11 June 2018 FT — Articles to Read

11 June 2018

Question: According to MSN:Lifestyle, what are 11 signs someone is lying to you?

Argentine businesses battle to survive 40% interest rates – Pg. 2

  • …Argentina’s $50bn deal last week with the IMF has made clear that high interest rates are set to stay. The standby agreement demands greater independence for the central bank and makes fighting inflation a priority
  • That makes day-to-day life intensely difficult for the businesses that the government and the IMF hope can bring the Argentine economy back to health
  • Real estate companies will suffer from higher interest rates because of the impact on Argentina’s nascent mortgage sector

Big Bank profits beat pre-Lehman levels – Pg. 14

  • Leading investment banks made more money in 2017 than in the year before the collapse of Lehman Brothers, highlighting the industry’s resilience to a crisis that threatened to overwhelm it
  • The solid profitability shows investment banks have emerged from a decade of change in much better shape than many people would have predicted, despite the impact of tougher regulation and new competitors offering online sales and trading at wafer thin margins
  • While net income is up, return on equity is still well below the high-teen and low-20s levels enjoyed before the crisis, after regulation forced the banks to increase their shareholders’ equity by 60% over the decade to 2017
  • Revenues in some parts of the investment banks have shrunk significantly since 2007, particularly equities, where they fell 36% in the decade across the eight banks that disclosed the data
  • Fixed-income revenues were more resilient but only because 2008 was a low point for some banks…
  • Low volatility hampered trading revenues for much of 2017, before a spike in volatility in February delivered bumper results for the first quarter this year. Since then, markets have been calmer and banks have flagged poorer trading in the current quarter

Small US banks push for further deregulation – Pg. 16

  • Shares in smaller banks have been boosted as a result, with the Russell 2000 banks index outperforming the S&P banks by about 10% since the turn of the year
  • The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act contains a number of provisions related to capital, mortgage lending and data collection, mostly targeted at banks deemed too small to present a serious risk to the US financial system

Answer: (1) They change their head position quickly; (2) Their breathing changes; (3) They stand very still; (4) They repeat words or phrases; (5) They provide too much information; (6) They touch or cover their mouth; (7) They instinctively cover vulnerable body parts; (8) They shuffle their feet; (9) It becomes difficult for them to speak; (10) They stare at you without blinking much; (11) They tend to point a lot