LONDON (Reuters) -A wager that stock markets would stay calm has cost retail traders, hedge funds and pension funds billions after a selloff in global stocks, highlighting the risks of piling into a popular bet. The CBOE VIX index, which tracks the stock market's expectation of volatility based on S&P 500 index options, posted its largest-ever intraday jump and closed...

MILAN (Reuters) - Investors in large consumer-goods companies are having to up their stock-picking game, as a post-pandemic spending splurge dries up and increasingly price-sensitive shoppers start to erode corporate pricing power. Profit warnings in sectors ranging from luxury to food and airlines have fed into worries about a slowdown in the United States and other major economies. These growth...

BERLIN (Reuters) - German defence group Rheinmetall said on Thursday that its backlog rose significantly in the first six months due to a strong rise in orders from Germany and for the aid of Ukraine. Its backlog, which includes potential orders from contracts with civilians and call-offs expected from framework agreements with military customers, was up 62% to 48.6 billion...

LONDON (Reuters) - A group of Western insurers have provided cover for tankers carrying Russian crude, keeping its oil flowing after many in the trade sector withdrew for fear of breaching the rules of a G7 price cap, data from traders and shippers shows. The data seen by Reuters showed that five insurers, including American Club, Luxembourg-headquartered West of England...