Reuters (February 28)
“Factory activity in China contracted to a three-year low in February as export orders fell at the fastest pace since the global financial crisis, highlighting deepening cracks in an economy facing weak demand at home and abroad.”
Tags: China, Cracks, Economy, Exports, Factory, Financial Crisis, Orders, Weak demand
South China Morning Post (September 3)
“Bankers did not cause the 2008 financial crisis…. Instead, blame for the crash lies squarely with the world’s governments. Sure, bankers were both greedy and reckless. But it was government policies that created the conditions in which greed and recklessness were allowed–even required–to flourish.” By ignoring this and “failing to learn from their mistakes, they have made another crash inevitable.”
Tags: Bankers, Blame, Crash, Financial Crisis, Governments, Greedy, Inevitable, Reckless
The Guardian (August 9)
“The era of low interest rates will last for at least another 20 years, despite gently rising official borrowing costs in the coming years, one of the Bank of England’s leading policymakers has forecast.” Outgoing monetary policy committee (MPC) member Ian McCafferty said that “structural changes in the global economy meant UK borrowers and savers should get used to interest rates being “significantly” below the 5% average in the 10 years leading up to the financial crisis.”
Tags: BOE, Borrowing, Costs, Era, Financial Crisis, Global economy, Interest rates, Low, MPC, Structural changes, UK
Barrons (December 30)
“Largely absent during the economy’s eight-year recovery from the financial crisis, inflation is on track to pick up in 2018—and it might just catch investors off-guard.” Even a return to modest inflation, e.g. 2.5%, would be a jolt that “could reshuffle the market.”
Institutional Investor (July 20)
“After eight straight months of positive returns, hedge funds may have finally redeemed themselves in the eyes of investors…. Total industry assets under management rose by $34.1 billion to $3.1 trillion, with positive returns boosting asset growth. The renewed interest in hedge funds comes in the midst of industry’s greatest period of performance since the financial crisis.”
Tags: AUM, Financial Crisis, Growth, Hedge funds, Investors, Performance, Positive returns, Returns
Reuters (July 11)
As its first family fights publicly in an unprecedented and ugly manner, the “shrinking returns” of its sovereign wealth fund, GIC, “are adding gloom to Singapore. The sovereign wealth fund, which manages an estimated $343 billion of assets, has delivered its worst annual performance since 2001 barring the financial crisis.” Moreover, the “outlook is depressing too” as GIC prepares for “a protracted period of low returns.”
Tags: Assets, Fight, Financial Crisis, First family, GIC, Gloom, Outlook, Performance, Returns, Singapore, Sovereign wealth fund, Ugly, Unprecedented
Financial Times (June 20)
“Six months into its financial crisis, Toshiba is shaping up as the Sistine Chapel of corporate catastrophes: you have to lie on your back to appreciate its scale, and once you get your eye in, the beauty is mesmerising.” Toshiba’s sweeping catastrophe “encapsulates much that investors — both foreign and domestic — have long despaired.” And “for a Japanese government apparently committed to reversing decades of shoddy corporate governance… Toshiba provides the perfect example of why it is pushing for change.”
Tags: Catastrophe, Corporate governance, Despair, Financial Crisis, Government, Investors, Japan, Scale, Shoddy, Sistine Chapel, Toshiba
Financial Times (September 23)
“US banks have achieved a clean sweep of the top five places in global investment banking for the first time in at least six years.” This highlights “the country’s dominance of investment banking since the financial crisis.”
Tags: Banks, Dominance, Financial Crisis, Investment banking, U.S.
Institutional Investor (July 29)
U.S. REITs have soared on a “torrid rally.” Though the momentum will slow, strong fundamentals should underpin the sector, which is also benefiting from negative interest overseas. “The economy’s seven-year recovery should sustain real estate demand.” Moreover, “banks’ conservative real estate-lending policies in the wake of massive losses during the financial crisis should continue to limit supply.”
Tags: Banks, Demand, Financial Crisis, Fundamentals, Lending, Negative interest, Rally, Real estate, Recovery, REITs, Supply, U.S.
New York Times (July 6)
“The financial strains from Britain’s vote to leave the European Union are starting to show, as worries ripple through the country’s real estate market” causing three real estate funds to suspend withdrawals. Ultimately, “the reverberations could test whether, since the global financial crisis, officials have put in place the necessary measures to protect the broader system from a shock.”
Tags: EU, Financial, Financial Crisis, Funds, Officials, Real estate, Reverberations, Strains, UK, Withdrawals
