For those who are beginners to hedging, it may seem like a challenging prospect. However, if conducted correctly, hedging is an excellent way of minimising financial risk and losses. We’ve partnered with hedging experts from JCRA, to bring you a concise guide on hedging, so read on to see how it could benefit you. What Is Hedging? In layman’s terms, hedging can be defined as ‘insurance’. More specifically, the term refers to the art of transferring or offsetting risk. Hedging techniques are used by investors, corporations and even individuals to reduce their vulnerability to risks. For example: if an individual buys car insurance, t...
WTI Crude Oil The WTI Crude Oil market tried to rally a bit during the thin trading session on Monday, but you can see that we turned around. Ultimately, the shooting star that formed for the day suggests that we could roll over again. Ultimately, the market will continue to be volatile, and you can make an argument for a downtrend in general. However, if we break above the shooting star for the day, it’s likely that the market will continue to reach towards the $49 level, and then eventually the $50 level. I think the $50 level will be massively resistive, and would be an excellent area the start selling from. However, it’s possible we m...
Black Bear Value Fund commentary for the second quarter ended June 30, 2017. “The areas of consensus shift unbelievably fast; the bubbles of certainty are constantly exploding.” – Rem Koolhaas To My Partners and Friends: Black Bear Value Fund, LP (the “Fund”) returned approximately 1.1% in the 2nd quarter of 2017 (1) bringing the year-to-date net return to 0.3%. This compares to 2.6% for the S&P 500 in the quarter, bringing its year-to-date return to 8.2%. As many of you already know a substantial amount of the Fund’s capital is my own. Whereas new fund managers spend most of their time raising money, I spend most of my time f...
Reports suggesting that North Korea is moving an ICBM missile toward launch pad in the western part of the country at night to minimize detection, while South Korea is escalating its military preparedness and the US seeks new sanctions, keep investors on edge. Risk assets are mixed. Gold is slightly lower. While the yen is stronger, the Swiss franc is heavier. Asia equities slipped, and European shares are recouping much of yesterday’s 0.5% loss. The Korean story is likely to continue to provide the main geopolitical backdrop to the investment climate. There is some thought that North Korea may launch its ICBM as early as Septembe...
Previous: On Monday the 4th of September, trading on the euro/dollar pair closed up. The rate went up as the dollar fell in the aftermath of North Korea’s nuclear bomb test. Since the US and Canada both celebrated Labor Day yesterday, banks and exchanges in these countries were all closed and so activity was low on the currency market in the second half of the day. During the US session, the euro/dollar rate stabilised around the 1.1900 mark. Day’s news (GMT+3): 10:15 Switzerland: CPI (Aug). 10:55 Germany: Markit services PMI (Aug). 11:00 Eurozone: Markit services PMI (Aug). 11:30 UK: Markit services PMI (Aug). 12:00 Eurozone: retail sal...
After opening the day in green, share markets in India witnessed choppy trades and pared early gains and are currently trading marginally above the dotted line. Sectoral indices are trading on a mixed note with stocks in the realty sector and stocks in the consumer durables sector leading the gains. Stocks in the telecom sector are trading in red. The BSE Sensex is trading up by 30 points (up 0.1%), and the NSE Nifty is trading up by 11 points (up 0.1%). Meanwhile, the BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.2%, while the BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.6%. The rupee is trading at 64.10 to the US$. In news about the econom...
With the financially crippling impact of student debt long been known of, and measures routinely suggested from governments and universities to lessen the load, it seems hard in some respects to believe that the amount of debt people are graduating with is actually on the sharp incline, but there are several reasons that could explain why this well documented problem has been allowed to worsen over the years. Rising interest rates and inflation From September 2017, interest on student loans taken out in England was raised to 6.1%. This equates to an additional cost of £5,800 for the average undergraduate. Student loans were once famed...
China banned the popular practice of raising funds by launching token-based digital currencies, a move which directly targeted initial coin offerings (ICOs), which have become increasingly popular in the past year. According to reports, this ban was the first of what is expected to be a series of regulatory controls implemented on cryptocurrencies. To date, $2.32 billion has been raised through ICOs worldwide, with $2.216 percent of that being raised in 2017 alone. Ethereum, the cryptocurrency of choice for token-issuers, plummeted on the news, down nearly 20 percent on Tuesday to $283, after starting the decline on Monday afternoon. Bitcoin ...
XAU/USD swung between gains and losses after opening with a gap up and ended the day with minor losses. Gold has been supported by tensions on the Korean Peninsula and the recent volatility in world stock markets. Asian equities and the U.S. dollar index are slightly lower on Tuesday. The U.S. economic calendar is relatively light this week but it is full of Fed speakers. From a chart perspective, the medium-term trend continues to favor the upside. The market is above the weekly and the daily Ichimoku clouds and the Tenkan-sen (nine-period moving average, red line) and the Kijun-sen (twenty six-period moving average, green line) are positive...