Yiannis Mouzakis via Macropolis | As Greece stands on the cusp of exiting the third, and final, of its painful bailouts, there is a discussion about the terms under which it is exiting and how they compare to the conditions that were on offer the last time the country was close to the MoU finishing line, about four years ago. Examining the two cases is actually a useful exercise – not just for Greek crisis veterans.
Mark Tinker Chief Economist at AXA IM Framlington Equities in Asia reminds us in one of his last notes of the stark contrast between the institutional investor in the west and the emerging retail and wholesale investors in the east. Western pension funds have long since abandoned the cult of the equity, the dominant alternative asset remains is Private Equity. The industry overall took in a record $453bn last year.
Repsol has reached agreement to acquire 40% of Mexican lubricant company Bardahl, which represents its biggest purchase in this business and pushes forward its internationalisation strategy in Downstream.
Banco Santander increased attributable profit in the first half of 2018 to €3,75 2 million, 4 % higher than the same period of last year after a €300 million net charge primarily related to integration costs for Banco Popular. At the time of the Popular acquisition, on June 7 th 2017, the Group said it expected to register € 300 million in integration costs per year until 2019.
Yu Yongding via Caixin | Washington launched its trade war against Beijing in part because of China’s long-running trade surplus with the U.S., but it turns out that the surplus isn’t as large as advertised. U.S. President Donald Trump has said that his country has an annual trade deficit of $500 billion with China. This is nonsense.
Benjamin Cole | Fed Chair Jerome Powell has stated the Fed’s 2% target is symmetric, which may be code words for “inflation a little above 2% is tolerable.” The US central bank may find fighting inflation resembles heart surgery with a chainsaw.
J.L.M. Campuzano (Spanish Banking Association) | In a modern world ever more dominated by technology and the growing digitalisation, the performance and weight of investment in intangible assets draws attention. We are talking about software and R&D, but also about data and whatever activity that generates property rights and economic competences, including publicity and staff training
Within the framework of the comercial dispute that the US has opened with the EU, the Trump administration has launched a special crusade against the producers of black olives in Spain. According to US authorities, they have been exported to the US at “dumping prices” and damaged the Californian olive sector. The US Commerce Department began investigations in July last year on the Spanish industry, which are awaiting final confirmation. The definitive decision will be known today Tuesday.
Eelke Heemskerk and via The Conversation | Who holds the power in international politics? Most people would probably say it’s the largest states in the global system. Yet multinationals like Apple and Starbucks still wield phenomenal power. They oversee huge supply chains, sell products all over the world, and help mould international politics to their interests.
America’s interests — not to mention image — took a major hit in Helsinki during the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. This is more than sufficient to provoke America’s concern about the direction Donald Trump is taking the country.