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World’s Happiest People Seek Road to Financial Smarts

(Bloomberg) — Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world threatened by trade wars. Sign up here. The most cheerful people on Earth are about to get some help managing their finances.In Finland, which topped the most recent United Nations World Happiness Report, the central bank is drawing up a financial-literacy strategy for citizens.The idea, conceived in a country that already outperforms much of the rich world in education, is to figure out whether a bit more financial acumen will help Finns borrow less.Finnish household debt has doubled in the past two decades against a backdrop of …read more […]

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China’s Hurting Banks Brace for Worst-Case Economic Scenario

(Bloomberg) — Just as it looked like Beijing was starting to get a handle on its regional banking crisis, a much more severe threat is engulfing the world’s largest banking system as a deadly new virus hits the country’s economy.The impact of the spreading coronavirus risks bringing to life the worst-case economic scenarios contained in China’s annual banking stress tests. Last year’s exercise envisaged annual economic growth slowing to as low as 4.15% — a scenario which showed that the bad loan ratio at the nation’s 30 biggest banks would rise five-fold. Analysts now say that the outbreak could send …read more […]

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Gold Extends Gain After WHO Chief’s ‘Tip of the Iceberg’ Warning

(Bloomberg) — Gold climbed for a fourth straight day as investors weighed the unfolding coronavirus crisis, including a blunt warning from the head of the World Health Organization about the potential for more cases beyond China.Prices rose as the global death toll from the outbreak topped 900 and the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus voiced concern over the spread from people with no travel history to China, saying “we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg.” Beijing will spend at least $10 billion to fight the outbreak.Bullion’s trading near the highest since 2013 as investors assess the impact …read more […]

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Oil Falls to Near $50 on Fading Hopes of Fast OPEC+ Virus Action

(Bloomberg) — Oil briefly fell past the psychologically important $50 a barrel mark as hopes for an extraordinary OPEC+ meeting to decide on further production cuts to deal with the demand hit from the coronavirus diminished.Ministers from the group and its allies are unlikely to hold an early meeting this month, while one planned for March will go ahead, Azerbaijan Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov told the RIA Novosti newswire. Russia has been resisting Saudi Arabian efforts to reduce output after OPEC+ technical experts recommended an additional cut of 600,000 barrels a day through June.Crude has tumbled around 10% over the …read more […]

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China Reports 908 Deaths from Coronavirus

Feb.09 — China has upped the global death toll from the coronavirus to 908. The first wave of medical experts being sent by the World Health Organization are heading to the epicenter of the disease. Bloomberg’s Selina Wang speaks with Shery Ahn and Haidi Stroud-Watts on “Bloomberg Markets.” …read more […]

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Oil prices fall on oversupply worries as virus hits China demand

Oil prices on Monday extended their decline from an early January peak above $70 as the specter of excess supplies loomed over the market after the spreading coronavirus outbreak hit demand in China, the world’s largest oil importer. U.S. West Texas Intermediate fell 38 cents to $49.94 a barrel after striking a low of $49.56. Worries over supply were not alleviated on Friday when Russia said it need more time to decide on a recommendation from a technical committee that has advised the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies to cut production by a …read more […]