Bloomberg Business – MiFID Shake-Up Goes Smoothly Even as Trading Volumes Dry Up The biggest regulatory change in Europe in 10 years got off to a comparatively smooth start as the chairman of the European Securities and Markets Authority said he’s seen no teething problems. “What we can see, for our part, is no glitches… Continue reading Bond Market Volume Falls As MiFid II Regulations Roll Out
The Wall Street Journal – China’s Yuan Setting Is Highest Since May 2016 The People’s Bank of China set the dollar’s daily reference rate at 6.4920 yuan, meaning the Chinese currency was at its strongest since May 2016. In recent action the yuan was down 0.1% against the dollar from its value late Tuesday. The yuan… Continue reading Chinese Yuan Reaches May 2016 Highs
The Financial Times – Draining of QE punchbowl sobers up bond bulls This year should prove an inflection point for central banks and investors who have come to rely on them Global monetary policy has been a multi-trillion dollar relay race over the past decade. But in 2018, there will be no one to pick up… Continue reading Balance Sheet Normalization
The Financial Times – How will US bank stocks perform in 2018? JPMorgan Chase did not hang around. Within minutes of the Federal Reserve announcing that it would put up interest rates by a quarter-point in the middle of last month, the biggest bank by assets in America said it would do the same to its… Continue reading US Bank Stocks
The Financial Times – Euro set to follow ‘U-shaped path’ for 2018 It rallied almost 14 per cent over the past calendar year, as the shared currency area’s economic recovery gathered pace, corporate earnings rebounded and the European Central Bank announced plans to halve its stimulus spending to €30bn from the start of this month. Those… Continue reading What’s Next For The Euro?
The Wall Street Journal – Gas Market Feels the Chill Natural gas traders started the year spooked by the shadow of 2014. Fueled by the holiday deep freeze, futures prices continued their late December rally into the new year, rising 17% over just seven trading sessions. There are good arguments for why prices may sputter in… Continue reading Demand For Natural Gas Increases
The Financial Times – Oil price trades near highest level since 2015 The sustained strength came after hedge funds placed a record bet that Brent crude’s near 35 per cent rally over the past six months will continue into the new year, with protests in Iran stoking buying. While Iran’s oilfields have so far been unaffected… Continue reading Crude Oil Rallies
Bloomberg Business – Bitcoin Loses Some Dazzle as Second-Tier Crypto Coins Catch Up Bitcoin alternatives are closing the gap with the market leader after names like stellar and cardano became red hot as 2017 was closing. The biggest cryptocurrency’s share of market value has fallen to about 37 percent from 56 percent a month ago, according… Continue reading More On Bitcoin Losing Market Share To Altcoins
The Wall Street Journal – Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund Makes Monster Bet on Bitcoin Founders Fund, the venture-capital firm co-founded by Peter Thiel, has amassed hundreds of millions of dollars of the volatile cryptocurrency, people familiar with the matter said. The bet has been spread across several of the firm’s most recent funds, the people said,… Continue reading Peter Thiel Bets On Bitcoin
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Blackstone – Byron Wien Announces Ten Surprises for 2018 1. China finally decides that a nuclear capability in the hands of an unpredictable leader on its border is not tolerable even though North Korea is a communist buffer between itself and democratic South Korea. China cuts off all fuel and food shipments to North Korea, which… Continue reading Byron Wien’s 2018 Outlook
The Wall Street Journal – NASDAQ Crests 7000 as Tech Giants Roar Into 2018 The Nasdaq Composite closed above 7000 for the first time Tuesday after racing to a fresh 1,000-point milestone in just over eight months—a pace not seen since the heights of the technology boom. Many global stock indexes have hit records or multiyear highs in… Continue reading The NASDAQ Crosses Above 7000