Refinancing can be smart for homeowners who have a high interest rate on their current mortgage, many years left to pay it off, or both, experts say....
The business arm of China's most prestigious university met its creditors on April 30, and the outcome has shaken investors' faith in widely used contracts for Chinese offshore bonds.The bankrupt Peking University Founder Group used a short cut known as a keepwell deed to borrow US dollars from foreign investors. Now, its state-appointed restructuring administrator has thrown doubt on the enforceability of these contracts by classifying them as pending recognition.This decision impacts bondholders of about 16 per cent, or US$96 billion, of outstanding offshore bonds issued by Chinese companies, according to Redd, a market data provider. More than US$12 billion of debt rated by credit rating agency Moody's uses keepwell deeds."This is the first time keepwell deeds have been tested in court. The administrator could set an important precedent," said Renee Lam, a credit officer researching companies across the Asia-Pacific region at ratings agency Fitch.From British bank HSBC suspending dividend payments...
China has asked trading firms and food processors to boost inventories of grains and oilseeds as a possible second wave of coronavirus cases and worsening infection rates elsewhere raise concerns about global supply lines. Both state-run and private grain traders as well as food producers were urged to procure higher volumes of soybeans, soyoil and corn during calls with China's Ministry of Commerce in recent days, three trade sources told Reuters....
(Bloomberg) -- Forget plunging oil prices and a collapse in consumer spending. Some of the world’s most-prominent investors are raising alarm bells over the looming threat of inflation, and turning to gold for protection.Money printing by central banks and vast state stimulus packages are rekindling interest in one of the oldest stores of wealth. It’s a revival of a trade that became popular in the wake of the 2008 crisis, as money managers piled into gold for similar reasons, but were ultimately disappointed as inflation was kept in check. Yet the unprecedented scale of the government response to the coronavirus crisis is feeding the argument that this time will be different.Hedge fund luminaries including Paul Singer, David Einhorn, and Crispin Odey are among those bullish on gold, according to recent letters to investors. So are large asset managers like Blackrock Inc. and Newton Investment Management.“Gold is the only escape from global...
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- American oil producers have cut much more output than you think. Their reaction to market forces has been bigger than official data suggest, and that means the U.S. is actually working alongside Saudi Arabia, Russia and other big oil producers, to help balance oil supply and demand — even if that wasn’t quite what President Donald Trump intended.Two sets of data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show that crude production is now about 11.6 million barrels a day, down by between 1.2 million and 1.4 million barrels a day, or roughly 10%, from plateau levels reached over the just-ended winter, depending on whether you use the weekly or the monthly numbers.To put those U.S. figures into perspective, the members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies agreed last month that they would each cut their production by 22% from baselines that, for the most part,...
