News by subject: Economic News/Analysis

Publicly traded U.S. property/casualty (P/C) insurers performed unexpectedly well in 2020 despite extraordinary negative factors, generating operating income of $82.1 billion, according to a new AM Best special report. The analysis in the Best's...

According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global smartphone wholesale revenues will increase +13% YoY in 2021, the highest revenue growth in six years. Despite the economic uncertainty and dented consumer confidence caused by the...

Mercom Capital Group, llc, a global communications and research firm, released its report on funding and merger and acquisition (M&A) activity for the Digital Health (Healthcare Information Technology) sector for the first quarter of 2021. Mercom's...

Retail sales rebounded with huge gains in March as government checks fattened consumers' bank accounts and more vaccination against COVID-19 made it easier for shoppers to get out of the house and lead the acceleration of the U.S. economy, the...

With consumers in the Millennial1 generation poised to inherit more than $68 trillion in wealth from their Boomer parents during the next decade, full-service wealth management firms have a vested interest in tailoring their services to the evolving...

Cross River, a technology-focused financial services organization and Banking-as-a-Service ("BaaS") provider, today announced that it is powering SeedFi's new Credit Builder and Borrow & Grow Plans through its banking and technology platform, as well...

Mobile operators are still struggling to create ARPU uplift from network upgrades as mobile data revenue fell below US$1 per Gigabyte for the first time in Q4 2020. According to the latest report from Strategy Analytics, "Mobile Data Revenue per...

Although the economy is showing signs of rebounding from challenges brought on by the pandemic, many Americans are still worried about market volatility and prefer to take a cautious approach to investing. According to the 2021 Q1 Quarterly Market...

The European market for IT and business services remains robust, with record demand for cloud-based services in the first quarter and continued strength in managed services, according to the latest state-of-the-industry report from Information...

E*TRADE Financial Holdings, LLC today announced results from the most recent wave of StreetWise, the E*TRADE quarterly tracking study of experienced investors. Results indicate investor views across the market and the economy improved: Bullish...

Elie Girard, Bernard Charlès, Luca de Meo, Jean-Marc Chery and Patrice Caine, respectively the chief executives of Atos, Dassault Systèmes, Groupe Renault, STMicroelectronics and Thales today announced their intention to join forces to create the...

HouseCanary, Inc. ("HouseCanary"), a leading provider of residential real estate data and home valuations, today released its latest Market Pulse report, covering 22 listing-derived metrics and comparing data between March 2020 and March 2021. The...

U.S. retail sales growth rates increased by double-digits in March as we hit the one-year mark since the first Covid lockdowns impacted retail sales. According to Mastercard SpendingPulsetm, U.S. retail sales excluding automotive and gasoline...

Deep Knowledge Analytics' newest special case study utilizes a 50-parameter analytical framework (1,300 data points in total) to rank overall COVID-19 safety and pandemic response efficiency (economy, treatment, vaccine distribution, transparency and...

ICR, a leading strategic communications and advisory firm, today released its Q1 2021 SPAC Market Update report. SPAC IPO issuance broke all records in the first quarter of 2021, with 298 SPACs raising nearly $88 billion. The tally was more than...

Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) releases the March 2021 issue of CMBS Trend Watch. CMBS private label pricing volume ended the month of March at $6.6 billion, bringing the year-to-date (YTD) issuance total to $15.2 billion. On a year-over-year (YoY)...

While the "fear gauge" that tracks market volatility has remained at elevated levels since the onset of the pandemic, those who allocate alternative investment dollars for large investors are showing no signs of skittishness, according to the...

The following is an opinion editorial by Rick Echevarria of Intel Corporation. One year ago, Intel launched the Pandemic Response Technology Initiative (PRTI), a $50 million commitment to use technology to combat the effects of COVID-19. The...

The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index, a leading national poll on consumer confidence, today revealed that consumer confidence is up for the fourth consecutive month. After hitting 55.4 last month, the index rose another 1.8% to 56.4, moving closer to...

NICE inContact today announced accelerated international adoption of its digital-first CXone cloud contact center platform, tripling sales in the past year and adding a record number of new international customers to the platform. With the increased...

CoreLogic® , a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, today released the CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPItm) and HPI Forecasttm for February 2021. Home prices continued to increase in February, reaching...

Diamond market sentiment was positive in March as US demand and the gradual return of Chinese traders supported buying activity. Polished price trends were mixed. There was continued upward movement in 1-carat, D to G, IF to VS2 diamonds; the RapNet...

As Covid-19 kept consumers around the world at home, nearly everything from groceries to gardening supplies was purchased online. According to Mastercard's latest Recovery Insights report, this amounted to an additional $900 billion being spent in...

The Investor Movement Index® (IMXSM) increased to 8.21 in March, up 8.74 percent from its February score of 7.55. The IMX is TD Ameritrade's proprietary, behavior-based index, aggregating Main Street investor positions and activity to measure what...

The "A New Global Paradigm with China's One Belt, One Road Initiative" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This study examines the development of OBOR, also known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), provides insights on...

The CBIZ Small Business Employment Index ("SBEI") reported a seasonally adjusted increase of 0.86% for March. The reading closes the first quarter of 2021 on a positive note and builds on February's hiring growth. The CBIZ SBEI tracks payroll and...

With more vaccines in arms, federal stimulus putting money into pockets and consumers shopping again, the U.S. economy has made dramatic progress since the coronavirus pandemic brought activity to a near-standstill this time last year, National...

Ford Motor Company today reported its first quarter 2021 U.S. sales results. Click here or visit media.ford.com to view the news release. About Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan. The company...

Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) has published a research piece titled U.S. Stimulus: Uneven Impact on LATAM. In this research piece, Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) explores real effective exchange rate and trade data to measure the positioning of...

As new-vehicle lease opportunities compete against aggressive financing incentives for new-vehicle buyers, executing effective lease retention and conquest strategies will be critical for lenders, manufacturers and dealers in 2021. According to the...

The pandemic-driven consumer shift to digital channels should have created the perfect environment for direct banks to excel, but overall customer satisfaction with branchless banking has declined significantly this year. According to the J.D. Power...

Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) releases a report on U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) loan performance trends observed in the March 2021 servicer reporting period. The March delinquency rate held steady, at 5.9%, compared to...

American Enterprise Group, Inc. (AEG) announced today that AM Best has upgraded the Financial Strength Rating to A (Excellent) from A- (Excellent) of its six insurance company subsidiaries. These subsidiaries operate under the brands of American...

The subjects of security and privacy continue to provoke passionate debate among users, enterprises and governments alike. With the growth in working from home (WFH), endpoint security is becoming a major concern among enterprises embarking on a...

The past year introduced new ways of experiencing parks and greenspace, as the COVID-19 pandemic, which initially prompted widespread lockdowns, subsequently inspired millions of Americans to seek out open space near their homes. Mayors across the...

OLGRAM, a biotechnology company developing marine molecules for the prevention and control of bacterial infections, announces a ?1.5m seed round to accelerate the development of first in class anti-infectious molecules capable of eliminating the...

First American Financial Corporation , a leading global provider of title insurance, settlement services and risk solutions for real estate transactions, today released the January 2021 First American Real House Price Index (RHPI). The RHPI measures...

AM Best continues to hold a negative market segment outlook on the insurance markets of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Factors supporting the outlook include COVID-19-driven uncertainty and the risk that further oil price volatility will...

Nevada State Bank has released the results of its eighth annual survey of small business owners and managers throughout Nevada. The survey reflects the hardship caused by COVID-19 and related responses, but also the hopeful perspective on economic...

AM Best expects the severe flooding in Australia's eastern states to put pressure on insurance companies' underwriting results over the near term and add to the industry's recently elevated loss burden from natural catastrophe events. Furthermore,...

The global market for smartphone battery cells reached a total revenue of $7.5 billion in CY 2020, according to the Strategy Analytics Handset Component Technologies service report, "Smartphone Battery Market Share Q4 2020: ATL Takes First Place."...

Elistair, a market leader in tethered drones, has raised ?5M from Omnes and Starquest Capital, its historic investor. This Series B round follows an initial ?2M funding round in 2018. Since its creation in 2014, Elistair's solutions have already been...

AM Best expects economic activity in Latin America to rebound in 2021 as lockdown restrictions due to the pandemic continue to subside, providing support to the region's insurance markets. The Best's Special Report, "COVID Brings Yet More Challenges...

A new report from the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) reveals a majority of risk managers are optimistic about the profession's outlook, with COVID-19 and economic uncertainty amplifying the need for strong organizational risk...

A new report from the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) shows a majority of Asia-Pacific risk managers are optimistic about the profession's outlook, with COVID-19 and economic uncertainty amplifying the need for strong organizational...

Year-on-year gasoline sales in the United States have moved into positive territory for the first time?on the one-year anniversary of the first major declines that resulted from COVID-induced stay at home orders. However, demand still trails...

A list of the top-five skills workers will need as the global economy recovers has been unveiled by Questionmark, the online assessment provider. After a year of an uncertain economic outlook, economists predict that the global economy is on the...

AM Best has assigned a stable market segment outlook to the London market (re)insurance segment. Key supporting factors include upward premium rate momentum, which is expected to support better underlying performance, greater consistency and clarity...

Although Malaysia's non-life insurance industry is likely to have contracted in 2020 amid the COVID-19-fueled economic disruptions, the health and medical insurance segment is experiencing growth driven by greater demand, and overall, according to a...

A coalition of seven trade associations including the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), Coalition of...