European energy ministers have agreed an EU-wide plan to cut gas consumption in case of a complete shut-off of Russian supplies. As part of the deal, the 27 EU nations on Tuesday vowed to slash 45bn cubic metres in gas use between August 1 and March 31, equivalent to a 15 per cent decrease from
Popular migration destinations where home prices soared during the pandemic are most likely to see the effects of a housing downturn amplified and home prices decline year over year if the economy goes into a recession, according to a new report from Redfin, a technology-powered real estate brokerage, which also found that relatively affordable Northern
You may not expect to find a mountain home in Breckenridge, Colorado, with sleek lines, lots of glass and a modern flair, but that’s just what this European-inspired contemporary home offers. ADVERTISEMENT “There are several unique factors that make this house so special,” said listing agent Jeff Moore of Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate.
Public finance attorney, tax expert and National Association of Bond Lawyers board member Johnny Hutchinson has left Squire Patton Bogg’s Houston office to join Nixon Peabody as a partner. Hutchinson has extensive experience with private activity bond financings, federally tax-advantaged debt transactions, defending issuers and borrowers against Internal Revenue Service audits, helping clients resolve tax
There’s not a whiff of ambiguity in one of the moment’s heartbreaking headliners spotlighting housing’s affordability crisis. “The United States has a deep, decades-old housing shortage.” New York Times staffers Conor Dougherty and Ben Casselman did not bury their lead. They hinge analysis that follows on a baffling, self-fulfilling riddle at the crux of an
Issuers and borrowers should watch out for phishing scams in their communications with the IRS’ Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division, as there have been instances in recent months of scammers posing as IRS representatives. John Stanley, a tax and public finance partner at Orrick and Joseph Santiesteban, private and data innovation partner at Orrick,
A senior U.S. Republican lawmaker accused China of a broad campaign to obtain confidential information from the Federal Reserve, including recruiting central bank staffers and detaining a Fed employee visiting Shanghai. The report, from Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, said the Fed’s own investigations had identified several employees with connections to Chinese talent recruiters, as well
The author is EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy Seven years ago, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany, Iran and the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy concluded a landmark diplomatic deal. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was the result of years of intense
New homes under construction in Tucson, Arizona. Rebecca Noble | Bloomberg | Getty Images Home prices in May were 19.7% higher compared with the same month last year, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index. This marks the second month of slower increases, as the housing market cools due to higher mortgage
The IMF has slashed its global growth forecasts and raised its projections for inflation, warning that the risks to the economic outlook are “overwhelmingly tilted to the downside”. The downgraded estimates, released on Tuesday, come as the world grapples with the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, prolonged disruptions caused by the pandemic and rapidly
Tribal governments pay 22% to 87% higher borrowing costs on municipal bonds compared to state and local entities, according to a new paper presented at the Brookings Institution Municipal Finance Conference. The resulting increases in annual interest payments for average tribal issuers range from $79,000 to $310,000 greater than their nontribal counterparts, according to the
Rishi Sunak’s attempt to derail Liz Truss’s Tory leadership bid appeared to have failed on Tuesday, as a new opinion poll found that Conservative members believed that she won a crucial head-to-head televised debate. The YouGov survey found Tory activists — who have the final say on who will be Britain’s next prime minister —
The “Open the pod bay doors, Hal” command from the 1968 sci fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey might be the most famous voice control request in cinematic history. The dystopian response from the artificial intelligence computer HAL 9000, “I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that” is just as famous – or, more
What would Amazon’s stock price be if US retail investors were banned from investing? Lower, doubtless. The thought experiment shows that Alibaba’s 2014 listing in New York was doubly impressive. The world’s largest-ever listing depended on foreign investors. This year, mainland China’s legions of retail investors should get the chance to invest. For Chinese tech
Alibaba will apply for a dual-primary listing on Hong Kong’s stock exchange, in a move analysts say lays the groundwork to grant mainland Chinese investors access to its shares and help minimise disruption if US regulators force it to delist from Wall Street. The New York-listed Chinese ecommerce group, which has a secondary listing in
UBS has warned that further turmoil in markets will prompt clients to retreat after its second-quarter profits fell short of expectations, sending shares in the world’s largest wealth manager down more than 5 per cent. The Swiss group’s private bank bore the brunt of a bruising quarter, with pre-tax profit for the business falling 11
This article is an online version of our Inside Politics newsletter. Sign up here to get the newsletter sent straight to your inbox every weekday. Good morning. The topic of today’s newsletter is political betting. I used to do a lot of political betting before joining the Financial Times, and you can find an awful
Unilever increased prices for its products 11 per cent in the second quarter from a year earlier and raised its full-year sales guidance, as it battles to pass on more cost increases to consumers. The consumer goods maker said it had yet to pass on the full impact of input cost rises to shoppers in
European stocks drifted on Tuesday after US retailer Walmart issued an after-hours profit warning and investors girded themselves for another interest rate rise from the Federal Reserve. Europe’s regional Stoxx 600 index struggled for direction, while London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.5 per cent. Shares in Walmart dropped almost 9 per cent in pre-market trading in
For entrepreneurs hoping to get Masayoshi Son’s backing, the global outbreak of Covid-19 has made it harder than ever to meet the billionaire SoftBank founder in person. Even after two years of the pandemic, Son has stopped travelling overseas, switching instead to online video chats. Visitors from both in and outside of Japan are required
Good morning. Ethan is away this week, resting up for August, which I will skip altogether (Unhedged will appear just three times a week all month, with a special guest author writing one of those.) So you know who to blame for the below: robert.armstrong@ft.com. The market thinks the Fed has very good timing It’s