‘A Day in the Life’ of Jimmy Nguyen- Founding President, Bitcoin Association July 31, 2020 | City Talk Jimmy Nguyen is the Founding President of Bitcoin Association, the Switzerland-based global industry organization that supports Bitcoin SV. One of the main competing chains of Bitcoin, Bitcoin SV uses the original Bitcoin protocol and is massively scaling to be the global enterprise blockchain. Following a distinguished legal career, Jimmy shifted tracks professionally in 2017 to focus [...]
Eurozone economy shrinks by record 12 per cent as pandemic bites July 31, 2020 The Eurozone economy contracted by a record 12.1 per cent in the second quarter of the year as coronavirus lockdowns caused business activity to shudder to a halt and consumer spending to dry up. It followed a 3.6 per cent contraction in the first quarter, confirming that the single-currency area is in by far the [...]
Markets live: FTSE 100 tumbles as US GDP blow hits Wall Street July 30, 2020 The FTSE 100 slumped below the 6,000 mark after data showed the US economy suffered its biggest contraction on record amid the coronavirus pandemic and banks’ second-half results disappointed investors. The UK’s blue-chip index slid 2.9 per cent to 5,951 points in afternoon trading. The FTSE 250, comprised of slightly smaller firms, fell 1.8 per [...]
US economy shrinks by record 33 per cent amid coronavirus pandemic July 30, 2020 The US economy suffered its biggest crash on record in the second quarter as coronavirus ripped through the country, with GDP plunging at an annualised rate of 32.9 per cent according to an advance estimate. The drop in output – which came after a fall of five per cent in the first quarter – was [...]
German economy shrinks at record rate as coronavirus bites July 30, 2020 The German economy contracted at a record rate in the second quarter of the year as the coronavirus pandemic sent the country into lockdown. German GDP fell by 10.1 per cent quarter on quarter after shrinking two per cent in the first three months of the year. It was the biggest drop since records began [...]
Markets live: FTSE 100 rises as investors eye Fed decision July 29, 2020 The FTSE 100 hung on to gains and US stocks rose as investors eyed potential stimulus from the US Congress and Federal Reserve and a torrent of earnings reports delivered mixed results. London’s blue-chip index rose 0.1 per cent to 6,135 points. The FTSE 250 of smaller firms fell 0.1 per cent, however. Read more: [...]
Gold hits record high – but is it really too expensive? July 29, 2020 | City Talk Even as it reaches new highs, we don’t think it’s time to grow concerned about the price of gold, or gold equities. Here’s why. The gold price has been rising steadily and on Monday (27 July) hit an all-time high of $1,944/oz, beating its previous record high of $1,922 from 2011. Chart 1: The gold [...]
What has driven stock market returns and what could drive them in the future? July 29, 2020 | City Talk Increasing valuations have been the main driver of stock market returns since Covid-19, but when we look over the past five years, we find a different set of drivers. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, markets have climbed a wall of worry, despite cuts to corporate earnings, forecasts and dividends. Increasing valuations have been the main [...]
UK mortgage approvals beat expectations as housing market reopens July 29, 2020 UK mortgage approvals beat expectations and rocketed in June as the housing market reopened from the coronavirus lockdown, the latest figures have shown. The number of mortgages approved by UK banks rose to 40,000 in June after May’s record crash to just 9,300, the Bank of England said today. Analysts had predicted a rise to [...]
Great expectations: The Darwinian wars of economic and epidemiological forecasting July 29, 2020 A key concept in modern economics is, to use the jargon term, rational expectations. The idea has dominated orthodox macroeconomics over the past 30 years. Not all economists have been persuaded of its merits by any means, but nevertheless, its influence has extended far beyond academia, into finance ministries and central banks around the world. [...]