Forex

Uncertainty over European energy sources and energy supplies complicates BASF’s 2023 budget planning

Published

6 months ago

October 11, 2022

Uncertainty over European energy sources and the outlook for Europe’s energy supplies is complicating BASF’s budget planning for 2023, the German chemical company’s Chief Financial Officer, Hans Ulrich Engel said.

BASF is considering at least one more scenario in addition to the traditionally developed, optimistic and pessimistic scenarios, Engel told The Wall Street Journal.

Who supplies natural gas to Europe?

The company uses natural gas to generate electricity for its plants, and its energy costs have increased several times over as gas prices have skyrocketed. In the second quarter of 2022, they were 800 million euros higher than in the same period of the previous year, totaling 1.1 billion euros.

“Now we have days in Europe when gas prices go up and down by 50 euros per megawatt hour. We see huge fluctuations in short periods of time,” Engel notes.

The day-ahead, TTF spot gas price in the Netherlands on Oct. 7 is 119 euros per MWh, down substantially from levels at the end of August when it was 300 euros per MWh, the WSJ said.

Forecasting tools based on artificial intelligence have become more important in the current operating environment, said Engel, who is also BASF’s director of digital technology. The company has begun updating forecasts more often, as well as analyzing daily sales and orders to estimate future energy needs, he said.

BASF is also working on replacing gas with other energies and ramping up power generation with alternative sources, but so far the effect of these measures is negligible. The company expects to be able to substitute only about 7 to 8 percent of its gas consumption, Engel said. According to him, BASF is preparing for possible gas shortages but is confident that it will be able to maintain its main plant in Ludwigshafen even if Germany is forced to ration its electricity consumption.

Earlier, we reported that private investors are selling off shares at the fastest pace since 2020.

Forex

Wall Street futures rise after the U.S. Fed meeting

Published

1 week ago

March 24, 2023

the preservation of the Fed's discount rate

U.S. stock index futures are rising Thursday, trading data showed. Markets are assessing the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures rose 0.22% to 32,329 points, the NASDAQ high-tech index rose 0.96% to 12,828.5 points and the S&P 500 broad market index rose 0.48% to 3,989.75 points.

The Fed on Wednesday expectedly raised its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 4.75-5% per year. The regulator noted that it does not expect the rate reduction this year, but allows it next year. U.S. exchanges were down 1.6% in Wednesday trading.

According to the CME Group, 55.8% of analysts now expect the Fed’s discount rate to remain unchanged in May, while 44.2% expect it to rise another 25 basis points. Thus, markets concede that the Fed may interrupt the cycle of hikes that began last March.

At the same time, shares of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase were down 10.6% in pre-bid trading. The exchange this week received notice from U.S. authorities of an impending charge of violating laws.

Later in the trading, statistics on initial jobless claims in the U.S. for the week through March 18 will be released. Analysts forecast that the figure would increase by 5 thousand to 197 thousand applications.

Earlier we reported that the US budget deficit was $262bn in February.

Forex

ITB (International Trading Brachium) Broker Announced Its YouTube channel

Published

3 weeks ago

March 11, 2023

(Mahe, Seychelles-March 08, 2023) – ITB BROKER, LLC, an international forex broker, has announced that with our community growing, we believe that this will be the most effective medium to communicate with and so, we’re proud to announce the launch of ITB YouTube channel .

When a picture speaks a thousand words, How about a video?

Throughout our community building initiative, we strongly believe in video as our means of communication. Video has played a pivotal role in describing our futuristic services to our audience and in communicating our disruptive vision to potential traders or investors.
Over the next few weeks, we will be launching interesting videos on upcoming ITB features, bonuses, partnership or IB announcements and financial market expert interviews.
YouTube is a great place to pick up forex trading tips and learn how to use them in the real world.

There are a number of YouTubers that make great educational videos, perfect for beginners or those considering taking up forex trading. ITB group with over 10 years of financial experience provides you with useful tips and hints of forex trading via its YouTube channel.

About ITB

ITB Broker or ITBFX is a leading provider of online foreign exchange (FX) trading, CFD trading, and related services.

Founded in 2017, the company’s mission is to provide enthusiastic traders with access to the world’s largest and most liquid market by offering innovative trading tools, applying excellent trading platform, meeting strict financial standards, and striving for the best online trading experience in the market.

In addition, ITB offers educational courses on FX trading and Cryptocurrencies on academy section of ITBFX website.

Forex

U.S. budget deficit totaled $262 billion in February

Published

3 weeks ago

March 11, 2023

According to a report from the U.S. Treasury Department, the U.S. budget deficit in February was $262,434 billion compared to a $38.8 billion deficit in January. The Dow 30 also had problems.

Analysts at DailyFX suggested that the nation’s budget deficit for February was expected to be $256 billion. A year earlier, in February, the U.S. posted a budget deficit of $216,590 billion.

According to the GAO report, U.S. government spending rose 3.5 percent year over year last month to $524.548 billion, while revenue, in contrast, declined 9.5 percent to $262,114 billion.

Earlier, the U.S. edition of the Washington Post published an editorial stating that the new draft budget proposed by the Biden administration undermines U.S. national security and its ability to invest in the future, because it suggests a further growth of the U.S. national debt.

The WP editorial board noted that the new draft budget assumes a $2 trillion budget deficit, including due to the high cost of providing health insurance to the elderly of the baby boomer generation.

Earlier we reported that the EU has agreed to reduce energy consumption by 11.7% by 2030.