United States The post-financial crisis US equity rally this week overtook the 1949-56 run to become the second-strongest bull market in US history. The S&P 500 closed the week at $2,500.23, a new record high. North Korea missile tests and possible Fed balance sheet tightening were ignored by the market, Read more…
Introduction Chinese Ministry of Finance announced on June 13th that it will issue 14 billion RMB and 2 billion USD sovereign bonds this year in Hong Kong, marking the first issuance of dollar-denominated sovereign bonds after 2004. Major financial publications (including WSJ and FT) have reported this week that the Read more…
Recently the spread between oil benchmark Brent and Us counterpart West Texas Intermediate has reached the highest levels in two years, breaking above $7/bbl in September. In this article we will give a brief introduction of different crude oils, the fundamental reasons behind price differentials, and an idea on how Read more…
Pembina Pipeline Corp (NYSE:PBA) – market cap as of 05/05/2017: $17.38bn Veresen Inc. (TSE:VSN) – market cap as of 05/05/2017: C$5.81bn ($4.26bn) Introduction On May 1, 2017, Pembina Pipeline Corp. announced that it had agreed to buy smaller rival Veresen Inc. for about C$9.7bn, either paid through stock or cash, Read more…
BP P.L.C. (BP:LSE) – market cap as of 05/05/2017: £88.41bn ($114.33bn) China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (0386:SEHK) – market cap as of 05/05/2017: HK$762.30bn ($97.93bn) Introduction On April 27, 2017, it was announced that BP had agreed to sell its 50% stake in the Chinese SECCO Petrochemical Company Limited (SECCO) Read more…
Becton Dickinson and Company Inc. (NYSE: BDX) – market cap as of 05/05/2017: $39.78bn R. Bard Inc. (NYSE: BCR) – market cap as of 05/05/2017: $22.31bn Introduction On April 23, 2017, it was announced that Becton Dickinson had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire C. R. Bard – one Read more…
United States The S&P 500 closed the week at $2,399.29, a record high and up 0.63% when compared with the close of the previous week. During the week several important announcements have been released; first of all the Federal Reserve decided to leave interest rate unchanged at 0.75%-1.00% following the Read more…
Introduction This article throws light on an important decision about Euribor that came out this week on May 4th. The decision refers to the conclusion of the pre-live exercise that was carried out to determine the change in method of calculation of Euribor. We will proceed in the following way: Read more…
Introduction The purpose of this article is to apply the mathematical framework of Modern Portfolio Theory to an unconventional asset class. Cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin included, are a novel and little known asset class with a relatively low market cap of $44 billion and very high volatility. By applying Markowitz’s Portfolio Theory Read more…
United States After the French election relief and solid first quarter earnings reports the US equities finished the week higher. Slightly more than half of the S&P 500 has reported, showing positive signs of improving economic growth, with best performers tech and industrial companies. The S&P 500 after the rally Read more…
Semyrhamis SA—private investment company LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (MC: PAR)—market cap as of 29/04/2017: €114.85bn Christian Dior SE (CDI: PAR)—market cap as of 29/04/2017: €45.48bn Introduction On April 25, 2017, it was announced that Semyrhamis SA, a company owned by the Arnault family, had made a public takeover Read more…
Swift Transportation Co (SWFT:NYQ) – market cap as of 29/04/2017: $3.27bn Knight Transportation Inc. (KNX:NYQ) – market cap as of 29/04/2017: $2.76bn Introduction On April 10, 2017, Swift and Knight have agreed to merge in an all-stock transaction that is expected to create the largest player in the Transportation and Read more…
Siemens AG (ETR: SIE)—market cap as of 28/04/2017: €111.86bn Introduction On November 14, 2016, Siemens, Europe’s largest manufacturing and electronics conglomerate, announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire the electronic design automation company Mentor Graphics, in a transaction valued at c. $4.5bn. The cash offer of $37.25 Read more…
Introduction In this article, after a brief introduction to efficient market hypothesis and the very basics of technical analysis, we implement two different trading strategies based on moving averages and few oscillators on a wide set of equity indexes in various countries. The aim is to investigate whether efficient market Read more…
Introduction This article discusses the impact of Trumponomics (Trump’s economic program) on the valuation of regional and international banks’ stock prices. It starts by providing an overview of the US banking system, and then moves towards explaining Trump’s expansionary fiscal program and its implied effect on the valuation of regional Read more…