The Millennial Generation: Room for Growth or a Dud Investment?
The millennial consumer is still something of an enigma to the corporate world, but clichés regarding the demographic are well known. Considered flighty and non-committal, home ownership rates for millennials are dropping, the average age of marriage is rising, and the generation is travelling more than their elders did. One thing that businesses are sure […]
Risk.net: Italian Banks Find Themselves at a Crossroads
The recent turmoil in Italian politics comes at a precarious time for the country’s banking sector. An audacious effort by Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right League, to bring down the government and force snap elections in the autumn – when annual budget negotiations were due to begin – appears to have failed. Salvini, who […]
August Credit Update: Consensus Financial Upgrades Outweigh Downgrades
Download PDF Credit Benchmark has published the latest monthly credit consensus data (from July 2019) based on contributions from 40+ financial institutions, covering 50,000 separate legal entities. The monthly upgrades and downgrades overview is now based on data adjusted for changes in contributor mix. Monthly consensus upgrades and downgrades: Last month showed improvements across 324 […]
Does US Small-Cap Weakness Send an Ominous Signal?
Download PDF Precarious politics are causing flux in global stock markets, with trade wars, Brexit, political shocks in Argentina and protests in Hong Kong all causing investor jitters. Market indicators around the world have been flashing red as US, European and Asian stocks all dropped last week. Investor risk appetite seems to be waning, […]
Credit Quality Sours as UK Restaurants & Bars Feel the Brexit Squeeze
Download PDF Sterling has continued its downward summer slide, dropping from USD1.32 to USD1.21 since May. Analysts warned of future weakness in the event that Boris Johnson became Prime Minister, taking the view that his leadership will increase the chances of an economically risky no-deal Brexit. Market onlookers will be watching keenly now that Johnson’s […]
Risk.net: No-deal Brexit Threatens UK Retail Sector
The UK retail sector could be particularly vulnerable to a no-deal Brexit. New UK prime minister Boris Johnson’s vow to leave the European Union on October 31 with or without a withdrawal agreement has driven fresh weakness in sterling, reducing local purchasing power and quite possibly undermining consumer sentiment. The GfK consumer confidence survey for July shows expectations […]
Will Trade Tensions Cause Trade Credit Insurance Costs to Rise?
Book a Demo A chain is only as strong as its weakest link – and with international political tensions causing disruption to trade networks worldwide, global supply chains are being put to the test. The US-China trade war has triggered major readjustments to existing global supply chain networks. US Farmers have seen a 38% […]
July Credit Update: Consensus Upgrades and Downgrades are in Balance
Download PDF Credit Benchmark has published the latest monthly credit consensus data (from June 2019) based on contributions from 40+ financial institutions, covering 50,000 separate legal entities. The monthly upgrades and downgrades overview is now based on data adjusted for changes in contributor mix. Monthly consensus upgrades and downgrades: Last month showed improvements across 356 […]
Lenders Tap the Brakes on Auto Companies as Sales Lose Momentum
Download PDF Auto sales for July are expected to decrease by 1.8% compared to a year ago, according to the most recent J.D. Power and LMC Automotive forecast. The gloomy outlook is supported by Cox Automotive, who have reported a 2.2% decrease in sales for the first half of 2019 and are expecting an even larger reduction […]
Risk.net: China, US Corporates Feeling Trade Tensions
The G20 meeting in Osaka at the end of June brought a clutch of positive developments in the trade war between China and the US – a resumption of talks that had broken down in May, an accompanying ceasefire on new tariffs and a partial lifting of the US blockade of telecoms giant Huawei. No-one […]
