2020 brings with it the 10th year of recovery since the global financial crisis. Equity markets continue to break records, ample credit is available, yet the bullish performance appears cosmetic at times and investing in Europe in 2020 is fraught with political risks. The US deficit doubled from $385bn to $779bn last year, the UK […]
Negative Yields
Investing in Europe in 2020 – The Year Ahead
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An overview of some European key themes and political risks for 2020
Repo rate raised to zero per cent (Sveriges Riksbank – Swedish Central Bank)
“Inflation has been close to the Riksbank’s target of 2 per cent since the start of 2017, and the Riksbank assesses that conditions are good for inflation to remain close to the target going forward. Therefore, in line with the assessment in October, the Executive Board has decided to raise the repo rate from –0.25 […]
Nordea Culls Securities From Markets Unit Amid Negative Rates (Bloomberg)
“As long-term negative interest rates reshape life in the Nordic region, its biggest bank is trying to reinvent one of its most important business areas.” – by Frances Schwartzkopff and Rafaela Lindeberg
Negative interest rates, by country (FT)
“Today, Jean Pierre Mustier, chief executive of Italian lender UniCredit, called for banks to stop complaining about negative rates.” – by Thomas Hale
ECB tiering little relief for squeezed banks (IFR)
“Another European Central Bank stimulus package looks set to keep eurozone interest rates negative for longer and tighten the squeeze on the region’s banks, heaping more pain on German lenders in particular.” – by Gareth Gore and Steve Slater
Switzerland Tried Negative Rates in the 1970s. It Got Very Ugly (Bloomberg)
“In the looking-glass world of negative-interest rates, the Swiss are in a special category.” – by Stephen Mihm
Switzerland Is Held Captive By Its Big Neighbor (Bloomberg)
“With the ECB set to cut rates, the Swiss will have little choice but to go even deeper into negative territory. The SNB is a price-taker, not a price-maker.” – by Marcus Ashworth