Finance Updates – Page 49 – Finance Updates

TowneBank Acquires Dogwood State Bank: $476M Deal Raises Assets to $22B

Americas M&A Depository Credit Intermediation

TowneBank closed its $476.2 million all-stock...

Dogwood adds $2.4 billion in assets, 17 branc...

TowneBank expects the deal to be roughly 8% E...

Dogwood CEO Steven W. Jones will lead TowneBa...

CME Sets Records: Retail Futures & Micro Contracts Surge in Q2 2025

Americas Firms Securities and Commodity Exchanges

CME Group Q2 2025 delivered record $1.7B reve...

Retail adoption is accelerating, with 90,000+...

CME is expanding access via a Robinhood partn...

Barron’s frames CME as a retail-futures benef...

Bitcoin Options Open Interest Surpasses Futures as Institutions Shift Towards Covered-Call Strategies

Global FYI Finance and Insurance

Bitcoin options open interest has overtaken f...

Regulated venues—led by BlackRock’s IBIT opti...

Covered-call and other volatility-selling str...

Futures remain important but have seen open-i...

Why Gold Is Surging While Oil Stalls: Portfolio Moves for 2025 Commodities

Global FYI Finance and Insurance

Crude oil, gold, and base metals connect thro...

In 2025 gold surged above US$4,000 while oil ...

Gold’s strength has been driven by central-ba...

Base metals like copper remain primarily grow...

How Energy, Metals & Agriculture Shape Global Growth and Market Risks

Global FYI Finance and Insurance

The World Bank expects global commodity price...

Energy drives the decline, with oil sliding f...

Metals and agriculture are mostly flat to sli...

Precious metals should keep rising in 2026 bu...

Precious Metals Surge Amid Iran Unrest and Fed Rate Cuts, Oil Prices Hover Near $70

Global Markets Securities and Commodity Contracts Intermediation and Brokerage

Gold and silver hit record highs as softer U....

Political pressure on the Fed and escalating ...

Oil prices carry a geopolitical risk premium ...

Analysts see Brent around $70 near term, with...

Markets Mull Slower Inflation, Cooling Industry & Rate Stability Amid Fed Headwinds

Americas Markets Securities and Commodity Contracts Intermediation and Brokerage

The 10-year Treasury yield slipped to about 4...

Manufacturing looks notably weak (ISM PMI 47....

The Fed’s December cut to 3.50%–3.75% came wi...

Political scrutiny of the Fed, including a DO...

Greenland Sovereignty Clash: US, Denmark & NATO Face Arctic Showdown

Global Policy Public Administration

Trump has revived a push for U.S. control of ...

Denmark and Greenland reject any sovereignty ...

Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of St...

The dispute raises risks for NATO cohesion an...

EIB’s €220M Loan to WEMAG Powers Germany’s Grid Upgrade for Renewables Jump

Europe Firms Utilities

EIB is lending €220 million to WEMAG Netz to ...

The upgrades aim to handle rising loads and v...

WEMAG targets about €1.2 billion of grid inve...

Execution risks include permitting and build-...

How Deutsche Bank’s Profitability Battles Regulator Pressure and Cost Headwinds

Europe Firms Depository Credit Intermediation

2024 revenue rose about 4% to roughly €30.1B,...

Management is pursuing about €2.5B of cost cu...

Capital remains strong (CET1 ~13.7–14.2%), su...

Growth focus is wealth and asset management (...