Download PDF Introduction On March 29, 2022, UnitedHealth Group Inc. announced it would acquire LHC Group Inc. for $5.4bn. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2022, pending shareholders’ approvals and regulatory approvals. This deal comes immediately after UnitedHealth’s $13bn acquisition of Change Healthcare which the Read more…
Download PDF Introduction “For it is, so to speak, a game of Snap, of Old Maid, a pastime in which he is victor who says Snap neither too soon nor too late, who passes the Old Maid to his neighbour before the game is over, who secures a chair for Read more…
Download PDF Sentiment in global financial markets was once again largely affected by the developments of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and by the Federal Reserve policy. USA The declarations of Fed Governor Lael Brainard on Tuesday and the release of minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee of mid-March on Read more…
Download PDF The world in the 21st century is increasingly growing more independent from cash transactions thanks to an incredibly dynamic payment industry, marked in recent years by rapid developments. The 1950s marked the invention and of the first credit card in the United States, in part fueled by war-recovery Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Rising energy costs threatened to undermine economies just recovering from a two-year pandemic well before Russian tanks moved into Ukraine. As a result of Putin’s aggression, that threat may now come to fruition. Fueling the global economy, fossil fuels such as crude oil, diesel, and natural gas Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Economics and the world economy are peculiar for being so unpredictable. The constant involvement of human beings leads them far from being an exact science. Correspondingly, financial markets are even more uncertain, constantly driven by human behaviour. For this reason, the idea that one very simple predictor Read more…
Download PDF The Low-Beta Anomaly The Low-Beta Anomaly is a well-documented stock market anomaly in which low beta stocks outperform high beta stocks. This goes against what basic financial intuition and theory would suggest; most notably it stands in direct opposition to the Capital Asset Pricing Model which stipulates that Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Berkshire Hathaway has agreed to buy insurance company Alleghany Inc in a deal worth $11.6bn. The purchase, once completed, would be one of the five biggest acquisitions in Berkshire’s records and will put some of the firm’s $146.7bn of cash and cash equivalents to work after a Read more…
Download PDF USA On Monday, Ukrainian troops managed to liberate Irpin, a suburb town north of Kyiv. Negotiations to reach a cease-fire agreement resumed on Tuesday in Turkey, after the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pointed out that neither the U.S. nor NATO are seeking a regime change in Read more…
Download PDF Introduction about Fintech In the years following the financial crisis of 2008, regulators have focused their attention on making the financial system a much safe a place as possible, in particular adopting new regulations for traditional financial institutions. Meanwhile, in places like Sillicon Valley, London, and in parts Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Recent data on the USD/JPY pair showed a significant strengthening of the US dollar against the Japanese currency, reaching an all-time high since 2016, marking almost a 5% decline YTD. This piece of news, however, is only the most recent episode of a significant weakening streak in Read more…
Download PDF USA Major US indexes advanced this week, extending large gains achieved during the previous 5-day session, with the S&P 500 now back at a level last seen on February 10. The VIX continued pointing lower due to this positive trend, closing the week at just above 20. Investors Read more…
Introduction In the last years, there has been a slew of forced divestments in diverse industries and for different reasons. The most notorious and recent example that we have of forced divestment are the many companies that decided to divest from their Russian investments and joint ventures, because of Read more…
Download PDF What Is a Supply Chain? A company’s supply chain comprises several suppliers that work together to create and deliver a particular product to the end-user. Different activities, people, organizations, information, and resources are all part of this network. The supply chain also refers to the stages of bringing Read more…
Download PDF Introduction The recent developments in the Russian invasion of Ukraine have led to an exponential increase in energy prices. This is due to the threat that Russia’s war poses to energy supply, as the country is one of the biggest worldwide players in crude oil, natural gas, and Read more…