Standard & Poor’s late on Thursday slashed Spain’s credit rating one notch to AA- with a negative outlook from AA, citing economic woes. The lowering of Spain’s long term rating reflects its uncertain growth prospects in light of the private sector’s need to access fresh financing to roll over high levels of external debt amid…
China’s trade surplus shrank for a second straight month in September to $14.5bn. Trade data published on Thursday showed September’s figures were $3.3bn lower than the $17.8bn in August and had reduced by more than half from the $31.5bn figure recorded in July. September’s imports rose 20.9 percent compared with 30.2 percent in August, and…
There are many books on the market regarding negotiation. One thing they almost all have in common is that they’re wrong about the process – certainly on a big ticket item like a manufactured home park. Although you might be able to get some tips on buying or selling a used car from these materials,…
Brazil saw retail sales volumes drop 0.4 percent from a month earlier indication a slowdown as South America’s largest economy continues to struggle with rising inflation, the Brazilian Institute of geography and Statistics announced late on Tuesday. Sales in August were up 6.2 percent year-on-year but nonetheless produced the second most sluggish growth rate since…
The royal family of Qatar is moving up its investment in Europe’s banking sector with plans to acquire private banking arms of Dexia and its Belgian competitor KBC. Private lender KBC said it was to sell its Luxembourg division to Qatari investment group Precision Capital for €1.05bn. The sale will allow the bank to reduce…
Sinopec Group, a unit of China’s state-backed energy company China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, late on Sunday signed a deal to acquire Canada’s oil and gas explorer Daylight Energy for C$2.2bn. In its largest acquisition this year Sinopec offered a 43.6 percent premium to Daylight Energy’s 60-day weighted average trading price, or C$10.08 a share,…
Sony Corporation has reportedly secured financing from Abu Dhabi’s investment fund, Mubadala, to help compete for British music label EMI Group. The Middle Eastern investment funds’ backing, and additional financial support from media investment bank Raine, will assist Sony to better compete with the other bidders which are said to include Warner Music Group and…
A quick recapitalisation of European banks is necessary to steady markets and avert the economy from falling into another recession, IMF Europe Director, Antonio Borges, said late on Wednesday. The price tag for such a move was estimated in the range between €100bn and €200bn, he said. According to the IMF report, the eurozone debt…
Stock markets in Europe bounced higher early on Wednesday as traders decided to pick up stocks trading down at discount levels following three days of losses and Italy’s credit downgrade late on Tuesday. Moody’s cut Italy’s credit rating from Aa2 to A2 with a negative outlook, blaming “material increase in long-term funding risks for the…
Shares in Europe slumped on Monday after the Greek governments’ Finance Ministry announced its draft budget figures showing the country’s deficit is likely to reach 8.5 percent of GDP for 2011. Greece will miss the terms of the bailout, originally agreed with Troika, which obliged it to meet a 7.6 percent target for 2011. The…
