US The week just past us was one of slight gains in US equity markets, with most volume on Tuesday and Wednesday due to the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. The week opened with a soft print of the US services PMI, then trading became jittery for the S&P 500 as Read more…
Inflation is down – again – to 0.3%, far away from the target of the ECB. Source: TradingEconomics, Eurostat Inflation Expectations are also down. The expected inflation in 5 years dipped last months below the threshold of 2%. This is a major issue for ECB: given its mandate to maintain Read more…
Aviva plc; market cap (as of 27/11/2014 ): £14.96bn Friends Life Group; market cap (as of 27/11/2014): £5.21bn Introduction On November 24, Aviva plc, a multinational insurance company headquartered in London, reached a preliminary agreement to acquire its British rival Friends Life Group, the 5th largest life and pensions company Read more…
The Coca-Cola Company; market cap (as of 28/11/2014): $194.0bn SABMiller plc; market cap (as of 27/11/2014) £57.17bn Introduction SABMiller, the world’s second biggest brewer by revenue has agreed to a merge with one of Coca-Cola’s bottler, Coca-Cola Sabco, to combine bottling operations in Southern and east Africa and form a Read more…
Several investors have kept an eye open on oil this week putting all their hopes in the long-awaited OPEC meeting held on Thursday. Opening this week at $80.50 per barrel, the decisions of the OPEC meeting provoked an intraday drop of 6.65 percentage points in Brent crude prices on Thursday, Read more…
Market volatility has increased recently, and also the endless linear trend of the S&P 500 has been marginally affected. Quoting some numbers, the VIX index moved to over 26 in mid-October from a minimum of 10 reached this summer. Volatility is a sign of market nervousness; besides being common during Read more…
US This week we have seen almost only positive data about US economy, which explained dollar strength with respect to all major currencies (EUR, GBP and YEN). Gains were relatively small against Euro and Pound. The substantial advance with respect to the Yen was mainly due to Yen’s weakness during Read more…
I. OPEC and price trends Oil prices have been declining since last summer on concerns about production outpacing demand: the Brent slid by almost 30% from $115 in mid-June to the recent low of $76. Will prices carry on falling? Or have we hit the bottom? Next Thursday’s OPEC meeting will Read more…
What is the Hu-Gang Tong? On November 17, China took another leap in opening its markets to foreign investors with the establishment of the Hong Kong – Shanghai Stock Connect program. The so-called “Hu-Gang Tong” program will for the first time ever enable mainland residents to trade shares in Hong Read more…
Halliburton Company; market cap (as of 21/11/2014): $43.1bn Baker Hughes Inc.; market cap (as of 21/11/2014): $27.5bn Introduction On November 17, Halliburton Company, the world’s second biggest oilfield service provider, announced a definitive agreement to acquire Baker Hughes Inc. in a stock and cash deal worth $34.6bn. The transaction is Read more…
Actavis plc.; market cap (as of 21/11/2014): $70.5bn Allergan Inc.; market cap (as of 21/11/2014): $63.3bn Introduction The growing emphasis we put on health and quality of life, and the scientific advancements which are making this possible, are putting the pharmaceutical and medical industries in the spotlight. The recent surge Read more…
BBVA; market cap (as of 21/11/2014): $60.99bn Garanti Bakasi; market cap (as of 21/11/2014): $16.25bn Introduction On November 19, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) announced the acquisition of a 14.89% stake of Turkiye Guaranti Bankasi’s from Dogus Group through a Turkish Lira (TL) 5.6bn (ca. €2bn) stock purchase. This operation Read more…
The latest weeks have been full of news for the UK economy. Some of the news, like the dovish stance of the Bank of England, were on average expected by the financial markets, whereas others, such as the latest inflation figure of 1.2% for September, were not expected. Actually, the Read more…
Oi S.A.; market cap (as of 14/11/2014): $4.16bn PT Portugal SGPS S.A.; market cap (as of 14/11/2014): $1.46bn Bain Capital LLC; AUM: $75bn Apax Partners; AUM: $20bn On November 12, 2014 two major private equity funds, Apax Partners and Bain Capial LLC, have submitted a €7.075bn offer for the Portuguese Read more…
Club Mediterranee SA; market cap (as of 14/11/2014): €843.79m KKR & Co LP; market cap (as of 14/11/2014): $17.94bn KKR & Co LP; AUM: $102.3bn On November 11, Italian tycoon Andrea Bonomi, made a new bid for a controlling stake in the French tourism operator chain Club Méditerranée (Club Med). Read more…