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REUTERS/Florence Lo/File PhotoSummarySummary Companies Five big lenders post over 3.5% annual net profit growthNet interest margin shrank at all fiveNPL ratios steady or down for all fiveBEIJING, March 30 (Reuters) - China's Big Five lenders posted above 3.5% annual net profit growth this week, but warned that the foundations of the country's recovery were "not yet solid". China's Bank of Communications Co Ltd (BoCom) (601328.SS), and Bank of China (BoC) (601988.SS) both posted just over 5% annual net profit growth on Thursday. Even higher figures came from the Agricultural Bank of China Ltd (601288.SS) (AgBank) on Thursday and China Construction Bank Corp on Wednesday, which both posted over 7% annual net profit growth. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) (601398.SS), , the world's largest listed lender by assets, came in at 3.5% annual net profit growth. NPLsWhile all five lenders posted steady or falling non-performing loan ratios, they also logged shrinking net interest margins (NIM), a key gauge of bank profitability.

Similarly, the U.S. economy and stock markets tend to outperform during booms and draw in overseas investment that lifts demand for dollars. Surely times of great banking and credit stress should boost the greenback? And now we face a bout of severe banking stress alongside stubbornly high inflation that had almost all major central banks raising interest rates again over the past week despite the pretty clear underlying credit stress. JPMorgan's take on the stressed side of the dollar smile last week pointed out that "the underlying macro-financial pathology that necessitates lower yields is the primary determinant of dollar direction". Clearly, the dollar smile is no laughing matter.

☆ The Fed sees a looming credit crunch. What's that?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

March 24 (Reuters) - It's an old saw: A credit crunch is when your bank won't lend to you. In other words: a credit crunch is coming. But the credit growth rate has recently fallen below its historic average to a level that has often been associated with a recession. That was indicative of the lasting restraint that episode had on the recovery in credit and economic growth overall. That was the case 8-10 years ago when low oil prices triggered a credit crunch among U.S. oil fracking companies, weighing heavily for a period on overall commercial loan growth while consumer loan growth kept improving.

☆ Starwood Capital’s Barry Sternlicht sees the economy having a hard landing due to Fed rate hikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Starwood Capital CEO Barry Sternlicht said the U.S. is headed into a recession because the Federal Reserve has been hiking interest rates too aggressively. "The economy will have a hard landing," Sternlicht said on CNBC's " Squawk Box " Thursday. The Fed and other regulators took emergency actions to safeguard depositors at the failed banks, but concerns still linger about a run on deposits at some regional banks. Sternlicht said he and his colleagues looked at six regional banks over the weekend and studied their mark-to-market losses on assets. "They didn't even stress test these banks if rates rose, so they should have been the first ones to see what they were doing to the regional banks," Sternlicht said.

[1/4] A combination of photographs shows people using automated teller machines (ATMs) at Australia's "Big Four" banks - Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (bottom R), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (top R), National Australia Bank Ltd (bottom L) and Westpac Banking Corp (top L). REUTERS/StaffSYDNEY, March 17 (Reuters) - An A$300 billion ($201.21 billion) refinancing task for Australia's biggest banks is about to get harder, say analysts, as appetite for new debt shrinks across global markets roiled by concerns about bank stability and liquidity. "Now major banks don't have to hit markets everyday... but ultimately banks can't stay out of the market forever." Refinancing today would add extra 5 to 10 basis points to banks' costs versus a week and a half ago, he added. ($1 = 1.4910 Australian dollars)Reporting by Lewis Jackson and Scott Murdoch; Editing by Simon Cameron-MooreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) - Central banks juggling inflation and financial stability mandates are prompting the wildest swings in bedrock government bonds for over a decade and a surge in volatility that may end up causing problems of its own. "The Fed and other central bankers have lost the luxury of focusing singularly on the fight against inflation," said Manulife Investment Management's Frances Donald. If the history of banking crashes and related credit crunches show them to be deflationary anyway, then many argue a central bank pause now may be the wisest choice. "The Fed is now fighting inflation as well as potential financial contagion," Lombard Odier Chief Investment Officer Stéphane Monier said. The first sign of regional bank stock calm on Tuesday, alongside the sticky core inflation readings for February, prompted a build-back of some bets for one last hike from each central bank.

☆ Early retiree says reading these 8 books helped him save $1 million: ‘I wasn’t born into money'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Steve Adcock | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

This book was originally published in 1996, but the basic money principles can still be applied today. For example, many experts recommend brewing your coffee at home to save money, but not Sethi. In fact, he teaches readers to uncover their "rich life" by spending lavishly on things they care about while cutting back on what doesn't matter. Money expert Morgan Housel explores the psychological side of finance in a clever and non-judgmental way. "Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship With Money and Achieving Financial Independence"

☆ Cheddar News has seen so many exits that managers have asked staffers to delay scheduled vacations, while promising that reinforcements are on the way
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Cheddar News has lost more than 10 newsroom staffers since the start of 2023, sources told Insider. As of March, Cheddar appears to have plans to hire at least five news-related roles, according to Altice's jobs portal. a former Cheddar producer said. The two executives are said to have denied speculation that Altice has any plans to combine Cheddar and News 12. Sources previously told Insider that, throughout 2022, the Cheddar newsroom had contracted by roughly a third.

☆ German hard coal importers able to replace Russian supply -industry body
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"Traders have found new focal points: United States, South Africa and Colombia," industry association VDKi said in a statement. Between January and October 2022 Russia still accounted for a leading 34% of hard coal volumes imported by Germany, data presented by VDKi showed. That reflected Russia's role as a major supplier before the EU introduced a ban on Russian coal imports last August amid sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Hard coal imports into Germany last year amounted to 43 million tonnes, 4.7% more than recorded in 2021, preliminary VDKi data also showed. Out of the total, 30 million tonnes were steam coal for electricity plants, up 11.7% year-on-year, and 11 million tonnes were coking coal for steelmaking, down 7.3%.

REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian/File PhotoJan 11 (Reuters) - Failure to tackle climate change and environmental degradation dominate the ranking of top risks facing the planet in the next decade, a World Economic Forum (WEF) survey of global risk specialists found. Failure to mitigate and adapt to climate change; natural disasters; biodiversity loss; natural resource loss and large-scale environmental damage dominate the top-10 ranking of global risks deemed most severe over a 10-year period. The WEF report raised the prospect of risks interacting with each other to form a "polycrisis", which it defines as a cluster of related risks with compounding impacts and unpredictable consequences. It cited big-power resource rivalry as having the potential to generate one such cluster of related risks. (For daily Davos updates in your inbox sign up for the Reuters Daily Briefing here.)

☆ Falling Car Prices Will Slow Detroit’s Profit Machine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Stephen Wilmot | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

For the fortunate few that can pay in cash, conditions are gradually getting better for buying a car. By the same token they are getting worse for companies on the other side of the trade. The closely watched Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index, which tracks wholesale auction values in the U.S., finished 2022 down 14.9%, its worst ever annual result and far worse than the 3% decline forecast at the start of the year by Cox Automotive, the data provider that crunches the numbers. Adjusted for mix, mileage and seasonality, the index did tick up in December, breaking a 12-month downward trend, but Cox said Monday that it doesn’t expect that to mark the bottom. It is forecasting a further 4.3% decline this year as interest-rate increases reduce buyers’ purchasing power, with the market reaching a more normal equilibrium in the second half.

"There are plenty of other people who can take measures to combat climate change and I worry that people, in their great enthusiasm for doing good, are actually putting at risk central bank independence," King said. They were in a minority in a conference packed with central bankers who had long accepted they had some duty towards the environment and, in many cases, were already taking some steps. "It would be misleading to use tighter financing conditions as a scapegoat for further delays in the green transition," Schnabel said. "By saying we have a role to play in helping to finance the green transition... we are increasing this misunderstanding of what our role is," said Wunsch, Belgium's central bank governor. Singapore's Ravi Menon, meanwhile, said central bankers should do much more to help the economy reduce its emissions than just focussing on the risks.

☆ This year's blockbuster IPO is between a rock and a hard place: listing in New York or London won't change Arm's fortunes in brutal downturn
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

ARM is preparing for an IPO in 2023 that couldn't come at a more tricky time. This pushed SoftBank to reposition Arm for the public markets as the Japanese firm seeks to generate profits from assets that can offset losses in its venture capital business. Figures from EY suggest that after a record year of listings in 2021, last year's IPO market went into reverse mode. SpaceX is another big company around which IPO talks have been swirling, the rocket company led by Elon Musk. Chip sector in turmoilArm's other challenge with going public in 2023 lies in the state of the chip sector: it's down.

Failing to report crypto activity to the IRS could result in an audit. Report any crypto income on Form 1040Aside from your crypto capital gains and losses, you may have also received additional income from your crypto holdings. In these cases, you'll need to report the crypto as income rather than a capital gain or loss. What happens if I don't report crypto on my taxes? "But if you don't file anything and the IRS discovers this — and they're aware that you didn't report it — it's tax evasion," he says.

☆ Asia stocks hit 4-month high on reopening of Chinese economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Tom Westbrook | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) rose 1% to touch a four-month high in morning trade. China has abruptly dropped ultra-strict curbs on travel and activity, unleashing the virus on the nation's 1.4 billion people. The yuan rose about 0.2% to 6.8750 on Thursday. China has partially eased an unofficial ban on Australian coal imports and the Australian dollar made a three-week high overnight just below $0.69. In Europe, unseasonally warm weather has disappointed skiers but been a boon for a euro basking in falling gas prices.

China reported one new COVID-19 death in the mainland for Wednesday, compared with five a day earlier, bringing its official death toll to 5,259. Chinese health officials have said only deaths caused by pneumonia and respiratory failure in patients who had the virus are classified as COVID deaths. The methods for counting COVID deaths have varied across countries since the pandemic first erupted in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. British-based health data firm Airfinity has estimated about 9,000 people in China are probably dying each day from COVID. TESTING WASTEWhile countries try to get more information on the extent and severity of China's outbreak, several have imposed requirements on travellers from China to be tested for COVID.

☆ 5 things wildly successful real-estate brokers do to get the most out of their days
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Zoe Rosenberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Fellow New York-based Douglas Elliman agent Lisa Simonsen also had a former career in fitness. As such, the agent who sold more than $100 million in 2022 makes sure she works out in her building's gym, usually on a spin bike, every morning. McKenzie RyanFormer Junior Olympian and real-estate wunderkind McKenzie Ryan used to compete on the national level in rhythmic gymnastics. Serhant gets a new SUV every year "just to update it," though he said he makes sure his car and clothes are never nicer than his clients'. The Douglas Elliman agent knows what she has to do to succeed: She was the top-selling agent in Miami in 2021 with $750 million in transactions.

"More fundamental, and more subtle and more important is the social contract and social trust in China. COVID CZAROver the past three years, Vice Premier Sun, 72, has been the face of China's COVID fight, a mother-like figure who has executed Xi's zero-COVID policy with a firm hand. In April this year, Sun rushed to Shanghai as the city went under lockdown, according to state media reports. During the Shanghai lockdown, while also on an inspection tour, Sun was bombarded by pleas from residents shouting from their windows: "No more rice! How the current infections are tackled remain a key near-term challenge to COVID czars.

☆ $4 gas could return as soon as May, GasBuddy projects
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN Business —Gas prices will probably be significantly cheaper overall next year. Yet the national average could still climb back above the $4-a-gallon threshold as soon as May, according to GasBuddy projections shared exclusively with CNN. Why gas prices are droppingIn December 2021, before Russia amassed troops at Ukraine’s border, GasBuddy projected the national average for gas would be $3.41 a gallon in 2022. The national average is now about 20 cents below the same period of a year ago, according to AAA. Gas prices are not expected to return to $5 this summer – although GasBuddy isn’t ruling that out.

Meanwhile, a sharp slowdown is forecast in Europe because of energy shortages linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. A key part of that drive would be ensuring that the Internal Revenue Service was modernized to be able to manage the tax credits and collect the revenues owed. Adeyemo said he had no update on plans to modify the law to address those concerns. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is due to travel to Senegal, South Africa and Zambia in January. Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Heather Timmons and Andrea RicciOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/5] People wait to purchase medicine at a pharmacy, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Beijing, China December 16, 2022. REUTERS/Xiaoyu YinBEIJING/SHANGHAI, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Funeral homes across China's COVID-hit capital Beijing, a city of 22 million, scrambled on Saturday to keep up with calls for funeral and cremation services as workers and drivers testing positive for the novel coronavirus called in sick. In Beijing, which has yet to report any COVID deaths since the policies changed on Dec. 7, sick workers have hit the staffing of services from restaurants and courier firms to its roughly one dozen funeral parlours. "We've fewer cars and workers now," a staffer at Miyun Funeral Home told Reuters, adding that there was a mounting backlog of demand for cremation services. China's health authority last reported COVID deaths on Dec. 3, in Shandong and Sichuan provinces.

☆ Biden begins to refill Strategic Petroleum Reserve, while Keystone Pipeline leak prompts new emergency exchange
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The new emergency exchange is aimed at addressing “potential supply disruptions” caused by the shutdown of the Keystone Pipeline due to a leak earlier this month, the Energy Department said. Unlike with emergency sales such as the record-setting release of 180 million barrels announced in March, this oil must be returned. “Small but a signal that pledges to refill are credible,” former Obama energy official Jason Bordoff said on Twitter in response to the new steps. Prices are currently in a “very useful” range to begin the process of refilling the SPR, the senior administration official said. Noting that gas prices are now at 15-month lows, the senior administration official said that historic release “helped provide some breathing room for American families at the pump,” the official said.

☆ Japan turns back to nuclear power to tackle energy crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TOKYO, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Japan confirmed a major nuclear power policy shift on Friday to tackle an energy crisis more than a decade after the 2011 Fukushima disaster prompted it to idle most of its reactors. Public opinion has been hostile towards nuclear energy since a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, but the mood has shifted due to soaring energy costs amid the prolonged war in Ukraine and repeated power crunches in both summer and winter. Quake-prone Japan, which previously said it had no plans to build new reactors, will now seek to replace decomissioned ones and extend the lifespan of others, the industry ministry said. Under a strategic energy plan approved by the Cabinet last year, Japan aimed to reduce its dependence on nuclear power as much as possible. Further details will be discussed in parliament next year, an official at the industry ministry said.

☆ China's capital swings from anger over zero-COVID to coping with infections
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] Pandemic control workers in protective suits sit in a neighbourhood that used to be under lockdown, as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreaks continue, in Beijing, China December 10, 2022. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many businesses have been forced to close as infected workers quarantine at home while many other people are deciding not to go out because of the higher risk of infection. "We can see that hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands of people are infected in several major cities," Zhong said. China's economy may grow 1.6% in the first quarter of 2023 from a year earlier, and 4.9% in the second, according to Capital Economics. Inbound travellers are subjected to five days of quarantine at centralised government facilities and three additional days of self-monitoring at home.

☆ How do real estate investors 'do the numbers?' An investor with 9 properties shares the method — and spreadsheet — that helps him identify a good deal and avoid the bad ones.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Kathleen Elkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

It's also correlated with risk: Generally, a high cap rate points to a riskier investment, since a high cap rate means a lower property value. A "good cap rate" depends on your market and how much risk you're willing to tolerate. To calculate cap rate, you need to know your NOI, which is your estimated annual rent minus your annual operating expenses. To calculate NOI, you subtract annual operating expenses from annual rent, which is an assumption based on rent prices in the area. He's not the only investor who focuses on cash flow: Mike Zuber, who owns over 100 units in Fresno, California, says that cash flow should be a top priority when evaluating investment properties.

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