Commodities/Central banks

Counting the costs

The cost of much needed oil exploration and production projects has spiralled recently. Roderick Bruce looks at what is driving the cost rises and what their effect may be

Hedge funds: The bargain hunters

There are rich pickings to be had amongst the ruins of the summer's ravaged credit markets: hedge funds that survived the crisis are now putting together funds to invest in the wide availability of cheap securities. Nikki Marmery meets the executives at…

An unfair competition

As one of the largest importers of natural gas in the European Union, Italy is a clear example of why liberalisation is harder in net importing countries. Alberto Cavaliere, professor of public economics at the University of Pavia, looks at the state of…

An elegant charter

Patricia Cook has taken on the role of chief business officer at Freddie Mac as the mortgage agency faces its biggest challenge for the past 15 years, and perhaps its biggest opportunity. Here she talks exclusively about Freddie's strategy in the current…

Mission critical

Few are the lucky ones in the current market turmoil. But good fortune and good foresight mean Freddie Mac is less vulnerable than private-label peers. The subprime mess might even present a valuable opportunity for the US mortgage agency. By Rob Mannix

The true cost of no-cost mortgages

Banks offering no-cost mortgages have been accused of hiding the real cost of the loan from borrowers. But as Andrew Kalotay and Jinghua Qian explain, lenders can also run into problems if they fail to calculate correctly the prepayment behaviour of…