The Strategist
Markets & Industries

Africa's Struggle to Bring Its Own Free Trade Zone Into Play - 02/29/2016

Two of the largest in the history regional trade associations were created last year. One of them, Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which includes 12 countries in Asia, South and North America, has received great attention from the world media and experts. Yet only few people have heard about Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA), which covers 26 African countries and is the largest trade union of...

The Worst Economies in 2016 - 02/26/2016

What economies will have the most difficult time in 2016? Where the recession risk is greatest and when to expect recovery of the economic "losers"? Economists surveyed by Bloomberg answered these questions. According to the forecast of experts, the most problematic would be Venezuela (-3.3%), Brazil (-2.5%) and Greece (-1.8%) and Ecuador (0.5%). The top ten worst also features Argentina, whose...

A Potentially Dangerous Pesticide Found in German Beer - 02/25/2016

Munich Environmental Institute tested 14 popular brands of beer in Germany and found a pesticide glyphosate in all of them. According to the institute, it can be dangerous to human health, since glyphosate refers to "probably carcinogenic to humans" according to the WHO classification of substances. Other experts believe that the risk is exaggerated, since glyphosate’s content in the beer is too...

What Five Largest Banks Think of Oil Production Freeze - 02/22/2016

The key oil producing countries have already commented on the oil agreement of Saudi Arabia and Russia. Now, it’s the major banks’ turn. In general, financial institutions are skeptical: they would like to reduce the quotas immediately, rather than just freezing oil production at current levels. Goldman Sachs The agreement to freeze production at the level of January is unlikely to have a...

Smart Watches Outstripped Swiss Luxury - 02/22/2016

At year-end 2015, "smart" watches for the first time outstripped sales of Swiss mechanical and quartz watches, according to the research firm Strategy Analytics. Global sales of smart watches in the IV quarter 2015 reached 8.1 million, while sales of Swiss watches dropped by 5% yoy, reaching 7.9 million Moreover, the ‘Swiss watches’ definition implied models of all segments of the market - from...

Devaluation of the Yuan Scared Chinese Luxury Buyers Off Europe - 02/18/2016

Chinese customers may refuse extra spending abroad due to the yuan’s devaluation and reduced difference between luxury goods in China and Europe, according to a review of the European luxury goods market made by Credit Suisse analysts. Renminbi fell against the dollar by 6%, the euro - 10% in the spring of 2015. Overall, it can reduce profits of producers and sellers of luxury goods by an average...

Deloitte: 30% of US Energy Companies Are Bankrupts - 02/17/2016

US energy sector is on the verge of collapse. In its latest report, Deloitte predicts that about a third of US oil companies may declare bankruptcy this year. A case in point is, of course, not about the industry giants, but high-risk companies that have emerged during the shale revolution. Due to the fall in oil prices, they have lost the ability to generate necessary cash flow, while reducing...

Aero Industry: There's No Crisis In Southeast Asia - 02/16/2016

Demand for civilian aircraft in Southeast Asia (SEA) will grow, and the region will buy 3,750 new airplanes worth $ 550 billion over the next 20 years. This is an opinion of senior vice-president of Boeing for sales in Southeast Asia and India Dinesh Keskar. Single-aisle aircraft such as Boeing 737 or Airbus A320 will be most popular. Before opening of the Singapore Airshow, one of the two...

EU Countries Are Demanding Tough Defense of Their Metallurgists - 02/15/2016

Today, Brussels is hosting a large-scale walkout organized by national trade unions and Eurofer (European steel producers organization) in protest against Chinese steel dumping. Top managers of leading steel companies joined the members of steelmakers union. Today in Brussels, at the EU headquarters, the leading European trade unions together with Eurofer are carrying out a mass protest against...

Iranian Oil Tankers Are Sunk in Insurance Swamp - 02/12/2016

Of all that could strangle Iranian oil exports, from geopolitical factors to diplomatic games, insurance - the most seemingly harmless phenomenon - really jeopardizes plans of both oil consumers and suppliers. Although the US and Eurozone removed the oil and financial sanctions against Iran in January, there are new challenges - now caused by bureaucracy in insurance companies that provide...
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