Business - FT.com

After a steady decline, which accelerated last year, the ranks of primary dealers, which interact with the US Federal Reserve and bid for Treasury debt, are growing again.

De-dollarisation is upon us - and the question at this point is how quickly it is unfolding, says Fredrik Nerbrand, head of global investment strategy at HSBC Private Bank.

Equity markets might have gone into reverse over the past month, but corporate bonds have kept rising, notes Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist at Brewin Dolphin Securities.

Buying shares in European companies whose results significantly beat forecasts, and selling those that miss, has yielded positive returns in every quarter for the past twelve years, says Gareth Williams, equity strategist at ING (NYSE:ING).

Risk appetite suffered a marked deterioration this week as the onset of the US corporate earnings season heightened the growing sense of unease about the global economic outlook.

How much can markets be relied upon to stabilise themselves and how much help do they need from governments and regulators?

The Bundestag elections this September could assume greater importance for the German equity market than that seen in past election years, says Tammo Greetfeld, equity strategist at UniCredit.

If European bond issuers and investors needed confirmation that their markets were genuinely open again, two deals last week provided it.

California's high-profile budget crisis and the fiscal woes of states throughout the US are taking their toll on the public finance markets, sending borrowing costs higher for states, cities, counties and other municipal issuers.

Speculation is high that currency issues will be discussed at the Group of Eight leaders' meeting in L'Aquila this week. China has called for reform of the global reserve system and creation of a new international reserve currency based on special drawing rights (SDRs). ...