Credit markets are functioning poorly after the double whammy of the coronavirus outbreak and a slump in oil prices. Liam Proud explains that while panic is premature, there are grounds to worry that banks’ trading desks may be less capable of absorbin…
Lebanon is set to default on its debt for the first time. The restructuring could be tough, as the debt documents use outdated legal clauses that provide the country with less protection from holdout creditors. But the nation might play hardball as wel…
Crude prices have crashed over 20% to $35 a barrel after Saudi Arabia launched a no-holds-barred price war. At current levels, oil majors, shale players and Gulf states will all get squeezed, argues George Hay. Unless the coronavirus eases soon, their …
JPMorgan’s boss has left two deputies in charge as he recovers from emergency heart surgery. His personality and the lender’s financial success on his watch have dominated the industry. Now investors get a foretaste of the bank’s future under different…
Coronavirus has landed in London’s financial heartland. HSBC and other lenders may split staff into separate locations so that they can keep trading if one office has to go into lockdown. Liam Proud explains why the costly move may have long-term benef…
The $211 bln driller is pushing ahead with big investments as rivals pull back, citing rising energy needs of a growing population and immature renewable-energy options to justify it. Antony Currie says that makes it an ideal investment for climate-cha…
The coronavirus has hammered demand for air travel, knocking shares and pushing UK budget carrier Flybe into bankruptcy. Yet past outbreaks like SARS point to it being a blip on air travel’s steady upward trajectory. Ed Cropley suggests that stronger a…
Joe Biden got a boost with big wins in the Super Tuesday Democratic primary contests. Voters opted for the safer choice, just like investors who recently sent the 10-year Treasury note’s yield to a record low. This could reshape the 2020 presidential r…
The European Union on Wednesday enshrined its 2050 target of net-zero carbon emissions into law. As George Hay argues, Brussels’ 1 trillion euro investment plan to help it get there is less than the sum of its parts. Even so, it should be taken serious…
Central bank chief Jay Powell cut rates on Tuesday as the coronavirus took hold in the United States. Treatments that worked in the financial crisis of 2008 may be less useful this time. Still, Powell has set out a playbook his counterparts can now fol…