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30 to 45 USD – the new reality for oil This morning, after secret negotiations in Doha – the capital of Qatar – the four oil-producers Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Russia and Venezuela agreed to freeze their output at January levels. The common goal of this agreement is, of course, to tackle the oil price, who after 19 months of declines …

Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin are usually credited as authors of the US ‘Declaration of Independence’ in 1776 which announced that the 13 American colonies (at that time at war with Britain) regarded themselves as independent. The young United States then got their own constitution and Benjamin Franklin wrote about this in a letter: ‘Our new constitution is …

‘Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to the magic of television…’ With those words Leslie Mitchell introduced the first high-definition public television program in London. In black and white, the date was 26th August 1936.   Television was not invented by a single person, the technical developments that made the first public …

In the shadow of the broadly discussed fall in oilprices and the implications for stocks around the world, the problems of the european banking sector have been almost overlooked so far by the broader audience.  This is going to change soon. From Deutsche Bank to Credit Suisse, the shares of european banks are under immense pressure and there is no …

The victories this week in New Hampshire’s primary by Donald Trump (Republicans) and Bernie Sanders (Democrats) put two of the candidates in the lead that most likely to spook Wall Street.  Trump has been viewed very critical by the financial community due to his unpredictability and off-the-cuff remarks about mexicans or religions for instance. Many in the financial community compare …

China just celebrated the ‘Year of the Monkey’. Officially the first three days of Chinese New Year (February 8–10, 2016) are statutory holiday. Chinese New Year’s Eve and three more days are always added to give seven consecutive days of holiday. But then, it’s back to business – and there is no celebration at all for the chinese. The stockmarket-crash or …