As Russia’s war on Ukraine has disrupted global energy supplies, the focus on renewable and sustainable energy is becoming sharper than ever.
Continue readingTag Archives: commodities
The bad type of inflation is here
Despite good news about vaccine roll-outs, it is too early to tell when or even whether economies will fully reopen and life will go back to “normal.”
Continue readingLook at Covid-19 vaccines to gauge inflation tantrum odds
With news of another Covid-19 vaccine on its way and optimism rising ahead of the end-year holidays, it looks like 2021 will shape up to be much better than 2020.
But one forgotten danger could spoil the party: inflation. Price rises are far from investors’ minds, but an ‘inflation tantrum’ could have devastating effects on various countries’ economies if they are not kept in check.
When panic selling is over, stocks could benefit more than bonds
The panic buying of essential items around the globe – from food to, fittingly, toilet paper – sparked by the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus has been mirrored by panic selling in capital markets. It’s almost as if investors were taking cash out of stocks and bonds to buy whatever food, hand sanitiser and toilet paper they could get their hands on.
Pessimism in global financial markets has reached heights not seen since the dark days of the great financial crisis of 2007-2009, which this current crisis threatens to overtake in depth and significance. But, as news about rapid tests for COVID-19 and resilience to deal with the virus begin to multiply, could investors hope for a bottom in the capital markets’ selloff?
Three theories about the Saudi-Qatar crisis
By Sourajit Aiyer
It is often said that money makes the world go round. Nowhere is this more ingrained than in the battles for oil, power and arms. The news of Saudi Arabia and its key allies severing connections with Qatar following the ongoing rift between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members shocked the world. Here are three theories about this issue.
Investors ‘front-run’ the ECB, rush to buy bonds
If anyone was looking for more proof of how central banks’ actions are distorting the markets, here it is: investors are trying to “front-run” the European Central Bank (ECB) – in the words of analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch — by buying investment grade bonds.
Bearish outlook for oil prices for this year and 2016
Inflation is unlikely to flare up again as long as commodity prices remain depressed. Inflation helps countries, companies and households that have high debts to pay them off because it reduces the value of the debt, so without it the world is slowly walking into a debtors’ nightmare.
Lower oil prices, the doom and the boom
Oil prices have always had a big political component, but it seems that increasingly they also have a financial, speculative one. And if this means oil stays cheaper for longer, we may be in for a very strong economic boom.
The best contrarian trades of the month
The fall in oil prices has pushed the energy sector to a record underweight, a recent survey among fund managers by Bank of America Merrill Lynch showed.
Russia to fall deep in recession, drag region down: EBRD
Russia will fall into a deep recession following the ruble’s collapse and the sharp decline in the price of oil, and will drag down with it many other countries in the region this year, new forecasts from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) show.