Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sold billions of dollars worth of stock and invested little money in the US equity market in the first three months of the year, as the famed investor saw little appeal in a volatile market. Berkshire disclosed on Saturday that it had sold shares worth $13.3bn in the first quarter and
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The Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank delivered interest rate rises this week, but investors now expect rate setters in the US and the eurozone to move in opposite directions. Following 10 consecutive rate rises, markets predict the Fed has finished its tightening cycle and could start cutting rates as soon as July, as
US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen sent shockwaves through Washington this week when she warned that the US government risks running out of money as soon as June 1 if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling. But 150 miles south-west of the nation’s capital, in his largely rural district in the foothills of the Blue
UBS chief executive Sergio Ermotti has shortlisted the Credit Suisse executives he plans to make part of his management team, betting they can help make a success of the most significant banking deal since the financial crisis. Among the Credit Suisse executives most likely to survive the takeover are Dixit Joshi, chief financial officer, Francesca
Crowds were gathering on London’s Mall on Saturday morning ahead of the coronation of King Charles III, heralding a day of ancient ceremony and military spectacle that will draw on a millennium of British history. Global leaders and foreign royalty will attend the event at Westminster Abbey — scene of royal coronations since William the
About an hour and a half into the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, just as the august baritone of Richard Dimbleby proclaimed “the moment of the Queen’s crowning is come”, a BBC camera cut to a small boy, his hair glossy with punitive brushing, the splayed fingers of his hands pressed against each other in
The Labour party is drawing up plans to create a new water regulator as it seeks to address public anger over the dumping of raw sewage in Britain’s rivers, lakes and beaches. Under the proposals, a Labour government would merge most of the Environment Agency, the pollution watchdog, with the financial regulator Ofwat and the
It is not hard to see why short-term risks may be front of mind for US equity investors. If uncertainties over the US Federal Reserve’s next moves were not enough to cloud the outlook, there are bank collapses and a political stand-off looming over the US debt ceiling to worry about. But perhaps longer-term risks
Conservative councillors on Friday warned that prime minister Rishi Sunak faces an uphill battle to regain the trust of voters, following a bruising set of local election results for the government. In Sunak’s first electoral test as leader, results on Friday afternoon revealed the extent of his party’s losses, with the Tories losing around 649
Sir Keir Starmer strode into Labour’s headquarters in London’s South Bank on Friday, basking in applause from staffers after the party’s local election victories. “Doesn’t it feel good to win?” he beamed. When it comes to general elections, some in the room would have had no idea: Labour last won power in a national contest
When US officials announced on Monday they had found a buyer for First Republic, the second largest bank failure in American history, the successful bidder’s identity was for many in finance a foregone conclusion. Though more than a dozen institutions looked at First Republic’s assets, and four banks bid and rebid repeatedly last weekend, in
The writer is an FT contributing editor and writes the Chartbook newsletter The US is not eager for war with China. This is the message prominent spokespeople for the Biden administration have been sending in the past few weeks. The fact that this needs saying tells you something about the state we are in. In
Saturday’s coronation of King Charles III will be the most public display in seven decades of the curious relationship in the UK between England’s established church and the hereditary monarchy. The King will be accompanied to and from the ceremony by thousands of military personnel, a reminder that Britain’s constitutional monarch remains head of state.
European gas prices have fallen to the lowest level since the start of the energy crisis, boosting hopes of a stronger economic recovery as energy pressures ease. The European TTF benchmark hit a low of €35.20 a megawatt hour on Friday, a level last seen in July 2021 when Russia was first starting to squeeze
Britain is not the global power it was when it crowned Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. But it still knows how to put on a grand spectacle. The ceremony that will on Saturday anoint Charles III as King is one that connects the present with Britain’s, or England’s, earliest history, its roots stretching to before
The latest non-farm payrolls data is out, and once again it thumped expectations with 253,000 jobs added in April. Basically, if there’s a recession coming someone forgot to tell the US economy. After playing around on the Bloomberg terminal we discovered that this is actually the 13th straight month where US job creation has surpassed
Most of the olives harvested in the groves of the Monastery of the Ascension, a Russian orthodox compound on the sun-blasted slopes overlooking Jerusalem’s old city, find their way into the oil lamps that light its buildings, or pots used for cooking. But on Saturday, some of the crop harvested by the black-clad nuns who
This is a public service warning for Conservatives. Voters do not regard a rudimentary ability to govern as a bonus feature for those seeking to run the country. For the past three months, Tories have been allowing themselves to believe that under Rishi Sunak the mere restoration of floor-level competence and political sanity would be
US jobs growth was stronger than expected in April, showing the resilience of the economy even as the Federal Reserve signalled it was “getting close” to pausing its cycle of interest rate rises. The US added 253,000 non-farm jobs last month, according to a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, confounding expectations
The German economy ministry plans to subsidise 80 per cent of the electricity cost for energy-intensive companies, in a proposal likely to fuel divisions inside the governing coalition and further alienate European nations who cannot afford such measures. Under a long-awaited and highly contentious proposal published by Green economy minister Robert Habeck, a large part
HSBC’s shareholders voted against a proposal backed by its biggest investor Ping An to split up the sprawling global lender, in a victory for chair Mark Tucker at the bank’s annual meeting on Friday. Two special resolutions demanding that the bank regularly reviews separating and listing its Asia operations and restarts a guaranteed dividend were