The World’s Most Powerful People 2016 (2)

Here are the 20 most powerful people in the world for 2016, according to Forbes, in descending order:

№20 – Benjamin Netanyahu

Prime Minister of Israel

№19 – Jamie Dimon

CEO of JPMorgan Chase

№18 – Ali Hoseini-Khamenei

Grand Ayatollah of Iran

№17 – Carlos Slim Helu

Chair of Grupo Carso

№16 – Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud

King of Saudi Arabia

№15 – Warren Buffett

CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

№14 – Jeff Bezos

CEO of Amazon

№13 – Theresa May

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

№12 – Li Keqiang

Premier of China

№11 – Mario Draghi

President of the European Central Bank

The World’s Most Powerful People 2016 (1)

Every year, Forbes published a list of the most influential people in the world. To compile the list, an assessment is made on the basis of 4 dimensions. First into account is the power over many people. Next comes the financial resource that is controlled by the candidate. The next criterion is the number of areas, in which the candidate has an impact. Finally, it is evaluated whether the applicant actively used its influence.

To calculate the final rankings, a panel of Forbes editors ranked all of the candidates in each of these four dimensions of power, and those individual rankings were averaged into a composite score. Last year’s list comes at a time of significant changes, and represents Forbes' best guess about who will matter in the year to come.

Finally, Forbes kindly warns, that not everybody will be happy with the results of rankings.

A hint for Friday's NFP

The US yesterday began to publish reports on the state of the employment market for March. The ADP report on the number of jobs in the private sector has already come out and was pleasantly surprised by its content. Thus, the indicator increased by 263 thousand against the forecast of 187 thousand and the previous indicator of 245 thousand (revised for a decrease from the first estimate of 298 thousand). The components of the ADP report say that employment is most noticeable in enterprises where the number of employees is up to 500 people.

Before the publication of the release, there were doubts that the private sector would repeat the fantastic figures of the previous month. But even with a review of the fall in February data and today's parameters, the picture looks more than optimistic - the business hires employees. This means that medium-sized enterprises and companies are not afraid of tomorrow.

The dispute over Gibraltar

Britain officially started the procedure for withdrawing from the EU last week, when the country applied for divorce to the European Council. Gibraltar is its overseas territory and is located between Spain and Africa. Theoretically, after Brexit, the territory should stay in the EU. Earlier, the former leader of the Conservatives, the head of the Republican Party of Great Britain, Michael Howard, expressed the opinion that the current Prime Minister Teresa May may start a war to defend Gibraltar, as Margaret Thatcher did towards the Falkland Islands claimed by Argentina in the early 80s. Theresa May herself said she would never agree with the decision on the disputed territory, in which the rights of the inhabitants of the territory would be violated.
Consultations on the ownership of Gibraltar are currently underway between the UK, the EU and Spain. This week on Friday, the speech of the head of the Bank of England Mark Carney, which may affect the rate of the pound, is expected. On the same day there will be important British macroeconomic statistics: the balance of foreign trade for February, as well as industrial production and the volume of construction.

The pound went up against the backdrop of rising activity in the services sector of Great Britain

On Wednesday, the pound rate rose to a maximum for the session after the report data recorded in March the maximum growth in the service sector of the UK for the three months of 2017.
At 08:50 GMT, the pair EUR/USD increased by 0.27% to 1.2473 from the previous value of 1.2435.
Markit reported that the index of business activity in the service sector (PMI) of Great Britain increased last month to 55.0 compared to 53.3 in February. This is the maximum after December 2016.
Economists predicted that the value of this index would be 53.5.
The report says that the rate of price increase has become the maximum for eight and a half years, which indicates a possible increase in inflation this year above 3%, as many economists predict.
The report also indicates that the growth rate of new jobs in the services sector has become minimal over the past seven months.
Together with data from similar studies on the manufacturing and construction sectors that were published this week, the latest report indicated the likelihood of a slowdown in economic growth as the consequences of the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

USD/CAD holds above 1.3372 support

The Canadian dollar, paired with the US dollar, is above the support level in the region of 1.3372 dollars. It is also seen a way out of the framework of the downward trend, which hints at further growth in the medium-term outlook to a resistance level of 1.3516 dollars.
But, do not forget that in the frames of speculative trading there can be a move in favor of the Canadian dollar. Now oil prices are strengthening at a steady pace, this, in turn, supports the Canadian dollar. In addition, on Friday, traders will pay attention to the publication of the March unemployment rate of Canada. If the indicator continues to decline, it will positively affect the Canadian dollar in pairs with other currencies.

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Oil is down, showing the maximum quarterly decline from 2015

Oil prices declined on Friday, interrupting the three-day rally, due to fears of investors that the growth in reserves and drilling activity in the US is offsetting the decline in OPEC+ production.
By 14.29 GMT, futures for Brent crude fell by 0.68 percent to $52.60 per barrel.
Futures for American oil WTI by this time were traded at $50.11 per barrel, 0.48 percent lower than the previous closing.
Prices for both benchmarks fell by almost 7 percent compared to the previous quarter - this is the worst indicator since the end of 2015.
The growth of drilling activity and oil reserves in the US undermines the efforts of OPEC and non-cartel states that previously agreed to reduce oil production during the first half of the year by a total of 1.8 million barrels per day.
Nevertheless, despite the OPEC+ pact, the market remains oversaturated, which is why most market players believe that the agreement will be extended to the second half of 2017.
One of the reasons that OPEC and miners outside the club can extend the agreement is the desire to support oil prices.

The Fed can start reducing assets on the balance sheet this year

The Federal Reserve may begin to cut its balance from the current $4.5 trillion this year, sooner than many economists expect, the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, William Dudley, said while giving the most comprehensive answer to the question, which bothers financial markets.
Most economists, interviewed by Reuters and the Fed, expect that the US central bank will begin to reduce its assets on its balance sheet next year, which would cause lower bond prices. Dudley's comments pushed the dollar's exchange rate on Friday's trading to a decline to the session low against the Japanese yen.
The Fed has accumulated a record volume of mortgage securities and US Treasury bonds after the financial crisis of 2007-2009 during three rounds of "quantitative easing", designed to stimulate investment, hiring workers and economic growth. The regulator does not buy new bonds, but replenishes its portfolio.

National Australia Bank reported a loss from euro after four months of waiting

National Australia Bank finally closed short positions in the single currency, opened in November last year, relying on the depreciation of the euro against the dollar below 1.00.

Hopes for a breakthrough at the lower limit of the consolidation pattern did not materialize and the bank closed short positions at the stop at 1.0900 with a loss of 318 points.

Let's remind that in November 2016 the euro dipped below the psychological level of 1.04 against the dollar, reviving hopes of eurobears for parity between the dollar and euro.