Bond rally breaks records as investors race to safety
Global economy anxieties and Brexit fears take a grip on sentiment
The global rally in government bonds broke records on Friday while equities buckled as a combination of anxiety over the world economy and Britain’s referendum on EU membership sent investors racing to safety.
Bears took charge of financial markets already grappling with the effects of negative interest rates in the eurozone and Japan as European equities suffered their worst day since the market meltdown at the start of the year.
“To see the 10-year Bund [yield] so close to zero is shocking,” said Philip Brown, head of sovereign capital markets at Citigroup. “Equities are falling and fixed income is rallying in a flight to quality — there are real fears in markets about global growth.”
German, UK and Japanese sovereign bond yields all reached historic lows with the yield on the 10-year Bund — a benchmark for the eurozone — falling as low as 0.01 per cent. Gold also rallied as deeper risk aversion dashed any hopes that US stocks would reach a new high this week.
CFPB Takes Aim at Payday Loan Debt Traps
The payday loan industry rakes in $7 billion in fees annually. According to the CFPB, the median fee for every $100 borrowed is $15. Interest rates are astronomical, averaging about 300 percent or higher. Coupled with the repeated attempts to withdraw funds from the borrower’s account, which lenders are permitted to do once the repayment period begins, repaying the loan can quickly become unmanageable.
The manufacturer aims to produce between 80,000 and 90,000 cars by the end of 2016, but first quarter production rates suggest that the company might not be on track to meet its set goals.
A total of 14,820 cars - 12,851 Model S and 2,659 Model X sports utility vehicles - left plant beltways in the first three months of 2016
Working with the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant outside Reykjavik, it combined the waste CO2 with water to make a slightly acidic liquid that was then sent hundreds of metres down into the volcanic basalts that make up so much of the North Atlantic island.
The low pH water (3.2) worked to dissolve the calcium and magnesium ions in the basalts, which then reacted with the carbon dioxide to make calcium and magnesium carbonates. Cores drilled into the experimental site pulled up rock with the tell-tale white carbonates occupying the pore spaces.
How Far Can Oil Rally? Options Investors Bet on Surge Above $100
Oil investors are buying contracts that will only pay out if crude rises well above $100 a barrel over the next four years — a clear sign some believe today’s bust is sowing the seeds of the next boom. The options deals, which brokers said bear the hallmarks of trades made by hedge funds, appear to be based on the belief that current low prices will generate a supply crunch as oil companies cut billions of dollars in spending on developing fields. The International Energy Agency forecasts that non-OPEC supply will suffer its biggest decline in more than two decades this year. “The market faces a supply crunch in the next 24 months,” said Francisco Blanch, head of commodities research at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York. “Some hedge funds are betting that oil prices will need to rise sharply to bring demand down again — that’s […]
