Bitcoin just broke past the $6,000 mark after reports China is rolling back on cryptocurrency ban October 20, 2017 Bitcoin has surged past the $6,000 mark. A tweet by Swiss blogger @Russian_Market attributed the increase to the fact that China has published no further ban on the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is surging after no further ban published in China— Russian Market (@russian_market) October 20, 2017 The news comes a month after China clamped down on [...]
London’s office market is “highly overvalued” and set for a correction, ratings agency Fitch says October 20, 2017 A leading ratings agency has said London’s overvalued office market is set for a correction next year due to Brexit uncertainty. Fitch Ratings said the core London office market had cooled since the Brexit vote last year, but it remains “highly overvalued”. “Tight office supply has supported prices to some extent, while sterling’s weakness has [...]
Everything Under Heaven: Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road could cement China as the world’s superpower October 19, 2017 “Everything under heaven is in utter chaos; the situation is excellent,” wrote Mao Zedong in his little red book. With every crisis comes opportunity, he thought. The motto is as apt today as it was half a century ago. As an increasingly isolated America crawls from the world stage, the EU grapples with internal conflicts. [...]
RBS chairman Howard Davies: Banks set to trigger Brexit contingency plans in March 2018 without details of transitional period October 8, 2017 The chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland has said he’s not concerned that the government has taken its “eye of the ball” when it comes to Brexit amid continued in-fighting in Theresa May’s government. But Howard Davies warned that “some” jobs at the bank will go and that the damage of leaving the EU on [...]
iPhones, oil and active investing: seven best investment charts of the month October 6, 2017 Taiwan tech tied to iPhone launch If history has taught investors anything, it is that the hype surrounding the latest iPhone launch by Apple usually ends up falling short of expectations. And this extends to the share prices of the many components suppliers involved in the giant’s supply chain too. In Asia, many Taiwanese technology [...]
Gordon Brown warns next financial crisis could come from Asia September 28, 2017 Massive shadow bank lending to firms in Asian economies could be storing up the next global financial crisis, according to former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Brown today warned economists may not be able to work out the extent and direction of liabilities if a credit crunch begins in Asia. A crisis could be fomented by [...]
Finance: How it made civilization possible September 22, 2017 What is finance, where does it come from, and why does it matter? William N. Goetzmann, of the Yale School of Management, addressed these questions in his presentation at the 62nd Annual Financial Analysts Seminar. He led participants on a tour through financial history, illuminating distinctive artefacts that demonstrate the critical role finance has [...]
The world’s first ever insurtech IPO has raised $1.5bn September 22, 2017 The world’s first float of an insurance technology (insurtech) firm has raised US $1.5bn (£1.1bn). Monday’s IPO of ZhongAn Online Property & Casualty Insurance has been priced at the top of its indicated range at HK $59.70, sources told the Financial Times. The public offering of the online-only group marks the world’s first float of [...]
What Brexit? UK investors are feeling more confident in their investments than European peers, Legg Mason finds September 11, 2017 UK investors are more optimistic than their average European counterpart, despite uncertainty around Brexit, according to a study out today. Half (50 per cent) of UK investors are somewhat optimistic about the returns their investments could achieve over the next year, while 13 per cent are very optimistic. Eight per cent were not optimistic at [...]
Taxify boss criticises Transport for London after botched launch of ride-hailing Uber alternative September 9, 2017 The chief executive of ride-hailing app Taxify has criticised “hostile” London transport authorities who forced his firm to stop operating less than a week after it launched in the capital. Markus Villig, Taxify founder and chief executive, said he had been “surprised” by the “most hostile regulatory body we have ever encountered”, accusing Transport for [...]