The bonds are gaining momentum amid sluggish financial markets and uncertainty about the global economy. Majority of hedge funds are betting on the $4.5 trillion market as the safest for US corporate debt. Some hedge funds forecast the concerns may go beyond energy and junk bonds.
Investors
UK shares rebound, Barclays leads the pack
The UK stocks, after suffering losses for three sessions in a row, rebounded. Barclays and other financial companies led the gains. After suspension of trading for a day, the trading in Barclays stock resume on Monday. The FTSE 100 index dropped 9.2 percent in 2016 so far.
Major Analysts Update SoftBank Outlook To ‘Outperform’
Analysts have updated their outlooks towards SoftBank, majority of whom have put a ‘Outperform’ tag for the embattled Japanese concern. Meanwhile, SoftBank’s stock has witnessed a fall of 27.60% since July 2, 2015 ahead of releasing earning figures. The stock price fall is due to its $22 billion investment in Sprint which has turned to be bad debt.
Intelligent Energy Teams Up With Smartphone Maker to Develop Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology That Could Expand Battery Life to a Week
The British company formed a partnership worth $7.6 million to develop hydrogen fuel cell technology for smartphones. The technology would create a need to modify the hardware of the smartphone to manage the chemical reaction waste. Intelligent Energy stated that if all goes well, the new technology could hit the market in two years.
Carl Icahn lost $90 million in his portfolio
Two of the many energy related shares in Carl Icahn portfolio's plunged on Monday trade causing the activist investors a paper loss of $90 million. The two companies are Chesapeake Energy Corp. and Transocean Ltd.
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One of China’s biggest venture capital firm, Qiming, secured its fifth US dollar venture capital fund in total of $648 million. The fund will help expand the firm’s investments in Chinese top startups in various sectors such as internet, consumer, technology, healthcare, as well as cleantech.
The company announced that it had broken even in India and six other foreign countries, making the Indian e-commerce the first to achieve that milestone. Zomato, valued at over $1 billion, is going to start another funding round before becoming profitable by mid-2016.
The Norwegian government is reeling under pressure owing to oil price drop. The lower oil price is eroding revenues for the government. The Norwegian government is counting on state's dividends from Statoil ASA.
Private equity firm Silver Lake will invest $500 million in cyber security company, Symantec. The money from the investment will be used by the company to buy back shares and issue a $4 dividend to shareholders.
Contrary to earlier bullish predictions for 2016, several Wall Street strategists have started lowering their forecasts on S&P 500 stocks. The Chinese economy slowdown, volatile oil prices and interest rates are the major reasons for drop in forecast. The gap between highest and lowest forecast has been widening.
Messaging app Wiper has raised a total of $4.5 million seed funding from its investor Michael Choupak adding $2 million dollars. The service launced $4.99 monthly subscription fee to preview and watch thousands of original short and long, inexpensive indie films that can be compared to expensive Hollywood movies.
Venture capital (VC) funding activity seems to be heading towards pre-recessionary mark. The VC activity recorded robust growth phase for over seven years. The sluggish financial markets are discouraging VC funding and raising money.
Mexico is receiving $400-loan from World Bank for rural development and will formally sign an agreement. Mexican government will utilize the funds for extending financial lending to farmers and fishermen in rural areas. The small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will also get financial support from the Mexico's national agricultural financing agency FND.
The Los Angeles-based fashion retailer Nasty Gal is reducing the number of employees by 10 percent as part of its strategic restructuring. The increasing market competition and uncertainty in financing aspects are forcing the company to reduce the costs. Several former employees moved court against Nasty Gal against layoffs.
