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Showing 501 - 510 of 2991 results for Benjamin Ong

Chief economist update: The tweet that reignited the trade war

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 7 MAY 2019
Once again, US President Donald Trump proved to the entire planet that the only thing predictable about him is his unpredictability. With just two tweets, POTUS reignited hostilities (and perhaps an escalation) of the US-China trade war, spooking financial ...

Chief economist update: Not spring yet in the Eurozone

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 6 MAY 2019
Green shoots are appearing in the Eurozone just in time for spring. Eurostat reports its preliminary estimates show the single-currency region's GDP increased by 0.4% in the March 2019 quarter - better than market expectations for a 0.3% gain - ...

Chief economist update: RBA May cut, May not

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 3 MAY 2019
A funny thing happened along the way to the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) scheduled monetary policy meeting on May 7 and ahead of the May 18 Federal Election. While the slowing momentum in Australia's economic and survey indicators, and ...

Chief economist update: Policy of patience

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 2 MAY 2019
The US Federal Reserve just concluded its April 30 - May 1 FOMC meeting and decided it best to do nothing but reaffirm its policy of patience, as you, I and Irene expected. "Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum ...

Chief economist update: S&P raises Duterte ratings

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 1 MAY 2019
Money talks, prayers walk. This appears to be the overriding theme in the upcoming May 13 mid-term elections in the Philippines where "foul-mouthed and murderous" president Rodrigo Duterte's preferred senatorial and congressional candidates lead ...

Chief economist update: A good problem to have?

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 30 APR 2019
If not for the "bubble" - yes, bubble - that's blowing into the equity market, the US Federal Reserve's problem of continued strong growth and below-target inflation is a good problem to have. This is underscored by the latest stat updates that ...

Chief economist update: Inflation is dead

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 29 APR 2019
Those were the days my friends, we thought would never end... but they ended. The days when measured inflation would go from minus 3% to plus 14%, give or take, back in the grim old days from the 1950s to the late 1980s are no more. Back then the monetarists ...

Chief economist update: Lock in two RBA rate cuts

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 26 APR 2019
The stats are out and it reveals that Australian consumer price inflation has softened... big time. There's no other option for the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to cut interest rates soon and twice. The Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) ...

Chief economist update: The Fed pause that refreshes

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 24 APR 2019
You couldn't miss it even if you tried; the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite Index surpassed their former peaks overnight. And the Dow is not far behind - it's off a mere 0.6% away from its all-time high. Yes Virginia, you can be forgiven ...

Chief economist update: China is back on track

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 23 APR 2019
"Spring is the time of plans and projects." - Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina. So it is with China. Recent economic indicators have turned up in time for spring. China deserves to be congratulated. It's watered and fertilised the economy with enough ...