Justin Thomas is in the box seat for the Tour Championship but the $15m FedEx Cup finale’s exciting new format means the race is far from over August 19, 2019 This week’s Tour Championship, the finale to the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup, sees the debut of a unique new format which I wholeheartedly believe is an excellent idea for players and fans alike. Players will start the week on a score determined by their place in the FedEx Cup standings, so current leader Justin Thomas [...]
Dividends break record but uncertainty fuels slowdown August 19, 2019 Global dividends rose to a new record in the last three months, but investors held back their celebrations as growth cooled in the wake of rising global economic uncertainty. Shareholders were paid out $513.8bn (£422.8bn) in the second quarter of 2019, hitting an all-time high but rising at the slowest pace for more than two [...]
Trump’s blame game strategy is backfiring August 19, 2019 US President Donald Trump’s economic cheerleaders were out in force yesterday trying to convince American voters that all is hunky-dory with the US economy and the escalating trade war with China. “There is no recession in sight,” White House economist Larry Kudlow insisted, after 1,500 points was wiped off the Dow Jones in recent weeks [...]
US to extend Huawei license to buy American goods for 90 days August 17, 2019 The US is set to extend a reprieve given to Huawei that allows the Chinese tech firm to buy supplies from US companies so that it can continue serving existing customers. The “temporary general license” will be extended for a further 90 days, according to Reuters. Read more: Chinese forces exercise on Hong Kong border [...]
Danske Bank thinks US Fed will slash rates to one per cent by March August 16, 2019 Denmark’s biggest bank has predicted that the US Federal Reserve will slash its interest rate down to one per cent by March 2020. Danske Bank said it expects five more 25 basis point (0.25 percentage point) cuts between now and the Fed’s March 2020 meeting to “reflate the economy and markets”. Read more: Markets drop [...]
Watchdog’s ban on ex-Barclays executive holding senior positions overturned August 16, 2019 A ruling by the financial watchdog banning former Barclays executive Andrew Tinney from holding senior positions at financial institutions has been overturned. Tinney, former chief operating officer of Barclays Wealth, was also cleared of misleading the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the US Federal Reserve Bank of New York, but a finding he “acted without [...]
Economy on red alert with yield curve close to inversion August 16, 2019 Both the US and UK yield curves are on the verge of inverting. The yield curve has been a reliable predictor of US recessions over the last four decades, less so in the UK. With only one exception, each time the yield curve has inverted, the US economy has entered a downturn within 18 months. [...]
US pulls back from applying fresh tariffs to Chinese tech goods August 13, 2019 The Trump administration has pulled back from slapping tariffs on certain products from China such as laptops and mobile phones, providing relief for jittery global investors. Read more: Tariffs hurting US manufacturers, says Trump’s ex-economic adviser At the start of the month the US announced it would apply 10 per cent tariffs to $300bn of [...]
US inflation picks up amid presidential pressure for rate cuts August 13, 2019 US inflation picked up in July as the cost of gasoline and housing rose, raising the possibility the Federal Reserve will hold back from rate cuts in the near future. Read more: Fed cuts interest rates for first time in ten years The US consumer price index (CPI) picked up to 1.8 per cent from [...]
Third of investors expecting recession as trade war fears loom August 13, 2019 More than one in three investors are forecasting a global recession in the next 12 months, marking an eight-year high as trade war worries linger over markets across the world. In the highest recession probability level since October 2011, 34 per cent of investors surveyed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch have said they think [...]