Fed Takes Stock of Battered Money Markets as Uneasy Calm Returns

Fed Takes Stock of Battered Money Markets as Uneasy Calm Returns

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – U.S. money markets are taking a breather following last week’s volatility, but the Federal Reserve remains on alert and is examining what implications the turmoil may have for the central bank and the financial system. Rates on repurchase agreements held steady on Monday after stabilizing late last week in the wake of an unprecedented market spike. A daily Federal Reserve operation — aimed at keeping funding markets on an even…

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Big Banks Hold Flash Boys at Bay With Grip on Treasuries Trading

Big Banks Hold Flash Boys at Bay With Grip on Treasuries Trading

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – High-frequency traders haven’t taken over Treasuries, according to data just released by a senior U.S. government debt manager, a sign banks still call the shots in the world’s largest bond market. These automated market makers have bought and sold about $140 billion of Treasuries a day since April, 20% of total volume, Deputy Treasury Secretary Justin Muzinich said Monday during a speech in New York. These companies — the U.S….

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Warren’s Rise Is Bigger Market Risk Than Trump-Ukraine, AGF Says

Warren’s Rise Is Bigger Market Risk Than Trump-Ukraine, AGF Says

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – Investors should be more concerned about the increasing prospects of Elizabeth Warren being the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee than any fallout from the scandal around Donald Trump’s phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart, according to AGF Investments. The outrage surrounding allegations that Trump urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate Democratic front-runner, former Vice President Joe Biden, is unlikely to affect markets, Greg Valliere, the firm’s chief U.S. policy strategist, wrote in a…

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Wall Street May Get $40 Billion Reprieve From Trump Regulators

Wall Street May Get $40 Billion Reprieve From Trump Regulators

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Wall Street could soon get one of its most consequential wins of the Trump era as regulators are considering ripping up a rule that’s forced banks to set aside billions of dollars for swaps trades, according to people familiar with the matter. At issue is a requirement approved during the Obama administration that’s made lenders post tens of billions in the margin when engaging in derivatives transactions with their…

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What African Central Bankers Will Discuss in the Next 10 Days

What African Central Bankers Will Discuss in the Next 10 Days

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Central banks in sub-Saharan Africa, already missing out on the global monetary-easing parade, just got one more reason to stay on the sidelines. Monetary authorities in key economies in the region will likely decide to hold interest rates when they meet in the next ten days. The devastating Sept. 14 attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure could increase pressure on fuel prices and inflation, adding to worries on global…

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Bill Gates Says Big Tech Companies Shouldn’t Be Broken Up

Bill Gates Says Big Tech Companies Shouldn’t Be Broken Up

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bill Gates, who knows a thing or two about antitrust investigations, doesn’t think it’s a good idea to break up the biggest U.S. tech companies as some politicians have suggested. The Microsoft Corp. co-founder and former chief executive officer battled the Justice Department for years in the late 1990s in a bruising antitrust case. At issue was the software giant’s bundling of its Internet Explorer browser to Windows as a way to…

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Can Boris Johnson Sell an All-Ireland Backstop to Save Brexit?

Can Boris Johnson Sell an All-Ireland Backstop to Save Brexit?

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Could Boris Johnson break the Brexit impasse by binding Northern Ireland — rather than all of the U.K. as pushed by his predecessor — closely to the European Union until another arrangement was reached? On one hand, Johnson has ruled it out. On the other hand, he’s floated the idea of an all-Irish food zone as a way of avoiding checks along the frontier between Ireland, which is part of the…

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