The Swiss bank UBS has decided the place that needs trimming to bring profits up is their automated options market-making division. Other parts of their options trading arm will remain unchanged. Staff who was engaged in the auto options section will be re-assigned to other parts of the bank which have been more profitable to… Continue Reading
Brent crude oil prices rose by 50 cents a barrel to $58.43 and US crude climbed by 60 cents to attain $52.52 per barrel on Tuesday. The climb in prices is surmised to be due to two main factors: a US forecast of output of lowered US shale oil production, the first decline in over… Continue Reading
The first Formula E electric car race took place in Miami last Saturday, showcasing the potential for more energy efficient vehicles. “Formula E will pioneer technology which will be used on normal road cars,” said Richard Branson, British entrepreneur and owner of the Virgin Racing team. “I hope 10 years from now the smell of… Continue Reading
Speaking before the House Committee on Financial Services last week, Janet Yellen, head of the Federal Reserve, testified that the US financial system is much safer today than it was in 2007 when the most recent economic decline commenced. “I believe the financial system is much safer. There is twice as much high-quality capital among… Continue Reading
The price of gasoline has been falling, falling and falling some more over the past several months, finally reaching its lowest price since April, 2009. The latest price dive, 13.3 cents during the last two weeks, may be the end of the slide, according to a survey by Lundberg released on Sunday. The average price… Continue Reading
President Obama will be delivering the yearly State of the Union Address on Tuesday night not only to Americans, but to a Congress controlled by Republicans in both houses. Nevertheless, Obama has been signaling that he intends to introduce the idea of increasing taxes on the wealthiest Americans in order to pay for tax cuts… Continue Reading
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) released its summary of business travel statistics for 2014 this week, and the news is good. Business travel reached record levels, with about 484.4 million trips made creating some $292.2 billion in spending. The summary, which takes the past trends and projects them into the future, predicts that 2015… Continue Reading
The new position of chief risk officer created by the US Treasury Department will be filled by Kenneth Phelan. Phelan, who is 55 years old, has held similar roles for the Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and at Fannie Mae soon after the last US financial crisis. The newly created Office of Risk Management,… Continue Reading
Fear of oil supply disruptions as a result of Libyan violence sent the price of US crude oil up by more than one dollar on Monday in Asian trade. In a reverse of the steady fall in oil prices of late, US crude just barely touched $55.74, up $1.01 on Monday after closing down $1.11… Continue Reading
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation as issued a confidential warning those cyber-hackers could be targeting US businesses with malicious malware that could obliterate data and make it virtually impossible to recover. The five-page warning comes on the heels of confirmation that the FBI is indeed looking into last week’s break-in to the computer network… Continue Reading