NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) – Oil posted the biggest weekly decline since early April on growing signs that a global economic slowdown is curbing demand. Prices are near the lowest level in six months. West Texas Intermediate settled at US$89 a barrel, ending the week nearly 10 per cent lower. United States gasoline consumption has dropped, […]
NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) – Weather, war, volatile exchange rates – companies have long blamed factors beyond their control for shrinking profits and slowing sales. The hot new scapegoat? Remote workers. Shake Shack said on Thursday (Aug 4) that the pace of workers returning to offices in cities including New York stalled last quarter, causing the […]
BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) – From London to Hong Kong, large initial share sales have all but dried up across the world’s major financial centres this year. But the market in China is bustling with activity. Initial public offerings (IPOs) on mainland exchanges have climbed to US$57.8 billion (S$79.8 billion) so far in 2022, the largest ever for […]
BEIJIING (BLOOMBERG) – China’s trade surplus rose to a record as exports grew faster than expected, easing some concerns over waning global demand and providing support for an economy battling sporadic Covid-19 outbreaks and property woes. The nation’s trade balance climbed to about US$101 billion (S$139.4 billion) in July, surpassing the previous record set in […]
Mexican soldiers and rescue personnel work at the flooded coal mine where 10 miners have been trapped since Wednesday after a collapse, in the community of Agujita, Sabinas municipality, Coahuila state, Mexico, on Aug 6, 2022. (JULIO CESAR AGUILAR / AFP) SABINAS, Mexico – Large pumps sucked water from a flooded coal mine in Mexico […]
This file photo dated Sept 21, 2021, shows traffic moving on a street in Sudan's capital Khartoum. (MARWAN ALI / AP) KHARTOUM – Sudan summoned the Chadian ambassador to Sudan on Saturday to protest what it called a cross-border attack by Chadian armed groups that killed at least 18 Sudanese civilians, official SUNA news agency […]
This handout picture taken and released by the Turkish Defence ministry press office on Aug 3, 2022, shows an inspection delegation member inspecting the Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razoni carrying 26,000 tonnes of corn from Ukraine, off the coast of north-west Istanbul. (TURKISH DEFENSE MINISTRY / AFP) ISTANBUL – The second caravan of ships transporting […]
SINGAPORE – Insurance is not the most exciting investment product around but industry veteran Raymond Ong regards it as a highly versatile tool that can bring diversity to his portfolio while guarding against unforeseen events. His approach takes in anything from critical illness protection to investment-linked plans (ILPs), but all come with careful vetting and […]
A: For anyone planning their retirement, CPF Life will have to be the foundation block of their planning as it will contribute the bulk of the income, but instruments like fixed deposits, Singapore Savings Bonds (SSBs) and annuities can supplement this. Next week, we look at more risk-based assets such as equities and property.
With inflation at multi-year highs, investors are on the hunt for regular streams of passive income to supplement their take-home pay. The most common choices are dividends from stocks and yield from fixed-income bonds, while some will swear on real estate and seek out rental income or try to hunt down inflation hedges. But there […]
(BLOOMBERG) – Citigroup Inc is planning a 500- person hiring spree over the next three years for a new wealth division catering to junior employees at private equity offices, consultancies and accounting firms, betting those clients will some day join the ranks of the ultra wealthy. The bank started the unit, known as Wealth at […]
(NYTIMES) – Cory Klippsten started issuing warnings about the cryptocurrency market in March. The digital coin Luna, Mr Klippsten tweeted, was a scam, run by an entrepreneur with “major Elizabeth Holmes vibes”. The newfangled crypto bank Celsius Network was a “massive blow-up risk”, he said. When those crypto projects collapsed a few weeks later, causing […]
There is no shortage of geopolitical concerns for investors these days, from Ukraine to Taiwan, inflation and plenty besides, but investors need to carefully weigh up when it is right to bail out and when it is right to hold on for dear life. Mr Sani Hamid, director of economics and market strategy at financial […]
A tap of your credit or debit card at the train gantry. A hover of your smartphone over the payment terminal. Just a few taps to transfer your share of the lunch bill to your friend. The Covid-19 pandemic has seen more Singaporeans embrace digital payments, with PayNow transactions doubling in both volume and monetary […]
Tourists arrive to the Mataveri international airport in Hanga Roa, Easter Island, Chile on Aug 4, 2022. (MIGUEL SANCHEZ / AFP) SANTIAGO / WASHINGTON – Chile's Easter Island received its first group of tourists on Thursday after closing its borders for more than two years due to the coronavirus pandemic. Easter Island, over 3,219 km from […]
This general view taken on July 8, 2018, shows the Kremlin and Moscow State University (back) in Moscow, Russia. (MLADEN ANTONOV / AFP) MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Friday banning "unfriendly" investors from making transactions with their shares in strategic Russian enterprises and projects until the end of the year. […]
In this photo released by Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attends the 12th East Asia Summit foreign ministers' meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Aug 5, 2022. (RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS VIA AP) Russia and the United States said on Friday they were ready to discuss a prisoner swap, a […]
President of ruling African National Congress and South Africa President Ramaphosa addresses the 6th National Policy Conference in Johannesburg on July 29, 2022. (AP PHOTO) JOHANNESBURG – South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa is beset by crises that have cast doubt on his presidency and left him vulnerable to a leadership challenge as his party begins the […]
Roots party presidential candidate George Wajackoyah gestures to his supporters during a campaign rally in Ruai, Nairobi on July 27, 2022, ahead of Kenya's August 2022 general election. (SIMON MAINA / AFP) NAIROBI – Sexagenarian reggae aficionado and presidential candidate George Wajackoyah is convinced he has the right medicine for the ills troubling Kenya's voters: […]
NEW YORK (AFP) – Wall Street stocks finished mostly lower on Friday (Aug 5) after better-than-expected US jobs data raised expectations for more aggressive Federal Reserve actions to tighten monetary supply. The US economy added 528,000 jobs in July, more than twice the expected number, while the unemployment rate dipped to the pre-pandemic low of […]