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Bloomberg
Billionaire Founder of China Property Giant Dies of Illness
(Bloomberg) -- The billionaire founder of KE Holdings Inc. has died of an unspecified illness, a shocking development for a Chinese property company that pulled off one of the strongest U.S. market debuts of 2020.Zuo Hui, who turned the company known as Beike from a nationwide chain of real estate offices into China’s largest platform for housing transactions and services, died May 20 after an “unexpected worsening of illness,” his company said in a statement without elaborating. KE Holdings’ board will announce follow-up arrangements within two weeks, it added.Zuo, 50, has been the driving force behind the company’s success, headlining the bell-ringing ceremony when it went public and holding 81.1% of voting shares under a dual-class voting structure as of end-February, according to its annual report. The company’s American depositary receipts fell 8.4% to $46.05 at 9:36 a.m. in New York trading.Zuo was backed by some of Asia’s most influential startup investors, including Hillhouse Capital Group and Tencent Holdings Ltd., and ranks among SoftBank Group Corp.’s most successful bets. KE Holdings almost doubled on its August U.S. debut, vaulting Zuo into the ranks of the world’s richest entrepreneurs with a fortune in excess of $20 billion at one point, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires’ Index.Its shares were up 151% from their New York debut through Wednesday’s close, conferring on the late chairman a net worth of $14.8 billion.In an interview with CCTV aired in April, he downplayed the significance of the IPO and the riches it bestowed.“Why should I feel excited?” he said, dressed in jeans, a dark blue vest and black sneakers. “This makes no difference to me.”Read more: Founder of China Property Site With No Profits Worth $20 BillionBorn in 1971 in Shaanxi province, Zuo graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Beijing University of Chemical Technology in 1992 before getting into sales and establishing an insurance business, where he made his first fortune, according to local media. He then founded Beijing Lianjia Real Estate Brokerage Co. in 2001, when China’s property market was still relatively young, and started Ziroom in 2011 to offer long-term apartment rentals. In 2018, he incorporated KE and launched Beike, becoming one of the country’s most celebrated entrepreneurs.Beike uses artificial intelligence and big data to improve its service and provide market insights, according to its website. As of June, the company boasted 226 million homes on its platform and 39 million monthly active users on mobiles. That’s swelled to more than 48 million mobile monthly active users and half a million agents.The platform also draws in others by allowing decorators, renovators and financial institutions to connect with buyers, creating an ecosystem of property and related offerings.(Updates share performance in third paragraph)More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
1h ago
FX Empire
Major Forces Behind Bitcoin’s Worst Losses Since 2013
The dramatic sell-offs in the past few days in the crypto market was catalysed by a flurry of negative macros, coming from Elon Musk to reports that China was excluding crypto from its financial system, yet recent reports revealed that Crypto exchanges largely contributed to the seismic price swings sighted on Wednesday.
8h ago
Bloomberg
Billionaire Founder of China Property Giant Dies of Illness
(Bloomberg) -- The billionaire founder of KE Holdings Inc. has died of an unspecified illness, a shocking development for a Chinese property company that pulled off one of the strongest U.S. market debuts of 2020.Zuo Hui, who turned the company known as Beike from a nationwide chain of real estate offices into China’s largest platform for housing transactions and services, died May 20 after an “unexpected worsening of illness,” his company said in a statement without elaborating. KE Holdings’ board will announce follow-up arrangements within two weeks, it added.Zuo, 50, has been the driving force behind the company’s success, headlining the bell-ringing ceremony when it went public and holding 81.1% of voting shares under a dual-class voting structure as of end-February, according to its annual report. The company’s American depositary receipts fell 8.4% to $46.05 at 9:36 a.m. in New York trading.Zuo was backed by some of Asia’s most influential startup investors, including Hillhouse Capital Group and Tencent Holdings Ltd., and ranks among SoftBank Group Corp.’s most successful bets. KE Holdings almost doubled on its August U.S. debut, vaulting Zuo into the ranks of the world’s richest entrepreneurs with a fortune in excess of $20 billion at one point, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires’ Index.Its shares were up 151% from their New York debut through Wednesday’s close, conferring on the late chairman a net worth of $14.8 billion.In an interview with CCTV aired in April, he downplayed the significance of the IPO and the riches it bestowed.“Why should I feel excited?” he said, dressed in jeans, a dark blue vest and black sneakers. “This makes no difference to me.”Read more: Founder of China Property Site With No Profits Worth $20 BillionBorn in 1971 in Shaanxi province, Zuo graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Beijing University of Chemical Technology in 1992 before getting into sales and establishing an insurance business, where he made his first fortune, according to local media. He then founded Beijing Lianjia Real Estate Brokerage Co. in 2001, when China’s property market was still relatively young, and started Ziroom in 2011 to offer long-term apartment rentals. In 2018, he incorporated KE and launched Beike, becoming one of the country’s most celebrated entrepreneurs.Beike uses artificial intelligence and big data to improve its service and provide market insights, according to its website. As of June, the company boasted 226 million homes on its platform and 39 million monthly active users on mobiles. That’s swelled to more than 48 million mobile monthly active users and half a million agents.The platform also draws in others by allowing decorators, renovators and financial institutions to connect with buyers, creating an ecosystem of property and related offerings.(Updates share performance in third paragraph)More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
1h ago
Bloomberg
‘Shark Tank’ Judge’s SPAC in Talks to Merge With Insurer
(Bloomberg) -- Home-coverage startup Kin Insurance is in talks to go public via Omnichannel Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company led by recurring “Shark Tank” guest judge Matt Higgins, according to people with knowledge of the matter.The combined entity is set to be valued at over $1 billion, one of the people said. Terms could change and as with all transactions that aren’t yet finalized, it’s possible talks could collapse. A deal, if agreed, could be announced next month, one of the people said.Representatives for Omnichannel and Kin declined to comment.Chicago-based Kin says it offers affordable coverage in “catastrophe-prone” regions including California, Florida and Louisiana directly to consumers online. It is led by co-founders Sean Harper, the chief executive officer, and Lucas Ward, who is president and chief technology officer.Kin raised $63.9 million in a recent funding round from investors including Senator Investment Group, Hudson Structured Capital Management, the University of Chicago’s startup investment program, Allegis NL Capital and Alpha Edison. Earlier backers include August Capital and Commerce Ventures.The insurer recently said it surpassed $100 million in annual recurring premium after just 21 months as a carrier in an industry that still sees more than 90% of home coverage sold through brick-and-mortar agencies.Omnichannel, led by Higgins -- an executive fellow at Harvard Business School -- in November raised $206.5 million in an initial public offering. The company’s website says it’s seeking a $1 billion to $2.5 billion acquisition, which it has defined in filings as including direct-to-consumer services. Beauty entrepreneur Bobbi Brown is on the SPAC’s board.Higgins is also CEO of RSE Ventures, an investment firm that has made bets on companies including David Chang’s Momofuku, Bluestone Lane and & Pizza on behalf of billionaire Stephen Ross. Higgins is also a vice chairman of the Miami Dolphins, of which Ross is a co-owner alongside Serena and Venus Williams, among others.Another so-called insuretech company, Hippo Enterprises Inc., in March agreed to go public via a SPAC. MetroMile Inc. in February became a public company after merging with a SPAC.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
15h ago
Reuters
Apple made more than $100 million in commissions from 'Fortnite' - executive at trial
Apple Inc made more than $100 million in commissions from Epic Games' "Fortnite" during the two years the online game was on the App Store, an Apple executive testified on Wednesday. Michael Schmid, Apple's head of game business development for the App Store, took the stand during the third week of an antitrust trial in federal court in Oakland, California.
20h ago
Bloomberg
Bitcoin Rally Was So Huge It Was Worth the Risk-Adjusted Twists
(Bloomberg) -- Yes, you made a bundle holding Bitcoin through the top a month ago. And even with a selloff like this one, it’s probably been worth the toll on your nerves.With the cryptocurrency sinking as much as 31% Wednesday, one might ask whether the token has been a good investment over time. As scary as the sudden wipeout is, the gains have been so enormous that -- even adjusted for risk -- Bitcoin has done way better than other major assets.Consider its trajectory since the end of last September, when Bitcoin embarked on a meteoric rise. Over the span, it has generated a 255% return, a rally that few other investments can match. At the same time, its price swings have also been almost unparalleled -- 11 separate sessions of intraday losses of at least 10%.But anyone who has stomached the churn is reaping a benefit. When adjusted for daily volatility, Bitcoin’s return since September has been more than twice that of the S&P 500 Index and easily trounced a negative reading for Treasury bonds. Commodities also fared worse over the stretch.“In spite of the volatility, BTC’s returns have more than made up for it,” said Stephane Ouellette, chief executive and co-founder of FRNT Financial. “We’re talking about the greatest bull market for the asset ever.”Of course, the exercise is a limp defense if you’re looking at losses of more than 40% from the top. Bulls tout its use for diversification against inflation while skeptics question everything from its energy use to the regulatory risk. If anything, the performance data is a lens into the psychology of the HODL crowd who have been piling into the asset despite frequent busts like Wednesday’s.Bitcoin pared losses to 15% as of 12:12 a.m. in New York after Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the company has “diamond hands,” using emoticons to spell out the phrase.Read more: Bitcoin Plunge Wipes $500 Billion From Value in Crypto RoutThe risk-adjusted return is calculated by dividing total return by volatility, or the degree of daily price variation. The measure, which isn’t annualized, is designed to show performance per unit of risk.Viewed from a wider lens since 2010, Bitcoin’s risk-adjusted return showed similar outperformance relative to other assets. The same holds true for a variety of time periods -- the start of 2020 or 2015 -- that capture its most recent rally. Periods in which it doesn’t hold true include using a starting point in 2017, when the coin tumbled 80% from peak to trough.Still, Chris Grisanti, chief equity strategist at MAI Capital Management, said that it’s difficult to determine whether Bitcoin is truly a superior investment.“When you compare it to commodities, when you compare it to stocks, you have more than a century of data for the others and for Bitcoin you don’t,” said Grisanti. “There haven’t been enough different investing environments for Bitcoin as there have been for other asset classes.”Interest in digital assets has picked up in recent months as more traditional firms who were long hesitant to the crypto space warmed up to cryptocurrencies. But many others are reluctant to embrace the asset due to its heightened volatility.“Look, what people fail to understand is the newness of digital assets,” Julian Emanuel, chief equity and derivatives strategist at BTIG, said on Bloomberg TV. “You just have to understand that with the evolution of this technology -- and it really is as much about the technology as anything else -- you’re just going to have immense amounts of volatility.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
22h ago
CoinDesk
Ark Investment’s Cathie Wood Says Bitcoin Will Go to $500,000
Wood made the prediction even as the leading cryptocurrency tumbled on Wednesday.
22h ago
Bloomberg
Gold Slips From Four-Month High as Fed Minutes Fuel Taper Worry
(Bloomberg) -- Gold slipped from a four-month high as investors digested news that there was a group of Federal Reserve officials open to talking about tapering bond purchases.Treasury yields and the dollar rose after minutes of the Fed’s last meeting were released. The report showed a number of participants suggested that if the economy continued to make rapid progress toward the Committee’s goals, it might be appropriate at some point in upcoming meetings to begin discussing a plan for adjusting the pace of asset purchases.Gold has been buoyed by falling real bond yields and a weakening dollar, with inflation expectations in the U.S. rising. That’s revived investor interest in the precious metal, with holdings in bullion-backed exchange-traded funds rebounding. At their April meeting, Fed officials held interest rates near zero and said they were not yet ready to consider scaling back pandemic support for the economy.“The Fed minutes were talking about they might slow down asset purchases,” which triggered some profit-taking in gold, said Peter Thomas, senior vice president at Zaner Group. “Gold’s had a really strong run. A little step-back, a little profit-taking, it does make sense.”Spot gold fell 0.2% to $1,865.63 an ounce at 2:54 p.m. in New York after rising earlier to $1,890.13, the highest since Jan. 8 before slipping to $1,874.36 . Futures for June delivery rose 0.7% to settle at $1,881.50. Spot silver, platinum and palladium fell. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4%.Gold’s “technical picture is strong after a correction from overbought conditions, and the market will have noticed that we’ve now had eight days’ consecutive gains in the ETFs, which can help to sway sentiment,” said Rhona O’Connell, an analyst at StoneX Group. Geopolitical risk, notably in the Middle East, also helps sentiment toward gold as a haven, she said.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
20h ago
FX Empire
Stocks Retreat As Traders Move Away From Riskier Assets
The crypto market, which serves as a decent indicator of current risk sentiment, suffered a serious blow today.
1d ago
Reuters
Creditors approve restructuring plan for troubled Thai Airways
Thai Airways International's creditors have voted to approve the airline's restructuring plan, the flag carrier said on Wednesday, as it seeks to recover from financial problems suffered long before the coronavirus pandemic. The plan will allow for an extension on bond payments, interest and the option for debt-to-equity conversion, said Somboon Sangrungjang of law firm Kudun and Partners, which represents creditors including 87 savings cooperatives. The creditors proposed the appointment of finance ministry official Pornchai Thirawet, acting Thai Airways CEO Chansin Treenuchagron and former chief Piyasvasti Amranand, as plan administrators, the airline said on Wednesday.
1d ago
Bloomberg
Chinese Commodities in Sea of Red as Global Rout Spreads East
(Bloomberg) -- The global rout in commodities spread to China, with futures for iron ore to coal to soybeans tumbling, as markets were gripped by inflation fears and authorities in Beijing continued to try to jawbone prices lower.Chinese exchanges saw some brutal declines, particularly in ferrous markets, with iron ore dropping as much as 7.6% and steel rebar falling 5.6%. Coking coal, used to make steel, plunged 7.5%, and soybeans slumped almost 3%.The widespread declines followed a market meltdown in the U.S., where everything from equities to cryptos to raw materials plunged. The slump comes on the heels of a huge surge in commodities markets, both globally and in China, after talk of a new “supercycle” pushed prices to unprecedented levels.“After a year of gaining, investors in the market might have started thinking of an exit plan and looking for triggers,” said Zhang Chenfeng, a researcher at top Chinese commodity hedge fund Shanghai Chaos Investment Group Co. The recent rollback in commodity prices was partly attributed to some disputes in macroeconomic outlooks such as inflation, he added.In China, traders fear the government’s increasingly strong language warning against what it calls “unreasonable” gains could cap further rallies. In recent weeks, Beijing has pledged more domestic supply to ease prices, tougher oversight on spot and futures markets, and vowed to crack down on speculation and hoarding.At a meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang Wednesday, the State Council said more effort needs to be taken to prevent rising commodity prices from being passed through to consumers, according to reports carried in state media.“China’s voice is getting louder,” Zhang said. Chinese officials “have been trying to calm down speculative price surges, especially in coal and coke markets.”Aggregate open interest in some of China’s major industrial commodities has fallen near the lowest levels since late February, indicating net-long positions are being liquidated, Bloomberg calculations showed. Hedge funds have also trimmed bullish bets on global commodities for the first time in over a month, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Intercontinental Exchange data.Economic data for April suggest that both China’s economic expansion and its credit impulse -- new credit as a percentage of GDP -- may already have peaked, leaving the recent rally in prices to record highs looking precarious. The most obvious fallout would be on those metals keyed to real estate and infrastructure spending, from copper and aluminum, to steel and its main ingredient, iron ore.The prospect of a taper on easy money conditions in the U.S., the world’s second major pillar of commodities demand, is compounding the worries over a tougher demand environment for raw materials.On the WireChina has tapped the U.S. for more than a third of next season’s expected corn imports, accelerating its buying from the world’s top supplier to fill its growing grain needs. Chinese traders say they’re importing record volumes of U.S. feed including soybeans, corn, and sorghum, according to a USDA report.China April Gasoline Output Rose 17.4% Y/y to 11.802m TonsCommodity Investing Has Eye on Clock If GDP Growth Levels OffAlcoa Sees ‘Extreme Tightness’ in Aluminum and Value-Added MetalNew, Cleaner Capacity to Boost China’s Aluminum Output in 2021China’s Hunk of Brazil Beef Exports May Get a Lot Bigger: ChartChile Lifts Copper Price Estimates, Saying New Records PossibleChina Reports H5N8 Bird Flu in Wild Birds in Tibet: ReutersThe Week AheadFriday, May 21China weekly iron ore port stockpilesShanghai exchange weekly commodities inventory, 15:30SMM battery materials conference in Changsha, Hunan, day 2AGMs: Cnooc, Tianqi Lithium, CATLMore stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
9h ago
Yahoo Finance
Big money investors suggest the cycle has peaked: Morning Brief
Top news and what to watch in the markets on Wednesday, May 19, 2021.
1d ago
Reuters
UPDATE 1-Hot housing markets, rising household debt pose risk to Canadian economy - central bank
The Bank of Canada said on Thursday that high household indebtedness and imbalances in the housing market have intensified in the last year, leaving the economy more vulnerable to economic shocks. The remarks were the most expansive commentary the central bank has made about the risks posed by a hot housing market since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic early last year. Canada's housing market boom and the corresponding rise in mortgage debt support economic growth in the short-term but also increase the risk to the economy and financial system over the medium-term, the central bank said in its annual review of financial systems.
47m ago
Bloomberg
China Will Need to Give Up FX Controls Eventually, PBOC Official Says
(Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast.China has to give up its control over the currency’s exchange rate eventually if it wants to achieve greater global use of the yuan, according to a central bank official.The yuan exchange rate will have to be determined by global market participants, and this will allow China to have free cross-border capital flows and pursue an independent monetary policy, Zhou Chengjun, director of the People’s Bank of China’s finance research institute, said in a speech published Wednesday.“We need to admit that under the condition of yuan internationalization, we won’t be able to control the exchange rate, and China’s central bank has to let go of exchange-rate goals in the end,” said Zhou. He made the comments at a forum on April 16, according to a transcript released by the forum organizer.The PBOC has made it clear it has stopped regular intervention and will let the market play a bigger role in deciding the exchange rate, Zhou said. He cited the fact the yuan has weakened past 7 per U.S. dollar -- previously seen as an important psychological threshold -- in the past two years, and said it’s one of the more volatile major currencies in the world.The yuan will appreciate against the U.S. dollar in the long term as a result of China’s continued economic growth and the rising purchasing power of the currency, as well as the Federal Reserve’s repeated monetary easing, according to the speech. The onshore yuan advanced to its strongest level since 2018 last week, even though the PBOC tried to moderate the gains by setting the daily fix at a weaker-than-expected level.The U.S. has abused its power to carry out sanctions through the dollar’s dominance in global payments and settlements, and more countries and market entities are hoping to reduce their reliance on the dollar, Zhou said. This provides a great opportunity for China to promote wider use of the yuan, he said.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
1d ago
Bloomberg
Cathie Wood Buys Tesla Amid Musk Bitcoin Spat, Burry Shorts
(Bloomberg) -- Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management is buying the dip in Tesla Inc., sticking with high-conviction names and setting aside a big disagreement with Elon Musk over Bitcoin.Ark exchange-traded funds added more than 47,000 shares in the electric carmaker in the last trading session, according to data released late Tuesday. While that’s worth a modest $27 million, it’s the first time the firm has purchased Tesla since April.Tesla has dropped 38% from its January peak as inflationary fears spur investors to sell expensive assets -- prompting Wood to demonstrate her propensity to enlarge Ark’s positions in favorite tech bets at market lows.The firm also recently bought Twitter Inc. amid its worst week since October. And Wood has been consistently adding cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc., whose shares have been declining for much of the past month after rallying in its April IPO.Read more: Musk Splits From Cathie Wood’s Ark on Bitcoin Environmental CostSome of that retreat is likely down to Musk, who fueled a slump in the largest cryptocurrency after hitting out at the token’s high energy demands and reversing a decision to accept it as a form of payment.With Ark a big proponent of Bitcoin and a believer in its green credentials, it’s all adding to recent drama in the world of speculative tech. While Wood appears committed to her Tesla bet, famed investor Michael Burry has been revealed to be betting heavily against the carmaker via put options.Bitcoin has erased all the gains since Tesla’s Feb. 8 announcement that it would use corporate cash to buy the digital currency, and was trading at around $35,700 as of 10:28 a.m. in New York. Tesla was down 4.4%.Read more: Coinbase Plunges With Other Crypto Stocks Amid Bitcoin Rout“Wood is making her move once again when everyone else is looking elsewhere,” said James Pillow, managing director at Moors & Cabot Inc.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
1d ago
Reuters
Explainer: What Beijing's new crackdown means for crypto in China
Chinese regulators have tightened restrictions that ban financial institutions and payment companies from providing services related to cryptocurrencies, marking a fresh crackdown on digital money. Compared with a previous ban issued in 2017, the new rules greatly expanded the scope of prohibited services, and judged that "virtual currencies are not supported by any real value". Three financial industry associations on Tuesday directed their members, which include banks and online payment firms, not to offer any crypto-related services, such as account openings, registration, trading, clearing, settlement and insurance, reiterating the 2017 ban.
1d ago
Bloomberg
JPMorgan Eyes $100 Million Payday on Trade Linked to Aramco Deal
(Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan & Chase Co. is set to earn more than $100 million on a recent trade tied to the sale of a stake in Saudi Aramco’s oil pipelines, a windfall that stands out even in the sprawling interest-rate swap market, people familiar with the matter said.The bank is poised to book gains on a hedging transaction with U.S. investment firm EIG Global Energy Partners LLC, which agreed last month to invest $12.4 billion in the pipelines, the people said. JPMorgan advised Aramco on the deal and was one of two banks that helped it arrange a loan of more than $10 billion offered to the buyers, the people said.Given the size of the financing, EIG separately entered into a so-called swap deal with JPMorgan to guard against fluctuations in interest rates. JPMorgan is in line for the nine-figure profit after markets moved in its favor, according to the people, who asked not be identified discussing sensitive information.Read more: Aramco Said to Tap Moelis to Raise Billions From Asset SalesWhile buyers in an acquisition this size normally turn to a group of lenders to manage their financing risk, JPMorgan was the sole bank on the hedging transaction, the people said. The size of the return was commensurate with the risk the bank took onto its books as counterparty on the swap, one of the people said.Fee PoolAramco wasn’t a counterparty on the swap trade, the people said. JPMorgan hasn’t yet booked the profits on the hedging transaction, and the size of the return could still change, the people said.Representatives for Aramco and JPMorgan declined to comment, while a spokesperson of EIG didn’t immediately provide comment.Bespoke hedges have long offered profits to Wall Street firms that can outstrip those from lending or advising on deals, though they can also prompt unhappy clients if gains get too large. JPMorgan’s payday highlights why global banks continue to chase big deals from Aramco, with the expectation of profiting from such ancillary work even if the Saudi energy company itself doesn’t dole out large advisory fees.Deal PushEIG is leading a consortium that’s buying a 49% interest in leasing rights over Aramco’s oil pipelines, according to an April statement. Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. has said it’s also in talks to join the investor group.Advisers are getting ready for more deals from the state-owned energy company. Aramco is considering the sale of a stake in its vast natural gas pipeline network, Bloomberg News reported last month. It’s also reviewing its upstream business, a move that could Aramco bring in external investors to some of its oil and gas assets, people with knowledge of the matter have said.Aramco is one of JPMorgan’s biggest clients globally, with the relationship between the two stretching back decades. JPMorgan was among the roster of banks that worked on Aramco’s $29.4 billion IPO in 2019 -- still the world’s largest-ever listing. Banks on the listing shared a fee pool of just over $100 million, which was unusually small relative to the size of the IPO.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
23h ago
Bloomberg
Don’t Fear the Taper: Fed to Dominate Treasury Market for Years
(Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast.Treasury investors fretting about when the Federal Reserve will scale back its bond purchases may be missing the bigger picture: Its more than $5 trillion stockpile will make it a major force for years to come.The prospect of a pullback in buying edged a little nearer Wednesday when minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s April meeting showed that a number of officials were willing to discuss it if the economy keeps improving. Yields rose on the news.But bond bulls say the Fed’s virtually inextricable presence in the world’s largest bond market means it will provide crucial support long after any price blips come and go when it brings the buying spree to a close.The central bank’s Treasury holdings have doubled since March 2020, accounting for nearly one-quarter of the total outstanding, a bigger share than it held even after the 2008 credit crisis. It’s a result of aggressive moves to keep the market functioning and hold down rates on everything from mortgages and car loans to corporate and municipal bonds.“The Fed will have a big hand in fixed-income markets for as far as the eye can see,” said Matt Nest, portfolio manager and global head of active fixed income for State Street Global Advisors.The stake is so large that even once the Fed’s purchases wind down, it is expected to keep its holdings steady by buying new Treasuries whenever old ones mature, reducing the amount that would need to be sold to the public. That’s given some investors confidence that rates won’t rise too quickly -- or by too much -- even as yields head back toward the approximately 14-month high hit in March amid fears the economy is at risk of overheating.“The Fed is definitely not going anywhere anytime soon with regard to the Treasury market,” said Mike Pugliese, an economist at Wells Fargo Securities, which predicts the Fed will begin tapering its purchases in January 2022 and end them around November.But he expects the central bank to keep its stake steady through the next four years. “The Fed is going to comfortably hold between 20% to 25% of the Treasury market, remaining the largest holder of Treasuries, until about 2025,” he said.That backdrop, combined with the prospect the government’s debt managers will cut note and bond auctions later this year as the economy rebounds, is helping to keep yields low despite the sharp pickup in growth and rising consumer prices. The Treasury’s net private borrowing of notes and bonds will fall next year to $1.99 trillion, from $2.75 trillion this year, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.The central bank’s holdings of Treasuries have been growing by $80 billion a month, and it’s also adding $40 billion in mortgage debt to its balance sheet. That’s left it on course to buy a total of $960 billion of Treasury notes and bonds in the secondary market this year after snapping up $2.18 trillion last year. Strategists at JPMorgan predict the Fed will buy $390 billion more in 2022 before wrapping up its purchases.The minutes of the FOMC meeting reported that “a number of participants suggested that if the economy continued to make rapid progress toward the Committee’s goals, it might be appropriate at some point in upcoming meetings to begin discussing a plan for adjusting the pace of asset purchases.”The prospect of a such a slowdown has sown some consternation. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to the day’s high after the minutes, reaching 1.69% as traders boosted bets on the outlook for Fed rate hikes. Those gains weren’t sustained and the yield has fallen about 2 basis points to 1.65% Thursday.The benchmark yield is just a little more than half the average of the past two decades, and some analysts are confident that Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues will take a cautious approach to winding down quantitative easing.“The Powell Fed is skittish about touching any aspect of its balance sheet, which is why it’ll be slow to slow asset purchases and will never sell securities outright on the back end of QE,” said former Fed official and Mellon chief economist Vincent Reinhart.Peter Yi, head of taxable credit research at Northern Trust Asset Management, thinks there’s limited upside to long-term Treasury yields. He expects the 10-year yield to swing between 1.25% and 1.75% through the rest of 2021 and has been buying when yields back up. Percolating inflation, with U.S. consumer prices climbing in April by the most since 2009, will prove temporary, he added.“The Fed has tools in their toolkit that they are going to use if they absolutely need to do it to prevent 10-year yields from jumping dramatically and in a disorderly way,” Yi said.The last time the Fed began to pull back from asset purchases was from January through October 2014, when it unwound the quantitative easing measures ushered in after the 2008 credit crisis. While Treasury yields rose in 2013 in anticipation of that, the effects were muted, with yields falling in 2014.The Fed was in no rush to unload its bond holdings, however, and kept rolling them into new securities when they matured. In October 2017, the bank began to whittle down its portfolio, only to stop abruptly in September 2019 when it caused mayhem in the overnight lending market.Dan Krieter, a strategist in BMO Capital Markets’ fixed-income strategy group, doesn’t see the Fed shrinking its balance sheet for years.“It’s becoming harder and harder for the Fed to ever extricate itself from the financial system,” Krieter said. “At least for the next five or so years, the Fed isn’t even going to hint at the idea of reducing its balance sheet.”(Updates prices throughout.)More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
1h ago
Bloomberg
Crypto Lender Mistakenly Deposits Bitcoin Into User Accounts
(Bloomberg) -- BlockFi Inc., a crypto-lending startup, mistakenly sent some users Bitcoin as part of a promotion and is working on reversing it.The company made what it called incorrect promo payouts in Bitcoin instead of U.S. dollars to certain customers. Though BlockFi worked on reversing them, a number of recipients withdrew the coins before the company could backpedal. (It was fewer than 100, the company said.) The firm’s exposure is around $10 million, though that amount is decreasing as more users return the coins, said Zac Prince, co-founder and chief executive officer of BlockFi.“BlockFi carries loss reserves as part of its accounting policies and this is a fraction of existing loss reserves -- so no negative impact to equity or ongoing platform operations,” Prince wrote by email. “The issue that caused the withdrawals was fixed and incremental safeguards have been developed to prevent any similar issue in the future.”The erroneous deposits have not affected BlockFi’s ongoing operations and the company is notching record levels of trading volume without interruption, he added.Meanwhile, screenshots of the deposits made their rounds on social media, with at least one Tweet showing a deposit of 700 Bitcoin. Though it’s down significantly this week, each coin is trading around $34,000 Wednesday.Last week, BlockFi tweeted that some promotion participants “may see an inaccurate bonus payment displayed in their transaction history.”Meanwhile, the company’s emailed affected users asking for the money to be returned.BlockFi, perhaps the most visible nonbank cryptocurrency firm, offers a number of crypto products, including borrowing and lending and it runs platforms for trading cryptocurrency. It’s been in the limelight as it’s grown in recent months amid a crypto-market rally that’s being unwound this week.Read more: Lending Bitcoin to Earn 6% Comes With Risk You Won’t Get at BankThe crypto firm’s snafu is reminiscent of Citigroup Inc.’s $500 million blunder last summer when it accidentally sent payments to a group of lenders.“As a stand-alone, it was just a glitch,” Mike Loukas, chief executive officer at TrueMark Investments, said of BlockFi. “We see it with banks all the time in dollars. But because it’s such a volatile asset, the mistake gets magnified.”More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
1d ago
The Telegraph
Bitcoin recovers after crypto selloff abates
Inflation more than doubles to 1.5pc in April FTSE 100 drops below 7,000 benchmark, down 1.5pc Bitcoin shed as much as 30pc as major sell off grips cryptocurrencies Bitcoin price crash: should you sell your cryptocurrency? Shortage of workers threatens recovery as economy reopens Sign up here for our daily business briefing newsletter Bitcoin crashed by as much as 30pc today after China banned financial services firms from providing cryptocurrency services, dragging down other major cryptocurrencies at the same time. It has rebounded after approaching $30,000, a level not seen since January, and well below its April high of $65,000. The downturn quickly infected other cryptocurrencies, with Ethereum sinking by over 36pc and Dogecoin tumbling an even greater 41.5pc. In the UK, mining stocks dragged down blue-chips on a jittery day for London’s markets sparked by weaker commodity prices and worries over inflation. Commodities dropped after Chinese authorities suggested a curb on price increases, causing investors to flee their holdings in the sector. Anglo American led the sell-off as the worst performer on the benchmark, with losses of 156p to £31.54. It was followed by fellow miner BHP, which fell by 102.5p to £21.38, and Antofagasta, which lost 55.5p to close at £15.58. Rio Tinto shed 211p and fell to £60.39, and Glencore dropped 10.8p to 313.8p. It added to a wider market retreat as inflation concerns continued to infect trader confidence. Danni Hewson, a financial analyst at AJ Bell, said that a decision by Iceland to hike interest rates will have done nothing to soothe shareholders’ nerves. She added: “UK inflation figures will have prompted some investors to take a long look at their portfolios. “Jittery nicely sums up how UK markets have performed today, and all finished firmly in negative territory.” Fresh figures yesterday showed that Inflation more than doubled in April as higher energy bills pushed up the cost of living. Investors were also worried that shortages in supply chains and of workers could threaten the country’s economic recovery. Oil majors also fell as the price of crude continues to rise. Royal Dutch Shell joined miners in the top 10 worst performers, losing 37.8p to £13.24, while BP dropped 8.5p to 308.4p. The FTSE 100 lost 84.04 points to close at 6,950.20, with just 17 of its 101 constituents ending in the green. The FTSE 250 shed 98.03 points to 22,234.53. In more positive news, plumbing group Ferguson was the top FTSE 100 riser as it flew to its highest ever share price of £94.72 – having gained 202p through the day – after lifting its full-year outlook. It came as the company posted a 65pc jump in quarterly profit, while revenue for the three months to March rose by a quarter to $5.9bn (£4.2bn) compared to the same period last year. Ferguson said demand from America has surged as the country reopens, with revenue in its US business growing 23pc. Elsewhere, defence business BAE Systems fell 0.6p to 519.8p despite saying it is on target to meet its full-year guidance, with its air, maritime, electronic systems and intelligence and security operations all performing strongly. Sales are expected to rise by between 5pc and 7pc on the £20.8bn achieved last year, and underlying earnings are forecast to rise by between 6pc to 8pc from the previous level of £2bn.
2d ago

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