Finance news

• Forget 'sell in May,' just buy on FOMC days: James Saft

  11-05-2016 23:34
  
  (James Saft is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own)
  
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• Key player in Pershing Square's Valeant bet leaving firm

  11-05-2016 23:03
  
  LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - William Doyle, a key figure in Pershing Square Capital Management's controversial investment in battered drug company Valeant Pharmaceuticals, is leaving the hedge fund, its...
  
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• Immigration post Brexit would depend on economy's need - Johnson

  11-05-2016 23:01 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Kylie MacLellan EXETER, England (Reuters) - The level of immigration Britain would accept after a vote to leave the European Union would depend on the needs of the economy, former London mayor and de facto leader of the "Out" campaign Boris Johnson said on Wednesday. Polls show immigration is a key voter concern ahead of a June 23 referendum on Britain's EU membership and those who want to leave the bloc have made taking back control of the borders a central plank of their campaign. Johnson,
  
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• Spain sees strong demand in 50-year bond offer

  11-05-2016 22:48 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Spain said Wednesday the launch of its first 50-year bond in two years drew strong investor demand, as it became the latest eurozone country to jump on the long-bond bandwagon. The Spanish Public Treasury sold 3.0 billion euros ($3.4 billion) of the bond maturing in 2066 via a syndication which drew orders worth 10.4 billion euros, the economy ministry said in a statement. Companies and governments are increasingly borrowing at longer maturities in Europe as the European Central Bank's stimulus
  
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• Wall Street slumps as Disney and Macy's slam consumer shares

  11-05-2016 22:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The consumer discretionary index fell 1.98 percent, notching its worst day in three months, with all but three of its 88 components losing ground. The biggest drag on the Dow, Disney dropped 4.04 percent after it posted a rare earnings miss. Department store Macy's tumbled 15.17 percent to its lowest since 2011, while watch maker Fossil sank as much as 34 percent to a 2009 low after the two companies slashed their full-year forecasts.
  
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• Trucks, SUVs soon to be majority of U.S. vehicle launches: analyst

  11-05-2016 22:21
  
  DETROIT (Reuters) - The majority of U.S. vehicle launches will soon be trucks or sport utility vehicles, a leading auto analyst predicted on Wednesday, potentially hampering government plans to cut...
  
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• Top BlackRock bond investor slows emerging-market debt buying

  11-05-2016 22:12
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Top BlackRock Inc bond investor Rick Rieder on Wednesday said his team has slowed, but is not stopping, its purchases of emerging-market debt as it has become more difficult to...
  
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• Wall Street ends down sharply with retailers, Disney

  11-05-2016 22:05 via news.yahoo.com
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes dropped about 1 percent on Wednesday as feeble quarterly reports from Walt Disney, Macy's and Fossil undermined confidence across the consumer sector.
  
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• Higher wages threaten to squash margins at consumer companies

  11-05-2016 21:57
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The strong jobs market is likely to send sales higher at retailers and restaurants but leave investors unhappy, worrying fund managers who have crowded into consumer stocks.
  
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• UK Brexit could lead to wider break-up of EU - Italian finance minister

  11-05-2016 21:22 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said on Wednesday a British exit from the European Union could "act as a detonator" that splits other countries away from the bloc amid tensions over migration and weak economic growth. "In other European countries there might be a temptation to do like the UK, to engineer other Brexits all over the place, so this would lead to widespread fragmentation in the EU," he said in an interview with Britain's Channel 4 television during a trip to London. Padoa
  
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• Nissan in talks for controlling stake in Mitsubishi: media

  11-05-2016 21:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Nissan Motors is in the final stage of talks to buy a 34 percent stake in scandal-hit Mitsubishi Motors, Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported Thursday. The deal, reported to be worth $1.8 billion (1.57 billion euros), would amount to an effective acquisition by Nissan Motors, making it the top shareholder ahead of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which holds a 20 percent stake. The reports come as Mitsubishi seeks to turn itself around after a bombshell admission last month that it has been cheat
  
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• Boston better prepped for tech talent than Bay Area

  11-05-2016 21:04 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boston is the U.S. city best placed to capitalize on the shift to a digital economy, with the tech-centered San Francisco Bay Area second as it lost ground because of worsening quality of life, a report said on Wednesday. The analysis of 25 cities' competitiveness by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and others said it aimed to show which are ready for the digital revolution expected to transform every industry, from robotics to healthcare.
  
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• Wall Street drops, Disney and Macy's slam consumer shares

  11-05-2016 20:57 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The consumer discretionary index fell 1.84 percent, on track for its worst day in three months, with all but six of its 88 components losing ground. The biggest drag on the Dow, Disney dropped 4.4 percent after it posted a rare earnings miss. Department store Macy's tumbled 14 percent, while watch maker Fossil sank as much as 34 percent to a six-and-a-half year low after the two companies slashed their full-year forecasts.
  
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• IMF: Bribery eats up 2% of global economy

  11-05-2016 20:43 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The International Monetary Fund said Wednesday that bribery sucks up between $1.5 and $2.0 trillion dollars annually around the world, dragging down economies and worsening social services for the poor. In a new report on the economic impact of corruption, the IMF said that bribery, graft and other cheating common in both rich and poor countries limits economic growth and undermines sound government policies. In a speech prepared for the global Anti-Corruption Summit in London Thursday, IMF Mana
  
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• Nissan in talks to own third of Mitsubishi Motors for $1.8 billion: sources

  11-05-2016 20:37 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Nissan Motor Co is in advanced talks to take a roughly one-third stake in Mitsubishi Motors Corp with a $1.8 billion investment, as Mitsubishi struggles with a fuel-economy data scandal, two people familiar with the matter said. If the 200 billion yen deal goes through, Nissan, Japan's second-largest automaker by sales, would become the largest single shareholder of the much smaller Mitsubishi Motors, which admitted last month that it had supplied Nissan with mini-vehicles with overstated mileag
  
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• Venezuela opposition protests for Maduro recall referendum amid clashes

  11-05-2016 20:29 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Andrew Cawthorne and Mircely Guanipa CARACAS/PUNTO FIJO (Reuters) - Soldiers fired tear gas at stone-throwing protesters on Wednesday as Venezuela's opposition marched to pressure electoral authorities into allowing a recall referendum against unpopular leftist President Nicolas Maduro. The Democratic Unity coalition has ramped up its push to oust Maduro amid a worsening economic crisis, but says the government-leaning electoral body is intentionally delaying the verification of signatures in
  
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• IMF: Global corruption costs trillions in bribes, lost growth

  11-05-2016 20:18 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Public sector corruption siphons $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion annually from the global economy in bribes and costs far more in stunted economic growth, lost tax revenues and sustained poverty, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday. In a new research paper, the IMF said that tackling corruption is critical for the achievement of macroeconomic stability, one of the institution's core mandates. The Fund argues that strategies to fight corruption re
  
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• Finance leader: Bribes eat up $2 trillion in global economy

  11-05-2016 20:03 via news.yahoo.com
  WASHINGTON (AP) — A global finance leader asserts that as much as $2 trillion, or 2 percent of the global economy, in bribe money courses through developing and developed countries each year, undermining economic growth and diminishing basic services most needed by the poor.
  
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• LPC: Staples to repay investors on US$2.5bn Office Depot merger escrow loan

  11-05-2016 20:00
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Institutional investors to a US$2.5bn loan to back the merger between Staplesand Office Depotwill have their commitments repaid and be forced to redeploy their money into a...
  
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• With a clunk, Macy's opens the retail earnings season

  11-05-2016 19:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Macy's is acknowledging that there will be no consumer splurge anytime soon. A gloomy holiday shopping season across the retail spectrum has seeped into a spring funk. And after some startling numbers ...
  
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• Nissan to take $1.8 billion one-third stake in Mitsubishi Motors: sources

  11-05-2016 19:34 via news.yahoo.com
  Nissan Motor Co is in advanced talks to take a roughly one-third stake in Mitsubishi Motors Corp with a $1.8 billion investment as Mitsubishi struggles with a scandal over falsifying fuel-economy data, two people familiar with the matter said early on Thursday. The Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors boards will decide on the roughly 200 billion yen capital and business tie-ups on Thursday, making Nissan Mitsubishi's biggest shareholder with a stake over 30 percent, said the sources, one from each carm
  
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• I didn't want third term, says Rwanda's Kagame

  11-05-2016 19:17 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Rwandan President Paul Kagame said on Wednesday he did not want a third term in office but had to bow to entreaties from his people, who were not ready to say goodbye to the architect of the nation's recovery from a 1994 genocide. Speaking at the World Economic Forum on Africa in the capital, Kagame said he was aware that changing the constitution to allow him to run again would draw international criticism but had little say in the matter. The changes, which technically allow Kagame to stay unt
  
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• US open: Staples, Walt Disney weigh on Wall Street

  11-05-2016 19:03 via news.yahoo.com
  (ShareCast News) - Wall Street was in a sombre mood on Wednesday following poor numbers out of entertainment giant Walt Disney and after regulators blocked a merger between Office Depot and Staples, in ...
  
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• Your Money: How your 'Money Story' can help your finances

  11-05-2016 18:51
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Here is some personal finance advice you don't hear very often: forget the numbers.
  
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• Zimbabweans wary of return of unloved currency as cash shortage bites

  11-05-2016 18:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By MacDonald Dzirutwe HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabweans are worried that central bank plans to circulate local bank notes to ease dollar shortages could open the door to rampant printing of cash as happened in 2008 when inflation hit 500 billion percent, wiping out savings and pensions. Since March however, the economy, grappling with a devastating drought, has faced a shortage of notes, unnerving depositors who fear the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) turning on the printing presses again will make
  
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• Weak earnings weigh on global stocks

  11-05-2016 18:41 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Stocks across the world were mostly softer Wednesday as weak corporate earnings prompted profit-taking, but losses were limited by an oil price rally following surprisingly low US inventories.
  
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• Boston tops U.S. cities for digital entrepreneurship: report

  11-05-2016 18:35 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boston is the U.S. city best placed to capitalize on the shift to a digital economy, with the tech-centered San Francisco Bay Area second as it lost ground because of worsening quality of life, a report said on Wednesday. The analysis of 25 cities' competitiveness by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and others said it aimed to show which are ready for the digital revolution expected to transform every industry, from robotics to healthcare.
  
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• U.S. mutual fund investors pull money from stocks for 8th straight week: ICI

  11-05-2016 18:34
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. mutual fund investors sold stocks and piled into bonds for the eighth straight week, Investment Company Institute (ICI) data showed on Wednesday, indicating some investors...
  
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• South Africa's rand recoups losses, commodities buoy shares

  11-05-2016 18:33 via news.yahoo.com
  
  South Africa's rand firmed against the dollar on Wednesday as the dollar weakened globally but the local currency remained vulnerable due to weak domestic economic growth. The rand had weakened more than 1 percent to 15.3100 as investors fretted about the health of the domestic economy. Data this week showing a sharp rise in unemployment in the first quarter illustrated how South Africa's economy, expected by the Treasury to expand by just 0.9 percent this year, is not growing fast enough to cre
  
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• EU blocks Hutchison's deal to buy Telefonica's O2 UK

  11-05-2016 18:08
  
  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's competition regulator blocked on Wednesday CK Hutchison Holdings'plan to become Britain'sbiggest mobile telecoms network operator, in a decision which...
  
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• Wall Street drops as Disney, Macy's lead rout in consumer stocks

  11-05-2016 17:39 via news.yahoo.com
  
  (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday as weak earnings reports from Walt Disney, Macy's and Fossil reverberated across the consumer sector.
  
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• World economy faces risks, but growth likely: Bank of Canada

  11-05-2016 17:01 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Allison Lampert MONTREAL (Reuters) - While the global economy faces a number of risks, including the potential for a shock from China, the most likely scenario is that growth continues, with some headwinds starting to slowly fade, a senior Bank of Canada official said on Wednesday. "There are a lot of downside risks, but I would say though that the most likely thing is that the economy is going to keep growing," Wilkins told a panel. "There's not the typical inflation pressures you see that w
  
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• Carlsberg to focus on organic growth, not acquisitions: CEO

  11-05-2016 16:42
  
  COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Carlsbergmay not have the desire or financial firepower to swallow leftovers from the planned merger of the world's two top brewers after a badly timed bet on the Russian...
  
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• Sierra Leone solar push aims to bring electricity to all by 2025

  11-05-2016 16:18 via news.yahoo.com
  By Magdalena Mis LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Sierra Leone aims to provide electricity to all of its 6 million citizens by 2025 in a push to boost the economy, expand crucial services such as healthcare, and reduce dependency on aid, officials said on Wednesday. Less than 12 percent of people in Sierra Leone's cities have access to electricity, while in rural areas, where most people live, the figure is less than 1 percent. Under an initiative launched this week, Sierra Leone plans to b
  
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• Wall Street drops as Disney, Macy's weigh on consumer stocks

  11-05-2016 16:13 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The stock was the biggest drag on the Dow, accounting for about 35 points of the index's 80 points fall. Macy's sank 7.8 percent to $34.14 after the department store operator slashed its full-year sales forecasts. All the 10 major S&P sectors were lower, with the consumer discretionary index's 1.38 percent fall leading the decliners.
  
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• Investcorp part-owned Leejam Sports picks Samba Capital for IPO -sources

  11-05-2016 16:10 via news.yahoo.com
  By Hadeel Al Sayegh and David French DUBAI, May 11 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabian sports and fitness business Leejam Sports Co is to hire Samba Capital to advise it on a stock market flotation in the kingdom, sources aware of the matter told Reuters. While no mandate has been signed yet, two sources said the investment banking arm of Samba Financial Group has been told that it will be awarded the contract to list around 30 percent of the firm. Much of the shares put up for sale will likely to come fr
  
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• Europe becoming 'bad word' due to migrant crisis, other woes: Italy minister

  11-05-2016 15:55 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By John Geddie and Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) - Europe is becoming "a bad word" due to the strains of the migrant crisis and growing inequality among euro zone countries that risk driving the continent apart, Italy's Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said on Wednesday. "In terms of language, in many cases let's face it, Europe is becoming a bad word and that is very serious," said Padoan. With the euro zone struggling to shake off debt worries that have nearly split the currency bloc in recent
  
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• Brazil's Senate opens session that will likely suspend Rousseff

  11-05-2016 15:46 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Silvio Cascione and Marcela Ayres BRASILIA (Reuters) - President Dilma Rousseff was expected to become Brazil's first leader in more than two decades to be removed from office as the Senate began a session on Wednesday that will vote on whether to try her for breaking budget rules. If her opponents garner a simple majority in the 81-seat Senate, Rousseff will be suspended for up to six months during her trial, ending 13 years of leftist Workers Party rule in Latin America's largest economy. W
  
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• MIDEAST STOCKS-Major Gulf markets edge up, weak earnings hit Egypt

  11-05-2016 15:45 via news.yahoo.com
  * Much Saudi activity focuses on smaller stocks * Dubai's Amlak climbs on Q1 earnings * Gulf Navigation falls despite Q1 profit rise * Abu Dhabi's TAQA slides on quarterly loss * Egypt's Palm Hills, GB Auto, EFG-Hermes fall on earnings By Andrew Torchia DUBAI, May 11 (Reuters) - Most major Gulf stock markets edged up on Wednesday, buoyed by an overnight rise in oil prices and U.S. bourses, while Egypt's market was hit by weak corporate earnings. Saudi Arabia's index closed 0.1 percent higher aft
  
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• Bank of Canada sees Canada neutral interest rate at 2.75-3.75 percent

  11-05-2016 15:44 via news.yahoo.com
  
  With the potential for world economic growth lower, the neutral interest rate is also going to be lower and is in the range of 2.75 to 3.75 percent for Canada, Bank of Canada Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins said on Wednesday. "The real question in my mind in my mind as a central banker, and I think in everybody's mind as a buyer or seller of fixed income, is where are we going to settle out," Wilkins told a panel in Montreal.
  
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• German government opens way for widening of free public Internet access

  11-05-2016 15:01 via news.yahoo.com
  
  The German government approved plans on Wednesday that mean providers of free Wi-Fi will no longer be liable for crimes committed by users, opening the way for a widening of the public network of free internet across the country. Germany is one of few countries in Europe where such a procedure is needed. It has been cited as a big hurdle for the roll-out of fast network connections in Germany, Europe's biggest economy.
  
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• China's Wanda Group reconsiders de-listing property unit: sources

  11-05-2016 14:27
  
  HONG KONG Reuters) - Dalian Wanda Group is reconsidering a plan to take its Hong Kong-listed property arm private, two sources told Reuters, unnerved by greater scrutiny of China listings and...
  
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• Bulgaria's ruling party says government will remain stable after split

  11-05-2016 14:15 via news.yahoo.com
  By Angel Krasimirov SOFIA (Reuters) - The stability of Bulgaria's government is not at risk despite a small center-left ally withdrawing its support, leaving the center-right coalition without a majority in parliament, a top official from the leading GERB party said on Wednesday. The leadership of the ABV party said on Tuesday it would end its backing for the government due to disagreements over policy and changes in the election code, and its deputy prime minister and labor minister resigned. T
  
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• Global stocks fall, dollar eases back from two-week high

  11-05-2016 13:56 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Jamie McGeever LONDON (Reuters) - A promising start to the week by stocks fizzled out on Wednesday after a series of disappointing earnings reports. Profit-taking hit the dollar after it reached a two-week high on Tuesday. Germany's DAX snapped a four-day winning streak and the broader FTSEuroFirst 300 index of leading European shares erased much of Tuesday's rise, which was the biggest in three weeks. U.S. futures pointed to a fall of around a third of one percent on Wall Street . Shares in
  
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• Brexit remains biggest threat to UK growth, say economists

  11-05-2016 13:54 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Jonathan Cable LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's economic growth should be slow and steady in the coming year but that would be under threat if the country votes to leave the European Union or if jitters over the world economy intensify, a Reuters poll found. An overwhelming majority of the 60 economists polled this week said Britain voting to leave the EU in a referendum on June 23, a so-called Brexit, and global economic uncertainty were the two biggest risks to growth. "There is little doubt th
  
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• Global stocks drift as traders look for direction

  11-05-2016 13:49 via news.yahoo.com
  
  LONDON (AP) — Global stock markets faltered Wednesday amid further signs that the rally since the February lows has run its course and traders pondered which way the next move will be.
  
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• Egypt opens Gaza crossing for 48 hours after 85-day closure

  11-05-2016 13:39 via news.yahoo.com
  
  By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - Egypt opened its border with Gaza for the first time in three months on Wednesday, giving Palestinians a two-day respite from a closure stemming from friction between Cairo and the enclave's Islamist rulers. Egypt's shuttering of Rafah and destruction of cross-border smuggling tunnels, along with tight restrictions imposed by Israel along its own frontier with Gaza, have deepened economic misery for many of the 1.9 million Palestinians in the enclave. Egypt'
  
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• U.S. judge rules Texas tycoon Wyly committed tax fraud

  11-05-2016 13:29 via news.yahoo.com
  
  U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Barbara Houser in Dallas ruled that there was "clear and convincing evidence" Wyly committed tax fraud, rejecting his arguments that he relied on professional advisers to vet the offshore system. The ruling followed a trial in which the Internal Revenue Service sought $1.43 billion in back taxes, penalties and interest from Wyly and $834.2 million from Caroline Wyly, the widow of his late brother Charles. While Houser found that Sam and Charles Wyly committed tax fraud, she
  
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• Philippine president-elect to pursue higher growth to reduce poverty

  11-05-2016 13:22 via news.yahoo.com
  
  DAVAO, Philippines (Reuters) - Philippine president-elect Rodrigo Duterte will pursue annual economic growth of 7-8 percent, or even higher, in a drive to cut poverty, his spokesperson said on Wednesday. "If we want to reduce the poverty rate, we need a higher growth," Peter Lavina said. Under President Benigno Aquino, average annual economic growth has topped 6 percent and this year's target is 6.8-7.8 percent. (Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Writing by Karen Lema; Editing by Martin Petty)
  
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• Mitsubishi says cars sold overseas not affected by fuel-cheat scandal

  11-05-2016 13:19 via news.yahoo.com
  
  Mitsubishi Motors said Wednesday that its years-long cheating on fuel-economy tests did not affect cars sold overseas, potentially limiting the scope of a scandal that has plunged the automaker into crisis. The company also said it was probing nine more models sold only in Japan, but ruled out a bailout from its top shareholders. Vehicles sold overseas "were tested using methods appropriate to those markets", Mitsubishi chairman Osamu Masuko told reporters.
  
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