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☆ Hong Kong's leading crypto retail operator says it ceases trading as FTX fallout roils sector
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Georgina Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, Nov 18 (Reuters) - A leading cryptocurrency retail service provider in Hong Kong said it has ceased trading as the broader fallout from the collapse of FTX, and solvency issues at other major crypto firms, continues to roil the sector. Genesis Block has no connection with a separate crypto player called Genesis Global Capital which suspended customer redemptions this week. One person with knowledge of the matter said one Genesis Block official was previously a director in FTX Hong Kong, but resigned from the directorship this month. FTX Hong Kong is one of the about 130 FTX-affiliated companies backed by Sam Bankman-Fried that have filed Chapter 11 bankrupcy proceedings in the United States. CoinHero's website offers a guide for its customers on how to buy FTT through Genesis Block's trading desk in Hong Kong.

Even though more than half the money ever invested in bitcoin would now be underwater if it had stayed, crypto monitors insist it's somehow still attracting punters. Cryptocurrency and bitcoin investors seem to be showing few signs of dumping their crypto-related assets, stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), despite the latest wave of turmoil and scandal to crash over the sector. Analysts at JP Morgan estimate that around $25 billion has flowed out of the crypto since May. He estimates that the stablecoin market cap peaked at around $170 billion earlier this year and has declined by around $25 billion since May. That is, $25 billion of redemptions flowing out of crypto, most likely to fiat currency, perhaps cash or cash-like products.

LONDON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - London Metal Exchange (LME) nickel trading has turned wild again this week. LME and ShFE nickel contracts price and volumeVOLATILITY TRAPThe fund exodus after March has left a liquidity vacuum and a self-reinforcing volatility trap in the nickel market. ("A financially constrained physical market", April 3, 2022)LME nickel trading volumes have fallen steeply since March. Year-to-date nickel volumes are 24% below last year's equivalent period, the scale of decline flattered by strong trading activity in January and February. But until inventory and volumes rebuild, time-spread turbulence and perma-backwardation are becoming the new normal in the Shanghai market.

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailCryptocurrencies tank as FTX fallout continues to roil markets: CNBC Crypto WorldCNBC Crypto World features the latest news and daily trading updates from the digital currency markets and provides viewers with a look at what's ahead with high-profile interviews, explainers, and unique stories from the ever-changing crypto industry. On today's show, Alex McDougall, the president & CEO of Stablecorp Inc., discusses the impact of the proposed agreement between Binance and FTX on crypto markets, what would happen in the event the deal does not go through and what can help restore investor trust.

☆ Elon Musk's Tesla has seen $600 billion wiped from its market value this year - and it's now worth less than Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk's Tesla has dropped below Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in market value. Tesla stock has been hit by a wider tech sell-off and concerns over Musk's Twitter takeover. Tesla's market capitalization fell to just over $600 billion as of Tuesday's close, well short of Berkshire's $645 billion market value. Buffett's company has officially reclaimed its spot as the fifth-largest company in the S&P 500 index. Berkshire stock has fared better this year as investors consider it a safe place to keep their money.

☆ Democratic upset in U.S. midterms could roil markets, options mavens say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Saqib Iqbal Ahmed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, Nov 8 (Reuters) - An unexpected result in Tuesday’s U.S. midterm election could roil markets positioned for relative calm, options strategists said. Control of the U.S. Congress is at stake in Tuesday's midterms, with Republicans favored by polls and betting markets to win control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate. At the individual stock level, certain names have the potential for higher election-related volatility, strategists at Goldman Sachs said in a note earlier this month. Meanwhile, shares of tobacco company Philip Morris International Inc (PM.N) could be volatile around regulatory restrictions, Goldman’s analysts wrote. Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in New York Editing by Ira Iosebashvili and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Biden, Trump make final pitches to U.S. voters on eve of midterm elections
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Andy Sullivan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Trump, meanwhile, is headed to Ohio to campaign alongside the Republican Senate nominee, J.D. Weighed down by voter frustrations over rising prices, Biden's Democrats fear Tuesday's elections could see them lose control of one or both chambers of Congress. A Republican Congress would also seek to make the 2017 individual tax cuts passed under Trump permanent. But surging inflation and concerns about high crime have led many voters to sour on his leadership. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on Sunday seeking to extend the deadline to return the ballots past Election Day on Tuesday.

☆ Traders scramble for protection after Fed spooks markets
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Saqib Iqbal Ahmed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The index is down about 3% since Tuesday's close and is down around 22% so far in 2022. On Thursday afternoon, with the S&P 500 index-tracking SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust's (SPY.P) shares down 0.6% to $372.56, the most heavily traded SPY contracts were those that would guard against the ETF's shares slipping below $370 by Friday. SPY puts expiring at the end of next week, struck at the $350 mark, just above the ETF's mid-October intra-day low of $348.11, were the fourth most actively traded SPY options on Thursday. "Recent 'Fed meeting volatility' has not necessarily been confined to the Fed day itself," Christopher Jacobson, a strategist at Susquehanna Financial Group, said in a note. "Over the six prior Fed meetings year-to-date, the SPY has seen an average move of +/- 2.8% from the close on Wednesday (Fed day) to Friday's close," he said.

☆ Rising tensions between 2 of NATO's biggest militaries are driving fears of the first war between alliance members
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Greece and Turkey have two of NATO's largest militaries and are in an important corner of Europe. Their tensions have escalated in recent years, stoking new fears about the first war within NATO. Greece's defense spending in 2022 was the highest in the alliance as a share of GDP. (NATO also calls for 20% of members' defense spending to go toward equipment purchases and upgrades.) Greece's defense minister said that "as long as there is a threat of territorial sovereignty, it renders futile any attempt at communication."

☆ Apple Executives Say Privacy Controls and Advertising Can Coexist
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Tim Higgins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif.— Apple software chief said advertising and privacy can coexist as iPhone changes rolled out more than a year ago continue to roil the digital-ad market. Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s annual Tech Live conference, Craig Federighi , senior vice president of software engineering, said the iPhone maker was uncertain about the short-term ramifications of the new requirements it introduced last year that require third-party apps to seek user permission to track their digital footprints.

☆ Amazon founder Jeff Bezos warns the US economy may slump into a recession - and says people should brace for a painful downturn
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Jeff Bezos said the US economy faces a significant risk of recession. "In the distribution of outcomes, there's a good chance we could have a recession in the United States," Solomon said. Recession fears have grown in recent months, partly because the Federal Reserve is actively trying to cool the US economy. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who took the company's reins from Bezos last summer, appears to share his predecessor's concerns. Amazon has been cutting costs, slowing spending, and freezing hiring for certain roles in recent months, suggesting it's expecting a tougher economic backdrop.

The breakdown occurred after Jackson was pummeled by days of heavy rain and the city’s main water treatment plant failed. In an interview on Monday, he said that withholding the funds Jackson needs to ensure safe drinking water puts lives at risk. “Mississippi is one of several states that absolutely rely on the generosity of the federal government,” Thompson said. More than 200 Jackson residents and supporters hold signs as they march to the governor's mansion to protest water issues in the city. Service was restored by the next week, and most Jackson residents no longer have to boil their water, but there are lingering concerns about water quality.

☆ Gazprom CEO says gas price cap would lead to supply halt
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 12, 2019. The conflict in Ukraine has prompted European Union customers to reduce their purchases of Russian energy while the G7 and the EU are trying to impose a price cap on Russian oil and gas. "Such a one-sided decision is of course a violation of existing contracts, which would lead to a termination of supplies," Miller said in comments broadcast on state television. President Vladimir Putin last month threatened to cut off energy supplies if price caps were imposed, warning the West it would be "frozen" like a wolf's tail in a famous Russian fairy tale. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Reuters, Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Here's how to play the bear market - and when to know it's safe buy again
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Jason Ma | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Investors should brace for a 5% stock market decline if the reading comes in above 8.3%, JPMorgan's trading desk said in a note this week. The stock market could continue to tumble in the face of rising inflation and a recession. Investors should wait to get bullish on the falling stock market as inflation and rate-hike concerns continue to roil the valuation norms of the past two decades, according to Bank of America. Has the stock market found a bottom yet? US stock futures rise early Thursday, ahead of the eagerly awaited US inflation data due later this morning.

☆ Los Angeles official takes leave of absence as racist comments roil city
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Dan Whitcomb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LOS ANGELES, Oct 11 (Reuters) - A Los Angeles city councilwoman day took a leave of absence from her post on Tuesday as a furor raged around her and two colleagues over racist comments she was heard making on an audiotape of their private conversation. Democrat Nury Martinez, who resigned her leadership post a day earlier, announced her leave of absence in a statement issued before the regularly scheduled council meeting. Herrera resigned on Monday night from his position as president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, the Los Angeles Times reported. Martinez also disparaged Mexicans from Oaxaca and voiced her displeasure with Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, saying "he's with the Blacks." Martinez was first elected to the city council in 2013 and became president in 2020.

☆ Midterm Report Card on Biden Economy Clouded by OPEC, Fed Moves
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Ken Thomas | Amara Omeokwe | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—Recent economic developments threaten President Biden’s efforts to shore up the economy and reduce inflation, introducing fresh vulnerabilities to Democrats’ midterm campaign. Democrats aiming to keep their narrow control of the House and Senate have benefited in recent months from voter enthusiasm over abortion access, an issue seen as favoring their candidates after the Supreme Court struck down the right to the procedure. But oil production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, rising prices at the pump and the Federal Reserve’s efforts to tame inflation with successive rate increases stand to roil the economy and potentially bolster Republicans’ prospects.

☆ Former Bank of England official slams ‘really stupid’ UK government decisions
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN Business —Former Bank of England Deputy Governor Charlie Bean said the central bank will almost certainly announce an emergency interest rate hike before its next scheduled meeting in November, predicting that turmoil would continue to roil UK markets. Investors have lost faith in the government’s ability to manage the economy and public finances, he said, commenting on a market crash sparked by the UK government’s plan to slash taxes and boost borrowing in the face of high inflation. “Sterling and UK government bonds look vulnerable at the moment, and if there is another bout of significant downward pressure, I think the bank really will have to act,” Bean told CNN Business. “The bank is between a rock and a hard place here, because the real issue obviously is fiscal policy,” Bean said. “They might do these sorts of things for an emerging market country that has been on the edge for a while.”

☆ It's just not the British pound that's getting pummeled. Bond yields in the UK are now trading at Global Financial Crisis levels
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

UK bond yield traded at levels not seen since the global financial crisis on Tuesday. The two-year gilt's yield jumped as high as 4.761%, the most since 2008. Meanwhile, the UK's 30-year bond yields topped 5% for the first time since 2007. The two-year gilt's yield jumped as high as 4.761%, the most since 2008 and up from about 4.5% on Monday. Now the spread between five- and 30-year yields is the widest since 1997.

☆ Dow Closes at Lowest Level of 2022 as Growth Fears Roil Markets
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Gunjan Banerji | Chelsey Dulaney | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A wave of selling in financial markets swept across the globe Friday, with nervous investors forced to again confront the specter of recession. New signs of slowing global growth rocked investments of all sorts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell to its lowest level of the year, the dollar surged and short-term Treasury yields jumped.

☆ Dow plunges 485 points to hit new closing low for the year as interest rate and recession fears roil markets
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Jason Ma | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

US stocks tumbled again on Friday, with the Dow plunging more than 500 points. Markets continued to reel from the Fed's rate hike and hawkish forecasts earlier in the week. US oil prices sank below $80 a barrel as recession fears rose and the dollar hit a fresh 20-year high. That underscored fears that a wave of rate hikes this week from the Federal Reserve and other central banks will snuff out economic growth. For the week, the Dow lost 4.5%, the S&P 500 gave up 5.2%, and the Nasdaq tumbled 5.5%.

☆ Jerome Powell is heading into the 'danger zone'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Julia Horowitz | Cnn Business | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

London (CNN Business) When the Federal Reserve started hiking interest rates to combat decades-high inflation, Chair Jerome Powell stressed that the central bank could increase borrowing costs without inflicting too much damage on the economy. Breaking it down: The central bank didn't go as hard as some investors thought it might. The Fed's main interest rate is now set between 3% and 3.25%. Plus, many factors pushing up inflation numbers — such as the war in Ukraine and drought conditions — are outside the central bank's control. Central banks have "no choice" but to increase interest rates in an effort to combat inflation, she added.

☆ Premarket stocks: Jerome Powell is heading into the 'danger zone'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

“We feel the economy is very strong and will be able to withstand tighter monetary policy,” Powell said in March. Breaking it down: The central bank didn’t go as hard as some investors thought it might. Yet tucked into the central bank’s projections were signs that it plans to stay tough, even if it means pushing the economy into rocky territory. The Fed’s main interest rate is now set between 3% and 3.25%. Plus, many factors pushing up inflation numbers — such as the war in Ukraine and drought conditions — are outside the central bank’s control.

☆ What Good Leadership Looks Like Now vs. Pre-Covid
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-17 | by ( Rick Wartzman | Kelly Tang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Views at the top have changed in the business world since the pandemic hit. Competencies and traits most highly valued in senior managers have changed, too. What a difference a pandemic makes. More than two years after the coronavirus began to roil the world, leaders of the best-run companies are displaying new qualities that are essential to building a more caring and empathetic workplace and otherwise thriving in a topsy-turvy environment, according to a study conducted by the organizational-consulting firm Korn Ferry .

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