Beware the chilling consequences of facial recognition technology on society October 28, 2019 Since the 1950s, researchers have been working towards the holy grail of artificial intelligence (AI). Now, as last week’s City A.M. feature outlined, recent advances are moving out of the lab and into our daily lives – with disturbing implications. Facial recognition systems, powered by these developments in AI, are spreading into society. This is [...]
December may not turn out to be the Brexit election after all October 25, 2019 I was 14 when I voted in my first election. Not for real, of course, but in a school-wide mock poll to get us all engaged with politics back in 2005. Sixth-form students assumed the role of candidates (one for each party) and published simplified manifestos based on what the national parties had put forward. [...]
US equity outlook – more gains to come? October 22, 2019 The S&P 500 is near record highs, the US economy continues to grow, and the Fed is gently cutting rates in order to help sustain the expansion. Yet sentiment remains fragile at best. Investors are it seems determined to find the ‘next 2008’ at every turn, fretting that a US recession is near and that [...]
Can cryptocurrencies wean the world off the US dollar? October 17, 2019 There has been a huge shift in the global economy over the past 60 years. The US is still one of the biggest economic forces around the globe, but its influence on the world stage has waned as emerging economies have developed. The US accounted for as much of 40 per cent of the world’s gross [...]
Donald Trump turns against longtime ally Fox News, saying impeachment poll ‘sucks’ October 10, 2019 President Donald Trump may have to expand his definition of the “lamestream media” after falling out with his longtime favourite news station, Fox News. The broadcaster published a poll today showing a majority of US voters want the President to be impeached. Read more: Trump says Fed reserve ‘don’t have a clue’ But Trump did [...]
Donald Trump says the Federal Reserve “don’t have a clue” October 9, 2019 Donald Trump has upped his attacks on the US Federal Reserve, saying they “don’t have a clue”. The President was responding on social media to comments made by Fox News presenter Maria Bartiromo saying the Fed was “behind the curve” on cutting interest rates. Read more: Trump threatens to obliterate Turkish economy if it defies [...]
Why the Bank of England isn’t topping up the punch bowl October 9, 2019 Many economists will remember 2019 as the year of the monetary policy U-turn by central bankers around the world. At the end of 2018, the US Federal Reserve, which tends to lead the herd, signaled multiple rate hikes in the year ahead. Just three months on, its forecasts were cut sharply to zero and by [...]
Rising Risk (Part II): Tech bubble take two October 9, 2019 In this second instalment of a two-part article, Sebastien Canderle says many tech start-ups are deploying a bagful of tricks to massage their numbers I have already laid out my thoughts here on CFA Institute Talk on the topic of the innovative financial engineering for which many buyout experts have become associated – for example, [...]
Sam Torrance: Spanish Open win shows Jon Rahm’s potential – Major win and world No1 ranking await October 7, 2019 Jon Rahm is a proud Spaniard, so to defend his title at the Spanish Open over the weekend was a phenomenal achievement. Rahm didn’t put a foot wrong over the four days in Madrid. He looked like he thrived on the pressure, carding a five-under-par final round of 66 to finish on 22-under-par – five [...]
US economy adds 136,000 jobs in September as unemployment rate falls to 50-year low October 4, 2019 The US economy added more than 130,000 jobs in September, with unemployment falling to its lowest rate in half a century. After a week of warning signs about a global financial slowdown, the US reported today that roughly 136,000 jobs were made last month. Read more: Global stocks bleed red The unemployment rate, which has [...]