The value of Bitcoin hit a record $62,741 in early Tuesday trading, a surge of more than 4% in the past 24 hours.
This latest extension of the cryptocurrency’s 2021 rally comes one day ahead of the initial public offering of Coinbase, which is set to list on the Nasdaq index on 14 April.
Coinbase is the largest dedicated cryptocurrency trading platform in the US, with around 50 cryptocurrencies listed for exchange. It recently revealed that the number of active users on its platform reached 6.1 million, up from 2.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.
On Wednesday, Coinbase will become the first major crypto company to go public, with a valuation that may exceed $90 billion. It will not issue any new stares as part of its IPO, instead selling 114.9 million existing shares via a direct listing.
Cryptocurrency investors are hailing the firm’s IPO as a major step in the continued movement of virtual coins towards mainstream finance despite continued scepticism from regulators and major Wall Street players.
Crypto investors appear to have grown more bullish as the IPO approaches. Bitcoin remains the most highly valued cryptocurrency in the world, and the rest of the broader crypto market is often buoyed by its successes. Its second-place rival, Ethereum, also reached a record high of $2,205 in Tuesday trading.
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After a meteoric rise during 2020 and early 2021, buoyed by the attention of major players such as PayPal and Tesla, Bitcoin fell back as low as $43,000 in late February amid uncertainty over stimulus expectations and how they might affect US bond yields.
Amsterdam-based tech investor Prosus NV netted $14.6 billion overnight from the sale of a 2% stake in Tencent, the company announced on Thursday.
A filing from Tencent at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange revealed that Prosus had sold 191.89 million shares at HK$595.00 per share.
“Our belief in Tencent and its management team is steadfast, but we also need to fund continued growth in our core business lines and emerging sectors,” Prosus Chairman Koos Bekker said in a statement on Thursday, hours after the completion of the deal.
Prosus is majority owned by Naspers of South Africa. The Wednesday night sale lowered its stake in Tencent from 30.9% to 28.9% -- a level which the company has committed to not reducing any further for the next three years.
“The proceeds of the sale will increase our financial flexibility, enabling us to invest in the significant growth potential we see across the group, as well as in our own stock,” Prosus CEO Bob van Dijk said in a statement.
Tencent Chairman Pony Ma acknowledged the sale and reaffirmed that he viewed Prosus as having been a “committed strategic partner over a great many years”. He also stated that “Tencent respects and understands” the firm’s decision to sell.
Tencent Holdings, headquartered in Shenzhen, is one of the largest companies in China. The conglomerate focuses primarily on internet-related services and products, including video games and social media.
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Though not a household name outside of China, the company made international headlines as it butted heads with the Trump administration over an executive order banning US firms from doing business with its social media subsidiary, WeChat.
Compared to other crypto-based projects, the Ethereum blockchain currently provides a platform for the world’s second-largest digital currency called Ether (ETH). This digital currency is second only to Bitcoin and can serve as a means of payment between two parties without interference from a third party. However, many still have doubts about the Ethereum project and its feasibility in the long term. Others wonder: should I buy Ethereum?
If you are new to the Ethereum project, we urge you to read this article to understand better what the Ethereum blockchain offers. We will begin the article by explaining how a blockchain functions, what the Ethereum project is, and the Ethereum project’s applications.
What is Blockchain?
Blockchains serve as a decentralised register that captures all crypto transactions across a peer-to-peer network. Blockchain technology permits transactions to occur between two parties without the interference of a third party. It is essential to note that cryptocurrencies cannot function without blockchain technology.
For now, the primary application of this technology is for the transfer of cryptocurrencies. However, there are many potential applications for this technology in the future, like voting, settling trades, and many others.
Bitcoin uses its blockchain as a ledger for transactions. Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum uses blockchain technology in a variety of unique ways. This brings us to our next question: what is the Ethereum project?
What is the Ethereum Project?
Before we consider what the Ethereum project is about, let's take a brief look at the history of Ethereum. Ethereum was officially founded in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin, Anthony Di Iorio, Charles Hoskinson, Mihai Alisie, Amir Chetrit, and many others. Its founders’ goal was to create a decentralised platform that functions without third parties controlling other parties’ activities.
Blockchains serve as a decentralised register that captures all crypto transactions across a peer-to-peer network.
According to Investopedia, “Ethereum is an open-source, blockchain-based, decentralised software platform used for its cryptocurrency, Ether.” Like Bitcoin, Ethereum has a digital currency that can serve as a means of exchange between two parties. However, the Ethereum project provides further features to its users.
Users can use the Ethereum platform to create smart contracts between parties. Similarly, this platform supports the creation of Decentralised Applications (Dapps) using the platform’s resources. Dapps design using the Ethereum platform is possible because the Ethereum platform also functions as a programming language that runs on blockchain.
To carry out any task on the Ethereum network, users must transact in Ether (ETH). This is because Ether is the digital currency of Ethereum. All transactions on the Ethereum platform are fueled by Ether, so the transaction fees on this platform are referred to as gas fees. The lower the transaction, the lower the gas fee. Similarly, the higher the transaction, the higher the gas fees.
Etheruem Blockchain Applications
As stated earlier, the Ethereum platform can create smart contracts and Dapps. You may then ask what smart contracts and Decentralized Applications (Dapps) are.
Smart Contracts
A smart contract is a type of contract executed by itself after all required conditions have been met. Usually, a smart contract’s terms and conditions are agreed upon between anonymous parties without the need for a centralised third party such as a bank controlling the transaction.
Similarly, all terms and conditions of a smart contract are written into lines of code and stored on the decentralised Ethereum network. The written code monitors and controls the execution of the smart contract. Similarly, the code monitors and tracks all transactions attached to the smart contract to ensure that all contract conditions are met.
Usually, a smart contract’s terms and conditions are agreed upon between anonymous parties without the need for a centralised third party such as a bank controlling the transaction.
The programming language used for writing the lines of code vary on the Ethereum network. The programming languages for writing smart contracts include Solidity, Vyper, and Bamboo.
When compared to traditional contracts, smart contracts are faster, cheaper, and secure. They also prevent undue influence from third parties. The applications of smart contracts are numerous and can be incorporated to provide decentralised services in financial services, healthcare, insurance, property ownership, and many other sectors.
Decentralised Applications (Dapps)
Another application of the Ethereum blockchain technology is the creation of Dapps.
As the name suggests, decentralised applications do not run on a central server. Instead, these applications run on the Ethereum blockchain which decentralises its servers, preventing the Dapps from having a central source. As a result, decentralised applications are not under the control of a single entity or organisation.
Dapps are software created using the Ethereum programming language known as solidity. This programming language is very similar to Java, C++, JavaScript, and Python.
The application for Dapps is endless as they can be used for creating decentralized solutions in fields like eCommerce, insurance, and online banking.
Conclusion
The Ethereum platform offers users the first decentralised blockchain platform in the world. The Ethereum network is very safe and secure and provides users with the opportunity to enjoy transactions without third parties’ interference.
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When compared to other cryptocurrencies, the Ethereum platform offers a lot to its users. Its blockchain technology is revolutionary. Similarly, the project has a solid team of developers and programmers behind it.
Presently the platform provides a digital currency for making decentralised transactions. Similarly, this platform provides users with the opportunity to enjoy smart contracts and decentralised applications.
In terms of potential the Ethereum platform is likely to see future growth. There are many applications for smart contracts in financial services, healthcare, insurance, property ownership, and many other sectors. Similarly, there are many uses for decentralised applications in fields like eCommerce, insurance, and online banking.
Every successful person in this world is industrious, and they also possess a calm and rational mindset. Investors who have gained success in the Forex platform may hold a different mindset, but one thing can be found which is common to all, and that is that they are not whimsical. A person who is indecisive and cannot think clearly about what they should do can be compared to a rolling stone that cannot gather any moss.
To be a trader, a beginner must build a trading mindset that will allow them to stand against all odds. If you do not own a strong mind, trading is not for you as the market is highly volatile and everyone has to taste some loss. Today, for beginners, we will describe the ways to build a trading mindset that will be fruitful to win in most trading battles.
1. Anger
Professionals never get angry for silly reasons, and they are skilled enough to manage their anger. This childish attitude may be found among the beginners who cannot take their first loss on the platform easily. They plan to make double the profit next time with a higher investment, which turns into an irony later. One thing they should keep in mind that no one may give them the assurance of making a profit in Forex or other markets. Success depends totally on the research methodologies of each investor.
Without conducting any deep research, an angry trader is bound for the rainy days in the future. Always try to trade FX options online with a stable mindset. Control your anger as it will make things extremely complex and make you an ultimate loser.
2. Greed
Executing a trade is not like gambling, where one can wait for the return of their luck. A lot of study and devotion is needed here to gain success. The idea of greed must be kept away from the mind of an investor. Some investors think if they invest double, they can make double the profit too. In reality, the opposite is often true, and the traders have less chance to make a double profit with a double investment. Greed is forbidden in every religion, and a newbie must not invest because of greed. They must calculate the risk to reward ratio and, based on that, they should measure the investment they are going to make. By being a greedy trader, you may lose all, and for this reason you should not forget the old saying: “Grasp all, lose all.”
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3. Overtrading
There is a class of traders who are absorbed in overtrading, which makes their capital drain away. You must not go into another trade until you receive the return from another. This method can be good for the scalpers, but beginners must avoid this tendency at all costs. To solve the issue, you can write down about the trades you join each day. Then, you may set a goal that says that you will not trade more than three times a day.
4. Physical exercise
Professionals often take up a gym membership and do daily physical exercise, which helps them to build a productive mindset for trading. They start their day in the gym or on a morning walk, which allows them to be active all day long. Meditation and yoga also work as a great way to keep your mind under control.
To conclude, it can be said that a trader must build a trading mindset to get success in Forex or other markets. The mind is regarded as the power of all success, and if our mindset is not positive, we will end up trading and dealing with huge losses. Professionals focus their attention on keeping their psychological balance to always to cope with all types of trading situations.
Shares in food delivery startup Deliveroo rallied on Wednesday as its first day of unconditional trading on the London Stock Exchange began.
Wednesday marked the first time that retail investors could trade shares in Deliveroo, including the 70,000 who invested in the company’s IPO. It followed a week of “conditional” trading that began last week, during which only institutional investors could trade stakes in Deliveroo.
The firm’s shares rose 3.2% in early trading, reaching as high as 289.05 pence per share. However, this is still roughly 25% below the shares’ asking price of 390p during its £7.6 billion IPO, which saw a precipitous first-day tumble after lifting on the LSE – becoming one of the weakest IPOs in FTSE history.
UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who prior to the IPO had lauded Deliveroo as a “true British tech success story”, said he was not embarrassed by the plunge in share value. “Share prices go up, share prices go down,” he said in an interview with ITV.
However, several major UK investment fund managers have said they will not buy shares in Deliveroo, citing concerns over lack of investor power and the working conditions of its delivery riders. Firms backing away from the company include Aberdeen Standard, Aviva Investors, BMO Global, CCLA, Legal and General Investment Management and M&G.
The news comes as hundreds of Deliveroo drivers planned to strike on Wednesday amid calls for higher pay. Only 400 of the firm’s 50,000 riders are estimated to be taking part in strike action, as Deliveroo’s survey data showed that 90% of its riders were happy with the firm.
Video games have been popular for years, which means they will continue to grow in the future. The industry's ability to adapt to the trends is what guarantees this. As a result of this ability, gamers all over the world have purchased all kinds of games and upgrades to their gaming devices.
In other words, the gaming industry is a sucker for new trends. It makes sure to incorporate them and satisfy its customers. Bitcoin is one of the current trends nowadays and it has already found a place in the industry. It’s a viable payment method for some gaming sites and it has already inspired game developers with its blockchain technology.
It is because of that that we have a few Bitcoin titles that anyone can play. They come in various shapes and sizes which means that they are in different genres. Moreover, it gives players a fresh taste of familiar types of games and brings then a new kind of game – the crypto game on the gaming market. So, if you’re looking to give these games a try, here are some suggestions:
Bitcoin Hero
This is a Bitcoin trading app that newbie traders will find quite useful. It has a virtual currency that you can use to start trading with. Also, the other players will serve as your competition. Additionally, you’ll have tools to research the market with.
You’ll have plenty of practice with Bitcoin Hero and the best part is that all the assets have real-time prices. Also, you can make as many mistakes as you’d like because you won’t feel the consequences. Naturally, there’s another path you can take if you think you can’t handle the risk of trading Bitcoin. You won’t have to make any important decisions and you’ll just reap the profits.
Video games have been popular for years, which means they will continue to grow in the future. The industry's ability to adapt to the trends is what guarantees this.
The trading platforms represent this option. These platforms make use of advanced algorithms to make the important decisions for you. In other words, they do the heavy lifting and leave none of the hard work for you. Among the many platforms, you’ll come across the Bitcoin Sites. To use them you’ll need to make an account and deposit the minimum amount. Then you’ll need to go over the tutorials and then a demo lesson. Once you’re familiar with the settings then you can try the platform out with a live session. Afterward, you can adapt the settings as much as you like.
Splinterlands
Unlike the previous entry, this isn’t an educational title. Splinterlands is a Bitcoin trading card game that lets you build your deck while defeating various opponents. You have cards from all kinds of factions and earn them as you beat your opponents.
Naturally, you can use Bitcoin to buy new cards and other collectibles to strengthen your deck and improve your chances in the game. In other words, Splinterlands isn’t just a game you can play in your free time, it’s a great way to challenge your decision-making skills.
Bitcoin Blast
Bitcoin Blast is a title that features the ever-popular Bitcoin symbol. It comes in several colors and your job is to match as many of them as you can. You’ll get points for your efforts and the more effort you put in the more points you’ll get.
Also, the prizes are another reasons to play this game. That’s because they’re made up of actual Bitcoin. So, you won’t be just enjoying Bitcoin Blast but you could play it so you could earn some. Similar to the previous entry on this list, Bitcoin Blast is a challenge that can help you win interesting prizes.
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Merge Cats
Merge Cats is a simple title and a simple goal expressed in the title. In other words, you get plenty of cats and you’ll need to match them to get ahead in the game. The more effort you put in the more rewards you’ll get. The game comes with its daily challenges that you can take part in. If you, then you’ll need to complete them to reap the rewards which are in Bitcoin.
Conclusion
The revenue of the industry shows you just much the industry has grown throughout the years. Thanks to the adaptability to trends gaming is going to grow in revenue and Bitcoin will have an important role in the industry in the years to come.
Financial markets have been the focus of many films, such as The Wolf of Wall Street and The Big Short. But with characters often getting rich by using risky techniques, or even illegal methods, they may not seem the most useful way to learn about investing.
What we see on screen can seem far-removed from reality, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn anything from certain scenes or storylines. Their main aim may be to entertain us, but if you look past the drama and the artistic license there are some useful financial lessons we can learn from film and TV.
With characters making basic investment errors and other characters taking risky strategies, popular films and television shows can highlight some points that anyone looking to invest should consider. Rhiannon Philps, financial writer at NerdWallet, looks at some prominent examples below.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
Or, in investment terms, don’t invest all your money in one stock as this increases the risk of losing it all.
In Series 3 of Downton Abbey, Lord Grantham discovered this for himself. He was so convinced that a Canadian railroad company would flourish and return a huge profit, that he invested the lion’s share of the estate’s money into it. However, rather than making him money as Lord Grantham hoped, the company went bankrupt and his investment was lost. This put his whole estate at risk, and all because he staked his fortune on the success of one company.
Even investments that seem reliable and guaranteed to rise in value can underperform, so investing in one company or industry will always carry significant risk. However, if you diversify and invest in a range of asset classes such as bonds, shares and property, and spread your investments between different companies, industries and countries, you can reduce the risk of your overall investment portfolio falling in value.
Even investments that seem reliable and guaranteed to rise in value can underperform, so investing in one company or industry will always carry significant risk.
Even if one of your investments loses value, the performance of your other investments may help to balance out any losses and could minimise the impact of any major financial shocks on your finances. If you are uncertain about your investment choices and options, it may be worth seeking expert help from a financial adviser.
Investing in collectibles isn’t all about the money
Many people collect items like art, cars, coins, stamps, toys and other memorabilia, partly for enjoyment and partly as an investment.
The rarest collectibles can sell for eye-watering amounts at auction, such as the bottle of The Macallan 1926 Scotch whisky which sold for a record £1.5 million in 2019, so it can be tempting to see collectibles as an attractive investment option.
However, collectibles aren’t just about the money, as a scene in sci-fi comedy series Rick and Morty explained.
Jerry has a collection of special, limited edition R2-D2 coins, which he thinks may be valuable. He questions how much they might be worth, but he is reminded that their sentimental value and the enjoyment they bring him is more important than their financial value.
This can be a useful way to think of collectibles. While the rarest and most sought-after items can make a significant profit at auction, the majority will only fetch a modest sum and may not even increase in value at all.
Collectibles are a precarious investment, so trying to estimate what items will grow in value and be a good investment is difficult, even for experts in the respective fields. It’s not as simple as assessing their intrinsic worth, as the value of collectibles is very subjective and can depend on age, condition, rarity, and the demand at that time for that particular item.
While the rarest and most sought-after items can make a significant profit at auction, the majority will only fetch a modest sum and may not even increase in value at all.
People with knowledge of a specific sector, such as coins, would be better placed to assess how much a collectible item is worth, but it would still be risky to rely on making money from your investment as a profit is never guaranteed. Investing in collectibles purely for financial gain could end up in disappointment, which is why many collectors enjoy it as a hobby and not just as a way to make money.
Timing the market can be rewarding but risky
If everything plays out as you predict and you buy and sell at the optimum moment, then timing the market can be a very rewarding investment strategy. However, the unpredictability of the stock market makes this approach difficult and risky, especially for amateur investors who may not have the time or expertise required to get a good return.
The American comedy series Silicon Valley showed a character successfully managing to make money by investing in the right stock at the right time. Peter Gregory invested in Indonesian sesame seed futures after predicting that they would rise in value when cicadas infested the harvests of the other suppliers. This investment was a risk, but it paid off as things turned out as expected.
However, this high-risk approach could easily have gone wrong. While timing the market can seem an exciting way to make money, in reality, it is very difficult to predict the performance of stocks and time your investments successfully. If you buy or sell at the wrong time, you could miss out on growth and lose money compared to people who don’t try to time the market and instead stay invested for the long-term.
Particularly for those who aren’t investment experts, keeping your money in long-term investments and pensions while stocks fluctuate in value can be less risky than trying to beat the market.
Fully research your investment
Whatever you’re looking to invest in, whether it’s a stock or bond, a collectible item, or property, it’s always worth taking time to research your options. Impulsively investing in something without adequate research can backfire, and actually end up costing you money instead of making a profit.
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A prime example of not checking what you’re spending your money on is the 1986 film The Money Pit. Tom Hanks and Shelley Long play a couple that buys an old mansion with a view to renovating it, only to find out after money has changed hands that it is in a much worse state than they realised.
The couple spent increasing amounts on restoring the house without fully knowing how they would pay for it, and they continued even when it may have made more financial sense to cut their losses. As the title of the film indicates, the house became a “money pit” rather than a good investment.
Had the couple waited to get the house properly surveyed and worked out a budget for the necessary repairs and renovations, they could have saved themselves a lot of time and money in the long run.
If you’re buying a property, looking to invest in stocks and shares, or making any other major financial decision, research is key. Although all investments come with some risk, researching the advantages and disadvantages and balancing the potential gains against the possible risks allows you to make a more informed decision as to whether something is the right option for you.
WARNING: NerdWallet cannot tell you if any form of investing is right for you. Depending on your choice of investment, your capital can be at risk and you may get back less than you originally paid in.
The only thing faster than light is the speed at which new ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) conferences, funds and advisers are emerging. Every corporate finance desk now boasts an abundance of Green funding expertise, there are more articles on environmental economics and corporate social responsibility than one could ever read, and the market can explain multiple variations of “sustainability” in at least 21 different languages.
Sadly, in my jaundiced dotage, I have become an ESG sceptic. Initially, I welcomed ESG as a promising conceptual framework for improving the global economy – but is becoming something less.
The concept of directing markets to achieve positive social and environmental outcomes for the economy is a good one – whatever nonsense Milton Freidman believed about the purpose of markets only being to deliver returns to shareholders. For years, socially responsible fund managers have tried to steer their funds towards investments likely to do social and environmental good, responding to the public sense of rising environmental and social crisis around the globe.
Now that these fears have become very real, they’ve been formalised – ESG has become an investment imperative.
But it’s also become a lucrative opportunity. ESG “experts” are right up there with compliance officers in getting the big bonuses. Asset management CEOs back it because they believe the ESG zeitgeist attracts client money. It’s all a bit pick and mix as everyone jumps on the bandwagon. There are, apparently, over 160 different voluntary ESG reporting standards and 64 standards-setting agencies worldwide.
Far from empowering stronger corporate governance – by far the most important, yet most neglected aspect of ESG – to frame a discussion on how finance and government can drive social and environmental goals, ESG is morphing into an ill-informed plethora of rules and opinions presented as irrefutable facts. It’s becoming a wall behind which the financially credulous are targets, and where demagogues promote their own agendas. The history of finance is the history of arbitraging bad rules.
The volume of funds with a Green or ESG related theme has doubled to $1.7 trillion over the past year. Predictably, assets perceived to be ESG “good” have risen in price, incentivising the “greenwashing” of less pristine investments. ESG proponents say ESG funds outperform – which is exactly what you would expect when everyone is trying to buy scarce ESG compatible assets. It’s not that green investments are outperforming – their price is distorted by the market’s need to buy them.
According to Fund Performance analyst Morningstar, nearly 250 existing funds were rebranded as ESG, Green, Socially Responsible or Sustainable in the last quarter of 2020. New funds claiming ESG credentials outnumber unbranded firms by at least 10 to 1. Only an idiot would try to finance any new business or project without first carefully outlining its ESG credentials.
There are estimates that over $500 billion of “green/sustainable bonds” will be issued this year. When the European Union recently launched a new social-bond programme to help European Nations recover from the coronavirus pandemic, the press release contained a paragraph about how the funds would be used, and 3 pages explaining how the social impact of the programme would be measured and delivered.
A somewhat bemused UK Government Debt Management Office found itself issuing the first Green Gilt (UK Government Bond) earlier this year – largely because some cabinet minister thought it would be a great idea for the UK to jump on board the bandwagon. I doubt any senior banker, financial or debt management official believes that calling Gilts “Green Gilts” will fundamentally change the UK. Yet the deal was a blowout success as investment managers loaded up to meet ESG quotas.
ESG is morphing into an ill-informed plethora of rules and opinions presented as irrefutable facts.
The variation between what is and what isn’t ESG is often contradictory: one fund will rank a corporate on its gold-star ESG list while another will place the same name on its worst list. It’s not unusual to discover oil majors as large holdings in ESG Funds.
ESG Funds often cite a well-known electric car maker as a core ESG holding, praising it for initiating the shift away from petrol. That firm has a history of spats with the US regulator, bought $1.5 billion of Bitcoin on a whim, is led by a cannabis-smoking CEO who recently changed his title to Technoking, has a poor workplace record, and advocates mining lithium (which is mined in appalling conditions and is almost impossible to recycle). That firm fails every Environment, Social and Good Governance test – but it’s still worth more than the next 5 largest automakers – begging the question of whether ESG investment principals can really direct the market.
A whole industry certifying ESG credentials has sprung up. The nomenklatura of market bureaucrats who administer, report and measure performance want regulations and rules to benchmark and justify their ESG decisions, and the regulators are only too willing to provide them and demand they are enforced. The European Union’s 600-page SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation) came into effect in March, and it’s a great substitute for any sleeping pill.
Rules and regulation are seldom a problem for Corporate Finance Desks: rules exist to be tested, arbitraged and broken.
Don’t misunderstand me – I am convinced the global economy has major ESG problems to address – but they need to be addressed holistically and sensibly, not in a welter of claims about what is and what is not ESG.
There won’t be much point in saving the environment without simultaneously solving for growth, society and equality. There has to be an agreement on how to allocate scarce financial resources between public goods like infrastructure, transport, health and education versus the investment returns the market seeks from private investments into businesses and commerce. That’s a pretty wide agenda.
Nearly 250 existing funds were rebranded as ESG, Green, Socially Responsible or Sustainable in the last quarter of 2020.
Now we’ve reached a stage where there is a danger of ESG mutating into something very sub-optimal – threatening to distort the efficient allocation of capital in the financial system. In addition to the sudden legion of experts in the field, two other trends are underway:
- Authorities seek to regulate and control the ESG behaviour of the economy – and nothing is so certain to distort markets and decrease economic efficiency as ill-conceived regulation, and
- ESG has morphed from being a framework into a quasi-religious crusade, dictating how companies and economies should fit. To question the precepts of ESG, however wrong-headed these are, has become a heresy – punishable by exclusion.
The ESG agenda has quite rightly become all-pervading in markets. It should be about a discussion on investment aims and objectives and the creation of a stakeholder society between government and markets. But rather than promoting discussion, it could become the financial equivalent of “Wokery”. Just as we all fear to offend society’s Woke Collective Mindset, there is a growing reticence to question the developing ESG scripture on what is green, sustainable and socially justified.
Increasingly, it feels like ESG is heading the same way as the woke discussion: telling us what to think, rather than guiding us how to think about how financial markets could improve our planet, economy and society for the benefit of all.
Ill-informed and ill-considered ESG investment rules could prove as distorting to global markets as anything I’ve seen over the past 35 years – which includes multiple Central Bank and government monetary and fiscal policy mistakes, incorrect assumptions about liquidity, leverage, credit and expectations driving multiple market crashes, and financial skulduggery that would make even Lex Greensill blush.
ESG is still an opportunity for success. Government needs to set the agenda towards a stakeholder society that answers the distribution of resources to ensure a sustainable environment and social equality, but when it comes down to the business and commerce aspect of that trade-off, and the role of markets, then there is a simpler solution – Good Corporate Governance, the most neglected ESG principle.
Through 35 years in financial markets, I’ve learnt a simple very basic truth: any firm which is not well managed… will ultimately fail. Any firm that is well managed with clear governance isn’t guaranteed success – but is far more likely to thrive. Good, well-run companies will tend to do the right things. In contrast, firms that are beholden to bad regulation tend to fade into irrelevance.
It’s time to put ESG back on the right track.
Traders have always used penny stocks to take advantage of the volatility in stock markets. Traditionally, penny stocks can be defined as stocks priced under $5. But the make-up for penny stocks has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic because a lot of businesses came below the $5 threshold to sell-off in 2020.
Now that it is almost more than a year since the pandemic started, several penny stock values have risen drastically. Even though there are many eligible penny stocks to buy right now, reopening stocks can be a popular option.
Many companies are benefiting from the vaccine distribution and the reducing number of COVID-19 cases. Stocks or shares of some businesses affected the most by the pandemic are recovering extremely fast in the reopening economy. That is why reopening penny stocks are generating a lot of interest from investors, especially these five.
Rave Restaurant Group
Rev restaurants group is the owner and operator of several pizza franchises all over the world, including Pie Five Pizza, Pizza Inn, and Pizza Inn Express kiosks. The restaurant industry was one of the most affected during the pandemic. But now that restrictions are being lifted in several states, the stock shares of Rave have jumped up more than 25%.
Rave restaurants recently declared their financial returns for the second quarter of fiscal 2021. Their total revenue was $2.1 million, which was a mere $0.7 million less than the same quarter in the last fiscal year.
The company also announced a net income of $104,000 and a $0.01 increase per share for the second quarter of fiscal 2021. Investors are saying this is a good sign and betting that the company’s stock shares will soar in the coming times.
Stocks or shares of some businesses affected the most by the pandemic are recovering extremely fast in the reopening economy.
Enzo Biochem
The stocks for Enzo biochem soared by more than 50% when they reported second-quarter financial results for fiscal 2021 on March 15. The company reported total revenue of $31.5 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2021, which was almost 62% year-over-year.
The company also declared that its consolidated gross margin has increased by almost 50% more than last year. Their sound financial results in the second quarter of fiscal 2021 reflect the positive effects of their new business model that integrates diagnostic products and services.
The company made efforts to advance its GENFLEX diagnostic test platform further. It also made further efforts to shift the diagnostic platform to aid in the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to them, the diagnostic platform will be able to lower the costs dramatically for common molecular tests. It is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the clinical test market, which means the company's success would continue to rise along with its stock shares.
Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp
Investors looking at strong reopening penny stocks should consider Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. Seanergy stocks have seen a lot of bullish force in the last few months. The need for shipment did not decrease during the pandemic because of the high e-commerce sales. That is why shipping companies have gained a lot of interest from investors in the present circumstances.
Seanergy offers bulk shipping services for dry goods and has 12 Capesize ships as of February 2021. All of the vessels are less than 12 years old, which means they are relatively new and would not incur costly repairs for the company.
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The average cargo shipping capacity of these ships is more than 2.1 deadweight tons (DWT). The company announced to price $75 million common share offerings a few weeks ago, so now is the right time to invest in their penny stocks.
NewAge Inc.
Some consumer product companies like NewAge Inc. have also come into the spotlight as penny stocks start reopening. The company has adopted a multichannel approach for retail sales and focuses a lot on social selling.
Their approach is so efficient that it has beaten analyst estimates for the fourth quarter and full year of the 2020 financial results. NewAge Inc. declared revenue of $90.4 million, as opposed to an estimate of $81.2 million, which was an increase of almost 53%.
The company’s adjusted EBITDA was also higher than the analyst expectations and reached $2.9 million, which was the first positive adjusted EBITDA in over two years. The company achieved scalability and profitability from ARIX and four other companies that merged with them in November.
They have also made significant improvements to their management teams and operational capabilities, which has resulted in tremendous growth momentum for 2021.
Reopening trades or epicenter stocks have become one of the current trends with penny stocks. Some companies that were affected by the global economic downturn during the pandemic are showing tremendous turnarounds recently.
Therefore, investors are interested in stocks that are on the way to make a full recovery and trading much higher than last year. We feel that these four penny stocks are the ones to look out for in March 2021.
Turkey’s currency tumbled dramatically over the weekend as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sacked the head of the country’s central bank.
Naci Agbal, who had been credited as playing a key roll in pulling the lira back from historic lows, was replaced in a surprise move on Saturday. Agbal’s removal marks the first change in the central bank’s governorship in under three years.
Agbal was appointed in November and had been raising interest rates to combat an inflation rate that ran above 15%. Two days after increasing Turkey’s interest rate by 200 basis points, Agbal was replaced on Saturday by Sahap Kavcioglu, a former banker and lawmaker who shares Erdogan’s opinion that high interest rates lead to increased inflation.
The change in central bank leadership caused local and foreign investors, who had been enticed by Turkey’s 19% interest rate, to pull their money out of the country. Lira fell as much as 14% against the euro following Kavcioglu’s appointment, and the Turkish stock market in Istanbul shed over 9%.
Every sector was badly hit, with financial stocks leading the selloff down 9.29% on Monday trading. Industrials, the least impacted sector overall, fell 6.43%.
Government bonds also suffered a record daily drop on Monday, wiping out the gains made during Naci Agbal’s tenure.
Jason Tuvey, senior emerging markets economist at Capital Economics, told the Financial Times at the time of Agbal’s firing that the leadership change might spark a currency crisis in Turkey.
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“Erdogan’s move leaves little doubt that all of the power in Turkey rests with him, and this will result in rate cuts,” Tuvey wrote in a research note, warning that lower interest rates would only worsen Turkey’s inflation problem.
In a statement on Sunday, the central bank said it "will continue to use the monetary policy tools effectively in line with its main objective of achieving a permanent fall in inflation".
Syedur Rahman, partner at financial crime specialists Rahman Ravelli, assesses the growth in popularity – and the possible pitfalls – of special purpose acquisition companies.
In the normal way of doing things, a company is created, looks for business and does what it can to maximise its opportunities. At a certain stage in its development, it may decide it wishes to go public.
In practical terms, this means conducting an initial public offering (IPO), where shares in that private company are issued and made available to public investors. An audit is carried out to examine all aspects of the company’s finances, the business then prepares a registration statement to file with the appropriate exchange commission – such as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – and a stock exchange is approached to arrange the listing of an agreed number of shares at a certain price.
The IPO has been recognised as the way of going public for as long as any of us can remember. And yet it is coming under threat from the rise of the SPAC as the brash, new and popular kid on the block. The SPAC – which stands for special purpose acquisition company – has become an increasingly common way for a company to go from private to public in the US. Informed estimates say that around $64 billion in funding was raised via approximately 200 SPACs going public in 2020; a figure that is almost equal to the combined total of all IPOs that year.
The UK government is now set to examine a Treasury-backed review of the City that calls for company listing rules to be redrawn so that London can secure some of the rapidly-increasing SPAC business. It seems as if this side of the Atlantic may be set to enthusiastically embrace SPACs, which may not be surprising when it is considered that London has only been involved in 5% of the world’s IPOs in the last five years.
Supporters of SPACS believe they enable a private company to make the transition to a publicly-traded company in a way that offers more certainty over share prices and better control over the terms of the deal than are available by taking the traditional IPO route.
The UK government is now set to examine a Treasury-backed review of the City that calls for company listing rules to be redrawn so that London can secure some of the rapidly-increasing SPAC business.
In its simplest terms, a SPAC is created – also known as sponsored – by a team of large investors with the express aim of buying another company. When a SPAC’s sponsors then raise more money (via its own IPO), the subsequent investors do not know the target company that the SPAC is looking to acquire; hence SPACS often being referred to as “blank check companies’’. Once the SPAC has raised capital, it is held in an account until those running it identify a suitable private company that is seeking to go public through an acquisition. If and when such an acquisition is concluded, those who invested in the SPAC can swap their shares in it for shares of the acquired company or cash in their SPAC shares for what they paid plus accrued interest. Should a SPAC’s sponsors not find a suitable company to acquire within a set deadline – which tends to be two years after the SPAC’s IPO – it is liquidated and investors have their money returned.
It is a process that, on paper, appears straightforward. But there are inherent risks. The due diligence involved in the SPAC process is not as rigorous as a traditional IPO. It is a business model that allows sponsors to promote the SPAC (with other people’s money) in any way that they believe is appropriate. That in itself can lead to value destruction and the risks of “pump and dump”, where shares are bought low, these purchases are then heavily publicised and then the shares are sold when they reach what looks to be their high point.
There is also the risk of misleading statements and misleading impressions which, in the UK, are covered by sections 89 and 90 of the Financial Services Act 2012, respectively. It would also be appropriate to consider the risk of accounting fraud, as whether most SPACS have proper accounting controls or compliance has been the subject of some concern. After all, the initial stages of a SPAC’s creation only involves convincing a small number of individuals to invest, which enables the SPAC to avoid much regulatory scrutiny. This in itself should raise alarm bells in relation to investment fraud.
While SPACs clearly have their supporters, they certainly carry risk for investors. Such investment is as close to being a leap in the dark as possible – which can only make the risk if investment fraud a sizeable one. When investing in SPACs you are unable to review trading history and performance, as you can when investing in companies that have been listed in the markets for a significant period of time. There is a reliance on SPAC company statements and any reported news regarding them which, in effect, puts everything in the hands of its sponsors.
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If anyone believes they have been ripped off via a SPAC, an aggressive response is the only course of action. Preparing a bundle to the relevant regulators is an option, in order to pinpoint whether there have been any breaches of market integrity. The issues of investor protection and how the SPAC raised capital should be highlighted when taking such a step, as should any suspicions of insider dealing disclosure of information and other forms of market manipulation.
To determine if there has been any wrongdoing, any such allegations will have to be weighed up by the relevant regulator and / or enforcement agency in light of existing legislation. Yet any would-be investor would arguably be much better off if they spent time putting the SPAC under the microscope before they invested in it, rather than afterwards.
Bitcoin fell on Monday morning after reaching a new record-high price over the weekend.
The world’s most highly valued cryptocurrency broke through the $60,000 barrier for the first time during weekend trading, reaching a high of $61,674 on Saturday. However, the price went into retreat at the beginning of the week, falling 4.4% to $57,847 at 9:15 AM in London.
This latest Bitcoin price shock comes amid reports that India will propose a law banning cryptocurrencies altogether, potentially blocking its use in one of the world’s largest markets.
Reuters reported on Sunday that senior officials in India’s government are looking to impose “one of the world’s strictest policies against cryptocurrencies,” which will impose fines on anyone trading or even holding digital assets. Bitcoin miners will also be penalised, sources claimed.
Under the proposed bill, cryptocurrency holders would be given six months to liquidate their digital assets, after which penalties will be levived.
Should the ban become law, India would become the first major economy to ban the use of cryptocurrency altogether.
As normally follows when Bitcoin suffers a price shock, the broader cryptocurrency market also went into retreat on Monday morning. Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, was trading 5.7% lower against the dollar at a rate of $1,785.49 at the beginning of the week. The cryptocurrency market as a whole declined 4.5% over 24 hours.
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Despite this latest price plunge, the crypto market is still performing markedly better than it was six months ago. Bitcoin has rallied over 400% during this period, owing to interest from established players such as Tesla and Square. Adoption by PayPal has also helped to pull cryptocurrencies closer to the payments mainstream.
