Category: Financial News

In this category, Latest Financial News visitors can find everything that Traders-Paradise finds it is related to the educational material existing here. As the name suggests it is news but ONLY related to Traders-Paradise’s tutorials, courses, guides about trading, and investing.

Here the readers can find posts and articles about recession and how to overcome it. Many trading or investing strategies are explained here. For example, why to use open interest strategy when investing, or growth stock investing strategy.
Here, our experts and journalist are taking examples from the real-life. it is usually breaking news, and use them to explain what is the best solution for traders and investors over a given time or related to the particular event.
Also in Latest Financial News readers can find an explanation of, for example, ratios useful to measure the particular market conditions.

Also, Traders-Paradise gives you some clues on how to react to changes in the markets, no matter if it is the stock market, the Forex market, or any other.
The main aim of the Latest Financial Market News is to connect the real events with the theory. Traders-Paradise uses real-life examples to explain the theoretical rules of investing and trading.
Also, when some breaking out news appear Traders-paradise will write about it but at the same time, the visitors will have a comprehensive analysis of what caused that event and how to overcome it.
Traders-Paradise hopes that this category will be very useful for its visitors and that they will find it helpful.

Woodford fund is in trouble

2 min read

The financial services company from Bristol will have to come up with answers about their continuing support for Neil Woodford’s troubled fund when they publish the half-year earnings report on Thursday, August 7.

One week after the administrators of the Woodford Equity Income Fund, Link Asset Services, have announced that the troubled fund may stay shut until early December, trouble is brewing for Bristol’s retail investment giant, Hargreaves Lansdown. According to the Times of London Crag Newman, co-founder of Neil Woodford’s company is secretly selling his two multimillion pounds worth properties. The troublesome week for a former darling of the retail investment industry, Woodford, is creating some problems for other big players.

Woodford is no more retail investment darling

Hargreaves has already brought on itself scrutiny for continuing recommendation of Woodford’s fund until the very last day, June 3, when the fund was suspended following a prolonged period of poor performance during which it shrunk to just £3.5B from its peak of over £10B. That suspension affected around a quarter of Hargreaves customers, leaving them with their funds locked up for what now seems to be as long as six months. Now, the Hargreaves customers are bound to continue paying fees through the period they may not have wished to hold on these investments. According to the Financial Times, the CEO of Hargreaves Lansdown, Chris Hill, has issued an apology to their clients and waved its 0.45% fee to their customers on funds frozen in Woodford’s equity fund.

Warning on Woodford fund

On Thursday, analysts are expecting that Hargreaves reports a 5% rise in pre-tax profits and an 8% rise in revenues. But that report will encompass only one month of the fallout from the Woodford fund’s malaise. Some, such as Gurjit Kambo of JP Morgan Cazenove, is warning their clients that deposits in Hargreaves are likely to be negatively impacted by developments relating the Woodford’s fund.

“With investors in Woodford’s equity income fund still gated, and the relationship between Woodford funds and Hargreaves Lansdown under increased scrutiny, we have reduced our inflow estimates,” Kambo said in a note to clients.

His estimates of Hargreaves’ new funds for 2020 have gone from £7.9B to £5B, and from £9B to £5.5 in the following year.

Analysts of the Deutsche Bank argue that Hargreaves shares have taken enough of toll to account for the fallout from Woodford’s debacle. In mid-May, their value has peaked at £24.47 and then fell to as low as £18.59 following the freezing of the “Woodford’s Equity” fund. Since then they have recovered, with some ups and downs, to £20.43 on Friday, August 2.

The bottom line

But despite all these developments and conflicting opinions, a question remains. Why did Hargreaves Lansdown continue to recommend Woodford’s fund until the day it was suspended, and through its shrinking which amounted to 65% of its peak value?

6th August 2019
Bitcoin’s 3-day chart shows “golden cross”

2 min read

The last, 2018 was a bear market for Bitcoin and crypto-assets. But this year is a bull market or we can say it is the opening stages of it. Why we are saying that?

On the three-day chart, we can see a “golden cross”.

A golden cross is an exactly a bullish signal. Typically it is a sign that the asset is going to start a bull run. And you can see that on the three-day chart, it is very obvious, without any dilemma.

The golden cross is a bullish breakout pattern. It is a positive momentum indicator, happening when a security’s short-term price moving average moves above its long-term moving average.

Bitcoin price has triggered a “golden cross” on the three-day price chart. That causes great enthusiasm among its supporters.

The golden cross is a powerful sign that Bitcoin is surely entering a bull run. This conclusion is based on past experiences, of course. So, we can understand why investors are so excited.

The death cross is the opposite. It is the point where the short-term price moving average moves below the long-term moving average. No matter if we are talking about golden cross or death cross, the short-term moving average is regularly a 50-day moving average. The long-term moving average is a 200-day moving average.

The similar situation we had in February 2016. At that time, Bitcoin produced a 4,900% return to investors.

Will the same happen once again? If the golden cross stands, Bitcoin could go on to produce investors enormous returns. The majority of asset class will never bring such return.

A golden cross is a powerful indicator that an asset’s price is going to grow. Opposite, a death cross is an indication that an asset will decline in price.

ROI (Return on Investment) of Bitcoin was 7,870.79% on the date of 3/8/2019. At the same date, the market cap was $192,025,701,130. The 24h value was $17,827,812,399.

Before the previous golden cross in February 2016, the Bitcoin was priced at just about $400 per BTC. But after the golden cross was formed Bitcoin brought 4,900% in returns as it hit $20,000.

When the golden cross appears, the asset will need approximately a year and a half for that, so it might happen in December 2020. Yes, it will take some time for BTC to achieve highs above $500,000 with rising in percentage as this one is.

Mike Novogratz states that even ordinary investors have to invest 2-3 percent of portfolios into crypto. But, he cautions that they should get “real nervous” if they see the bitcoin price drops below a key level.

This investor had foretold that bitcoin would consolidate in a range set by $10,000-lows and $14,000-highs.

The bottom line

You might think that the market cap of BTC must be very massive to reach this price. Also, it is pretty impossible to see that huge return again soon. But Bitcoin knows how to surprise us. So, everything is possible.

The moving average on the three-day BTC/USD chart is on a constant upward trajectory. This trend may stay in the future.

Seasoned traders call this long-term bull market signal a lagging trend indicator. The moving average studies are based on historical analysis. But, we have a low capacity to predict how this asset will behave in the future since the golden cross was seen only once. All we know is that this indicator is a very powerful indicator of bulls trends.

If history repeats, this sign will confirm that soon we will see a true record rally. The one that will go far over the previous maximum.

4th August 2019
5G Opportunity For The Investing Big Time

4 min read

It looks 5G is an investment opportunity that arrives very rare. So, it is a great opportunity for all who know how to recognize it.

The biggest investors are already taking their place there. They are putting hundreds of billions of dollars in cell tower companies.

For example, Bill Gates and George Soros. They both bought big positions in one cell tower company last year. Their example is followed by Paul Tudor Jones, Jim Simons, and D.E. Shaw. All of them rose their holdings on G5 stocks. Position Number 1 belongs to Warren Buffet, Carl Ichan, Paul Singer. They have been invested earlier.

The overall 5G industry is estimated at almost $12 trillion.

And this is just beginning.

Masayoshi Son, the Korean-Japanese investor, believes that 5G is a bigger opportunity than Alibaba. For those who don’t know, he invested $20 million buying a 30% stake in Alibaba while it was just a small Chinese company. Today his investment is worth $108.7 billion. Would you like to calculate how many it is multiplied? To add more pain in your life, over 5,000 times. That’s how much his investment has grown over 28 years.

And that investor said the 5G is a much bigger investment and it is “just the beginning” as he stated.

Masa Son holds 5G is crucial for technologies like robotics and AI.

He’s already put $100 billion and he intends to invest $100 billion more every two years. Masa Son is investing his billions in 5G and the internet 3.0.

How can you position your portfolio for this 5G volcanic growth?

You can invest in companies.

No, Huawei is not a choice. You cannot trade Huawei because it is fully owned by company employees. The consequence is the company is not traded on the public market. So, you can’t invest in it. But keep an eye on this global second-largest smartphone producer.

Qualcomm

But you can trade, for example, Qualcomm. Its CEO Steve Mollenkopf described 5G as a technological revolution that will have a great influence on our lives. He said this wireless network “will have an impact similar to the introduction of electricity.”

Yes, you can invest in Qualcomm.

As we already wrote, high-tech stocks are always a good choice.

Qualcomm Inc. shares dropped a bit on Thursday in premarket trading.

Qualcomm develops wireless communication technologies, software, and chipsets for wireless network equipment and mobile devices. Its development strategy covers 4G, 5G and Wi-Fi technology. The company is very engaged in the development of 5G.

Qualcomm market cap – $80.6 billion.

Ericsson

Also, you can invest in Swedish Ericsson. It is on the head of 5G hardware development. It participates in tests and research with mobile operators all over the world.

With Ericsson’s 5G radio prototype you have access to 5G wireless network. It is included in real-world tests in the United States, South Korea, Japan, and its homeland. The prototypes combine a bunch of high-tech, like a new antenna and receiver, to provide 5G to existence. Ericsson pays attention to the development of 5G technology also sings continuous improvements in its 4G LTE equipment business.

Ericsson market cap – $26 billion.

Nokia

Nokia is a good choice too.

It is a Finnish telecommunications equipment and data networking company. It has begun high-level trial on new 5G access outputs.

It is valuable for global mobile operators. At the beginning of 2016, Nokia obtained a 91.8% control stake in Alcatel, a French telecom equipment company which has own high-level 5G development program. This acquisition may have a great influence on Nokia’s 5G development plans.

Market cap – $32.8 billion.

The bottom line

Cash in on the biggest investment chance since the electricity arrived. Wireless infrastructure stocks can make you rich as Midas. Just take advantage of 5G opportunity and invest in companies that are involved in developing or infrastructure.

The early investors already did. Don’t waste your time.

2nd August 2019
Procter & Gamble shares jump over analysts estimates

3 min read

Procter & Gamble shares recovered Tuesday. Its earnings exceeded expectations after removing out the influence of the charge. So, this company is looking for fiscal 2020 with more optimism. Procter & Gamble shares have risen nearly 44% over the past year.

The company reported earnings per share $1.10 and expected revenue at $17.09 billion.

Wall Street expectations were different, analysts predicted P&G earnings per share at $1.05 and expected revenue at $16.86 billion.

P&G reported a fiscal net loss in the fourth quarter of $5.24 billion. It is $2.12 per share. Also, they reported the net income of $1.89 billion, or 72 cents per share, for the previous year.

Procter & Gamble problems

The main cause of the loss for the quarter ended June 30 was the one-time cost to write down the value of Gillette. The company $8 billion write-downs of its Gillette brand.

Keep out details, P&G gained $1.10 per share, defeating the $1.05 per share which was the experts’ expectations.

Net sales grew 4% to $17.09 billion, beating predictions of $16.86 billion.

The sales volume of the Gillette brand dropped during the quarter. The same had happened to Braun and the Art of Shaving brands.

Organic sales increased

But its organic sales had a positive result because of the price rises, it increased by 7% over the quarter. Expanded sales in developed countries helped too, Tide and Ariel are very popular in those days.

G&B health-care and beauty products, line SK-II and Olay, also performed well.

The organic sales of Pepto-Bismol and Crest toothpaste jumped up to 10%. Also, the other health care products like Vicks and ZzzQuil increased in the sale.

And, what is interesting, its laundry and dishwasher brands reported sales increase of 10% in the quarter.

The forecasts

The company stated it awaits fiscal 2020 revenue growth by range 3% to 4%. This adds a small negative influence from foreign currency. Wall Street was predicting fiscal 2020 revenue of $69.76 billion, up 3.5% from this year.

Also, Wall Street prediction is earnings per share to rise by 4% to 9%.

“Our guidance range brackets current market growth with a bias toward continued share growth, while still expecting a strong competitive response,” CFO Jon Moeller told analysts on the call, reported CNBC.

The company stated that its current forecast for commodities, foreign currency, transportation, etc. is supposed to end in a “modest net benefit” to earnings growth in fiscal 2020.

Experts were predicting that the company’s adjusted earnings next fiscal year would rise by 5.1% to $4.75 per share.

The beginning and the future

Procter & Gamble was founded as a family business in 1837. It was kind of the family uniting after they married two sisters Olivia and Elizabeth Norris. Both William Procter and James Gamble were immigrants.

Candlemaker Procter, born in England, and soapmaker Gamble, born in Ireland. Of course, the company with their last names was selling candles and soaps at the beginning.

Fun fact: They were sponsors of radio shows all around the US. That’s how the phrase “soap operas” was born. From Ohio all over the world.

Today it is one of the biggest companies on the globe.

How did they come to this?

They operated very smartly, they bought various brands all over the world. Gillette, Old Spice, Max Factor, Crest, Pampers, Ariel, Tide. That is a smart diversification.

This company is employing more than 120,000 people all over the world and own more than 80 brands.

Should you buy their stock? OMG, for sure!

31st July 2019
Israeli UBQ Is Going To Save The Planet

3 min read

You have already been reading about socially responsible investing. Traders-paradise, also, wrote about it, you can find it if you join our Investing course.

Socially responsible investing, you can find under the names: social investment, also as sustainable, socially conscious, “green” or ethical investing.

It is an investment strategy which tries to view both financial return and social or environmental good. That means to produce a positive change in both fields.

Socially responsible investors have different aims for their investments. But one thing is crucial, they always examine moral, human, environmental and governance standards as well as a financial return.

They are focused on companies which manage a business that have a socially positive impact.

They may venture investments, that will provide important social or environmental goods. To this corpus goes community development loan funds or portfolios with cleantech.

We found some interesting story in Jerusalem Post. It is all about socially responsible investing.

Despite growing attempts to recycle rejected household goods, the final place where it ends is a non-regulated garbage dump. That may cause vast ecological problems. The methane and other very dangerous gases are delivered to the atmosphere. Yes, everyone is considered about it but there are not many companies that really take care of it.

One of them is Israeli UBQ.

It is based in Kibbutz Tze’elim and founded last year. This company found the solution on how to convert the household garbage into “the thermoplastic material that can be used for commercial and industrial products instead of petroleum-based plastics.”, published in the Jerusalem Post. This fresh company already earned notable attention almost all over the world.

“We have created a new natural resource from the household waste that ends up in landfills, avoiding its decomposition into harmful gases, while replacing scarce and expensive plastic materials made from oil,” UBQ co-founder and chief executive Jack (Tato) Bigio told The Jerusalem Post. “That’s a blessing to the industry. Many companies in the last 10 to 20 years have emerged with solutions that turn out to flop in one way or another. Never again,” he added.

What UBQ Materials exactly is doing?

“What UBQ is doing is taking all these valuable materials that are thrown away and bringing them back to life in an up-cycling way,” said Bigio. “We’re replacing a very expensive and scarce resource, and all of a sudden coming much closer to a truly circular economy. The value proposition is incredible.”

And here is the proportion: creating one ton of UBQ is equal to the melting of 35 sqm. of Arctic iceberg, or the seizure of almost 550 trees over 10 years old. For every ton of UBQ Material used, up to 15tons of CO2eq is saved.

Can you imagine?

UBQ’s international advisory board

The company’s scientific advisory board consists of Nobel Prize winner Prof. Roger Kornberg, nano-tech specialist Prof. Oded Shoseyov, patent practitioner Dr. Ilan Cohen, sustainability pioneer John Elkington, and here is also a former EU commissioner for climate action Connie Hedegaard.

And how this innovative technology is connected to investment?

“One of the first rules of sustainability is being cash-flow positive,” said UBQ chief sustainability officer Christopher Sveen. “If you want to change markets, you need to have an economic incentive. People will be incentivized by environmental propositions, but financial competitive nature accelerates the adoption cycles. We’re less expensive than plastics that come from oil.”

The first investors in UBQ are Sabra Dipping Co. founder Yehuda Pearl and Ajover Group CEO Albert Douer. Douer already owns 16 plastic factories in eight countries.

Why sustainable investments is so important?

The importance of sustainable investments is growing. The proponents of a sustainable investment strategy claim that they generate outperformance.

One thing is sure, the returns generated by socially responsible investing are bigger.

Socially responsible companies treat their employees in a good manner, produce healthy products.

In this type of business, investing is not just about getting a profit. It’s about raising of responsibility and sustainability.

Traders-Paradise found on their website: “UBQ envisions a world where finite resources are infinitely reused. In this way, we aim to help rescue the planet.”

The bottom line

Socially responsible investing enables you to invest your money in the right place.

Invest in companies that are not going to destroy the environment. By investing in socially responsible businesses you’re keeping your plate clean and safe. Your food, your lives, your children’s lives depend on that.

Moreover, you will earn more. Recently, some academic research revealed a strong connection between ESG and financial performance. Just because a company is building a more positive impact, that does not mean they are producing a less return. Research has suggested that socially responsible focused companies are more sustainable in the long-term.

The statistic shows that 89% of investors in socially responsible companies claim these are meeting their return expectations.

If you want to become a socially responsible investor, you should do that with a robo advisor. There are other ways, of course, but this is the easiest one.

Some of the most popular robo advisors have socially responsible investing tracks, focused on ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance). With as little as $50 investment you can start with a robo advisor focused completely on SRI.

30th July 2019
UK Getting Ready to Trick or Treat the No-Deal Brexit

2 min read

by Gorica Gligorijevic

After assuming the office of UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson is pushing with preparations for eventual no-deal divorce from EU on October 31. The news caused a negative impact on the British pound.

Some people would say that it was the writing on the wall, but actual writing in the Sunday Times brings confirmation that things are afoot. Things and plans which previous UK PM, Theresa May, not only avoided but actively suppressed and fought against. The UK is getting prepared for the potential no-deal Brexit.

After a reshuffle of his Cabinet, in which Leavers have remained and Remainers have left, PM Johnson has appointed Michael Gove to mistrial position of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and charged him with preparations for the no-deal exit from the EU. Gove has laid out his intentions in the op-ed in the Sunday Times July 28 edition.

“With a new prime minister, a new government, and a new clarity of mission, we will exit the EU on October 31st. No ifs. No buts. No more delay. Brexit is happening,” he wrote. With the leaders of EU determined to keep to their current approach to the Brexit, Gove is certain that “no-deal is a very real prospect” and that the UK government is now operating under such assumption.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sajid Javid, in his op-ed in the Sunday Telegraph has announced additional funding in excess of £1 billion pounds, on top of the £4.2 promised by the previous PM after the 2016 Referendum.

“Yes, we want to leave with a good deal – one that abolishes the undemocratic backstop,” Javid wrote in The Sunday Telegraph. “That would be better for the UK, and better for the EU, and work is already underway to achieve this.”

The British pound continues the slide

Despite this news, the British pound is taking the hit against the US dollar. Having fallen to the 1.2375 parity, lowest since April 2017, the pound has slid almost 17% against the USD.

And despite all the sterling effort, the UK government might put in staving off the worst outcome of Brexit, the outlook for the pound is not promising. With the Office of Budget Responsibility fiscal stress test predicting a year-long recession after Brexit, the pound is looking to continue the slide.

Downturn which may easily reach the 25% drop versus the dollar since 2016 Referendum, as predicted by the Bank of England in the worst-case scenario of no-deal Brexit.

The GBP/USD pair erased more than 100 pips for the week. It is very possible to start this week with gaping lower.

Support levels: 1.2375 1.2330 1.2290

Resistance levels: 1.2420 1.2460 1.2505

29th July 2019
Tesla’s Claims Fall Short – Again

2 min read

When ordered to produce evidence of alleged danger presented by a short-seller, Tesla withdraws its request for a court-ordered restraining order. Tesla’s claims fall short once again.

Earlier this year Tesla has filed a request for a restraining order against a member of short-seller community TSLAQ known as “skabooshka”, real name Randeep Hothi, to the Alameda County Superior Court in Alameda County, California. In filing Tesla has claimed that Mr. Hothi has injured a security guard at Giga Factory in a hit-and-run incident, and also nearly caused a traffic accident while pursuing a test model of Model 3 during a test run on April 16. Upon being granted a temporary injunction by the court, Tesla was requested to provide audio and video recordings of those two incidents as evidence.

Surprising turn-over

But, in a surprise move the car producer has withdrawn request for the restraining order on July 19.

In the letter to the court, Tesla’s lawyers have expressed the opinion that the request of the audio and video recordings of the incidents are an undue imposition on the privacy of their employees, stating that such materials contain personal and private conversations. They have expressed a belief that “restraining order against Mr. Hothi is necessary and appropriate to protect its employees at their workplace.” Further claiming that the company was forced to choose between employees’ safety and exposing their personal conversation to the public. Thus, the document states, the company has decided to pursue the safety of its employees “by other means”.

And what those other means could be should make people worried, as the history of Tesla’s retaliation against its critics illustrates.

Tesla’s claims fall short

Shortly after the Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting has published a piece alleging that Tesla is under-reporting the work-related injuries, one of the CIR’s insiders have alleged retaliation. Said doctor alleged that a complaint to the relevant Medical Board was lodged against her, while also an anonymous call was placed to state’s Child Protection Service accusing her of negligence to her children and requesting that her kids be placed under the protective care of the state.

But such false accusations look to be the modus operandi of Tesla when handling the critique.

Last year Ars Technica has published a story about the alleged attempt of a mass shooting at Giga Factory by a whistleblower Martin Tripp. At that time the Tesla representative has told Ars that they have received an anonymous call at Giga Factory by a male caller claiming that Mr. Tripp is “extremely volatile” and “heavily armed”. But according to the information provided to Mr. Tripp’s attorney and then to Ars the alleged call was made to Tesla’s call center in Las Vegas and then forwarded to Giga Factory’s head of security, Sean Gourthro. Gourthro then has texted to Story County Chief Deputy Tony Dosen that an anonymous female caller has alerted them that Mr. Tripp is en route to “shoot up Tesla”, per Story County Sheriff’s Office report. According to an in-depth investigation by Bloomberg, when police officers have tracked down Mr. Tripp they have discovered that he presents no danger for Tesla’s employees.

“He said he was terrified of Musk and suggested the billionaire might have called in the tip himself. A sheriff’s deputy attempted to cheer up Tripp and then called Tesla to tell the company that the threat, whoever had made it, was bogus.”

Bottom line

Since we wrote so many times that any news may have an influence on the stock price of some company, it will be interesting to make a comparison in stock price before and after incidents like this one. Do investors take care of how companies treat their employees? Is the company’s public outlook important for them? We will see. Today Tesla’s stock looks like this:

Tesla stock target price: $890.00

Current price: $255.68

Stay tuned and follow the market

24th July 2019
Who Controls The Libra

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had a dispute with Facebook’s crypto boss, David Marcus.

By Traders-Paradise Team

The subject was about who controls the Libra currency

Two days of US congressional hearings were quite enough for everyone to reveal what problems may arise with a new cryptocurrency named Libra. We are not sure it is crypto at all, by the way.

AOC asked Marcus about who are the members of the Libra Association and how did they selected, trough election or on some other way. He answered that they are not democratically elected instead governed by membership criteria.

Ocasio-Cortez concluded that Libra is “a currency controlled by an undemocratically-selected coalition of largely massive corporations.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez centered on a commentary David Marcus, CEO of Calibra. He said he would trust all of his assets in Libra.

“You said yesterday you would be comfortable taking 100 percent of your pay in Libra. In the history of this country, there is a term for being paid in a corporate-controlled currency,” and asked, “Do you know what that term is?”

Marcus’ answer was negative.

Who controls the Libra

Ocasio-Cortez proceeded,

“It’s called ‘scrip.’ Do you think there’s a risk in taking your pay this way?”

There was no answer from Marcus again.

What is ‘scrip’?

Scrip is a replacement for the government-issued legal tender. Some companies practice this to pay their workers. It is possible to use scrip only at those companies’ shops. For example, recently Amazon gave to their top-employees “Swag Bucks” and they could make purchasings only Amazon-themed merchandise.

This tactic is well-known from the past. It was used to pay miners in the faraway mining camps where the cash was rare. And, of course, the price in such stores are under the control of the company.

So, TP may conclude the Libra is fake currency. But, who controls the Libra is still unknown.

Business insider published a transcript of their conversation in the US House Financial Services Committee.

The full article you can read HERE

The other AOC’s attack happened when she asked Marcus about who support Facebook’s Libra digital currency.

He said that Libra will be supported by real financial assets, particularly pointed to the US dollar, the euro, and government securities. To pacify the audience, Marcus has accentuated that Libra will be conducted by a consortium of organizations.

“So we are discussing a currency controlled by an undemocratically selected coalition of largely massive corporations,” AOC concluded.

We have to say that national currencies are under the competence of governments. Do Marcus claims and Facebook’s plans show their influence on broad of governments or they want to say that their Libra, even declared as digital money isn’t crypto in essence.

This aspect of Libra could become a stumbling rock for Facebook.

Who will trust it?

About Traders-Paradise’s doubts, you can read HERE

Jamie Dimon, The CEO of JP Morgan Chase, said that he thinks Facebook’s future cryptocurrency Libra will not have a short-term influence on the bank.

When asked about Facebook’s approach to the financial sector by creating its own cryptocurrency, he said:

“We’re going to be talking about Libra three years from now. I wouldn’t spend too much time on it. To put it in perspective, we’ve been talking about blockchain for seven years and very little has happened.”

Anyway, JP Morgan has its own plans connected to crypto. They plan to employ JPM Coin, but internally in order to speed up transactions, as he said. Is this script too? We’ll see.

19th July 2019
Microsoft stocks are worth to buy and hold

by Gorica Gligorijevic

Microsoft stock has increased this year which is the great news for investors. It is the most valuable company in the US, which the sparrows on the trees already know. The question is should you buy its stocks? If you want you should hurry. This year it is up 36%. But, more important, Cowen & Co. analyst Nick Yako initiated coverage of Microsoft with an outperform rating and $150 target price.

He recognizes the potential for Microsoft to gain a gradually increasing $100 billion in revenue by fiscal 2025. His prediction is based on Microsoft’s Office 365 and Azure cloud businesses. Yako is expecting those two to be the main growth generators.

Moreover, traders support Cowen’s opinion on Microsoft. Last week on Thursday, it scored a new all-time intraday high of $139.22.

Microsoft stocks will grow more

Not only Nick Yako is convinced that Microsoft stocks will grow. There are other experts too. For example, Pete Najarian from Institute.com truly believes that the great potential for this company comes from its Windows.

“By the way, we all want to say Windows is dead. Windows is not dead. That continues to grow as well,” he said.

The co-founder of Najarian Family Office, Jon Najarian, also recognizes Microsoft as a great potential for growth. But he thinks that it is all about LinkedIn.

“It’s all about LinkedIn for my mind and for my money from here, rather than just focusing completely on the cloud.”

Microsoft bought the LinkedIn 3 years ago for $27 billion. This social network has about 610 million subscribers and its participation in the company’s revenue is more than 5%.

Pete and Jon Najarian are traders.

Pete Najarian is an options trader and market analyst. He is also the founder of optionMONSTER. This company provides market news and trading strategies.

Jon Najarian is the founder of an online brokerage, tradeMONSTER. This brokerage provides trading information through the web without demanding clients to download trading software. It is a rival with other brokerage companies.

Despite this optimism shown, they have some concerns.

Microsoft’s P/E is high which can be “a signal that the stock is getting ahead of itself.” Pete Najarian still holds it’s stock and call options. But he is keeping an eye on the rising valuation.

Microsoft’s share of the market went up to 13% from 10%. But Amazon continues to be the obvious leader with 33%.

Hence, Najarian alerted in his comment for CNBC, “Microsoft is a deep distant second. But if they can claw some of that market share back, then absolutely, I think this stock can go higher.”

Bottom line

The Microsoft stocks hit the $1 trillion level in market capitalization in June. So, we can say that this company stays along with Apple and Amazon.

This pre-internet pioneer of the PC era, Its operating systems, and software are used by computers all over the world. It owns LinkedIn, Skype and GitHub. There are it’s Windows, which is developing, and the Xbox gaming, and also Office 365 businesses. Microsoft is a leader in cloud-computing services, artificial intelligence, and productivity tools. It is a true rival to Amazon and Alphabet’s Google. So, we can say Microsoft stocks are worth to buy and hold.

Microsoft stock has increased by almost 37% until July 11this year. It went ahead of the Nasdaq and doubled the year-to-date earnings for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrials.

Microsoft stocks revealed a reasonable buy spot. Its stock has great long-term growth potential.

Generating growth possibilities in the highly competing tech area needs proactive management. Microsoft has it. Its CEO Satya Nadella has succeeded to shift to a business model that focuses on subscription-based products and services with constantly recurring revenue.

The shareholders received a 1,5% dividend yield.

And shareholders in this elite business, who also enjoy a 1.5% Microsoft has a firm cash flow, which is a definite part to consider for dividend investors.

17th July 2019
Greece announced the bond issue

Greece announces bond issue under the new government. According to the Associated Press, the new government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mistotakis plans to issue of a 7-year bond. It will be the first under the new government.

In a report published Monday, 15. July, Public Debt Management Agency of Greece listed banks on the control of running the auction. PDMA reports are usually presented on the eve of the auction.

Greece is deemed to establish a 2.5 billion-euro ($2.8 billion) goal for its latest bond issue. That should complete market borrowing requirements for this year.

The previous bond auctions were successful. The government under Syriza and ex-prime minister Alexis Tsipras issued 5-year and 10-year bonds.

Greece rose funds on bond markets after a series of three consecutive international bailout programs.

Low yields in EU countries were helpful.

The new prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has chaired his Cabinet’s first meeting. He promised to reform the system of governance. The main goal is to improve the everyday lives of Greeks, he said. Also, he urged the other members of the new government to follow this intention.

Greece’s conservative New Democracy party won the national election on July 7, 2019. This party defeated the ruling Syriza party.

New Democracy returned to power with decent success in snap elections. Prime Minister-elect Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he had a definite mandate for change, promising more investments. Also, he promised to decrease taxes.

“I am committed to fewer taxes, many investments, for good and new jobs, and growth which will bring better salaries and higher pensions in an efficient state,” Mitsotakis said.

Greece had a positive result after analysis by its EU partners who loaned Greece billions.

The economic matters in Greece

The focus is on Mitsotakis’s choice for the key economics ministries – finance, energy, and development. The minister of Foreign affairs come along with them.

Mitsotakis inherits an economy that is growing at a moderate growth. It is at a 1.3% annual pace in the first quarter of this year.

The public finances may fall below the targets accepted with lenders.

The Bank of Greece predicts that 3.5% of GDP primary surplus target without debt servicing outlays is possible to be missed this year. Its prediction is that Greece can reach 2.9% of economic output reasonably.

The fiscal policy of the new government has to be rigorously watched.

But, the true test will be next year’s budget.

People in Greece live on the financial edge.

The young people are leaving the country in order to find jobs outside their country, in the EU.

Greek unemployment of 18% is the highest in the EU.

Greece remains under monitoring from lenders guarantee to avoid potential future fiscal slippage.

The economic growth has returned since Greece wrapped up its last economic adjustment program in 2018.

New Democracy has promised to create well-paid jobs. Honestly, they will have a hard job to answer the activities in some parts of Athens, where powerful anti-establishment movement is alive.

Living in Greece is difficult

The average monthly salary in Greece is about 600 euros. People, especially the young, are struggling to find decent jobs because of the absence of big international companies.

The expense of living in Greece is relatively lower than in the rest of Europe. But despite romantic expectations, it is difficult and struggling.

The per capita income is 18,613.42. That is almost 1/5 of Switzerland’s, for example. Yes, goods are cheaper there than in the rest of Europe. But the average salary isn’t enough so the people are hard to survive from pay-check to pay-check.

The new government has a great challenge.

16th July 2019