European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) reports that 213,000 cars with alternative engines (electric vehicles and hybrids) were sold in the EU in the first quarter, which is 37.6% more than a year ago. The most significant increase in sales was shown in the segment of electric vehicles operating on batteries, by 49.0%, to 24.6 thousand cars. The ACEA’s release notes "significant...

Situation with the car market of the USA looks alarming. Sales have been falling for the fourth month in a row, while number of cars in warehouses increased to the level of the 2009 crisis. First of all, let's go back to the sales statistics. For all major brands, the data turned out to be worse than forecasts and showed a decline. The drop in sales has been observed for four months in a row, a...

Fate of the largest Canadian non-bank mortgage lender Home Capital Group has been determined over the weekend. The company faced an outflow of almost 70% of deposits, and announced attraction of an extremely large credit line for 2 billion Canadian dollars to provide liquidity. The situation frightened the shareholders, the papers fell by 10% and destroyed two-thirds of the company's market cap...

President of the United States Donald Trump said that he is considering a possibility of forcing the largest banks of the country to be split. Experts believe that, if done right, this measure can be beneficial both to the entire financial market and to bank investors. The reform would bring more severe competition to the market, and investors will be able to successfully sell their shares in the...

Number of new homeowners in the US was twice as larger as number of new tenants in the first quarter of this year. According to American observers, the situation in the real estate market indicates a change in the trend, which lasted more than ten years. Then, after the mortgage and financial crisis, people preferred to rent rather than buy. According to the US Census Bureau, the number of new...

The European Central Bank (ECB) published a survey of 95 central banks over 100 leading academic macroeconomists. The paper is dedicated to changing the policy of central banks following the crisis. The most interesting moment is the respondents’ attitude towards the idea of quantitative easing (QE). The central banks’ managers tend to doubt the QE’s effectiveness, and about 20% of them believe...

The World Bank expects a rise in prices for all types of industrial raw materials, while prices for agricultural products will remain stable, says the organization’s quarterly forecast for development of commodity markets. The bank hasn’t changed the January forecast of $ 55 per barrel for oil prices in 2017. In 2018, bank experts forecast an increase in prices to $ 60 per barrel against the...

The Chinese authorities intend to weaken the rule of 50/50, now regulates activities of joint ventures of local auto companies with foreigners. In the next few years, the government can allow foreigners to own large shares in associated undertakings. Thus, the government wants to encourage local producers to more actively develop their own car brands. The Chinese government’s plans to liberalize...

JSW Steel Ltd. Has become the largest steel company in India this year, significantly increasing production, reports Bloomberg. The company from Mumbai intends to build two plants with a capacity of 10 million tons each in the resource-rich states of Odishi and Jharkhand to increase capacity more than twice to 40 million tons by 2030, said Managing Director of JSW Steel Ltd. Seshagiri Rao. To...