Executive Insights

China has been making it very clear that it wants more control over the global gold market, but it’ll have to go through New York and London first. “Given that China is the epicenter of the physical gold market, it does make sense that the Chinese government would want its physical Shanghai gold market to…

China’s securities regulator banned major shareholders, corporate executives and directors from selling stakes in listed companies for six months, its latest effort to stop the nation’s $3.5 trillion stock-market rout. Investors with stakes exceeding 5 percent must maintain their positions, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said in a statement. The rule is intended to guard…

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras probably has 48 hours to resolve a standoff with creditors before civil unrest breaks out and ATMs run out of cash, hedge fund Balyasny Asset Management said. Fund managers are questioning how the International Monetary Fund and Europe’s leaders can seal a deal with Athens following the “no” vote in…

BlackRock Inc. is seeking government clearance to set up an internal program in which mutual funds that get hit with client redemptions could temporarily borrow money from sister funds that are flush with cash. BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday to set up what’s known…

Greece is set to become the first developed nation to not pay its debts to the International Monetary Fund on time, as the country sinks deeper into a financial emergency that has forced it to put a nationwide lockdown on money withdrawals. Greece owes the IMF about $1.9 billion by the end of Tuesday but…

It was more or less impossible for Greek banks to open on Monday, once the European Central Bank announced it was turning off emergency lending to them. Because in the absence of any increase in this so called Emergency Liquidity Assistance, the banks had no way to supply cash to Greek depositors who have been…

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned on Wednesday that prolonged low interest rates fueled by central banks’ quantitative easing pose a serious threat to the solvency of pension funds and life insurers that could send ripples through the global financial system. As interest rates are expected to stay low for an extended period,…

President Obama continues to hail the economic “breakthrough.” Yet in the seventh year of his presidency, few families are enjoying a breakthrough for them. Instead, most families continue to struggle through the worst economic recovery since the 1940s. We recently learned that the economy actually shrunk in the first quarter of this year, and a…

Rising federal debt threatens to choke economic growth within a decade, beginning a death spiral that will sap revenue from government programs even as demands grow, forcing the government to borrow even more, Congress‘ budget watchdog said in a frightening report Tuesday. Budget cuts or tax increases now would help avert that scary scenario, leaving…

The U.S. economy was still running below trend in May, according to the Chicago Fed's national activity index released Monday. The index, a weighted average of 85 different economic indicators, edged up to negative 0.17 from negative 0.19, and the three-month average edged up to negative 0.16 from negative 0.20. A zero reading shows the…

Euro zone leaders will hold an emergency summit on Monday to try to avert a Greek default after bank withdrawals accelerated and government revenue slumped as Athens and its international creditors remain deadlocked over a debt deal. Finance ministers of the 19-nation currency bloc failed to make any breakthrough on a cash-for-reforms agreement at talks…

The U.S. economy is nearly six years into its current economic expansion cycle and overall economic numbers continue to disappoint. Friday's news that the U.S. economy contracted by 0.7% in the first quarter is expected to be a temporary blip in overall economic growth, but the current recovery phase remains limp and lackluster at best…