Chocfinger melts: Hedge fund famous for betting on chocolate shuts up shop December 11, 2017 Cocoa trading king Anthony Ward, the founder of Armajaro Asset Management, announced today he has closed down his cocoa- and coffee-focused CC+ fund. The legendary fund helped Ward earn the name “Chocfinger”, due to the massive bets he placed on cocoa seven years ago which helped drive prices to 30-year highs. The fund’s closure follows [...]
Bitcoin mining explained: How it works, how much energy it uses and what needs to be fixed December 7, 2017 All eyes are on bitcoin at the moment. The cryptocurrency has staged a meteoric rise in 2017 that has attracted new investors, but, for many, question marks still surround bitcoin and the technology behind it. With recent reports pointing to the high energy cost associated with mining, the process used to create bitcoin, is there [...]
The Irish border issue tells us what the British government wants from Brexit December 7, 2017 | City Talk You have to feel a bit sorry for Mrs May. By Monday lunchtime she must have felt convinced she had achieved something that had appeared to be impossible, by settling the Irish border question. It seems almost unthinkable that she would have struck a deal that saw regulatory alignment between the Republic of Ireland and [...]
Deal or no deal, Brexit trade talks will take years to complete December 6, 2017 | City Talk There’s a funny history lesson that those negotiating Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU) should at least be aware of. It’s this: negotiations to join or leave the EU can take a very long time. And member states have a veto on whether another country joins – or leaves – the EU club. We [...]
Would a Labour government be as bad for Britain as Brexit? Morgan Stanley thinks so December 5, 2017 | City Talk On Friday morning, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn came out fighting against one of the world’s largest banks. Why? Earlier in the week, the bank in question, Morgan Stanley, had warned the chance of a snap UK election by the Autumn of next year was currently above 60 per cent. But the bank also warned that [...]
Editor’s Notes: Bitcoin is starting to resemble tulip bulbs in a 17th century Dutch market, entrepreneurs are getting on with Brexit and the LSEG’s breakdown of trust December 1, 2017 Gordon Gekko, the legendary character played by Michael Douglas in Wall Street, delivers a lesson on speculation in the film’s sequel with the help of some framed tulip bulbs. “Tulip mania,” he declared, “is the greatest bubble story of all time.” Gekko references the 17th century trend for tulips – a trend that soon generated [...]
Bitcoin bubble grows as banks fall flat December 1, 2017 | City Talk Bitcoin continues to defy expectation. It recently reached and passed a milestone, that of the $10,000 mark, an incredible feat considering it was worth less than £1,000 at the start of 2017. Nobody can quite agree as to why it’s so strong, but a parallel to its soar in value is its huge popularity in [...]
The Bank of England has just given a coded warning about the danger posed by a no-deal Brexit. It’s terrifying November 30, 2017 | City Talk On Tuesday, the Bank of England released the details of its latest banking industry stress tests. The results made for some soothing sounding headlines – the UK financial system is strong enough to withstand a "disorderly Brexit". In other words, Britain’s banking system can withstand leaving the European Union (EU) without a trade deal. While [...]
No royal rally can change Britain’s harsh economic realities November 29, 2017 | City Talk What a difference 24 hours makes. Monday morning’s headlines in Britain were dominated by the familiar themes of Brexit-inspired political tension and economic listlessness – yet by Tuesday morning Brexit was briefly forgotten as the nation digested the news of a royal engagement. The Daily Mail’s coverage was typically low-key, with readers treated to a [...]
Markets crave political stability after the last few months November 27, 2017 | City Talk Last week started with a potential political catastrophe as Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats were forced to concede that coalition negotiations with the Free Democrats and Green Party had collapsed two months after the German elections. The election result was bad enough for Mrs Merkel’s party – its worst election result since the end of World [...]
