VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Crude oil prices edged down on Friday, set for their first weekly decline in more than a month as concerns over a global supply glut outweighed strong Chinese crude imports.

Executives at Brazil's Petrobras on Thursday sought to move on from a giant corruption scandal that has plagued the state-run oil company, outlining a back-to-basics recovery plan that left some investors hoping the worst was over.

In January 2014, veteran short-seller Bill Fleckenstein said he was readying a new fund to bet on falling stock prices. More than a year later, he's still waiting to launch that fund.

Julius Baer (BAER.VX) has not held talks with larger rival Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) about merging, the Swiss private bank's chief executive said in comments made in the weekly Schweiz am Sonntag.

The euro fell on Monday, hurt by uncertainty over whether Greece and its international creditors will be able to strike a deal that will help Athens secure funding before it runs out of money by April 20.

Goldman Sachs became the top commodities bank last year, overtaking rival JP Morgan, a consultancy said on Friday.

Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) is bringing in Tidjane Thiam, the head of British insurer Prudential (PRU.L), as its new chief executive to help drive the Swiss bank's push into wealth management in emerging markets.

Many of Wall Street's biggest banks are more convinced the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in June after a strong February jobs report on Friday pointed to sustained economic growth and as the jobless rate hit a more than 6-1/2 year-low.

The euro held steady on Wednesday, finding some support as investors held on to hopes that Greece will find enough common ground with its euro zone partners and avoid a chaotic exit from the currency union.

Swiss financial titans UBS and Credit Suisse are expanding their operations in provincial Poland in a cost-saving drive made more urgent by the surge in the value of the Swiss franc.

A blowout jobs report has changed the calculus for investors for what the Federal Reserve might do in coming months, resetting expectations for how markets might behave if the U.S. economy continues to strengthen even as global growth lags.

"Swiss Made" has traditionally stood for quality, precision and reliability. But after a shock move to scrap the cap on the franc, it could convey a less attractive message: Made more expensive.

Mindbody, a company that makes software to help run fitness and yoga studios, has selected banks for a potential initial public offering that could value it at more than $700 million, according to people familiar with the matter.

Investors had hoped that the biggest U.S. banks would boost dividend payments substantially in 2015, but recent events including slumping oil prices will make it harder for banks to pay out more.

The allure of investing in Mexico's historic oil sector opening has been dimmed by the plummeting price of crude, putting pressure on the government to offer bigger incentives to private investors in the first major round of contracts up for grabs.