Worst week ever for US Treasuries August 9, 2013 US Treasuries had their worst week ever on Wednesday as investors pulled out a record $4bn from bond funds, equivalent to 1.3 per cent of assets under management (AUM). Bank of America Merrill Lynch chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett called it the “Great Rotation”, referring to the expectation that record-low bond yields will push investors [...]
Zimbabwe opposition party to challenge Mugabe election win August 9, 2013 Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party has filed a legal challenge contesting Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF electoral win in Zimbabwe last week. Historically, few rulings have been made in the MDC-T’s favour and the courts are often accused of being partisan. Mugabe won the election with 61 per cent of the vote giving him another five year term [...]
UBS pays $120m to settle Lehman allegations August 9, 2013 UBS has agreed to pay $120m (£77m) to settle a lawsuit regarding the misleading of investors about the financial state of Lehman Brothers. The settlement will resolve a five year litigation battle regarding the selling of nearly $1bn of Lehman structured notes between March 2007 and September 2008 when Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection. Earlier [...]
M&S Energy rebounds from mis-selling accusations launching cheapest deal on the market August 9, 2013 M&S energy has launched the cheapest energy deal on the market, just days after hitting the headlines for alleged energy mis-selling. The Fix & Save plan comes in at £1,139 per year, and protects customers from price hikes until the end of September 2014. There is, however, a cancellation fee of £50 before this end [...]
Spanish prime minister sets ambitious target for tax reform programme August 9, 2013 Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy has set an ambitious target for the implementation of the country's tax reform programme – the end of March 2014. The reform programme was announced at the end of April this year, aimed primarily at increasing competitiveness and flexibility in the Spanish economy and getting rid of "bottlenecks". The priorities [...]
Canadian unemployment rose unexpectedly last month August 9, 2013 Unemployment in Canada increased to 7.2 per cent in July from 7.1 per cent the month before. Analysts had expected no change. Similarly, the labour force participation rate fell to 66.5 per cent from 66.7 per cent. The number of people in employment fell by 39,400 – versus expectations of a 10,000 increase.
Japanese government debt hits 1,008,600,000,000,000 yen August 9, 2013 Japanese national debt has passed the one quadrillion yen mark – increasing 1.7 per cent to 1,008,600,000,000,000 yen (£6.730 trillion). This is larger than the economies of the UK, Germany and France combined and is about 230 per cent of GDP. Earlier this week, the International Monetary Fund called on Japan to adopt a “credible” [...]
Four charts showing the state of the UK economy since the financial crisis August 9, 2013 [All charts are taken from the Office for National Statistics' August economic review] Construction, production and services all grew in the second quarter of the year – but services is the only one anywhere near its pre-crisis peak. The unemployment rate doesn't look set to fall below the Bank of England's threshold any time soon. [...]
HSBC appoints insider to head up new capital financing unit in Asia August 9, 2013 HSBC has appointed Stephen Williams as head of the Asia Pacific division of the bank’s newly created capital financing unit, Reuters was first to report. Williams is currently HSBC’s head of global capital markets in the Asia Pacific region in Hong Kong, and has held senior positions at UBS and JP Morgan. He graudated with [...]
PetroChina mulls further step towards Iraqi oil dominance August 9, 2013 Chinese energy giant PetroChina will be joining Exxon Mobil to develop Iraq’s West Qurna oilfield and is in talks with Lukoil to buy a second project at the field, Reuters has reported. The news site quoted an industry source with direct knowledge of the deal, saying the agreement would be announced within week. Exxon currently [...]