Unsurprisingly, the US exhibits relatively more risks compared to the euro area, with one red flag in particular being the price of risk in asset markets reflecting elevated asset prices across fixed income, equities and real estate. In the Euro zone, risks look mor e modest except in some pockets related to price distortions as a result of the European Central Bank ’s quantitative easing strategy.
Spotify made its debut on Wall Street on Tuesday with an initial price of $165,9/share, up 26% from the reference price established ($132/share). The Swedish music streaming firm closed its first trading session up 12% at $143/share.
Peter Navarro, Wilbur Ross and Robert Lightizer: these are the three new horsemen of the Apocalypse. At least for the majority of US businessmen and investors. They appear to have constituted the core of Donald Trump’s team of economic advisors.
The IMF is forecasting global growth of over 3.9% in 2018. For the Eurozone, the forecast is for growth of 2.2%. The fifth year of economic expansion, confirming sustained and diversified growth. And the Washington-based organisation is calling for greater integration in the euro area.
From the creation of the first block of Bitcoin in January 2009, and after the reference implementation of the decentralised client developed by the enigmatic figure Satoshi Nakamoto, the perception of cryptocurrencies has changed a lot.
As the saying goes, data is the new oil. And this month Facebook has fallen victim to a BP-scale leak in which 50 million users’ data was harvested without consent. While technology companies in the West feel the pressure, Jason Pidcock, Jupiter’s head of strategy on Asian income, argues that the picture looks brighter in Asia, particularly for the darling of Asian software technology: Tencent.
The height of the paradox, or the oxymoron, is that Venezuela has such high inflation that bank notes have become one of the most sought after ítems! Added to this is the fact that Maduro has decided to round up the value of the bank notes, knocking off zeros.
In February, acquisitions by Chinese investors in Germany reached a new dimension. A Chinese multi-millionaire has become the biggest shareholder in Daimler AG. The entrance of the influential Li Shufu into the world of Mercedes is proof of the scary Chinese presence in German companies (Deutsche Bank, the robots manufacturer Kuka and in many high tech firms).
The new oil futures contract should therefore be seen “as a puzzle piece within the targeted internationalisation of the yuan”, comment from Julius Baer. The Chinese government is still a long way from the big goal of establishing the yuan as a leading reserve currency.