American household debt totalled a record $12.73 trillion as of March 2017, so cost of living concerns are more pertinent than ever.

Personal finance news and features website GOBankingRates conducted a study to identify which cities across America have seen the largest increase in cost of living expenses from 2016 to 2017. The study evaluated US cities based on two principal metrics:

• The increase in a city's cost of living index, which includes food, rent, utilities and transportation.
• The Increase in the amount of income required to "live comfortably," a concept used in GOBankingRates studies that combines the money needed to pay for necessities — including food, rent, utilities, transportation and healthcare — with the amount one should budget toward discretionary spending and savings.

GOBankingRates identified the cities where the cost of living index had increased by at least two points (out of a total 100) and the amount of income required to live comfortably had also risen. Combining these two metrics provides both the objective and more subjective side of cost of living expenses. Most cost of living indices do not account for the ability to save or pay for unnecessary purchases, and yet they're both important parts of people's financial lives.

5. Jacksonville, Fla. 

• Live Comfortably Amount Increase: $2,095
• Cost of Living Index Increase: 3.36 points

4. Austin, Texas

• Live Comfortably Amount Increase: $1,407
• Cost of Living Index Increase: 3.84 points

3. Louisville, Ky.

• Live Comfortably Amount Increase: $2,066
• Cost of Living Index Increase: 4.49 points

2. Seattle

• Live Comfortably Amount Increase: $3,190
• Cost of Living Index Increase: 7.32 points

1. Nashville, Tenn.

• Live Comfortably Amount Increase: $9,135
• Cost of Living Index Increase: 8.61 points

Additional Study Insights

• Home prices have been surging in Nashville. From April 2015 to April 2017, the median list price for a home rose by almost 30 percent, from under $260,000 to nearly $340,000.
• According to new income limits set by HUD, an individual earning $50,500 a year in Los Angeles County (#6 on the list) is now considered low-income.
• The cost of living has actually gone down in New York, San Francisco, and Honolulu — cities with notoriously high expenses.

(Source: GOBankingRates)

In this video, Mark Burgess, Chief Investment Officer, EMEA, talks about how the markets view the June 8th 2017, election result and its potential impact on the UK economy. He also discusses what the election outcome signals for the forthcoming Brexit negotiations.

Authored by Markus Kuger, Senior Economist at Dun & Bradstreet.

On Monday 19^th June, the UK is scheduled to enter negotiations for its exit from the EU, in discussions that will fundamentally shape the future of the country and its economy. Just two months ago Prime Minister Theresa May surprised the nation by calling a shock general election, seemingly with the aim of strengthening her position in the Brexit negotiations and bolstering her claim to represent a consensus in the UK. However, the election did not unfold as expected.

Despite early polls suggesting a 20 percentage point lead for the Conservatives, the Tories lost 13 seats and thus their overall majority. Now, just days before talks with the EU begin, the Prime Minister is involved in domestic negotiations with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to form a government. So, what will the ‘Hung Parliament’ outcome mean for Brexit negotiations – and how can businesses respond?

On the home front

Short-term political uncertainty in the UK has increased sharply. The Conservative Party must now enter an alliance with another party in order to pass the Queen’s Speech and form a new government. Overall, this process will be time-consuming, leaving businesses without a clear outlook in the coming days and possibly even weeks.

In the longer term, even with the support of the DUP, the Conservatives’ majority will be extremely slim – which will be problematic, given the wide spectrum of views within the party on a number of issues, including Brexit. Against this backdrop, the government is likely to need to tread a conciliatory line both within and outside its own party: all of which will fundamentally impact the Brexit negotiations. Taking all factors into account, Dun & Bradstreet has downgraded the UK’s Political Environment Outlook from 'deteriorating' to 'deteriorating rapidly’, although this indicator is likely to be upgraded again once a new government is formed.

At the negotiating table

The dynamic of the Brexit negotiations has changed fundamentally. After Article 50 was invoked on 29 March and snap elections were called in April, initial talks between the EU and the UK were scheduled for 19/20 June. However, this round of talks is unlikely to deliver any noteworthy results, as the yet-to-be-formed British government will not have had enough time to prepare its negotiating position.

The election result suggests that the UK lacks an overwhelming consensus on the sort of deal that should be brokered. Theresa May’s personal position has also shifted, and rumours already suggest that she could be asked to step down by her own party at some point in the coming months as a result of the disappointing election outcome. The UK government may need to placate a broader range of opinions in parliament – including those of other parties – to pass any legislation. The extra time this will take will make negotiations with the EU even more complicated: Article 50 sets a strict 24-month deadline within which talks must be completed, of which two months have already passed due to the election campaign in the UK.

We predict that in the long run, the election result could make a ‘hard’ Brexit – which our analysis suggests would be harmful for the British economy – extremely hard to implement. It’s now more likely that the UK could remain in a customs union with the EU, reducing Brexit’s impact on businesses. The election outcome has even opened up the very small chance of the UK remaining in the EU, although businesses should continue to assume that the UK’s exit from the EU will still take place in March 2019. With so many factors in play at home and internationally, it is currently difficult to predict how the negotiations will unfold.

From the business perspective

All of this makes for a complex environment for businesses. Our analysis indicates that uncertainty will remain high in the next 18 months, regardless of what happens in the wake of the election, and we are maintaining our risk rating for the UK at DB2d, with a ‘deteriorating’ outlook. Given the backdrop of an already slowing economy (the UK posted the lowest real GDP growth of all 28 EU economies in Q1 2017), it is not surprising that businesses are beginning to express a lack of confidence, as seen in a recently published survey for the Institute of Directors.

Businesses should continue to monitor the progress of negotiations, and use the latest data and analytics to assess risk and identify potential opportunities. Once a government is firmly in place and Brexit negotiations progress, organisations may get a clearer picture of the likely basis for future business relations between the UK and the rest of the world. Until then, a careful and measured approach to managing relationships with suppliers, customers, prospects and partners will be essential.

Navigating uncertain times

The general election result surprised most commentators, and more importantly it creates the prospect of greater uncertainty in the medium term – both domestically and for the Brexit negotiations, which will be one of the most significant factors in the future development of the UK economy.

However, it’s vital to remember that the UK remains a stable economy, with long-term economic potential that exceeds that of most other European economies. For now, businesses should continue to follow developments closely as the impact on the Brexit settlement – and the political landscape of the UK – becomes clearer.

GTR spoke to insurers and brokers at the annual conference of the Association of Trade Finance in the Americas (ATFA) on how the insurance market has evolved in the US since the financial crisis.

On 18^th April 2017, the UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced today’s snap general election, 8^th June 2017. Three years earlier than scheduled, May’s official reason was to strengthen her hand in the Brexit negotiations, which she feared the other parties would try and frustrate.

With 650 parliamentary constituencies, the general public will elect one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons for each. The Conservatives currently hold 330 seats, with 326 seats needed for a majority.

If the Conservatives add to their seats at this week’s election we could quickly see an escalation to the sterling £; rallying to new year highs of up to $1.32/33. However, as we draw ever closer to Election Day and with it the almost daily release of new polls and surveys showing support for Labour, we are experiencing a few wobbles. Recently, Labour has closed the gap from 20% behind the Tories to just 7% over the campaign, according to the average of the last 8 polls. Significantly, 7% holds a lot of weight – it’s the lead the Conservatives had going into the last election. Anything less than this figure and they could see their majority reduce, not increase.

Markets were spooked by last year’s wrong predictions and false surveys over ‘BREXIT’ and

‘TRUMPIT’. As a consequence, I think any poll or survey needs to be taken with a pinch of salt! Indeed, the latest round of polls over the weekend were also inconclusive. The weekend polls put the Conservative lead at anything between 1% (Survation) and 12% (ICM) - even the pollsters can’t agree. - says Steve Long, Chief Risk Officer at Avem Capital.

A big factor will be the uncertainty of the young vote. Whilst young people are more likely to vote Corbyn, they are also less likely to get out and vote.

The sterling currency pair will be nervous up to Election Day as liquidity and volume dries up and HFT and Algos disappear for a few days.

One question we ask is why make a market to be 5% offside immediately?

Another factor to take into consideration during Election Day will be the timing of the result. The result will likely be announced around 4am, when most of the UK is asleep. Early indications however, may come as early as 10pm on Thursday, when the exit polls are announced. In recent times, these have been generally more reliable than the pre-election polls, with confirmation of their accuracy proving evident as the first results are announced from about 1am onwards.

Possible result outcomes could produce the following permutations:

• A Labour win: £ drops 5/10%
• A Conservative majority: £ increases +3%
• A hung parliament would probably see a 3/5% spike in a very short time…say 30

seconds, before dropping significantly!

Recently we have seen the FTSE benefit from being cheap. This has given exports a helping hand, however a stronger £ would hurt the FTSE especially the FTSE250 which has just topped 20000.

A Labour victory or hung parliament would immediately turn the markets negative. We would likely see scenes similar to the day Brexit was announced, i.e. a 10% drop in seconds. However, before the excitement of Election Day, we first have the ECB and Draghi to contend with. He has already stated that he will say something special!

Taking heed from the Cub Scouts motto, “Always Be Prepared” …you can be assured that at Avem Capital, we are, always! - adds Long.

(Source: Avem Capital)

Commodities declined in April on weakening industrial demand expectations out of China and increasing US crude inventories, according to Credit Suisse Asset Management.

The Bloomberg Commodity Index Total Return performance was negative for the month, with 15 out of 22 Index constituents posting losses.

Credit Suisse Asset Management observed the following:

• Industrial Metals decreased 3.40%, led lower by Nickel, amid weakening demand expectations out of China as measures introduced to tighten property development and investment appear to have taken effect.
• Energy declined 2.99% as US inventories of crude remained well oversupplied relative to average historical levels despite the tightening of international crude inventories.
• Agriculture lost 1.23%. Coffee declined due to reports that US stockpiles of green coffee beans reached their highest level since the early 1990s, dampening near-term demand expectations for imports.
• Precious Metals declined 0.56% after the first round of voting in the French presidential election eased risks of the country's potential exit from the Euro.
• Livestock gained 7.42%. Live Cattle increased the most on higher exports versus a year prior along with heightened cattle headcount concerns from anticipated cold and snowy weather in the US Midwest.

Nelson Louie, Global Head of Commodities for Credit Suisse Asset Management, said: "Geo-politics continue to remain at the forefront of macroeconomic attention. Meanwhile, European economic data have been generally constructive as of late, and political stabilization may make it easier for the positive momentum to continue, which could be supportive of economically-sensitive commodities. Within the Energy sector, global crude oil and petroleum products inventories continue to tighten, partially due to the OPEC-coordinated production cuts, with a decision in May on the table as to whether or not to extend those cuts. The resulting higher prices has led to increased US crude oil production, though not enough to fully offset the production cuts or increased demand. Thus, there are some positive signs indicating the tightening may have begun as the fundamentals underlying these markets continue to slowly improve."

Christopher Burton, Senior Portfolio Manager for the Credit Suisse Total Commodity Return Strategy, added: "The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration signaled the possibility of a return to an El Niño phenomenon in late summer. Resulting weather events may affect the key production cycle for agricultural crops, particularly grains within the US, which may cause prices to rise.  Separately, the March Jobs Report indicated that the US unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in almost ten years while wages continued to gradually increase. These statistics are suggestive of a tightening labor market and possible progress towards the US Federal Reserve's goal of sustainable maximum employment. However, the Fed still maintains its forward guidance of only two additional rate hikes this year. This slow normalization of interest rates coupled with rising wage pressures may increase the probability that inflation overshoots expectations."

(Source: Credit Suisse AG)

Here Professor of Urban & Property Economics at Henley Business School, Michael Ball gives his own thoughts on the current real estate market slowdown in the UK, and presents his expectations for the remainder of 2017.

2017 could well be the year when the UK housing market hits one of its periodic turning points after a sustained five-year run of 5 to 10% annual price rises and an up-coming ten-year anniversary since the last crash. Price averages, of course, belie much greater rises in places like London and the South East. Indications of a slowing market abound, particularly with respect to prices and time on the market. Many rightly attribute the slowdown to affordability factors following such strong price growth. Optimistically, that could lead to a less frenetic market with government homeowner initiatives sustaining the expansion in new build. Nonetheless, digging beneath the headlines suggests that many drivers of recent housing market expansion are no longer humming so positively.

Market-wise, Inner London often leads the way and news from there has been bleak for some time and not just at the top of the market. So, Rightmove’s report of a 15% price drop in Kensington and Chelsea for 2016 may indicate lost froth at the top but also raises wider concerns.

The biggest change is the falling away of overseas investment. Uncertainty over the pound plus capital and credit constraints in places like China have all contributed but home-grown factors have played a key part. Though stamp-duty rises are often blamed, some classic bubble features seem to be unwinding, especially in London, related to over-supply and mis-pricing, the super-hyping of neighbourhoods and over-estimates of the long-term demand for small ‘luxury’ accommodation. Chastened investors may take quite some time to return. This is of broader importance because experience following the financial crisis suggests that international activity has wider impacts on the market and sentiment.

Nationally, classic market drivers are turning negative. Earnings have been rising ahead of inflation but forecasts suggest this trend is coming to an end. Moderation in real earnings growth not only dampens house purchase and trading up but it also limits the potential for rent increases, depressing landlord returns.

On the mortgage front, some rise in interest rates is in the offing. Though interest rate rises are likely to be limited in the near future, they may currently have a disproportionate effect on the housing market as affordability is so stretched. Cautious lenders if they fear rising default rates may add higher risk premiums to mortgage rates and restrict lending as well.

Landlords are now major holders and purchasers of homes. They face the prospect of a rising tax burden as relief on some expenses is withdrawn and mortgage interest write-offs gradually limited. Moreover, if the Government’s stated aim of drastically reducing immigration has any effect, landlords will lose a key source of new demand. Poor prospects for rents and tenant demand combined with rising costs and taxes could create a depressing scissors effect on landlord returns, significantly discouraging investment.

Expectations matter and can suddenly switch. That Britain has a housing shortage has clearly been absorbed by home owners and investors alike. But there is a danger of thinking of demand as purely population driven and so always there, whereas it is incomes and affordability that count far more. Variations in them, combined with tight supply, make the UK’s housing market particularly prone to sharp price swings.

Counter to all this gloom is the prospect that an improving global economy may lift the UK and its housing market with it. Nevertheless, the balance of risks is shifting towards the downside. So, forecast-wise, this year may turn out fine but clouds abound and are likely to thicken as the year progresses.

With Donald Trump's inauguration, a new, contradictory era of the USD may have begun, points out Innovative Securities' analysis. They remind: in the past decades, presidents refrained from making clear statements about the USD but the new Administration seems to be different and that can lead to a new situation.

Trump and his colleagues expressed concerns about the strength of the dollar or complained about other currencies being undervalued, underlines the analysis, adding: they mentioned the euro, the Japanese yen, the Chinese yuan as well as the Mexican peso. The choice of these countries is not surprising: the US has a trade deficit against them.

According to Trump, these countries devaluate their currencies to be more competitive, and the US must take steps to change the situation, reminds Innovative Securities, mentioning that an OECD survey also points out that the euro is nearly 25% undervalued, the yen is 11% undervalued, while the Mexican peso is undervalued by 147%. Since Trump's inauguration though, peso is constantly strengthening.

But the USD is not only strong because of its trading partners, believes Innovative Securities. The US is still one of the most beneficiary players of globalization and we can see that since 2010 the USD strengthened constantly while trade deficits remained the same or grew. The US also has a huge import demand for its domestic consumption totalling up to 70% of its GDP. Trump's unofficially announced domestic tax cuts, deregulation and infrastructure investments can further strengthen the dollar. Even the desired stronger US economy, different monetary policy and the rising bond yields are favouring the greenback, they add.

The markets recognize the conflicts between the facts (that helps the dollar) and the words (the comments that are negative for the USD), and actions are needed for clearing the picture, says the analysis, adding: in the upcoming months markets will concentrate on the loosened fiscal policy and the evolving inflation which may lead to a lot of bullish mix that supports the dollar in the near future. In the middle term, though, the company expects a turnaround. The contradictions may stay for long, summarizes Innovative Securities, saying: a more volatile market environment may come, where old policies are eliminated while the Trump Administration continuously tries to make verbal interventions in favour of their policies.

(Source: Innovative Securities Web)

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) were popular topics in 2016 and the industry is now considered as the technology of the future. The development of AR technology is changing the way people see and learn. According to a research report published by Zion Research, augmented reality market is expected to reach approximately $133.78 billion by 2021, with an annual compound growth rate of 85.2%. The research indicates that High penetration of smartphone and escalating convergence between AR and wearable devices continue to drive demand for the market.

The revolution of Augmented reality applications brings people a different kind of living experiences. For example, TryLive by Total Immersion changes consumers' shopping experience by enabling virtually try-on glasses, clothes and many accessories. Wearable display glasses enable people to run applications. The gaming sector benefits the most with AR technology, but the technology now is used in many other fields, like aerospace & defense, education, tourism, retails and e-commerce.

Vuzix Corporation is a supplier of Smart-Glasses, AR and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies and products for the consumer and enterprise markets just announced earlier today that, "the Company has completed, passed, and filed with the US Federal Communication Commission (FCC) all of the (FCC) emission's requirements for its next generation M300 Smart Glasses. Vuzix expects to commence shipping of the M300 Smart Glasses to customers in the USA and Canada within days of this filing. With FCC filings now in place and the recent certification for shipments to Europe completed last month, the Company is now positioned for the full commercial launch to its largest initial markets. Other major regions of the world should follow with submissions of their required regulatory filings through the first quarter of 2017, enabling Vuzix to expand its M300 offerings near worldwide.

The new Vuzix M300 represents the next generation of smart glasses, designed to address customer feedback from more than three years of productive use of the earlier M100.  This field experience has led to the addition of many empowering, barrier-reducing features such as improved ergonomics, modern security capabilities, enhanced Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, and industry leading video streaming. These improvements are just some of the many that allow the M300 to be a central communications platform to and from a client's remote workforce, connecting their corporate data and IOT field devices in real time to the people in the field who need them.

The work over the last six months to establish the Vuzix VIP application software partner program has resulted in a significant pipeline of customer budgeted and approved projects awaiting the arrival of the M300. Vuzix will begin with production M300 shipments to these EU and US VIP partners who have been pre-allocated units for immediate deployment to their existing client base. In addition, we have many orders from customers that have taken advantage of the M100/M300 migration program and/or placed pre-orders for the M300.

These order pipelines are significantly greater than when the M100 launched and the Company expects that it will continue to enjoy robust growth in smart glasses revenues, as clients accelerate volume deployments.  "We are now set up to ship the M300 to the hundreds of US customers that represent the beginnings of volume roll outs," said Paul Travers, President and Chief Executive Officer at Vuzix."

Cloud infrastructure and business mobility company, VMware Inc. announced the addition of new smart glasses management features to VMware AirWatch(R). According to the statement, the update will bring a consistent management platform to streamlined onboarding experiences, network setup and application deployment to organizations seeking to leverage augmented and mixed reality devices to transform business processes. VMware is the first unified endpoint management solution to extend into wearables, enabling customers to manage their smart glasses alongside existing desktop and mobile endpoints.

VMware is also working alongside with APX Labs, Atheer, Intel, ODG and VUZIX Corporation to help provide wearable management and application delivery solutions.

American multinational semiconductor and telecommunications, QUALCOMM Inc. company subsidiary along with developer and manufacturer of mobile head worn computing and augmented reality technologies and products, Osterhout Design Group announced that R-8 and R-9 will be the first announced devices powered by the Qualcomm's Snapdragon(TM) 835 processor, which uses 10-nanometer FinFET process technology to enable a new generation of premium consumer devices in small form factors with breakthrough performance and superior power efficiency. R-8 is Osterhout Design Group's consumer mobile Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality smartglasses, and R-9 is for a wide variety of wide field-of-view experiences from light enterprise.

Global semiconductor company, STMicroelectronics reported that its LSM6DSM 6-axis Inertial Measurement Unit is now to be used in next-generation mobile devices running with Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) high-performance virtual-reality platform, Google Daydream, along with a platform that maps 3-Dimensional space enabling it to be overlaid with virtual objects, Tango. "Certification of ST's 6-axis motion-sensing device for operation with Daydream and Tango for amazing virtual- and augmented-reality experiences demonstrates our abilities to design and deliver an exceptionally accurate and power-efficient IMU," said Aymeric Gisselbrecht, Vice President Global Key Accounts Sales, and STMicroelectronics. "Our long-term developments in sensing and actuation, along with our work with Google, are contributing to making mobile applications incredibly immersive and even more fun."

(Source: FinancialBuzz)

Simon Michaels, Managing Partner at BDO

Mid-sized businesses in the UK have weathered the global downturn better than those in the renowned German Mittelstand, according to new figures released by business advisory and accountancy firm BDO.

BDO’s snapshot of the European mid-market shows that the turnover of the UK's mid-sized firms (€1.92 trillion) now exceeds that of the German Mittelstand (€1.78 trillion). BDO defined the mid-market as firms with turnover between £10 million - £300 million (€14 million - €414 million) annually.

Since 2009, the Mittelstand has grown by 12% compared to the mid-market by 33%. The UK has also overtaken Germany in terms of the number of people employed in their respective mid-markets – the UK employing 9.3million people compared to Germany's 9.2million.

The Mittelstand forms the backbone of the Germany economy with approximately 43,500 companies and has traditionally led the way for mid-sized businesses in Europe.

However, despite faring better through the global recession than other European financial centres, the Mittelstand is facing fierce competition from elsewhere on the continent. Mid-market growth in Italy and France has surpassed that of Germany at 16% and 20%, respectively. Although their markets may be smaller, BDO's results give a clear indication that the potential for mid-market businesses is on the up across Europe.

Simon Michaels, Managing Partner at BDO, said: "The UK mid-market is leading Europe. This is a massive achievement – one that we should be proud of, but not complacent about.

"Germany has always invested in its mid-market; it has policies directly aimed at the Mittelstand and culturally the Mittelstand stands as the economic backbone of the nation. While the UK's mid-sized businesses are worth more than the Mittelstand for the time being, there is so much more we can do to cement our position as Europe's mid-market leader."

BDO has introduced its Mid-Market Manifesto, a set of policies that could unlock the potential of the UK's mid-market, adding over £1.3 billion (€1.8 billion) to mid-sized companies' GDP contribution and creating thousands of jobs.

Some of BDO's specific policy recommendations include:

• Temporarily reducing employers' National Insurance for manufacturing companies
• Awarding government contracts on the basis of the employment and training benefits to the supply chain, not cost alone
• VAT zero rating of supplies to companies that export