Blackrock’s biggest risks in the second quarter for investors April 5, 2016 The world's largest asset manager has flagged the biggest risks investors must watch out for in the second quarter of this year. Blackrock's quarterly global investment outlook, written by its global chief investment strategist, Richard Turnill, and his team, highlights some of the hurdles which could rile global markets. Chinese yuan devaluation They warn global markets could [...]
UK steel is globally insignificant and unviable: Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to shoulder its losses April 5, 2016 With the Port Talbot steelworks up for sale, Tata saying the value of its operations are “almost zero”, and a £485m pension deficit, prospects for the plant’s thousands of workers look grim. But while this is certainly a local tragedy, some perspective is needed. Globally, the UK is responsible for 0.7 per cent of crude [...]
Steel unions to hand Javid Port Talbot demands at key meeting tomorrow April 4, 2016 Community, the union which represents British steelworkers, will meet with business secretary Sajid Javid tomorrow to discuss the steel crisis and present Javid with a list of demands for the industry. The demands, which include the government preventing Tata and potential buyers from cherry-picking assets, were formulated at a meeting in London today. “There needs to [...]
UK steel crisis: Prime Minister David Cameron raises issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping April 2, 2016 Amid the ongoing steel crisis, Prime Minister David Cameron has talked through his concerns with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Downing Street confirmed that during a dinner at the White House, Cameron told Jinping that the two countries needed to work together. It emerged last week that the UK has blocked efforts in the EU to impose [...]
Anbang walks away from Starwood Hotels deal due to “market considerations” pushing hospitality group’s share price down in after hours trading March 31, 2016 China's Anbang Insurance is walking away from its proposed $14bn (£9.7bn) takeover of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, citing "market considerations". "We were attracted to the opportunity presented by Starwood because of its high-quality, leading global hotel brands, which met many of our acquisition criteria, including the ability to generate consistent, long-term returns over time," Anbang said in [...]
Three reasons why Apple’s iPhone SE will be a smartphone hit March 31, 2016 Apple’s latest handset, the iPhone SE, will be unleashed this week upon a weary consumer. Why weary? Gartner figures show that global smartphone sales in Q4 2015 saw their slowest growth since 2008. Industry behemoth Apple hasn’t been immune with sales of its iPhone range starting to flat-line, currently growing at the slowest rate since the [...]
Is China reforming fast enough? Standard and Poor’s doesn’t think so March 31, 2016 China has been told to get a move on with economic reforms if it wants to maintain its top-notch credit rating today, after Standard & Poor’s (S&P) warned that its economic rebalancing is taking too long. The ratings agency said it was downgrading its outlook for China’s sovereign debt from “stable” to “negative”, firing a [...]
Invest down under: Why Australia’s an overlooked investment opportunity – and it’s nothing to do with oil and mining March 30, 2016 Australia has the enviable honour of avoiding recession for nearly 25 years. It’s well known for having plentiful natural resources and a thriving oil and mining sector, and its proximity to China made it the chief supplier of commodities to the Asian giant during its manufacturing and construction boom. But the abundance of stuff to [...]
The crucial lesson China teaches the West about bank lending – and economic growth March 30, 2016 So, The Financial Times has finally questioned the wisdom of using QE to purchase good assets. You’d have thought that someone would have noticed the effect by now: new money for old assets just pushes up their price. To hope it creates a “wealth effect” and engenders confidence is a bit perverse. If bank lending [...]
UK steel crisis: Tata Steel looking into sale of UK assets, including Port Talbot operation in Wales, as Labour leader Corbyn and unions call for government intervention March 30, 2016 Tata Steel is set to sell its UK assets, putting thousands of jobs at risk, after crunch talks held yesterday between the company, politicians and union bosses in Mumbai failed to deliver a different solution. The company said last night that it had told the board of Tata Steel Europe to "explore all options for portfolio restructuring including [...]