In 2009, Britain’s prestigious Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors singled out Italy as one of the best places to invest in real estate, because the real estate in Italy was not undermined by cheap credit and has avoided the boom and bust seen elsewhere in Europe and the US.To quote Knight Frank, “Historically, property prices…
Oil prices rose 1 percent on Monday, hitting a fresh 15-month high above $83 a barrel, supported by data showing China’s crude oil imports surged by nearly 25 percent in December and as the US dollar weakened. The prolonged cold snap in the US and Europe continued to boost demand for heating fuel, lending support…
While the rest of the world has seen negative economic numbers ever since the global financial crisis began, the numbers coming out from Brazil have been mostly positive. Not many years ago, some economists questioned the “B” in the BRIC acronym (Brazil, Russia, India and China), but lately Brazil has become the favorite BRIC investment…
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez on Thursday fired the country’s central bank president, who had rejected her calls to step down for refusing to use Argentina’s foreign currency reserves to pay debt. Fernandez issued a presidential decree removing Martin Redrado from office, citing misconduct and dereliction of duties. He was replaced by Central Bank Vice President…
In December the largest US bank joined others on Wall Street that repaid billions in bailout funds to the government, ending restrictions on top executives’ pay. “We had some units that had very, very good results and the compensation will reflect that,” said the spokesman, Robert Stickler. The bank pays bonuses based on the performance…
Iceland will “honour its obligations” over the more than $5bn owed to Britain and the Netherlands that was lost in failed savings banks, President Olafur Grimsson told reporters. The Icelandic parliament had approved a deeply unpopular bill to cover compensation already paid out by the British and Dutch governments to holders of “Icesave” accounts after…
European shares hit a new 15-month peak in early trading on Wednesday, led higher by financials and miners, with investors waiting for more macro-economic data later in the session for clearer market direction. At 0811 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.4 percent to 1,064.25 points, the highest since October…
Alluding to recent calls to revamp the global monetary system to reduce the dominant role of the dollar, Sarkozy said that disparities between the two currencies posed a “considerable problem.” The prospect that companies might consider relocating some of their industrial activity to regions reliant on the dollar could not be ruled out, he said…
Japanese Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii left financial markets guessing on Tuesday on whether he will remain in the post, saying he was still waiting for test results after being hospitalised last week suffering from exhaustion. The 77-year-old fiscal veteran said the medical results may be available shortly, and a decision on whether he should stay…
Financial markets kicked off 2010 on an upbeat note on Monday with world stocks close to 15-month highs on hopes for a sustainable economic recovery. The dollar was slightly weaker against a basket of major currencies while government bonds sold off. MSCI’s all-country world stock index was up nearly half a percent, slightly below 2009…
