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☆ Astronomers say we may live at the center of a cosmic void 2 billion light-years wide that defies the laws of cosmology
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( Jessica Orwig | Ellyn Lapointe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

But the kicker is that this giant void shouldn't exist in the first place. For example, some people have correctly argued that such a void shouldn't exist in the standard model, which is true. Cosmologists have a value, called the Hubble constant, which they use to help describe how fast the universe's expansion is accelerating. The Hubble constant should be the same value wherever you look, whether it's close by or very far away. NASA/JPL-CaltechAstronomers can't agree on what's causing this discrepancy in the Hubble constant, and the contention has become known as the Hubble tension.

Persons: —, we're, Claire Lamman, Indranil, Andrews, Hubble, Brian Keating, Keating, Banik Organizations: Service, Business, Harvard, Smithsonian Center, Astrophysics, Indranil Banik, University of St, Banik, Royal Astronomical Society, KBC, Hubble, NASA, JPL, Caltech, ESA, Palomar, Sky, UC San Diego, Sky Survey

☆ Two childhood friends wanted better, cooler earplugs—their startup brought in $44 million last year
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Maarten Bodewes, left, and Dimitri O are childhood friends and the co-founders of Loop Earplugs. Maarten Bodewes Co-founder, Loop EarplugsEach co-founder spent roughly $40,000 to get Loop off the ground — "as far as I could go on my money," says Bodewes. "[We] 3D printed different prototypes, different shapes, different lengths of canals, sound entries, different filters that we tested," he adds. "The nightlife part is still driving a lot of our sales," Bodewes says. Source: Loop Earplugs

Persons: Maarten Bodewes, Dimitri O, you've, Taylor Swift, They're, ’, ‘, Bodewes, Wired, Loop's earplugs Organizations: CNBC, Microsoft, Saturn, Belgian Locations: Belgian, Brussels, U.S, Europe

☆ Dutch insurers' shares hit by unfavourable court ruling
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

AMSTERDAM, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Shares of Dutch insurers took a hit on Wednesday as a court ruling in a years-long fight over investment-linked products re-opened the prospect of large compensation claims. NN Group (NN.AS) traded down 13.5% at 0750 GMT in Amsterdam, while fellow Dutch insurer ASR (ASRNL.AS) fell 8.6%, as NN warned of the possibly "material adverse effect" of the interim court ruling. NN Group and other Dutch insurers have been dealing with issues related to these insurance policies, popularly known as "woekerpolissen" for years. "This also has impact for the legal cases against other Dutch insurers, who all sold similar unit-linked products at the time," KBC analysts wrote in a note. Between 2008 and 2010, Dutch insurers collectively paid clients about 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) in compensation over similar policies, but several consumer groups have since filed suits arguing the compensation was too low.

Persons: Bart Meijer, Louise Heavens, Christina Fincher Organizations: KBC, Aegon NL, Dutch, Thomson Locations: AMSTERDAM, Hague, Amsterdam

☆ The Fed's next move after raising rates to fight inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Some investors are betting on rate cuts as soon as early next year, perhaps on expectations that the economy might soon deteriorate. If unemployment spikes because of higher interest rates, for example, the Fed would likely cut rates to stem job losses under its mandate of maximum employment. The Fed’s tough talk has rattled the bond market, helping push up long-dated yields. In addition to the possibility of cutting rates because of an economic downturn, the Fed could also cut rates if inflation slows too much. “If the Fed sees that inflation goes below the 2% target, they could start decreasing interest rates, but I don’t think they are going to start decreasing interest rates until that happens,” said Eugenio Alemán, chief economist at Raymond James.

Persons: there’s, Rather, Austan Goolsbee, Mike Hackett, they’ve, ”, Eugenio Alemán, Raymond James, Melissa Brown, China’s ‘ Lehman, Laura, Mengchen Zhang, Technology —, Zhongrong, Read, Thomas Barkin, Michelle Bowman, Kansas City Fed’s, Jerome Powell, Christine Lagarde Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, DC CNN, Federal, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Treasury, Nationwide, CNN, Fed, Service, KBC Corporation, Xianheng, Science, Technology, National Association of Realtors, Body, Nvidia, Kansas City, Global, US Commerce Department, Labor Department, Central Bank Locations: Washington, “, China, BJ’s, Abercrombie, Kansas

It warned investors to be vigilant of fraud, but has not commented on the issue of missed payments to investors. Investors were afraid of “contagion” spreading to the country’s $2.9 trillion investment trust industry, Citi analysts wrote in a Wednesday research report. Last year, Zhongrong extended payments on several of its real estate trust products, saying that the companies couldn’t repay their debts. Most trust products are closed-ended, which means they can only be repaid at maturity, and hence are not vulnerable to panic selling. In addition, thanks to new regulations launched in 2017, the traditional banks have curbed their off-balance-sheet business, including trust products.

Persons: Technology —, Zhongrong, hasn’t, ”, Stringer, Zhongrong’s, China’s “ Lehman, ” Nomura, Lehman, “ Organizations: Beijing CNN, Service, KBC Corporation, Xianheng, Science, Technology, CNN, Zhongzhi, International Trust Co, Bloomberg, Getty, Investors, Citi, China, Association, Companies, Kaisa, Sunac, Nomura, Consumer, National Bureau of Statistics, People’s Bank of China Locations: Hong Kong, Beijing, China, Shanghai, Shenzhen, …, Sunac China

☆ Zhongrong Trust's missed payments trigger fears among Chinese investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Investors look at an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Shanghai, China, March 7, 2016. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSHANGHAI, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Anxious Chinese retail investors are bombarding listed companies with questions about their exposure to Zhongrong International Trust Co after missed payments by the trust company triggered fears of contagion across the country's financial system. Zhongrong managed assets worth 785.7 billion yuan ($107.69 billion) at the end of 2022, out of which 629.3 billion yuan were linked to trust products, according to its latest annual report. Its missed payments had added to stress in the financial sector from the country's worsening property crisis. One investor on Wednesday asked Shanghai-listed New China Life Insurance Company (601336.SS) - which owned 14 billion yuan ($1.92 billion) of products from Zhongrong at the end of last year - whether there was a risk of missed payments.

Persons: Aly, Huang Yan, Jason Xue, Tom Westbrook, Tomasz Janowski, Jason Neely Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Zhongrong International, Co, Investors, Shanghai QiuYang, Zhongzhi Enterprise Group, Wednesday, Shanghai, China Life Insurance, KBC Corp, Bescient Technology, Shanghai New Vision Microelectronics, Nanhua, Jiangsu Azure Corp, Topsperity Securities, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, Shenzhen, Zhongrong, Jiangsu, Singapore

FILE PHOTO-A woman walks past a Credit Agricole logo outside a bank office in Reze near Nantes, France, May 12, 2021. The results boosted Credit Agricole SA's (CAGR.PA) stock, which was up by about 5% at 0817 GMT, making it the best performer within France's blue-chip index CAC 40 (.FCHI). Helping the positive sentiment, the investment vehicle of the mutual banks that control Credit Agricole said it would spend 1 billion euros on the bank's shares, further tightening its grip on the lender. The vehicle currently owns 60.2% of Credit Agricole SA and said it had no intention to go beyond 65%. Degroof Petercam has client assets of 71 billion euros, while Indosuez said it had assets under management of 130 billion euros at the end of 2022.

Persons: Stephane Mahe, Degroof, France's, JP Morgan, Degroof Petercam, Indosuez, Xavier Musca, Musca, Mathieu Rosemain, Geert de Clercq, Piotr Lipinski, Ingrid Melander, Augustin Turpin, Alexander Smith Organizations: REUTERS, Agricole, CAC, PARIS, Credit Agricole, Credit Agricole SA, Royal Bank of Canada, Barclays, Credit Agricole's, Indosuez, KBC, Thomson Locations: Reze, Nantes, France, Belgian

☆ As downturn fears grow, Bank of America names 8 global stocks to ride out a recession
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Bank of America has named the European companies whose stocks are expected to perform robustly in the face of a possible economic downturn. It comes amid increasing signs that the European economy could be headed for a period of extended recession. Bank of America's proprietary Style Cycle model also shows that the region is facing a "recession phase." The forward cash yield measures how much cash a company is expected to generate for its shareholders over the next year compared to its current market price. The cash yield also includes returns through buybacks.

Persons: Intesa Sanpaolo, Paulina Strzelinska Organizations: of America, of, KBC, Eni, Nordea Bank, Barclays, Aviva, BNP, Bank, America's Locations: Europe, Belgium, Italy, Finland, Repsol, Spain, United Kingdom, France, buybacks, industrials

☆ "Calm down!" EU finance ministers play down SVB contagion despite banking shares rout
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Philip Blenkinsop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SummarySummary Companies European bank shares down nearly 10% over two daysMinisters try to soothe markets as investors dump bank stocksFrance's Le Maire: "calm down!" BRUSSELS, March 13 (Reuters) - European finance ministers and the EU's economics commissioner played down the contagion risk of the collapse of U.S. Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) while European bank shares saw their biggest rout since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. At the start of a Eurogroup finance ministers meeting in Brussels, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire called on markets to "calm down" and European Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni stressed he did not see a risk of contagion for European banks following SVB's collapse (SIVB.O). France's Le Maire and his Belgian counterpart Vincent Van Peteghem also said they saw no specific concern for their country's banks, as investors were dumping their financial institutions' shares. Belgian finance minister Vincent Van Peteghem also poured oil on the waters.

☆ Profits, guidance up at Ireland's PTSB on NatWest loan deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBLIN, March 1 (Reuters) - Ireland's permanent tsb (PTSB) (IL0A.I) posted a jump in annual profit on Wednesday reflecting what it has called its "once-in-a-generation" purchase of loans from rival Ulster Bank. It posted a profit before tax of 267 million euros for 2022 versus a loss of 21 million euros a year earlier. Some 222 million euros of that arose primarily from taking on Ulster's mortgage and SME loan books, it said. Analysts at Davy Stockbrokers said the guidance indicated low- to mid-teen percentage upside to its forecasts and that the pace of European Central Bank interest rate rises could result in further upside. NatWest took a 17% share in PTSB as part of the loans deal, diluting the Irish government's holding to 62%.

☆ Ireland picks cheeky moment to lift bank bonus cap
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Nov 30 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Ireland’s plan to lift a cap on bankers’ bonuses looks ill-timed. On Tuesday, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said Dublin will lift a 500,000 euro crisis-era cap on annual executive salaries and allow bonuses of up to 20,000 euros for bank workers. However, Irish bank bosses have long argued salary constraints made it difficult to retain top talent. The remaining big bank duopoly of AIB (AIBG.I) and Bank of Ireland (BIRG.I) means a customer backlash is unlikely as there is little alternative. Still, championing higher pay for bankers is a gutsy move in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

☆ Irish consumer sentiment improved slightly in October
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBLIN, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Irish consumer sentiment improved slightly in October as consumers took some comfort from government measures introduced in its annual budget to support household spending, a survey showed on Thursday. The Credit Union Consumer Sentiment index climbed to 46.1 from 42.1 in September, recovering part of a 11.3-point decline from August. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterOne of the survey's authors said recent falls in Irish petrol prices, alongside budget measures supporting household spending power, could have helped Irish consumer sentiment in October. A slight easing in Irish inflation when many consumers were braced for ever-accelerating price pressures could also have contributed to the improvement, he added. read moreRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Graham Fahy Editing by Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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