$100 Oil Could Scramble the Fed’s Efforts to Ease Inflation

What rising oil prices mean for the Fed Crude oil has slipped below the 10-month high it hit on Tuesday. But analysts say the monthslong rally that has sent prices close to $100 a barrel isn’t over, posing a big risk for global growth and complicating central bankers’ efforts to tame inflation. Expect Jay Powell to field plenty of questions about oil prices at his news conference on Wednesday. The crude rally has become a wild card for the Fed chair and other policymakers grappling with high inflation. The Fed…

China’s Woes Loom Large Over the Global Markets

What’s behind the August sell-off? Goldman Sachs economists see an end to the Fed’s hawkish policy on interest rates, predicting that the central bank will cut its prime lending rate in the second quarter of next year. But that bullish prediction is doing little to restore investors’ optimism, as concerns mount about consumer confidence and the health of global economy. China’s woes are reverberating. The country, a major engine of growth, has been rocked by a decline in trade, a slowdown in consumer spending, a crackdown on the private sector…

What Americans Don’t Understand About China

Keyu Jin is in the West but not entirely of it. She’s fluent in English and French, studied at Harvard and teaches at the London School of Economics. She knows her way around Goldman Sachs and the World Bank. But she is still a proud Chinese. She lived with her parents in Beijing during two recent maternity leaves. And she has just written a book about what she calls “reading China in the original.” Unfiltered, that is, by a Western perspective. It sometimes comes as a surprise to Europeans and…

Wall Street Is Finally Getting Access to China. But for How Long?

For decades, American banks have been eager to expand their business in China, the world’s second-largest economy. They’re finally getting their way — just as a spiraling corporate debt crisis threatens to rock the country’s financial system and China’s central government takes a stronger hand with big businesses. In July, Citigroup became the first foreign bank to win approval to open a custody business in China, essentially acting as a bank for Chinese investment funds. In August, JPMorgan Chase got permission from the Chinese authorities to take full ownership of…

Goldman Sachs Wins Approval to Buy Out Partner in China

Goldman Sachs has won approval to take full ownership of a joint venture in China, enabling the Wall Street firm to expand its operations in the country at a time when Beijing has made moves to open up its financial sector. The go-ahead from the China Securities Regulatory Commission for Goldman Sachs to buy out Beijing Gao Hua Securities, its local partner, comes as Beijing tries to make good on a pledge it made in 2017 to allow foreign investment banks to fully own their China operations. “This marks the…

Why Wall Street Backs China Despite Beijing’s Tighter Grip

This year has been unsettling for Chinese business. The ruling Communist Party has gone after the private sector industry by industry. The stock markets have taken a huge hit. The country’s biggest property developer is on the verge of collapse. But for some of the biggest names on Wall Street, China’s economic prospects look rosier than ever. BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, urged investors to increase their exposure to China by as much as three times. “Is China investable?” asked J.P. Morgan, before answering, “We think so.” Goldman Sachs…

A Strange Voice on the Phone

Angela Merkel’s party comes up short in Germany. In yesterday’s election, the center-left Social Democratic Party led by Olaf Scholz won 1.6 percentage points more of the vote than Merkel’s Christian Democratic Party. But with only around 26 percent of the vote, the Social Democrats will have to form a coalition to govern, which could get messy. The Transition to Electric Cars Britain struggles with fuel shortages and other supply disruptions. Panic buying led to long lines at gas stations over the weekend, with many saying that they are now…