Logic-defying volatility
Investors appear to have been right to question the recent gains by the euro. After all, even though the actual date when Greece’s coffers would be empty has already been pushed back three times, the country’s woes, which are among many others on the Old Continent, are far from being solved. It is now estimated that Athens will be out of funds by April 20. The single currency consequently lost close to a cent in short order, dragging down in its wake other currencies such as the CAD. Encouraged by the news that morale in the French business community is at its highest since April 2012, the euro then regained some of the lost ground. Investors have to take their good news where they can get it.
It has now been made official that giant Kraft Foods (NASDAQ:KRFT) will be acquired by HJ Heinz, resulting in the fifth largest food producer in the world and the third largest in the United States. The fears from the 2008 economic downturn of companies being “too big to fail” appear to have fallen by the wayside. Now, it remains to be seen whether jobs will be at stake, as was the case in the Tim Hortons/Burger King deal. The smart money’s on yes.
