These were the biggest selling smartphone brands of 2015: How Apple and Samsung’s growth was overtaken by Huawei, Lenovo and Xiaomi January 28, 2016 Three smartphone brands grew at a faster pace than Apple and Samsung last year as sales across the world hit a record 1.4bn. Chinese smartphone makers Huawei, Lenovo and Xiaomi grew more than the world's two biggest smartphone brands as shipments increased by 10 per cent across the board. The rise of device makers in China signals increasing [...]
China: The end of dreams and the return of sanity January 25, 2016 Perhaps the most debilitating of all human emotions is disillusionment, for it marks the death of fond hopes, the painful recognition that dreams will simply not come to pass. It is this feeling – as much as any hard empirical data – that is driving the present market crisis in China, where not one but [...]
The FTSE crash is not Armageddon – but investors should still be light on their feet January 23, 2016 We all know that "hindsight" is the most successful trader in the world. Its performance has always been exemplary since time immemorial. However, alarm bells should have started ringing after the Shanghai Composite had added 150 per cent in value between June 2014 and June 2015, just when it was becoming decidedly obvious that China’s economy [...]
The bear is back in his cage: FTSE 100 gains and Japan’s Nikkei 225 roars into positive territory on global stimulus hopes from the European Central Bank’s Mario Draghi January 22, 2016 Finally some good news: the FTSE 100 got off to a flying start this morning, gaining up to 1.8 per cent in early trading as dovish remarks from Mario Draghi sent investors' spirits soaring. Global bourses surged, with Japanese stocks roaring out of bear market territory to make their second-biggest one-day gain in five years. The Nikkei [...]
S&P: China’s financial sector faces “tougher” 2016 January 21, 2016 Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has warned that China’s embattled financial sector must navigate an even tougher playing field this year. Mounting concern over the pace of China’s economic slowdown, coupled with falling oil prices, have sparked a sell-off across global financial markets since the beginning of this year. S&P said a slump [...]
Crashing markets don’t herald a descent into global recession January 21, 2016 So the FTSE 100 has joined a wide range of global equity indices now in a bear market. Having peaked in excess of 7,100 in April 2015, the rout in commodities has dragged the index of the UK’s 100 leading shares steadily down over the last nine months. To date there have been three notable [...]
Market volatility takes its toll on hedge funds, as returns slip to lowest levels since 2011 January 20, 2016 Hedge funds had their worst performing year last year since 2011, posting returns of 2.02 per cent, according to the latest data from Preqin. December was a tough month, with the funds on Preqin's all strategies benchmark posting negative returns of 0.4 per cent on average, bringing the total to five months with negative returns last year. [...]
Asian markets tumble as oil hovers nearer $27 January 20, 2016 Asian markets have tumbled overnight, after oil wiped out most of the gains it made this week. Last night West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dipped as low as $27.55 per barrel, while Brent crude fell to $28.28. Yesterday both rose above $30 for the first time since the weekend, before erasing those gains. The news [...]
Brics foundations are proving to be shaky January 20, 2016 In the world of macro-economics, a good rule of thumb is as follows: whenever you read the word “forecast”, replace it with the word “guess”. This advice came to mind yesterday when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published the latest update to its world economic outlook, a document that contains some astonishing revisions. Brazil is [...]
Davos: Businesses will wither and die if they ignore the coming technological paradigm shift January 20, 2016 It might be tempting to think that the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos this week is a talking shop where nothing meaningful happens. You have 2,500 people in the mountains going from presentation to reception to dinner for three days. But the event is a vital way for business, policy-makers and civil society to [...]