Myanmar is the latest destination for fast fashion producers
As Myanmar opens up after decades of isolation, cheap labor is drawing a rush of garment manufacturers to the former pariah state.
In the World
Will Turkey elections mark an inflection point? – Market pricing in status quo
June 6, 2015 | UBS | Turkey holds general elections tomorrow. In our view there are two key uncertainties: 1) whether HDP, the Kurdish Party, will be able to cross the 10% hurdle required to qualify for parliament, thereby securing 55-60 seats mainly at the expense of the ruling AKP 2) whether the AKP is able to secure enough seats (276) to form a single-party government. Market seems to be pricing in the maintenance of status quo.
The ‘liquidity trap’ with Chinese characteristics
BEIJING | June 2, 2015 | By Xu Gao via Caixin | Unless obstacles blocking the flow of capital to the real economy are cleared, the financial market will continue to be trapped.
How hawkish really is the IMF on Greece?
MADRID | May 29, 2015 | By Ana Fuentes | German bund futures spiked higher on Friday after traders cited comments by IMF’s Christine Lagarde to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that a Greek exit from the euro zone was a possibility. As Ms Lagarde’s words heated the debate worldwide, the IMF insisted the German paper mistranslated her as too hawkish on Grexit. The print version of the interview published today is slightly different (see screenshots above).
Oil sector – Drilling deeper: It’s the demand, stupid
May 25, 2015 | BNP Paribas | Data highlights that there is more pain to come for Drillers for the foreseeable future…and the opportunity for further offshore deflation for E&Ps and Majors.
Persistently problematic productivity
May 22, 2015 | UBS | Why has real GDP growth been surprisingly weak compared to job gains? Why do some economists expect only slowly-trending GDP expansion in the coming years? Why has the unemployment rate fallen more often than expected?
Fed in a holding pattern
May 21, 2015 | By UBS analysts | The March FOMC statement had disposed of patience with regard to the funds rate, clearly preparing for the possibility or even likelihood of raising rates in June. But Q1 growth slowed more than expected, and the FOMC became more cautious in its April statement.
If you don’t like quantitative easing, then look at Japan’s story
May 21, 2015 | By Benjamin Cole via Marcus’ Nunes Historinhas | If you don’t like quantitative easing, then consider this: The Nikkei 225, a broad measure of Japan’s stock market, is up 45.9% in the last 52 weeks.
Are copper prices signalling an improvement in global manufacturing?
The Corner | May 19, 2015 | Copper prices were back above $6,300/t in April for the first time in 2015. Since this commodity is used in so many industries, it is crucial to know if this move will be sustained and send a positive signal to global manufacturers or it is only driven by a speculative market.
The Fed should get smart and stop ‘targeting’ unemployment
SAO PAULO | May 15, 2015 | By Marcus Nunes via Historinhas | It´s such a bad ‘target’ that the Fed has been compelled to move the target frequently over the past couple of years, all the way from 6.5% to 5%-5.2%!