The threat of catastrophic consequences from rampant global warming has given rise to a relatively new financial instrument, the green bond, issued by governments and institutions that are successfully combining healthy financial returns with equally healthy measures to tackle environmentally unhealthy carbon emissions. These investments are now regarded as an integral part of the global effort to combat climate change.
In some parts of the world, strict bank lending restrictions keep home ownership as only a dream to many, but in Australia banks offer interest-only and low-rate mortgages, which has resulted in plenty of mortgages and soaring house prices. Investors have flooded into especially urban markets, seeking tax breaks and capital gains, causing prices to jump—and authorities fear a property-bubble burst may loom.
Russia is amongst the global heavyweights, but its economy and stock markets are vulnerable to forces outside of its control, especially the price of oil but also politics in other parts of the world, such as the United States. The country’s fortunes will depend on how oil prices fare but also on how well relations with the new administration in Washington pan out.
Despite its woes, Greece’s stock markets are on a winning streak, responding positively to a deal between Greek officials and EU creditors on the reforms needed to satisfy the conditions of the country’s bailout program. Although things are looking up, they may not be as rosy as investors believe as complications abound, and caution is in the end the best approach to take.
The foundations of behavioral finance can be traced back to the 1970s, when psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky started their work on studying behavioral biases in humans. Now the question arises: How did these individuals actually classify these under a different category?
Each president of the United States leaves behind a legacy, and Barack Obama is no exception. In 2009, Obama inherited an economy hurtling toward catastrophe, and through his economic policies he succeeded in not only steadying it but helping it to improve on many, if not all, fronts.
Brazil started the decade off as Latin America’s emerging-market darling but has been trapped in a dark economic and political tunnel since early 2014; is the country finally beginning to see the light at the end? One indicator, the Bovespa stock-market index, replies with a resounding yes.
Many investors today want to see their investments make a positive impact, and not just in their pocketbooks but for the social and/or environmental values and efforts they support. A recent study examines the major impediments and accelerators to impact investing today in an effort to enhance the growth of values-aligned investment.
Many financial firms have regarded the new online currency bitcoin with at best skepticism, and yet others are not only embracing the innovation but actively employing it, developing disruptive business models that take advantage of its unique properties, forging into new frontiers that may in retrospect rival the introduction of the Internet 20 years ago.
At the beginning of 2017, the European Central Bank (ECB) confirmed that it will keep its benchmark rate unchanged at 0 percent and its deposit rate at -0.4 percent. To sustain European economies, the ECB will also continue its bond-buying program with 80 billion euros (US$85 billion) per month until the end of March.