Global Connected / Smart Drug Delivery Systems Market Report 2021: Current Landscape and Future Outlook for Devices Already Commercialized or Under Development

Bloomberg
Cathie Wood’s Misery Mounts as ARKK Assets Dip Below $20 Billion
(Bloomberg) -- Cathie Wood’s miserable month continued on Tuesday, as her flagship exchange-traded fund extended declines and its assets dropped below $20 billion to the lowest since January.The Ark Innovation ETF (ticker ARKK) slid 1% as of 9:47 a.m. in New York. Caught in a broad tech selloff, the product has fallen for nine of the past 10 sessions, a retreat that accelerated on Monday in the biggest slide in about seven weeks.Tesla Inc., the fund’s biggest holding, was down 3.5% on Tuesday. Teladoc Inc., also heavily weighted in the ETF, dropped less than 1%.The stock rotation out of expensive-looking tech names is proving tough for Wood and her firm, Ark Investment Management, with investors pulling more than $500 million from the main fund in May so far.Big bets on the likes of Tesla and Bitcoin lured billions to Ark’s products, but more recently investors have been souring on the kind of pricey shares the money manager favors in companies with often unproven technologies. Other speculative corners of the market have also suffered, with an ETF tracking special-purpose acquisition companies slumping 20% this year.Read more: Rout Lands on Nasdaq Where Shorts Are Massing, Bulls Getting OutWith ARKK down some 34% from its February peak, options activity paints an increasingly gloomy picture. The number of bearish put contracts outstanding has jumped to a record. Short interest remains near an all-time high, according to data from IHS Markit Ltd.(Updates price moves throughout)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
1h ago
Reuters
JPMorgan to bring all staff back to office in England - memo
JPMorgan will step up the return of all of its employees in England to working at least part of their week in its offices from June 21st, according to a memo seen by Reuters on Tuesday. The U.S. lender will still cap occupancy at 50% in its main London and Bournemouth hubs, it said, and the plans are dependent on there being no changes to government plans to ease remaining COVID-19 related restrictions. "We expect in the weeks that follow that June date, all employees in England will be in the office on a consistent schedule," the bank said.
3h ago
Reuters
U.S. business lobby calls on China to play fair, warns of consumer boycott danger
BEIJING (Reuters) -China should implement its commitments to equal treatment for foreign business and abandon "implicit" guidance to replace foreign products with domestic alternatives, the American Chamber of Commerce in China said on Tuesday. In an annual white paper, the chamber, also known as AmCham, which represents 900 companies, also called on the United States and China to communicate more and cooperate on climate change and public health. The relationship between the world's two biggest economies deteriorated rapidly over the past few years over issues ranging from trade to China's response to COVID-19.
15h ago
Coin Rivet
Latest Bitcoin price and analysis (BTC to USD)
Bitcoin remains in a tight trading range between $56,400 and $59,700 as it begins to knock on the door of the major $60,000 level of resistance.
1d ago
FX Empire
AUD/USD Price Forecast – Australian Dollar Continues to Break Out
The Australian dollar continues to move higher, as we have finally broken above the 0.78 level handily. This opens up the possibility of a move to the 0.80 level.
1d ago
Reuters
Airbus puts supply chain executive at helm of loss-making A220
Airbus has appointed a senior internal supply chain executive to run its Canadian operation, with responsibility for trimming losses on the A220 jetliner series, in the latest in a series of management changes at the European aerospace group. Benoit Schultz, 48, will take over on Sept. 1 from Philippe Balducchi, a former finance executive who became the first head of the Canadian venture when Airbus bought the CSeries jet programme from Bombardier in 2018 and renamed it A220. Schultz, who was part of the team that ran a ruler over Bombardier's supplier relationships when Airbus rescued it from cash shortages, is currently a senior vice president in the Airbus procurement office, which runs its global supply chain.
1d ago
Bloomberg
Bitcoin’s Waning Dominance Stirs Warning of Crypto Market Froth
(Bloomberg) -- Parabolic jumps in digital tokens such as Ether, Dogecoin and Binance Coin are outshining Bitcoin, prompting more questions about whether that segment of the cryptocurrency sector is ripe for a reckoning.The rallies have contributed to a slump in Bitcoin’s share of the $2.6 trillion crypto market to 43% from about 70% at the start of 2021, a metric that for strategists at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and DataTrek Research LLC may be a warning sign of investor excess in a range of digital tokens.Bitcoin’s waning dominance carries echoes of “froth” to the extent it’s being fueled “by a rally in other cryptocurrencies driven more by retail demand,” a JPMorgan team led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou wrote in a note Friday. DataTrek’s co-founder Nicholas Colas has indicated that history suggests tokens outside Bitcoin can drop “pretty quickly” when Bitcoin’s share hits 40%.Plenty of commentators have been fretting for some time that a stimulus-fueled peak is at hand in cryptocurrencies -- only to see them rally even more. But the worry is hard to shake in a sector that defies traditional investment analysis.The share of the largest cryptocurrency could be declining because investors are getting more comfortable with a wider array of tokens. Alternatively, retail traders may be chasing quick, speculative gains.“Even if you don’t invest in the space, this is worth tracking,” DataTrek’s Colas wrote in a recent note. He added that with more than $2 trillion now invested in virtual currencies, “a meaningful reset lower could also affect more traditional financial assets like equities.”For the JPMorgan team, the possible retail-driven froth in cryptocurrencies is a reminder of late 2017, when a crypto boom peaked.Ether RecordAmong the most notable moves in the crypto market Monday was Ether’s jump past $4,000 for the first time after a climb of more than 2,000% in the past year. The JPMorgan team said an analysis of activity on the affiliated Ethereum blockchain suggests a lower fair value of $1,000 for the token.Dogecoin -- which started as a joke in 2013 but is now a dominating Internet meme and sitting on a 20,000% advance in the past year -- captured the headlines over the weekend.First off, billionaire Elon Musk cited the token again, this time in a much-touted television appearance on the U.S. show Saturday Night Live. Later, it emerged that the cryptocurrency is apparently being used to pay for a lunar satellite launch with SpaceX, Musk’s commercial rocket firm.Dogecoin Used to Pay for Lunar Satellite Mission With SpaceXBitcoin was up 1.7% Monday at about $58,887 as of 8:30 a.m. in London. The largest cryptocurrency remains some way shy of April’s record of $64,870 after a pullback.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
1d ago
Bloomberg
What Can China Do to Control Record Commodity Prices?
(Bloomberg) -- The surging cost of commodities to industries and households is a threat to China’s economic growth and the purchasing power of its citizenry.As prices soar for everything from the copper and steel used in construction, to the coal that heats homes and powers factories, to the corn that feeds animals, what can Beijing do to control the record-breaking rally?The answer is complicated by several factors, including policies on pollution and imports that have only served to exacerbate supply constraints. Beijing has imposed output curbs on metals like steel and aluminum to reduce emissions as part of President Xi Jinping’s commitment to deliver a carbon neutral economy by 2060. And it has cut purchases of coal and other commodities like copper from major supplier Australia as relations between the two nations have soured.Moreover, the world’s biggest consumer of commodities is being forced to compete for materials just as global economies bounce back from the pandemic, driven by massive government stimulus, particularly in the U.S.That can only dilute China’s efforts to rein in markets. Still, short of imposing price controls, Beijing has options that range from precise strikes on individual commodities to blunter tools that would affect the whole economy.Trading RestrictionsChina’s busy commodities bourses are a usual suspect for Beijing whenever the government feels price moves are getting a bit too wild. True to form, Monday’s dramatic jump in iron ore triggered a stern response. The Dalian Commodity Exchange vowed to “severely punish” unspecified violations in iron ore trading as it raised margin requirements and narrowed daily trading bands. The Shanghai Futures Exchange also pledged to tighten trading on steel, while the Zhengzhou bourse made a similar move on thermal coal.The goal is to cool speculative flows that can draw in waves of investment and generate dizzying price spikes. The trouble is that this approach doesn’t necessarily help to manage a physical market with its own momentum. Steel prices are rallying worldwide without having a really significant futures market, for example. Still, iron ore futures in Dalian dropped slightly on Tuesday, while rebar and hot-rolled coil in Shanghai marched to new highs ahead of the new restrictions. Thermal coal also forged a fresh record.Inducing SupplyChina is able to lean on its vast state sector to ease shortages, an effort that has recently met with only mixed results at best. Last month, the top economic planning agency told coal miners to produce at their maximum winter output levels, which has barely put a dent in the market’s subsequent rise to all-time highs. For gas, unusually cold winter weather led to an official dressing down for importers following their inability to meet demand, which seems to have motivated some to bring forward their purchases for this year.The efforts to boost energy supplies have been upset by diplomatic tensions with Canberra. China has banned Australian coal imports, one of a number of restrictions on a swathe of goods from barley to wine. And at least two of China’s smaller gas importers have been told to avoid purchasing additional gas from Australia for delivery over the next year.Releasing StockpilesChina has considered selling about 500,000 tons of aluminum from its state reserves to cool the market. Prices plunged initially on the plan before rising again to their highest level in a decade. China’s output of the lightweight metal was 37 million tons last year, more than half the world’s total.The nation holds stockpiles of materials like copper to foodstuffs like soybeans, as well as massive crude oil reserves, but the amounts are undisclosed. Any indication that the reserves bureau is a buyer or seller has the potential to dramatically move markets. The longer-term plan might include adding more base metals to strategic reserves to ensure domestic supply and cushion potential shortfalls, although any state-purchasing program now would risk adding fuel to the current rally.Stockpiling FoodChina is building up its agricultural buffer as well. The government has bought huge amounts of U.S. corn for state reserves and may release them to quell any price spikes ahead of the domestic harvest in the fourth quarter. Authorities have also imposed curbs on state wheat sales amid concern that increased purchases by feed mills to replace expensive corn could push up prices of the new wheat crop, which will be reaped in June.Beijing is also replenishing its soy reserves, adding locally grown soybeans for the first time since 2017 to curb any possible food inflation. The domestic crop isn’t genetically modified and is used for foods such as tofu rather than animal feed. China has also frequently released pork reserves to cool rising prices of the nation’s most widely consumed meat.Fiscal StimulusTo rescue an economy that had cratered because of the pandemic, China reached for its usual play book: massive state-funded construction to stimulate demand and an expansion in credit that fed through into the real estate market. That helped put a rocket under the price of steel and other building materials like copper and aluminum.China has trimmed this year’s quota for the debt sales that typically fund infrastructure, and local governments have been slow off the mark in terms of new issuance. Metals traders will be looking for further evidence that fiscal policy is tightening as the government shifts its focus to preventing asset bubbles.Monetary PolicyThe broadest concern is that record commodities prices will fuel inflation globally and central banks will act too slowly to stem the tide. Last month saw the fastest growth in Chinese factory-gate prices since October 2017, a surge that’s likely to have furrowed brows at the People’s Bank Of China.All of China’s financial markets are on tenterhooks for any indication that the PBOC will accelerate monetary tightening as the nation completes its recovery from the pandemic. For metals, tougher lending requirements would affect demand across sectors, from real estate to autos and consumer goods. Still, Bloomberg Economics doesn’t think the central bank will be motivated to act quite yet, as consumer prices remain relatively subdued.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
6h ago
Bloomberg
Rout Lands on Nasdaq Where Shorts Are Massing, Bulls Getting Out
(Bloomberg) -- Whatever caused the tech selloff, and inflation angst looks to be the likeliest culprit, evidence has been gathering for weeks that traders were bracing for declines.Short interest in the Nasdaq 100 exchange-traded fund, in free fall as recently as March, was surging before the index had its biggest plunge since March. Flows to the ETF were negative in April and would’ve been this month, too, if not for a jump on Friday. All told, about half a billion dollars has been drained from the QQQs this year.As the Nasdaq 100 -- trading at more than 5 times annual revenue -- dropped more than 2.5%, volatility in tech stocks jumped by the most since early March. With inflation expectations leaping to the highest level since 2006, everything from the biggest megacap tech stocks to the frothiest small fry was slammed. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 slid as much as 1.4% in early Asian trading on Tuesday.“Inflationary pressures are becoming harder to ignore,” said Adam Phillips, managing director of portfolio strategy at EP Wealth Advisors. “Although the jury is still out on whether this is merely a temporary issue, the prospect of inflation is leading investors to seek out areas that are better insulated from the threat of rising prices.”Duck and CoverThe breadth of the tech plunge made Monday particularly painful for bulls. Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF (ticker ARKK) sank 5.2% to the lowest since November as its biggest holdings nosedived, with the likes of Tesla Inc., Roku Inc. and Teladoc Health Inc. skidding. After an eye-watering 150% gain in 2020, ARKK has dropped 16% so far this year.But damage wasn’t limited to tech’s speculative fringe. The New York Stock Exchange FANG Index fell 3.6%, putting the gauge on track for its worst month since March 2020. With inflation threatening to break higher, the cohort’s expensive valuations are growing increasingly harder to justify. Alphabet shares are trading at eight times revenue, the highest in more than a decade, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, while Facebook’s price-to-sales multiple is nine -- nearly twice that of the average Nasdaq 100 company.Roaring BearsBears boosted bets against tech stocks as the industry’s leadership faltered amid a flight to the reflation trade. Short interest on the biggest ETF tracking the Nasdaq 100, or QQQ, increased to 3.6% of the stock outstanding, the highest level since August and up from 0.9% in December. The spike in bearish wagers stood out in a market where shorts have collapsed amid the S&P 500’s 88% rally since the pandemic trough in March 2020.Meanwhile, after several years of one-way flows, investors are starting to pull cash from the $161 billion Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 ETF. The fund has bled roughly $425 million so far in 2021, after absorbing nearly $17 billion in 2020 -- the second-biggest haul on record. The ETF is on track for its first yearly outflow since 2016.Troubling TechnicalsCharts on the Nasdaq 100 look precarious. In the short term, the gauge is approaching its average price over the 100 days, a trend line that sits within 0.1% of the index’s current level and has served as support during the selloff in last November and again in March. A sustained breakdown in late 2018 and March 2020 foreshadowed losses that exceeded 20% from peak to trough.Viewed from a wider lens, the picture is no better. Plot the Nasdaq’s relative altitude versus the S&P 500 shows the ratio has fallen back below its 2000 peak again. Its failure in March to hold above that resistance was flagged by DoubleLine Capital LP founder Jeffrey Gundlach as a sign that another collapse may be in store.Cooling CallsWhile none of the data shows significant jumps in bearish sentiment, it’s consistent with a backdrop in which the extreme bullishness that has marked the last 14 months shows signs of subsiding. That may make sense after the index’s 92% gain since its pandemic low.The largest companies, loosely known as Faamg, last September saw day traders flocking to bullish options for quick profits. That demand has since waned, with their combined call open interest falling almost a third from the peak, data compiled by Bloomberg show.(Adds Nasdaq futures move in the third paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
14h ago
Bloomberg
The U.K. Deficit That Risks Cutting the Pound’s Rally Short
(Bloomberg) -- A hole in Britain’s finances is starting to worry economists and stoke concerns about the pound. This time, the vast budget deficit created by the pandemic is not the issue.The focus is gradually shifting to the current-account shortfall, the difference between money coming into the U.K. and money going out. The gap is forecast to reach its widest since World War II this year as Britain grapples with post-Brexit ties with the European Union and an imports-fueled rebound from the pandemic.That will test the willingness of foreign investors to keep on funding the spending habits of the nation by buying British assets. Data on Wednesday will likely show that the U.K. had one of its biggest trade deficits on record in the first full quarter since completing the withdrawal deal with the EU.“A big jump in the trade deficit can put into question whether it can be sustained by capital flows,” said Sonali Punhani, European Economist at Credit Suisse. “This can increase the premium investors demand to invest in U.K. assets.”The deficit is adding to the longer-term risks gathering over the pound, which also include the prospect of another Scottish independence referendum. While the currency has rallied this year amid a brightening economic outlook, strategists say further significant gains are unlikely.The current-account gap, which also includes flows of investment income, may almost double to 6.4% of economic output this year, according to the U.K.’s fiscal watchdog. The forecast reflects an export performance hobbled by Brexit and strong demand for foreign-made goods as the economy rebounds at pace from the pandemic.What Bloomberg Economics Says...“It’s well known that the U.K. is a serial borrower from the rest of the world. One of the potential consequences of recovering earlier and more quickly than the rest of the world is the U.K.’s current account deficit widens even further as export growth lags imports. That’s likely to catch the eye of investors if the U.K.’s recovery proceeds as expected.”-- Dan Hanson, senior U.K. economist.The Bank of England, which upgraded the U.K.’s economic outlook significantly last week, predicts an 8.5% surge in imports and almost no growth in exports. The International Monetary Fund says Britain will have the biggest shortfall among major industrial nations.In recent years, Britain has had no problems funding the gap. Foreigners attracted by a robust legal and financial systems and the prospect of decent investment returns have proved eager buyers of British firms and high-end London properties. They also bought U.K. equities and debt.While they may continue to regard the U.K. as a good bet -- the economy is forecast to outgrow its major peers this year -- Brexit has raised some awkward questions.The U.K. is no longer part of the EU single market, access to which was a key reason for many firms choosing to invest in Britain.The government also appears to have jettisoned the idea of trying to lure investors by turning Britain into a “Singapore of Europe” with low taxes and light-touch regulation. In his March budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak raised taxes to levels not seen in half a century, with businesses bearing the brunt, in an effort to rein in the biggest budget deficit in peacetime.In a recent research report, RBC Capital Markets said Britain can no longer count on being a “natural haven” for foreign direct investment, with neither the pound nor U.K. equities currently trading at cheap levels.“There is no strong reason to think there will be a flood of foreign capital inflows looking to pick up bargains,” said RBC chief currency strategist Adam Cole.Cole sees the pound falling to $1.25 and 91 pence per euro by the end of this year and weakening further in 2022. Sterling is currently at $1.41 and 86 pence per euro.To be sure, large current-account deficits do not hold the fear they did in past decades, when crises were precipitated by attempts to support fixed exchange rates by exhausting gold and currency reserves. The 1967 devaluation of the pound that humiliated Harold Wilson’s Labour government followed years of balance of payments problems.Now the pound floats freely, meaning that the exchange rate can fall to a level where foreign investors once again find British assets attractive, sparing Britain an abrupt funding crisis.With British assets owned by foreigners now worth around six times the size of the economy, an adjustment may not be without pain, however. Cole at RBC points out that recent inflows have shifted toward loans and deposits -- “hot money” that could quickly leave the country if sentiment on Britain soured.“Seemingly unsustainable deficits can be sustained for a very long period and they don’t seem to matter until they do matter,” he said on Monday. “When they do, nothing else seems to matter.” For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
11h ago
Yahoo Finance
Celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern: $28.6B restaurant relief will get ‘eaten up’ right away
Andrew Zimmern, a James Beard award-winning chef, says that $28.6 billion is not sufficient to help the ailing restaurant industry recover.
1d ago
The Telegraph
Sterling surges above $1.41 on Tory election triumph
Sterling surged to more than $1.41 as investors celebrated the Scottish National Party’s failure to win a majority in Holyrood’s elections, pushing the prospect of a second independence referendum off the table for now. The rise of more than 1pc against the dollar to a two-month high was matched by a similar appreciation against the euro meaning the pound is worth more than €1.16. Nicola Sturgeon’s party won 64 seats in the Scottish Parliament, one short of the 65 needed for a majority, which FX analyst John Hardy at Saxo Bank said means international investors can put referendum fears “in the rearview mirror” and buy more UK assets. “Clearly the market was concerned the SNP could get an outright majority and this could shorten the timeline to some eventual new referendum campaign,” he said. “By falling one seat short, the mandate isn't quite there and it sends the whole referendum scenario over the horizon for investors.” This is combined with a strong economic outlook as well as some wobbles in the US which make the dollar relatively less attractive, strengthening sterling. Francesco Pesole, an FX strategist at ING, said the fundamental picture is one of a strong economy supporting the pound. “Hopes of a strong economic rebound continue to be fuelled by the reopening plans in the UK and this should continue to put a floor under sterling,” he said. At the same time markets reacted badly to Friday’s weak jobs report in the US which saw the unemployment rate creep up to 6.1pc in April, raising fears for the sustainability of the recovery in the world’s largest economy. Analysts at UBS predict a wider shift away from US assets as the rest of the world recovers, which could push the pound to $1.49 by the end of the year. A rise on this scale would put sterling back up at a level last seen before the Brexit vote knocked the currency five years ago.
2d ago
Reuters
Cryptocurrency ethereum hits new record high again; dogecoin slumps
NEW YORK/LONDON/SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Cryptocurrency ethereum climbed to a new peak for a third straight day on Monday on continued optimism about further growth in decentralized finance or "DeFi", although some analysts said it was overvalued at current levels. Ethereum has soared this year, fuelled by the boom in DeFi, which are platforms that facilitate crypto-denominated lending outside traditional banking. Many DeFi applications are embedded in the ethereum blockchain.
1d ago
MarketWatch
Pound climbs to level not seen since 2018, keeping a lid on the FTSE 100
London stocks struggled for traction on Monday, boosted by shares of mining companies as commodity prices climbed, but were held back by a strong pound.
23h ago
FX Empire
Crypto Market Value hits $2.5 Trillion as Ethereum Hits Record High
Recording buying pressures on Ethereum and some altcoins have pushed the crypto market valuation to about 2.5 trillion.
1d ago
Bloomberg
Wall Street Uses Old Tricks in $2.4 Trillion Crypto Jungle
(Bloomberg) -- Wall Street traders like Trey Griggs are finding a new lease on life in the $2.4 trillion crypto Wild West.After two decades in energy trading, the 51-year-old was lured by a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. colleague this February into a new world of market-making in digital currencies.Now he’s in fighting spirits -- unleashing old-school finance tricks to exploit the industry’s rampant inefficiencies, volatility and downright weirdness.“All the fun that used to be had 30 years ago in the commodity markets and is no longer fun -- that fun is now in crypto,” says the U.S. chief executive officer at GSR Markets in Houston.Griggs is among crypto newcomers deploying systematic strategies that are tried-and-tested in conventional asset classes -- price arbitrage, futures trading, options writing -- in a booming new corner of finance. As more mainstream investors get behind Bitcoin, boutique firms are joining the likes of Mike Novogratz in an ever-broadening crypto rally that keeps breaking records.For those who can stomach the price swings, the threat of exchange hacks and the byzantine market structure, complex fast-money trades are offering an alternative way to ride the digital mania.At GSR, the firm’s bread and butter is market-making, where traders pocket the spread between buy and sell orders.In stocks, that’s a nearly oligarchic business where the likes of Citadel Securities and Virtu Financial operate at lightning speed. In virtual currencies, where hundreds of exchanges offer free access at a slower pace, GSR can capitalize on the big volumes without splurging millions on high-frequency infrastructure.“Part of the tech we have is just to tell us did we actually trade or not, is this trade good or bad,” says GSR co-founder and former Goldman trader Richard Rosenblum. “We don’t want to be slower than our competitors, but it’s just not quite as much of the driver.”For every strategy in stocks, bonds or currencies rendered boring by low rates, regulation or market crowding, there’s a lucrative trade in a token lying across the hundreds of exchanges out there. Or so the thinking goes.Read More: Veterans of FX’s Wilder Days Are Loving Bitcoin’s VolatilityWhile crypto die-hards have made merry like this for years, the relentless rallies across the tokensphere this year are drawing more Wall Street converts seeking riches and new thrills.Take Mark Treinkman. After a career mostly at proprietary stock-trading shops like Chimera Securities, digital money is renewing his passion for quant trading.“I’ve been going through some of my old strategies and things that wouldn’t have worked in equities in decades have an edge in crypto still,” he says.A market-neutral strategy run by his $60 million firm BKCoin Capital gained 71% last year using investing styles that often include arbitraging different prices across exchanges and the gap between the spot and futures market.For a few minutes during trading on Wednesday, for example, the price of Ethereum Classic jumped well above $100 on the Coinbase exchange. The digital token was trading at less than $80 at other venues, offering an obvious opportunity for investors to make money simply by buying in one place and selling in another.It’s one of the best-known -- albeit diminishing -- discrepancies exploited by the likes of Alameda Research, a crypto trading firm filled with former traders from high-frequency shops. A famous example is the kimchi premium, the tendency for Bitcoin to trade higher in South Korea thanks to strong demand and the difficulty of moving money around to profit from the gap.With no one-stop prime broker to centralize trading books and offer clients leverage across venues, traders like Treinkman face plenty of challenges in their bid to arbitrage price gaps, but say the rewards are commensurate.And the opportunities pop up everywhere. For instance, when longer-dated futures in pretty much any asset class trade higher than the spot price -- known as contango -- the former almost always converges to the latter as the contracts mature.That’s popularized the crypto basis trade, where an investor goes long the spot rate and shorts the futures.When Bitcoin last peaked in mid-April, the December contracts were nearly 4% higher than August which were in turn about 2% higher than the spot reference rate, as speculators unleashed bets on rising prices. By contrast, the December oil contracts were trading beneath August’s on the same day, according to the data compiled by Bloomberg.“The crypto market is still dominated by retail investors who use excessive leverage and bid the premiums for futures,” said Nikita Fadeev, a fund manager at $60 million crypto unit at quant firm Fasanara Capital.Trades common in the industry also include short-term momentum and a form of statistical arbitrage, which bets on gaps between various tokens eventually closing like when Ethereum is surging but Bitcoin isn’t, Fadeev says.As assets grew, the fund recently appointed Laurent Marquis, the former co-head of derivatives at Citadel Securities, as chief risk officer, and Steve Mobbs, co-founder of quant fund Oxford Asset Management, as senior adviser.Over in Zug, Switzerland, St. Gotthard Fund Management has transformed from an old-school family office writing options on Swiss shares to a digital evangelist in its income strategy aiming to yield 8% a year. Just like in stocks, the investing style sells derivatives to take advantage of big demand to hedge price swings -- which causes the volatility priced into options to be higher than what’s likely to come to pass.For option writers like St. Gotthard, that means the premiums are much juicier, though they also come with a higher risk of having to actually pay out, like an insurer during an earthquake.“The major difference at the end of the day is how much premium retail investors are willing to pay,” says chief investment officer Daniel Egger. “On the other hand of course we’ve written calls we wished we hadn’t in those moves up.”In fact, going long crypto over the past year has proved the easiest and most profitable way to tap into the boom. And for those choosing the systematic route, competition is rising.For example, in order to get an edge in its market-making strategy, BKCoin has recently installed servers at Asian crypto exchanges, a move known as co-location in the high-frequency world of stocks. It’s a sign the industry is growing up fast.“In any emerging market we’ve seen these inefficiencies decrease over time,” said George Zarya, founder of Bequant, a crypto prime brokerage that caters to systematic traders. “There are more professional players that come in.”(Updates first chart and market value in first paragraph. An earlier version corrected the seventh paragraph under the second chart to show Fasanara does not engage in momentum and stat-arb trades but says they are common in industry.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
20h ago
MoneyWise
Warren Buffett shares his 8 top takeaways from the COVID pandemic
The legendary investor says these are the key lessons for investors and consumers.
2d ago
Bloomberg
Canada Kicks Off Its First U.S. Dollar Bond Sale Since Pandemic
(Bloomberg) -- Canada plans to sell bonds in the U.S. dollar market for the first time since the start of the pandemic as the North American country’s vaccination campaign gradually gains pace amid a third wave of the virus.The North American country plans to sell five-year bonds in the first benchmark-sized transaction in the currency since January 2020, Bloomberg data show. The bonds, which are expected to be priced Tuesday, are being marketed at around 8 basis points over U.S. Treasuries, according to people familiar with the matter.Canada’s economy is expected to grow 6.1% this year, up from a 5.4% decline in 2020, according to analysts’ consensus compiled by Bloomberg. The survey sees the U.S. economy, Canada’s largest trade and investment partner, expanding by 6.3% in 2021 after a 3.5% contraction in 2020. Even as the economy recovers, Canada’s jobs market hit a snag in April as a third wave of lockdowns and Covid-19 restrictions led to job losses.While Canada’s vaccination campaign has more than doubled in the last month to over one-third of the population with a first dose, just around 3% are fully vaccinated.Canada’s bond deal is also the first transaction in the U.S. dollar currency since Fitch Ratings downgraded it to its second highest investment-grade level, citing higher public debt ratios. BMO Capital Markets, BofA Securities, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Scotiabank and TD Securities are arranging the deal.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
1d ago
Bloomberg
Billionaire Howard to Return Cash From Secretive Hedge Fund
(Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Alan Howard is returning money to investors from the secretive hedge fund that he personally runs.He’s redeeming clients in the Brevan Howard AH Master Fund that he started four years ago to make bigger and riskier bets, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Howard will continue to manage capital for the firm’s two other money pools, the people said, asking not to be identified because the details are private. It’s not immediately clear if Howard is shutting the fund altogether.The move marks a reversal for the manager who was in talks late last year to raise another $500 million in the fund after having doubled investors’ cash in the early days of the pandemic. The firm has always tried to keep every detail of the fund top secret. It’s unclear how much money it runs currently, and removing external investors means that Howard’s personal track record will remain private.A spokesman for Jersey-based Brevan Howard Asset Management, run by Chief Executive Officer Aron Landy, declined to comment.Howard is among a number of macro hedge fund managers who started their own funds to make bolder bets following years of sub-par performance. He and a group of other money managers at Brevan Howard that run their own funds have played a critical role in turning around the business through improved performance. Last year, the firm had a record year with one fund gaining 99%.That’s helped the firm, which saw its assets collapse to about $6 billion from more than $40 billion in 2013, lure back clients. It managed $14.6 billion at the end of March, according to an investor document.Brevan Howard AH Master Fund was one of the firm’s most profitable, surging about 100% amid the volatility sparked by the pandemic in the early part of last year. In 2018, the fund made 37% in just one month. The returns marked one of the most lucrative phases of Howard’s trading career.The AH Master Fund ran money for external clients and Howard’s own cash as well as capital from Brevan Howard funds. Howard will now continue to run allocations for Brevan Howard’s main hedge fund as well as its multi-strategy fund, one of the people said.(Updates with recent fund performance in 7th paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
1h ago
Bloomberg
Meituan Sinks as CEO Deletes Post Seen Critical of Beijing
(Bloomberg) -- Meituan’s stock plunged to a seven-month low after the Chinese e-commerce company’s billionaire chief executive officer shared and then deleted a poem on social media that some interpreted as a veiled criticism of Beijing.The food delivery giant fell almost 10% in Hong Kong before closing 7.1% lower to wipe out about $16 billion. Wang Xing posted a classical poem about book burning by the emperor during the Qin dynasty on social media platform Fanfou.com, according to the Hong Kong Economic Times. He deleted it on Sunday and issued a clarification that he used the poem in reference to the company’s competitors. A Meituan spokesperson confirmed both posts and declined to comment further.Investors are jittery after business figures who appeared to criticize the government have faced consequences. Wang’s rival Jack Ma angered Beijing in October last year by blasting regulators publicly over what he considered to be an antiquated approach to oversight. That speech was followed swiftly by tightened rules over consumer lending, the scuppering of Ant Group Co.’s record $35 billion initial public offering as well as an antitrust probe into Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.“To a certain extent, one can interpret the poem posted by Wang Xing as similar to Jack Ma’s criticism of the banking regulators,” said Kerry Goh, chief investment officer at Kamet Capital Partners Pte. “This is not a good time to be too vocal!”China’s technology sector has come under intense regulatory scrutiny in recent months amid concern the largest firms have grown too powerful. That’s weighed on the shares, with the Hang Seng Tech Index tumbling almost 30% from its February high. The antitrust watchdog has launched an investigation into suspected monopolistic practices by Meituan, including forced exclusivity arrangements.The Shanghai Consumer Council criticized Meituan on Monday for practices that hurt consumers’ rights, including refund problems and misleading content on its mobile app. The company has vowed to submit a rectification report in the near term.Meituan reported a net loss for the final quarter of 2020, which prompted the three global credit-rating agencies to downgrade their outlooks. The firm raised $10 billion selling shares and convertible bonds in Hong Kong last month, after burning through cash trying to expand its business.The shares, which have more than 50 buy ratings and no sell recommendations, have fallen for a record nine days. They’re down 42% from their February high in one of the worst performances on the Hang Seng Index.The poem Wang shared is by Tang dynasty poet Zhang Jie about the book burning that took place under emperor Qin Shi Huang.“What the CEO posted is a very famous anti-establishment poem, which shows that he might be under a lot of pressure from the ongoing investigations,” said Hao Hong, head of research at Bocom International in Hong Kong.The following is Wang’s clarification:“A poem from the Tang dynasty inspired me a lot lately: the Qin dynasty was afraid of scholars but Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, whose uprising overthrew the Qin regime, didn’t have much education. This has reminded me that the most dangerous competitors are often not those expected. Alibaba has been focusing on JD.com these years, only to see Pinduoduo exceed it in user numbers. Similarly, Ele.me looks to be the biggest rival of Meituan’s delivery business, but what could really cause a shock to the industry may be some companies and business models that haven’t come under our radar.”(Updates with Shanghai Consumers Council comment in sixth paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
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Billionaire Howard to Return Cash From Secretive Hedge Fund

Meituan Sinks as CEO Deletes Post Seen Critical of Beijing