Wednesday 28 May 2014

BBC News - Why did UKIP do less well in London?

BBC News - Why did UKIP do less well in London?:



"How much of the rise in Europe's anti-establishment parties of right and left is cyclical and how much is long-term and secular?



Is the new popularity of anti-EU parties in the UK, France, Greece and Spain a hangover from the crash of 2007-8, the euro crisis of 2010-13 and long years of squeezed living standards - a protest from those who feel dispossessed in an economic sense?



Or does the surge of UKIP, the Front National and Syriza, inter alia, reflect a more profound sense that the mainstream parties and conventional political institutions no longer serve the interests of millions of people?"



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Ukraine Short Sellers Bail on Losing Bond Market Wagers - Businessweek

Ukraine Short Sellers Bail on Losing Bond Market Wagers - Businessweek:



"Bearish bets against Ukrainian dollar bonds are backfiring as a thaw in the country’s conflict with Russia spurs the longest winning streak in four years. 




Money managers more than doubled short positions on Ukrainian dollar debt in the first part of the year, sending them to $846 million on April 30, according to Markit. Investors have since pared back the wagers by 23 percent to $655 million as the bonds surged an average 7.3 cents this month to 93 cents on the dollar. 




Bearish investors are absorbing losses as the election of President Petro Poroshenko, who has pledged to visit Ukraine’s eastern regions to end fighting with rebels, and signs from Russia it’s seeking to defuse tensions helped sustain bond gains for a 10th straight day yesterday. Investors had pushed up bets Ukraine’s debt would tumble as escalating conflict with separatists in the country’s east fueled concern the country was on the verge of civil war."



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Live chart: Military spending - YouTube

Live chart: Military spending - YouTube: ""



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Larry Summers on inequality and Piketty - YouTube

Larry Summers on inequality and Piketty - YouTube: ""



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Can capitalism be reformed? - YouTube

Can capitalism be reformed? - YouTube: ""



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U.A.E. Islamic Bank Asks What’s in a Name After Barclays - Bloomberg

U.A.E. Islamic Bank Asks What’s in a Name After Barclays - Bloomberg:



"Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank PJSC (ADIB), which bought the local retail assets of Barclays Plc (BARC) last month, is weighing whether to change its name as it targets more non-Muslim customers beyond its home market.



The second-biggest Islamic lender in the United Arab Emirates may change to Abu Dhabi International Bank outside the nation to lure customers drawn to ethical banking, Tirad Mahmoud, chief executive officer of ADIB, said during a conference in the emirate last week. This could help capture a loan market that’s about 200-times the size of Shariah lending.



With 60 percent of U.A.E. residents already holding bank accounts, faster growth opportunities for ADIB may need to come from international markets, according to Shabbir Malik at EFG-Hermes Holding SAE. The lender’s purchase of the Barclays asset was a rare chance to secure 110,000 new customers at home."



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Opinion: emerging markets and the Euros – beyondbrics - Blogs - FT.com

Opinion: emerging markets and the Euros – beyondbrics - Blogs - FT.com:



"It has been a reliable guideline for governments doing business with the EU that elections to the European Parliament can safely be ignored. Yet given that the parliament has been given powers of disruption over trade and investment, two of the areas in which the EU has some authority, blissful ignorance of the legislature may be a luxury that emerging market governments can no longer afford.



The conventional wisdom is that the successes of Euroscepticism and the radical right in this week’s election results represent a further shift towards general hostility to free trade and to trade deals. While this is largely true, the Parliament’s likely willingness to veto parts of agreements with which it is unhappy may in fact make such pacts more palatable to emerging markets years down the line. Moreover, the resolution of disputes between the EU and big emerging markets like China is likely to remain the same series of bilateral stitch-ups it has increasingly become."



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Sberbank, Abu Dhabi’s Invest AD clinch “strategic” deal | EmergingMarkets.me

Sberbank, Abu Dhabi’s Invest AD clinch “strategic” deal | EmergingMarkets.me:



"Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank and Abu Dhabi’s state-owned Invest AD investment management firm have signed a preliminary deal on “strategic” cooperation in asset management in Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the Middle East, Sberbank said.



The Memorandum of Strategic Cooperation was signed by Anton Rakhmanov, chief executive of Sberbank Asset Management, and Nazem Fawwaz Al Kudsi, chief executive of Invest AD, at last week’s annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum, the Russian bank said in a statement."



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Dubai property for sale or rent tops 192,000 units on leading website as oversupply grows, where next for prices? « ArabianMoney

Dubai property for sale or rent tops 192,000 units on leading website as oversupply grows, where next for prices? « ArabianMoney:



"

Two years ago we noted a sudden fall off in the number of housing units for sale or rent in Dubai on the listings website Dubizzle.com, down from 100,000 at the start of the year to 77,000. That we concluded was a clear sign of a serious market recovery.







Today the same website lists 192,000 homes for sale or rent in Dubai. This is a massive oversupply that has held back price advances this year and threatens to lower prices in the near future.

"



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Demand stampede for Investment Corporation of Dubai bonds | The National

Demand stampede for Investment Corporation of Dubai bonds | The National:



"Bonds sold earlier this month by the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) sparked demand three times in excess of what was offered, signalling that investors have put debt woes behind them as the UAE’s economy flourishes.



ICD’s sale, the first for the Dubai government investment giant, also comes amid renewed interest in emerging market debt, an asset class that has been battered by the tapering of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary stimulus and political and economic instability in countries such as Russia, Brazil and Indonesia.



The spectre, however, of a sustained period of low interest rates in the US and Europe has attracted investors looking for higher-yield and longer-bond tenures. 




ICD, which owns stakes in companies including Emaar Properties and Emirates Airline, said it sold US$700 million of sukuk with a 10-year tenor and profit rate of 3.508 per cent and $300 million of conventional 10-year bonds with a coupon of 4.625 per cent. More than 150 investors took part in the sale on May 14."



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Jet Airways reports record loss, appoints new CEO | GulfNews.com

Jet Airways reports record loss, appoints new CEO | GulfNews.com:



"India’s Jet Airways reported its biggest ever quarterly loss of $366.5 million on Tuesday as it announced the appointment of a former Etihad executive as its new CEO.



The standalone net loss is for the fourth fiscal quarter that ended March 31. It a reported a $84 million loss for the same period a year earlier.



The record loss was attributed to higher fuel costs and taxes with high competition restricting fare increases for India carriers."



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Ukraine Natural Gas Price Risk Premium Remains for Europe - Bloomberg

Ukraine Natural Gas Price Risk Premium Remains for Europe - Bloomberg:



"The European Union still faces the threat of natural gas disruptions this winter after helping forge a draft deal to settle a debt dispute between Russia and Ukraine, which carries about 15 percent of the bloc’s gas needs.



The premium of U.K. winter gas over the day-ahead contract widened 3.1 percent yesterday, its biggest increase in more than 10 days in a sign that supply concerns remain, broker data compiled by Bloomberg show. The risk of transit interruption, as in previous disputes between the eastern European nations in 2006 and 2009, persists as long as no definite agreement is signed between the parties, according to Societe Generale SA.



Ukraine’s state energy company NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy would pay Russia’s OAO Gazprom (GAZP) $2 billion by May 30 and a further $500 million by June 7, the European Commission, the 28-nation bloc’s regulatory arm, said May 26 after talks between the three parties. Ukraine will give its answer on the commission’s proposal today, Energy Minister Yuri Prodan said."



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Dubai’s Union Properties Plans Cheaper Hotels Amid Luxury Glut - Bloomberg

Dubai’s Union Properties Plans Cheaper Hotels Amid Luxury Glut - Bloomberg:



"In Dubai, a city known for some of the world’s most luxurious hotels and penthouses, developer Union Properties PJSC (UPP) is looking to tap demand from people who want to visit the sheikhdom without breaking the bank.



The company plans to build around 1,000 hotel rooms in the next five years to address a shortage in the middle- and lower-end of the market, managing director Ahmad Al Marri said in an interview.



“Most of the demand is at the three- and four-star level, because the majority of existing affordable hotels tend to be located in the older part of Dubai,” Al Marri said. “We can’t invite people to visit the city just to have them come and find it very expensive.”"



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Iraq Oil Revival Stalls Again as Violence Pinches Growth: Energy - Bloomberg

Iraq Oil Revival Stalls Again as Violence Pinches Growth: Energy - Bloomberg:



"The revival in Iraqi oil output has stalled. Again.



Production forecasts for 2014 are getting less optimistic. The Oil Ministry’s official target is 4 million barrels a day by the end of the year. More likely it will be 3.75 million, Thamir Ghadhban, an adviser to the prime minister, said in an interview May 14. Or perhaps 3.4 million, about the same as last month, according to the average of six analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg News.



Violence and conflict are pinching growth for OPEC’s second-biggest member. While Iraq added about 2 million barrels to daily production since 2003, the year of Saddam Hussein’s ouster, attacks on pipelines and an oil-revenue dispute with the semi-autonomous Kurdish region are diminishing the country’s dependability as a supplier. They’re also contributing to making oil more expensive, VTB Capital said."



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