Investments

• Thursday, January 22nd 2015 - 11:36 UTC

  Oil price collapse hurting some more than others

  

  U.S. oil and gas rig counts dropped to their lowest level in over four years, falling by an additional 74 units for the week ending on January 16. The lower count provides fresh evidence that low oil prices are forcing drillers to pare back operations and slash spending.

• Wednesday, January 21st 2015 - 08:03 UTC

  Obama pledged 'middle-class economics' but faces a Republican congress

  

  US President Barack Obama has declared an end to the financial crisis and pledged economic policies to benefit all Americans, in his annual State of the Union address to Congress. In a speech devised to appeal to working families, Mr Obama outlined his strategy for “middle-class economics”.

• Friday, January 16th 2015 - 05:23 UTC

  YPF increased output during 2014; refinery strike threatens supply of fuel

  

  YPF's oil and natural gas production rose in 2014 for the second year running, Argentina's state-run energy company said on Thursday. Oil production rose 8.7% last year, while gas output was up 12.5%, YPF said, although the company did not publish annual output volume.

• Thursday, January 15th 2015 - 08:13 UTC

  Five ways to play the oil price plunge

  

  The collapse of the oil price has created losers and winners, and like every major movement in a commodity sector, the trick for investors is figuring out which side of the trade to be on.The most obvious victim of the slide in Brent and WTI prices over the last 6 months has been the major oil producers. Holders of these equities have seen price slides up to 33%.

• Thursday, January 15th 2015 - 07:56 UTC

  Mexico's Slim poised to become New York Times Co. largest shareholder

  

  Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim is poised to become the largest shareholder in the New York Times Co. after already almost doubling his money from an investment that helped the newspaper get through the financial crisis.

• Thursday, January 15th 2015 - 05:09 UTC

  Premier drastically cuts spending; Falklands projects included in 2015 agenda

  

  UK hydrocarbons producer Premier Oil with strong interests in the Falklands expects to book a 300 million dollars impairment charge due to the plunge in oil prices and plans to cut jobs and investment by 40% compared to 2014, to rein in costs, it said on Wednesday.

• Tuesday, January 13th 2015 - 08:36 UTC

  Cristina Fernandez to Beijing in February; more financial support from China

  

  Argentine President Cristina Fernandez will be travelling to Beijing next month, reciprocating a visit from her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping last July, it was officially announced by chief of staff Jorge Capitanich. The meeting was anticipated last Friday in a meeting of the two countries foreign ministers on the sidelines of the CELAC/China ministerial forum held last week in Beijing.

• Sunday, January 11th 2015 - 11:39 UTC

  Rousseff orders ministries to cut spending by a third

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has instructed a budget cut which affects 39 ministries, reducing their funds by a third, in order to save a figure estimated at 703 million dollars per month.

• Saturday, January 10th 2015 - 06:44 UTC

  Argentina's comprehensive strategic (and vital) association with China

  

  Argentina and China entered a new phase of their relationship in July last year after upgrading it to a “comprehensive strategic association” and signing a battery of agreements, which include a 4.7 billion investment in hydroelectric dams, 2.09 billion in the renovation of the rail system and an 11 billion currency swap.

• Saturday, January 10th 2015 - 06:41 UTC

  China pledges 250bn in investments and 500bn in bilateral trade with Latam

  

  Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged on Thursday 250 billion dollars in investment in Latin America over the next five years as part of a drive to boost resource-hungry China’s influence in the region.