Investment & Pensions Europe (October Issue)
“Interest rates in Japan have hovered around zero for about two decades. Since 2016, they have been negative.” Elsewhere, “the daunting prospects” of this phenomenon are only “starting to enter the collective consciousness of investors.” Other countries are now “watching as benchmark yields breach the zero level and stay there.” They may have much to learn from Japanese investors who “have lived through–and continue to manage investments–in this low rate environment.”
Tags: Benchmark yields, Consciousness, Daunting, Interest rates, Investors, Japan, Negative, Zero
Straits Times (October 9)
According to the World Economic Forum, “Singapore is the world’s most competitive economy,” scoring “84.8 out of a possible 100, beating the United States to the top spot in the ranking of 141 economies.” Of the 12 assessment pillars, Singapore ranked first in infrastructure, healthy life expectancy and labor markets. Overall, the U.S. ranked second and Japan placed sixth, just behind Switzerland.
Tags: Economy, Infrastructure, Japan, Labor markets, Life expectancy, Most competitive, Singapore, U.S., WEF
OilPrice.com (October 9)
“Now that Brent has lost more than $13 since its mid-September spike many are saying that Middle East risk is underpriced. We’re taking a different view…. Washington and Beijing still pose more of a threat to oil prices than Tehran and Riyadh.”
Tags: Beijing, Brent, China, Middle East, Oil prices, Risk, Riyadh, Spike, Tehran, Threat, U.S., Underpriced, Washington
Wall Street Journal (October 8)
Trump is deserting the Kurds who helped defeat ISIS. “On Sunday, the White House announced that American forces will cede the area to Turkish troops. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is now free to wage war on Syria’s Kurds, who were America’s most important allies against ISIS.” The retreat from Syria “will also signal to U.S. allies that the White House can’t be trusted.”
LA Times (October 6)
“The Arctic is transforming more rapidly than anywhere else on Earth, with temperatures rising at twice the rate seen elsewhere.… Nobody can be certain when the Arctic sea ice will be gone, but scientists agree that we are on a precarious downward spiral. The loss of nearly all Arctic sea ice in late summer seems inevitable, and an ice-free Arctic Ocean will probably arrive within decades, if not sooner.”
Tags: Arctic, Downward spiral, Earth, Ice-free, Inevitable, Sea ice, Summer, Temperatures
New York Times (October 6)
“There is nothing in the Constitution that prevents a president from being impeached more than once.” While proceeding with a narrow impeachment case, the House should not “close the impeachment inquiry. Keep it open and ready to draw up more articles as new corruption is uncovered. Impeach Trump repeatedly if necessary.”
Tags: Articles, Constitution, Corruption, Impeachment, Inquiry, Narrow, President, Prevents
Chicago Tribune (October 4)
“The jobs figures carry more weight than usual because worries about the health of the U.S. economy are mounting. Manufacturers have essentially fallen into recession as U.S. businesses have cut spending on industrial machinery, computers and other factory goods. And overseas demand for U.S. exports has fallen sharply as President Donald Trump’s trade conflicts with China and Europe have triggered retaliatory tariffs.”
Tags: Businesses, China, Computers, Conflicts, Economy, Europe, Exports, Factory goods, Industrial machinery, Jobs, Manufacturers, Overseas demand, Recession, Retaliatory tariffs, Spending, Trump, U.S.
USA Today (October 4)
“The unemployment rate fell from 3.7% to 3.5%, the lowest since December 1969…. Average wages, however, fell. Wall Street cheered the mixed report, which … kept in play a possible Fed rate cut this month, which would be the third since July.”
Tags: Fed, Mixed, Rate, Rate cut, Unemployment, Wages, Wall Street
News Week (October 4)
“Amid gathering economic gloom in the United States, some investors are betting the threat of impeachment will force President Donald Trump into cutting a deal with China to end a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.”
Tags: China, Deal, Economic gloom, Impeachment, Investors, Threat, Trade war, Trump, U.S.
Reuters (October 3)
“Boris Johnson has launched a long-shot Brexit plan with a very short timetable.” The new “blueprint for leaving the European Union has several major flaws…. Even if Brussels is willing to negotiate a deal in time for a summit due to be held in two weeks, it’s far from clear that the UK parliament would pass it.”
Tags: Blueprint, Brexit plan, Brussels, Deal, EU, Flaws, Johnson, Negotiate, Parliament, Summit, Timetable, UK
