After being a staunch critic of Twitter for years, Elon Musk has acquired a 9.2% stake in the company for an estimated $2.9 billion in a deal that is widely seen as an attempt to shake things up at the social media platform. Twitter’s stock surged 27% on April 4 following the ownership announcement. Currently the world’s richest person with a net worth of over...
The Swedish krona is among the major currencies that are susceptible to the latest developments in East Europe alongside the Euro, and both have been a basis for market sentiment surrounding the conflict on markets and economies. On March 7, as the third round of peace talks capped off without any breakthroughs and as energy prices surged to a 14-year high, the...
Worries of a looming recession intensified late Thursday last week after the yield on the two-year US Treasury bonds hit 2.337% as the yield on 10-year bonds fell to 2.331%, marking an inversion that usually preceded previous periods recessions. It was the first negative spread since 2019. However, Treasury yields flipped again on April 1 and again on April 4,...
2022 is looking like a year of stock splits as companies seek to make their shares more appealing for retail investors. Following Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon's (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Tesla's (NASDAQ:TSLA) recent split announcements, GameStop (NYSE:GME) followed suit, hinting at plans for its first stock split in 15 years. The American video game retailer, which...
A raft of regulations targeting a number of sectors — from technology to real estate and education — have hammered Chinese stocks late last year and into 2022, and although many economists remain bullish on Chinese stocks’ potential, Beijing’s relationship with the Kremlin is now weighing on investor appetite for Chinese shares. On Friday, April 1, Shanghai’s SSE...
Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), the cryptocurrency exchange platform that is facing a class action lawsuit over its alleged listing of unregulated securities, on Wednesday fell 43% from its peak since it went public on the Nasdaq stock exchange nearly a year ago. The stock is down 21% from the reference price of $250 set by the Nasdaq when it debuted in April 2021. The...
The nickel market has been in disarray in recent weeks as prices soared to unprecedented levels before going on a freefall amid supply concerns and an unexpected short-squeeze by one of the world’s largest steelmakers. Nickel is one of the most common metal elements in the world used to make stainless steel, batteries, coins, and other metal applications. How...
The Japanese yen fell to a seven-year low of 125 against the US dollar on Monday as the Bank of Japan continued easing its monetary policy further widening the gap with the US Federal Reserve’s hawkish tone. But instead of seeing it as a threat to the Japanese economy, the BOJ reiterated that a weaker yen would have positive effects on pushing Japan’s GDP...
The Japanese yen fell to a seven-year low of 125 against the US dollar on Monday as the Bank of Japan continued easing its monetary policy further widening the gap with the US Federal Reserve’s hawkish tone. But instead of seeing it as a threat to the Japanese economy, the BOJ reiterated that a weaker yen would have positive effects on pushing Japan’s GDP...
In what is widely seen as an attempt to circumvent Western sanctions and prop up the Russian ruble, Russian President Vladimir Putin recently required “unfriendly” buyers of the country’s natural gas to pay in rubles, a move that could have far-reaching implications on global oil and energy supply. "I have decided to implement a set of measures to transfer...
The prices of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, the most popular of the lot, have been highly volatile in recent months due to conflicting regulatory signs and rising interest rates. Despite the massive sell-off of digital tokens, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk is among those who are still bullish on digital currencies. As such, the recently reminted $1...
Like many stock exchanges globally, the New Zealand stock exchange continues to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic-induced trough of 2020, although volatility remains as the pandemic drags on and as markets face new challenges such as the ongoing geopolitical tensions in Europe. NZX had a lackluster year in 2021 The NZX 50 ended 2021 flat at 13,033.77,...
Facebook’s transition into Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:FB) and Mark Zuckerberg’s big push into the metaverse — the concept of a shared 3D virtual platform where people can socialize, work, and play — spurred a sector-wide move by tech companies to branch out into other areas like gaming. The burgeoning gaming industry has transformed into a $198.4 billion sector in...
Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ: RIVN), the budding electric vehicle maker, initially bank-rolled by the likes of Ford (NYSE: F) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), is currently trading 80% lower than its peak since listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Bear in mind that Rivian was listed on the Nasdaq in November 2021, when you had to be very unlucky not to make money in the...
The US Federal Reserve kicked off its Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Tuesday, with the markets widely anticipating a 25 basis-point hike in what would be the first interest rate increase since 2018. Fed Chair Jerome Powell had earlier raised the prospect of a 25bp hike, telling a House financial services committee hearing two weeks ago that he is...
The worsening oil supply shortage in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine has sent pump prices to record highs in recent weeks, sparking fears of a catastrophic global oil crisis and soaring inflation. Despite these concerns, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other non-OPEC oil-exporting nations, a global oil cartel known as...
Allbirds (NASDAQ: BIRD), the New Zealand footwear company, was listed on the Nasdaq in November 2021 at a starting price of US $21.21 and found a range between US $20 and $30 for one month. Its mission to create the world's first carbon-neutral shoe brand appealed to investors, perhaps those of the ESG persuasion, who have pushed a record US $650 billion of funds...
Fears of the impact of Russia-Ukraine war on global inflation and recession have escalated in recent weeks and another major issue looming over the horizon are concerns that the conflict could result in a hunger crisis as both countries account for over a quarter of the world’s wheat exports. Wheat prices recently surged to a 14-year high, with the price of a...