22 December 2018 FT — Articles to Read

22 December 2018

 

Question: According to an article on MSN: Lifestyle, “I just turned 55 – and here are 10 life lessons I wish I’d learned a decade ago”, what are the lessons?

 

Minting money on the Orient Express – Pg. 6

–          For the luxury goods companies, experience has emerged as the latest frontier in their battle to win over the hearts and wallets of the wealthy and aspirational

–          The first official Orient Express left Paris on October 4, 1883, bound eastward for Constantinople via Munich, Vienna, Budapest and Belgrade

 

Loan fund withdrawals soar on fears over Fed rate policy and credit quality – Pg. 13

–          The asset class had lured investors seeking to benefit as the Fed raised rates, but central bankers and agencies such as the IMF have warned credit quality has declined.  Loans are typically to highly leveraged companies, such as those taken private in leveraged buyouts

–          The retreat by investors from loan funds is part of the broad move out of risk assets that has characterized the final months of 2018

–          Financials are highly sensitive to the trajectory of interest rates.  Rising short-term interest rates, which raise their funding costs, and subdued long-term rates, which reflect the income they make from lending, are threatening to squeeze bank profitability

 

Answer: (1) Take time to pay attention to your health; (2) Be intimidating; (3) No more bad hair days; (4) Dream big and let yourself fail; (5) Take a vacation that has nothing to do with work or family; (6) You’re probably not going to strike it rich; (7) Do something you’re terrible at; (8) Wear great boots; (9) Do a favour you don’t want to do; (10) Say yes more than you say no