 25 banks and last month suffered one collapse. Kenya has had three failures since ...

  Bloomberg As part of the International Monetary Fund’s biggest review of China’s banking system in half a decade, a top official recently did some detective work that didn’t involve an Excel spreadsheet. On a trip to the mega-city of Chongqing in the nation’s interior, Ratna Sahay, acting director of the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department, visited a property ...

  Bloomberg Mark Carney says he’s staying at the Bank of England (BOE). He’s just not saying what he’s going to do. With his forecasting record proving patchy, the governor’s latest message is that the next move could be to tighten or loosen policy. A few months ago, policy makers foresaw a second interest-rate cut after the Brexit vote, while ...

  CAIRO / Reuters Egypt’s pound was almost steady early on Sunday as banks began trading freely for the first time since authorities ditched the currency’s peg in a policy shift designed to crush a black market and clinch an International Monetary Fund loan. Interbank trading began at 1030 a.m. (0830 GMT) but activity was extremely slow because banks were ...

  Bloomberg The European Union is raising the pressure on global banking regulators to ease proposed capital rules in an effort to protect lenders and the economy from major new costs. The European Parliament will add its voice next week to a chorus of resistance from EU regulators and policy makers including German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. Lawmakers plan a ...

  Bloomberg As space in economy class becomes ever more constrained, airlines have devised a more spacious cabin product for passengers priced out of business class but determined to escape the indignities of steerage. Called “premium economy,” this section of added frills between coach and business aims to address a widening gap that has emerged between those cabins—and to extract ...

  Bloomberg Luxury fashion startup Farfetch is meeting advisers about an initial public offering in New York as early as the end of next year, according to people familiar with the matter. Farfetch will appoint advisers in the coming months, the people said, asking not to be named as the details aren’t public. No final decisions have been made, and ...

  Bloomberg Britain’s retailers received a much-needed boost last month as sales grew for the first time since January. Same-store sales rose 0.7 percent compared with October last year, business advisory firm BDO LLP said in its monthly report. Sales of home furnishings led the rebound, growing 11.6 percent. The growth is welcome news for retailers, many of whom have ...

  Bloomberg An engine on an American Airlines plane that exploded on a Chicago runway October 28, triggering a massive blaze, had an apparent manufacturing defect, US investigators said. A disk within the General Electric Co. CF6-80 engine had an “internal inclusion,” meaning some type of foreign debris was embedded within the special alloy designed to withstand the heat and ...