BP Posts Loss as Oil Spill Settlement and Sagging Demand Take Toll
LONDON — The British oil giant BP said on Tuesday that it lost $5.8 billion in the second quarter, reflecting a huge settlement over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
The roughly 40 percent fall in oil prices since last year is also sharply cutting into profits at BP and at other oil companies. In addition, oil price benchmarks have slid 20 percent over the last month to around $50 a barrel, reaching their lowest levels since March.
The dark side of China’s heavy-handed response to its plunging stock markets
The Chinese stock markets plummeted Monday in the biggest one-day drop since 2007. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 8.5 percent, weighing on Japanese, Hong Kong and U.S. markets. The trend is raising doubts about the effectiveness of Beijing’s recent efforts to prop up the market, as well as the health and direction of the world's second-largest economy.
The Chinese government has gone to huge lengths to support its volatile stock markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen, which climbed to dizzying heights in mid-June and then shed about a third of their value over the following month.
"The ratings company said in a statement Tuesday it revised the outlook on Brazil’s rating to negative from stable. The country’s rating from S&P is already at BBB-, the lowest investment grade.
The ratings move adds to challenges for President Dilma Rousseff and her economic team led by Finance Minister Joaquim Levy as they duel with Congress to shore up fiscal accounts at the same time the country slips into recession. "
"Brazil’s real led global declines and fell to a 12-year low after Standard & Poor’s changed the outlook on the nation’s credit rating to negative, citing challenges to balancing the budget and the unprecedented investigation of public officials."
"The combined balance sheet of the European Central Bank and the euro zone's 19 national central banks rose by 6.2 billion euros ($6.85 billion) to 2.525 trillion euros in the week to July 24, the ECB said on Tuesday."
"Exit strategies used to be the preoccupation of Pentagon planners. Nowadays, it’s more a province for central bank watchers, since the Federal Reserve gorged on trillions of dollars of mortgage and government debt.
And in that economic realm, China has just added a new conundrum. The dependence of the nation’s stock market on official support was exposed Monday with the biggest drop since 2007 amid speculation aid had been dialed back. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.7 percent Tuesday even after China pledged to keep up efforts to “stabilize” the market."
"Responding to the figures, Campbell Robb, Shelter’s chief executive, said: “When house prices soar by this much in a single year thanks to our housing shortage, it’s clear that for millions of people across the country, a home of your own is fast becoming a pipe dream.”"
"Low vacancy rate, high cost of home ownership conspire against renters"
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