AT SHINTOMI nursing home in Tokyo, men and women sit in a circle following exercise instructions before singing along to a famous children’s song, “Yuyake Koyake” (“The Glowing Sunset”). They shout out and clap enthusiastically even though the activities are being led, not by a human fitness guru, but by Pepper, a big-eyed humanoid robot […]
Read moreCurrency, United States Finance
Investors should be prepared for relatively muted returns on major equities in 2018, according to strategists at investment bank Societe Generale. Robust earnings, subdued inflation, synchronized global growth and central banks looking to tighten monetary policy have all underpinned equities in 2017. However, the next calendar year does not likely to follow the same pattern, […]
Read moreEuro zone business growth is roaring as the year draws to a close, a survey showed on Thursday, supporting the European Central Bank’s move last month to announce a throttling back of its monetary stimulus. Surveys covering both the services and manufacturing industries outshone even the most optimistic forecasters in Reuters polls – indicating growth […]
Read morePeople who drink three or four cups of coffee every day could significantly reduce the chances of early death, a new study suggests. A review of more than 200 studies found coffee consumption was “more often associated with benefit than harm,” adding even people who drank as many as seven cups of coffee were likely […]
Read moreGerman engineering and steel group Thyssenkrupp posted its highest order intake in five years on Thursday, boosted by record demand for its elevators and components for the car and construction sectors. Order intake rose 18 percent to 44.29 billion euros ($52.34 billion) in the group’s 2016/17 financial year. Adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) […]
Read moreIn the wake of the Great Recession, the Fed needed every policy tool it could find. Quantitative easing, forward guidance of policy goals and targets, and lowering interest rates to 0 percent are the most obvious examples. Now, QE has ceased, and the Fed funds rate is back above 1 percent. In contrast, forward guidance […]
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Britain slashed its official projections for economic growth Wednesday and anticipates it will need to borrow sharply over the coming years. Finance Minister Philip Hammond delivered the U.K. government’s official Autumn Budget at a time when the ruling Conservative party is facing challenging political and economic circumstances. The non-partisan Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast […]
Read moreA majority of North American CFOs (54.2 percent) say they support the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which passed the House last week, while 20.8 percent oppose it. Regardless of support, CFOs seem to be confident that the bill’s reforms will have a positive impact on U.S. economic conditions. In addition, 70.9 […]
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GULLIVER is back from the 141st Slot Conference in Madrid, a meeting of airlines and airport co-ordinators run by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), an airline lobby group. In this week’s issue, he opened the lid on how landing and take-off slots are allocated at congested airports around the world: Instead of letting airports […]
Read moreEmployment in the U.S. is expected to increase by 11.5 million between 2016 and 2026, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Within the next decade, more than 10.5 million new service-provider jobs — like information security analyst and mathematician — are expected to be added to the economy. About 219,000 jobs […]
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