Latest news with #BNPParibasSA
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Oakmark Global Fund Added BNP Paribas SA (BNPQY) on a Dip
Oakmark Funds, advised by Harris Associates, released its 'Oakmark Global Fund' second quarter 2025 investor letter. The fund underperformed its benchmark, the MSCI World Index (net), in the second quarter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The largest performance contributors were industrials and financials, at the sector level, while health care and energy detracted. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2025. In its second quarter 2025 investor letter, Oakmark Global Fund highlighted stocks such as BNP Paribas SA (OTC:BNPQY). BNP Paribas SA (OTC:BNPQY) is a financial services company that offers various banking and financial products and services. The one-month return of BNP Paribas SA (OTC:BNPQY) was 2.48%, and its shares gained 31.83% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On July 14, 2025, BNP Paribas SA (OTC:BNPQY) stock closed at $44.87 per share with a market capitalization of $101.414 billion. Oakmark Global Fund stated the following regarding BNP Paribas SA (OTC:BNPQY) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter: "BNP Paribas SA (OTC:BNPQY) is one of the world's largest banks with operations in more than 60 countries and the largest in Europe. We like that BNP is a highly diversified business with a best-in-class deposit franchise. In our view, the bank is well-positioned for profitable growth as it focuses on optimizing high-potential business segments, executing value-accretive acquisitions, and driving operating leverage via con tinued cost control. Despite strong fundamental results, the stock trades at a discount to our estimate of intrinsic value due to French macro concerns, manageable regulatory uncertainty, and a lower interest rate environment. This created the opportunity to purchase shares in a well-managed company with strong underlying profitability and meaningful upside potential that should be a relative beneficiary in a falling rate environment." A businessperson in a suit shaking hands to seal a deal, symbolizing the company's corporate banking services. BNP Paribas SA (OTC:BNPQY) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. While we acknowledge the potential of BNPQY as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors. READ NEXT: The Best and Worst Dow Stocks for the Next 12 Months and 10 Unstoppable Stocks That Could Double Your Money. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Mint
03-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Trump Trade War Fuels Use of Currency Options as Hedge in Europe
European corporate treasurers increasingly are turning to the options market to hedge currency exposure, a more costly method than typically used, as Donald Trump's trade policies cause bigger-than-usual price swings. Daily volumes of currency options surged to a record in early April in the aftermath of Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariff unveil, according to data from the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp. At BNP Paribas SA, one of Europe's largest banks, corporate sales of FX options have doubled year-over-year in 2025 to an all-time high. Companies' increasing use of options for hedging is just one of the many ways Trump's tariffs are re-shaping activity in financial markets. Corporate finance executives are fretting over how to protect their bottom line, given that negotiations are still under way over tariffs that are set to be imposed on July 9. 'Trump has created a lot of uncertainty when it comes to trade,' said Jonas Falk, treasury manager at a unit of flat-pack furniture giant Ikea. He said he's a 'big fan' of using options, a type of derivative, to reduce currency risk and is employing them more than usual this year. Options give the holder the right, but not the obligation, to exchange currencies at a specified rate on or before a set date. They serve as protection for companies looking to limit losses from adverse price moves, or benefit from favorable ones. Some traders also use them for speculative purposes. Hedging with options in the $7.5 trillion-a-day foreign-exchange market gives companies flexibility. Regardless of spot prices, a company can let the option expire and trade at current market levels instead. By contrast, the more popular method of hedging — a forward contract — binds a company to buy or sell according to the initial agreement. While more flexible, options can be more expensive. Purchasing the right to transact comes with an upfront premium, whereas forwards have no initial cost as the transaction is agreed for the future. In the case of IKEA Supply AG, which manages the Swedish company's global supply chain, the business is exposed to pretty much every currency in the world. It's paying more for protection against swings in the market this year, Falk said, as it seeks to shield its low-price business model from disruption. 'I'd rather pay up,' he said. The growth in the use of options is down to the difficulty clients are having with forecasting cash flows, according to BNP, given the lack of certainty about where tariff levels will ultimately settle. 'Companies are buying options for their main utility function which is insurance,' said Fabrice Famery, global head of corporate sales at BNP. 'If you need to adapt your hedging program it's easier than if you enter into a straight forward.' Asian companies have also shown more interest in using options to lock in greater flexibility as tariff uncertainties persist, said Nathan Swami, Citigroup Inc.'s head of foreign exchange trading for the Asia-Pacific region. While China is inching closer to a trade deal, there's still little clarity over what the final iteration of tariffs might look like across the region. While the use of options for corporate hedging strategies isn't new, some have shied away from the derivatives as they can come with more of an upfront cost and seem more complicated. Some companies have been burnt by foreign-exchange derivatives in the past and there have been cases of banks being taken to court for allegations of mis-selling overly complicated instruments. Last year, Deutsche Bank AG resolved a €500 million claim from Palladium Hotel Group over losses suffered on currency contracts. Now, though, market swings are driving renewed demand for derivatives. Many see volumes continuing to increase, given the growing interest in options-based hedging solutions. 'We're now seeing more of an openness to buy or sell options,' said Lisa Dukes, co-founder of treasury risk management specialist Dukes & King and corporate representative on the Bank of England's FX committee. 'Options has always been a dirty word and kind of linked to speculation when actually it's just another way of managing risk.' With assistance from Catherine Bosley and Vassilis Karamanis. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
The Star
27-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
Chinese toymaker takes drastic action to survive Trump's tariffs
BEIJING: Ah Biao, the founder of a toy factory in southern China that makes magnetic puzzles and sensory tubes for American children, is still in business despite brinkmanship by US President Donald Trump. When Trump hiked tariffs on China from 54% to 145% in early April, Ah Biao - a moniker his colleagues and friends call him - rented a factory in northern Vietnam. He packed 90 sets of iron or steel moulds into 60 boxes, some weighing over than 700 kilogrammes (1,540 pounds), which were shipped to the South-East Asian country for production to evade levies. Four weeks later, Trump abruptly lowered those tariffs back down to 30% in a 90-day truce with Beijing. Those same moulds were quickly moved from a Chinese border town where they were awaiting customs clearance and rushed back into production in Shenzhen. Some production lines are operating 24 hours per day in two shifts. Furloughed workers - who kept their jobs after Ah Biao decided not to implement a plan to lay off a third of them - returned with full pay and overtime. Sixty more people were hired. In the meantime, Ah Biao is fervently keeping track of what's left of shipping availability to get his toys into the US as quickly as possible. Ah Biao, founder of Shenzhen Kate Plastic Products Co, is emblematic of millions of exporters across China's vast US$4.7 trillion manufacturing sector. For all the attention on Trump's pledge to bring mass manufacturing back to American shores, one thing has become clear: China's factories are finding ways to remain central to the global supply chain. "I felt that it was useless to just worry, you just have to do what you have to do. We can only act according to circumstances,' said Ah Biao, who declined to use his full name due to sensitivities around discussing geopolitical topics, of the ups and downs of the past few months. "In short, the world is round, and we will always find a way.' That was already evident from the US President's first trade war with China, when exporters responded to tariffs by pouring out into South-East Asia; Chinese businesses own over half of Cambodia's factories now, according to the country's industry ministry. Now in Trump's second, more damaging trade barrage, the exporters are also more determined to survive. The abrupt whiplash of trade negotiations has underscored the nimble resourcefulness of Chinese exporters, and their ability to stay relevant even as scores of countries try to slow the flow of imports from the world's second-largest economy. "The US was willing to lower tariffs because it's very unlikely that Chinese products can be totally replaced in the short term,' said Jacqueline Rong, chief China economist at BNP Paribas SA. "From the US standpoint, this was essentially a stress test that made it clear that there's no way to break away from China's supply chain in a short period of time.' Ah Biao, known to his US customers as Bill, said the company always valued relationships with American clients, who delivered large, stable orders for years uninterrupted - the US is its biggest market. During the supply chain and geopolitical chaos of the pandemic, the company's clients started asking it to look into diversifying manufacturing from China. He spent a month in Vietnam in 2022 in search of a new production base, but was disheartened by what he saw - upfront rental costs were extremely high, hiring skilled workers was difficult and shipping raw materials and equipment from China was expensive. The challenges there made the company realise it would take more time than expected to plan for the move. In the years since, Ah Biao said the company maintained good relations with his US clients, the biggest of which is Learning Resources Inc, a retailer of educational toys. His factory produces educational toys for the Vernon Hills, Illinois-based company, which sued the Trump administration in April over the tariffs. At its peak, as much as 80% of Learning Resources's products were made in China, Chief Executive Officer Rick Woldenberg told Bloomberg News, but as US relations with China worsened he decided to build up supply chains elsewhere. "After Trump 1.0, we believed that the clock was ticking and our fear was not he said, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping. "Our fear was American politicians.' Woldenberg, whose products include the popular Farmer's Market color sorting game and the Code and Go Robot Mouse sold online and at stores including Target and Walmart, said he sees no choice but to move manufacturing away from China. He's had tough conversations with long-term suppliers over the last several months. "We've told our factories they need to move and we've told them that it's an urgent matter and we told them we have to move,' he said. "I don't know where is safe. I can tell you that the wind is blowing in such a way that I don't feel secure in my future to have a manufacturer in China - I really don't.' At the start of 2025, about 60% of Learning Resources's products came from China, with the rest sourced from Taiwan, South Korea and elsewhere. That level, Woldenberg said, is "low for our industry, but we now know not low enough.' While some see Trump's attempt to curb imports from China in the context of a superpower rivalry between the world's two biggest economies, manufacturers have yet to receive any direct state support. Officials are concerned about manufacturers' plans to lay off workers or shift overseas, but financial assistance is unlikely as local governments in China are grappling with high debt levels, said multiple Guangdong-based Chinese exporters and one government worker who have direct knowledge of such discussions, and who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to sensitivities around the issue. The Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province didn't reply to a faxed request for comment. The US and China agreed to maintain tariffs at their current, lower levels following discussions in London earlier this month. But Ah Biao no longer holds out hope that things between the US and China will improve in the longer term. "It would be great if the two sides talk and make compromises, but it won't bother me much if it doesn't go well,' said Ah Biao. "We've been through the worst.' That pushed Ah Biao to pull the trigger finally on his Vietnam move, and he isn't the only one. In the first quarter of this year, combined investment from China and Hong Kong into Vietnam reached nearly $2 billion, up 23% from the year before, according to Vietnamese government data. "We are hearing from Chinese companies,' said John Dwyer, founder of Peregrine Management International, a Hanoi-based firm that assists companies looking to relocate to Vietnam. "Their customers want to start production in Vietnam factories. They are looking for ways to de-risk themselves.' Shifting to Vietnam inevitably means that some of Ah Biao's workers must relocate, too. To sweeten the offer for his more senior employees, Ah Biao said that he may consider to raise their compensation by 50% at least, with guaranteed vacation time for them to go back to China to see their families. It's a big, and expensive, gamble for Ah Biao, but at 40, retirement is still too far away to contemplate folding. He thinks he's young enough to make big bets during a time of turmoil to scale up his business, but he has learned a valuable lesson of not putting all of one's eggs into one basket. "I always tell my people that we should act like an 'unkillable cockroach,'' said Ah Biao. "It's deeply embedded in our DNA.' - Bloomberg
Economic Times
26-06-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Chinese toymaker takes drastic action to survive Trump's tariffs
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Ah Biao, the founder of a toy factory in southern China that makes magnetic puzzles and sensory tubes for American children, is still in business despite brinkmanship by US President Donald Trump When Trump hiked tariffs on China from 54% to 145% in early April, Ah Biao — a moniker his colleagues and friends call him — rented a factory in northern Vietnam. He packed 90 sets of iron or steel molds into 60 boxes, some weighing over than 700 kilograms (1,540 pounds), which were shipped to the Southeast Asian country for production to evade weeks later, Trump abruptly lowered those tariffs back down to 30% in a 90-day truce with Beijing. Those same molds were quickly moved from a Chinese border town where they were awaiting customs clearance and rushed back into production in production lines are operating 24 hours per day in two shifts. Furloughed workers — who kept their jobs after Ah Biao decided not to implement a plan to lay off a third of them — returned with full pay and overtime. Sixty more people were hired. In the meantime, Ah Biao is fervently keeping track of what's left of shipping availability to get his toys into the US as quickly as Biao, founder of Shenzhen Kate Plastic Products Co., is emblematic of millions of exporters across China's vast $4.7 trillion manufacturing sector. For all the attention on Trump's pledge to bring mass manufacturing back to American shores, one thing has become clear: China's factories are finding ways to remain central to the global supply chain.'I felt that it was useless to just worry, you just have to do what you have to do. We can only act according to circumstances,' said Ah Biao, who declined to use his full name due to sensitivities around discussing geopolitical topics, of the ups and downs of the past few months. 'In short, the world is round, and we will always find a way.'That was already evident from the US President's first trade war with China, when exporters responded to tariffs by pouring out into Southeast Asia; Chinese businesses own over half of Cambodia's factories now, according to the country's industry ministry. Now in Trump's second, more damaging trade barrage, the exporters are also more determined to abrupt whiplash of trade negotiations has underscored the nimble resourcefulness of Chinese exporters, and their ability to stay relevant even as scores of countries try to slow the flow of imports from the world's second-largest economy.'The US was willing to lower tariffs because it's very unlikely that Chinese products can be totally replaced in the short term,' said Jacqueline Rong, chief China economist at BNP Paribas SA. 'From the US standpoint, this was essentially a stress test that made it clear that there's no way to break away from China's supply chain in a short period of time.'Ah Biao, known to his US customers as Bill, said the company always valued relationships with American clients, who delivered large, stable orders for years uninterrupted — the US is its biggest the supply chain and geopolitical chaos of the pandemic, the company's clients started asking it to look into diversifying manufacturing from China. He spent a month in Vietnam in 2022 in search of a new production base, but was disheartened by what he saw — upfront rental costs were extremely high, hiring skilled workers was difficult and shipping raw materials and equipment from China was expensive. The challenges there made the company realize it would take more time than expected to plan for the the years since, Ah Biao said the company maintained good relations with his US clients, the biggest of which is Learning Resources Inc., a retailer of educational toys. His factory produces educational toys for the Vernon Hills, Illinois-based company, which sued the Trump administration in April over the its peak, as much as 80% of Learning Resources's products were made in China, Chief Executive Officer Rick Woldenberg told Bloomberg News, but as US relations with China worsened he decided to build up supply chains elsewhere. 'After Trump 1.0, we believed that the clock was ticking and our fear was not Mr. Xi,' he said, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping. 'Our fear was American politicians.'Woldenberg, whose products include the popular Farmer's Market color sorting game and the Code and Go Robot Mouse sold online and at stores including Target and Walmart, said he sees no choice but to move manufacturing away from China. He's had tough conversations with long-term suppliers over the last several months.'We've told our factories they need to move and we've told them that it's an urgent matter and we told them we have to move,' he said. 'I don't know where is safe. I can tell you that the wind is blowing in such a way that I don't feel secure in my future to have a manufacturer in China — I really don't.'At the start of 2025, about 60% of Learning Resources's products came from China, with the rest sourced from Taiwan, South Korea and elsewhere. That level, Woldenberg said, is 'low for our industry, but we now know not low enough.'While some see Trump's attempt to curb imports from China in the context of a superpower rivalry between the world's two biggest economies, manufacturers have yet to receive any direct state are concerned about manufacturers' plans to lay off workers or shift overseas, but financial assistance is unlikely as local governments in China are grappling with high debt levels, said multiple Guangdong-based Chinese exporters and one government worker who have direct knowledge of such discussions, and who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to sensitivities around the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province didn't reply to a faxed request for US and China agreed to maintain tariffs at their current, lower levels following discussions in London earlier this month. But Ah Biao no longer holds out hope that things between the US and China will improve in the longer term.'It would be great if the two sides talk and make compromises, but it won't bother me much if it doesn't go well,' said Ah Biao. 'We've been through the worst.'That pushed Ah Biao to pull the trigger finally on his Vietnam move, and he isn't the only one. In the first quarter of this year, combined investment from China and Hong Kong into Vietnam reached nearly $2 billion, up 23% from the year before, according to Vietnamese government data.'We are hearing from Chinese companies,' said John Dwyer, founder of Peregrine Management International, a Hanoi-based firm that assists companies looking to relocate to Vietnam. 'Their customers want to start production in Vietnam factories. They are looking for ways to de-risk themselves.'Shifting to Vietnam inevitably means that some of Ah Biao's workers must relocate, too. To sweeten the offer for his more senior employees, Ah Biao said that he may consider to raise their compensation by 50% at least, with guaranteed vacation time for them to go back to China to see their a big, and expensive, gamble for Ah Biao, but at 40, retirement is still too far away to contemplate folding. He thinks he's young enough to make big bets during a time of turmoil to scale up his business, but he has learned a valuable lesson of not putting all of one's eggs into one basket.'I always tell my people that we should act like an 'unkillable cockroach,'' said Ah Biao. 'It's deeply embedded in our DNA.'
Time of India
26-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Chinese toymaker takes drastic action to survive Trump's tariffs
Ah Biao, the founder of a toy factory in southern China that makes magnetic puzzles and sensory tubes for American children, is still in business despite brinkmanship by US President Donald Trump . When Trump hiked tariffs on China from 54% to 145% in early April, Ah Biao — a moniker his colleagues and friends call him — rented a factory in northern Vietnam. He packed 90 sets of iron or steel molds into 60 boxes, some weighing over than 700 kilograms (1,540 pounds), which were shipped to the Southeast Asian country for production to evade levies. Four weeks later, Trump abruptly lowered those tariffs back down to 30% in a 90-day truce with Beijing. Those same molds were quickly moved from a Chinese border town where they were awaiting customs clearance and rushed back into production in Shenzhen. Some production lines are operating 24 hours per day in two shifts. Furloughed workers — who kept their jobs after Ah Biao decided not to implement a plan to lay off a third of them — returned with full pay and overtime. Sixty more people were hired. In the meantime, Ah Biao is fervently keeping track of what's left of shipping availability to get his toys into the US as quickly as possible. Ah Biao, founder of Shenzhen Kate Plastic Products Co., is emblematic of millions of exporters across China's vast $4.7 trillion manufacturing sector. For all the attention on Trump's pledge to bring mass manufacturing back to American shores, one thing has become clear: China's factories are finding ways to remain central to the global supply chain. Live Events 'I felt that it was useless to just worry, you just have to do what you have to do. We can only act according to circumstances,' said Ah Biao, who declined to use his full name due to sensitivities around discussing geopolitical topics, of the ups and downs of the past few months. 'In short, the world is round, and we will always find a way.' That was already evident from the US President's first trade war with China, when exporters responded to tariffs by pouring out into Southeast Asia; Chinese businesses own over half of Cambodia's factories now, according to the country's industry ministry. Now in Trump's second, more damaging trade barrage, the exporters are also more determined to survive. The abrupt whiplash of trade negotiations has underscored the nimble resourcefulness of Chinese exporters, and their ability to stay relevant even as scores of countries try to slow the flow of imports from the world's second-largest economy. 'The US was willing to lower tariffs because it's very unlikely that Chinese products can be totally replaced in the short term,' said Jacqueline Rong, chief China economist at BNP Paribas SA. 'From the US standpoint, this was essentially a stress test that made it clear that there's no way to break away from China's supply chain in a short period of time.' Ah Biao, known to his US customers as Bill, said the company always valued relationships with American clients, who delivered large, stable orders for years uninterrupted — the US is its biggest market. During the supply chain and geopolitical chaos of the pandemic, the company's clients started asking it to look into diversifying manufacturing from China. He spent a month in Vietnam in 2022 in search of a new production base, but was disheartened by what he saw — upfront rental costs were extremely high, hiring skilled workers was difficult and shipping raw materials and equipment from China was expensive. The challenges there made the company realize it would take more time than expected to plan for the move. In the years since, Ah Biao said the company maintained good relations with his US clients, the biggest of which is Learning Resources Inc., a retailer of educational toys. His factory produces educational toys for the Vernon Hills, Illinois-based company, which sued the Trump administration in April over the tariffs. At its peak, as much as 80% of Learning Resources's products were made in China, Chief Executive Officer Rick Woldenberg told Bloomberg News, but as US relations with China worsened he decided to build up supply chains elsewhere. 'After Trump 1.0, we believed that the clock was ticking and our fear was not Mr. Xi,' he said, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping. 'Our fear was American politicians.' Woldenberg, whose products include the popular Farmer's Market color sorting game and the Code and Go Robot Mouse sold online and at stores including Target and Walmart, said he sees no choice but to move manufacturing away from China. He's had tough conversations with long-term suppliers over the last several months. 'We've told our factories they need to move and we've told them that it's an urgent matter and we told them we have to move,' he said. 'I don't know where is safe. I can tell you that the wind is blowing in such a way that I don't feel secure in my future to have a manufacturer in China — I really don't.' At the start of 2025, about 60% of Learning Resources's products came from China, with the rest sourced from Taiwan, South Korea and elsewhere. That level, Woldenberg said, is 'low for our industry, but we now know not low enough.' While some see Trump's attempt to curb imports from China in the context of a superpower rivalry between the world's two biggest economies, manufacturers have yet to receive any direct state support. Officials are concerned about manufacturers' plans to lay off workers or shift overseas, but financial assistance is unlikely as local governments in China are grappling with high debt levels, said multiple Guangdong-based Chinese exporters and one government worker who have direct knowledge of such discussions, and who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to sensitivities around the issue. The Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province didn't reply to a faxed request for comment. The US and China agreed to maintain tariffs at their current, lower levels following discussions in London earlier this month. But Ah Biao no longer holds out hope that things between the US and China will improve in the longer term. 'It would be great if the two sides talk and make compromises, but it won't bother me much if it doesn't go well,' said Ah Biao. 'We've been through the worst.' That pushed Ah Biao to pull the trigger finally on his Vietnam move, and he isn't the only one. In the first quarter of this year, combined investment from China and Hong Kong into Vietnam reached nearly $2 billion, up 23% from the year before, according to Vietnamese government data. 'We are hearing from Chinese companies,' said John Dwyer, founder of Peregrine Management International, a Hanoi-based firm that assists companies looking to relocate to Vietnam. 'Their customers want to start production in Vietnam factories. They are looking for ways to de-risk themselves.' Shifting to Vietnam inevitably means that some of Ah Biao's workers must relocate, too. To sweeten the offer for his more senior employees, Ah Biao said that he may consider to raise their compensation by 50% at least, with guaranteed vacation time for them to go back to China to see their families. It's a big, and expensive, gamble for Ah Biao, but at 40, retirement is still too far away to contemplate folding. He thinks he's young enough to make big bets during a time of turmoil to scale up his business, but he has learned a valuable lesson of not putting all of one's eggs into one basket. 'I always tell my people that we should act like an 'unkillable cockroach,'' said Ah Biao. 'It's deeply embedded in our DNA.'
