Global Banking Stocks Hit Hard By FinCEN Leak
by ValueWalk - September 21st, 2020 12:33 pm
By Gorilla Trades. Originally published at ValueWalk.
Commenting on the impact of FinCEN leak on global banking stocks and today’s trading Gorilla Trades strategist Ken Berman said:
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The major indices are all trading considerably lower at midday following the most bearish overnight session since June. The S&P 500, the Nasdaq, and the Dow all hit new correction lows in early trading, but the tech benchmark has been slightly stronger than its peers. The troubling European COVID trends reignited the “lockdown trade” and put pressure on the most sensitive industries and cyclical issues, in general. The number of new cases continues to rise in several European countries and it seems very likely that further containment measures will be introduced in the U.K., France, and Spain, putting the global economic recovery in jeopardy.
FinCEN Leak Hits Global Banking Stocks
Global banking stocks were also hit hard due to a report uncovering a staggering $2 trillion in suspicious transactions over the course of two decades. JP Morgan (JPM, -4.2%), Goldman Sachs (GS, -3.0%), the British HSBC (HSBC, -6.3%), and German giant Deutsche Bank (DB, -8.3%) suffering the biggest losses and HSBC hit a new 25-year low. Oracle (ORCL,+2.4%) and has been contributing the most to the tech sector’s relative strength, with the company’s shares being propelled to a new all-time high by the approval of its deal with TikTok.
Market Wrap
Dow: 26,738, – 896 or 3.2%
S&P 500: 3,232 – 87 or 2.6%
Nasdaq: 10,585, – 208 or 1.9%
Russell 2000: 1,478, – 59 or 3.9%
Market breadth has been relatively weak this morning, as small-caps fell by the most since mid-June, with decliners outnumbering advancing issues by a more than 10-to-1 ratio on the NYSE at midday. 40 stocks hit new 52-week lows on the NYSE and the Nasdaq, while only 11 stocks hit new 52-week highs. The major indices have been trading below daily VWAPs (Volume-Weighted Average Price) for most of the morning session, pointing to intraday selling pressure. Materials, energy-related issues, and industrials are more than 4% lower on average at midday, with financials only faring slightly better admit the rout, and besides tech stocks, only the defensive utilities and consumer staples have been showing notable relative strength this morning. Stay…
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FinCEN Files Leaked: Big Banks Moving Dirty Money
by ValueWalk - September 21st, 2020 12:29 pm
By Jacob Wolinsky. Originally published at ValueWalk.
FinCEN leaked documents involving about $2tn of transactions have revealed how some of the world’s biggest banks have allowed criminals to move dirty money around the world.
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The FinCEN files are more than 2,500 documents, most of which were files that banks sent to the US authorities between 2000 and 2017. They raise concerns about what their clients might be doing.
These documents are some of the international banking system‘s most closely guarded secrets and they were leaked to Buzzfeed News and shared with a group that brings together investigative journalists from around the world, which distributed them to 108 news organisations in 88 countries, including the BBC’s Panorama programme.
More on that story here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54226107
Comments on FinCEN Leak
Ilia Kolochenko, Founder & CEO of web security company ImmuniWeb, Master of Legal Studies (WASHU) & MS Criminal Justice and Cybercrime Investigation (BU), comments:
“This sensational and unprecedented leak clearly demonstrates a wide spectrum of data protection weaknesses in the governmental sector, affecting even the most developed Western countries. In light of the diversity and long timeline of the leaked documents, we may hypothesize that the documents were likely stolen by an insider, or in a silent breach of FinCEN or one of its suppliers.
From a cybersecurity standpoint, we may expect a growing lack of trust to governmental agencies, which on one side have quasi unlimited access to the most sensitive data of the largest organizations, while cannot duly safeguard this data on the other side. A transparent investigation is required to restore confidence. We might likewise foresee a further hardening of data protection laws that could dramatically exacerbate the situation if implemented too rapidly or overbroadly.
From a legal standpoint, the organizations and other entities mentioned in the research, may have a cause of action against many parties potentially accountable for negligent data protection and possible non-compliance with the enacted data protection laws, however, the chances to prevail in a court of law are fairly small. Moreover, given the extremely delicate and toxic nature of the exposed documents, they are better to discreetly settle the matter.”
The post FinCEN Files Leaked: Big Banks Moving Dirty Money appeared first on ValueWalk.
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G20 Trade and Investment Ministers Meet to Support Global Economic Recovery
by ValueWalk - September 21st, 2020 12:28 pm
By Jacob Wolinsky. Originally published at ValueWalk.
G20 Trade and Investment Ministers will hold a meeting under the Saudi G20 Presidency on September 22, 2020, to strengthen trade and investment policy cooperation towards an inclusive and sustainable economic growth amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Ministers will discuss progress made on the “G20 Actions to Support World Trade and Investment in Response To COVID-19” agreed upon on May 14, 2020. They will also discuss ways to support the necessary reform of the World Trade Organization, to encourage greater international competitiveness of Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs), to foster economic diversification and to strengthen international investment.
Dr. Majid Al Qasabi, the Saudi Minister of Commerce, and Eng. Khaled Al Faleh, the Saudi Minister of Investment, will hold a press conference after the ministerial meeting to present its outcomes.
Further information about the G20, including the Presidency Agenda and full program of events, can be found at www.g20.org
G20 Trade and Investment Ministers Meet to Support Global Economic Recovery
Introduction
The G20 Saudi Presidency welcomes media to the virtual press conference for the G20 Trade and Investment Ministers Meeting on September 22, 2020.
This document provides background information and relevant logistical information for the media and details about participating in the press conference.
The G20
The G20 is the premier forum for international economic cooperationbringing together the leaders of both developed and developing countries from every continent. Collectively, G20 members represent around 80% of the world’s economic output, two-thirds of the global population, and three-quarters of international trade. Throughout the year, representatives from G20 countries gather to discuss financial and socioeconomic issues.
The Saudi G20 Presidency began on December 1, 2019, and will end on November 30, 2020. The Leaders’ Summit will be held on in November in Riyadh. In the run-up to the Summit, the Presidency will host more than 100 meetings and conferences, including ministerial meetings, as well as meetings of officials and representatives from civil society.
Each G20 Presidency develops a theme for the year which is central to international discussions. The Saudi G20 Presidency will focus discussions, forums, working groups, and Ministerial Meetings under the theme of: “Realizing Opportunities of the 21st Century for All.”
Sherpa
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What’s Behind the USDX Breakout?
by ValueWalk - September 21st, 2020 11:43 am
By Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA. Originally published at ValueWalk.
So far, 2020 has been an incredible and challenging year for the many markets, and that does not exclude gold, arguably one of the most important and most valuable commodities in the world.
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Gold’s Long-term Turning Point
The yellow metal’s price is influenced by a myriad of obvious and non-obvious short and long-term factors, such as the long-term turning point and its self-similar pattern. In recent months, we’ve already discussed the presence of gold’s long-term turning point in broad detail. Furthermore, only a couple of weeks ago, we’ve learned about the powerful self-similarity pattern in gold, making sense of similarly shaped patterns in the marketplace over different periods.
In today’s analysis, we’ll discuss both, starting with the former. Let’s take a look at gold’s long-term chart.
We used the purple lines to mark the previous price moves that followed gold’s long-term turning points, and we copied them to the current situation. We copied both the rallies and declines, which is why it seems that some moves would suggest that gold moves back in time – the point is to show how important the turning point is in general.
Gold’s Big Rally
The big change here is that due to gold’s big rally, we moved our downside target for it higher. Based on the information that we have available right now, it seems likely that gold will bottom close to the $1,700 level. That’s very much in tune with how much gold moved after the previous long-term turning points.
Having said that, let’s take a look at gold’s short-term chart.
Gold is already after the breakdown below the rising red support line, which makes the short-term outlook bearish, especially that this breakdown was confirmed.
And what about the likely target? Please note that the if gold declines to the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement based on the most recent rally, it would also decline – approximately – to the April – June lows… Making this support very strong. And – guess what – this price target is in tune with what we already wrote above based on the long-term turning point’s consequences.
Moreover, that’s not the most important…
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DeFi Yield Farming: 26,000% Yearly Returns=Not Sustainable
by ValueWalk - September 21st, 2020 10:52 am
By Alexa Serrano. Originally published at ValueWalk.
If you’ve been following cryptocurrency lately, you’ve probably heard the terms “DeFi” and “yield farming” being thrown around.
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“DeFi” refers to the sophisticated new cryptocurrency ecosystem that emerged in force this year, consisting of useful, interoperable blockchain applications, rather than the standalone coins that have dominated the cryptocurrency space to date.
And “yield farming” refers to a way of utilising (some would say exploiting) these systems for the purpose of very quickly making jaw-dropping, eye-watering, loin-girding amounts of money.
How about up to 2,400% APY equivalent?
SushiSwap
Still not enough? Well, there’s also 26,000% per year returns if you’re into that kind of thing.
Kimchi farming
Kimchi returns used to be as high as the 200,000% range, but it’s settled down a bit since then.
This has got to be some kind of scam
A wise person once said: If it’s too good to be true, it is.
That’s the case here, in a way, but it’s not necessarily because these are outright scams.
For clarity, it’s worth emphasising that many of these types of cryptocurrencies with insane returns absolutely are total scams, and you will be fleeced if you risk any funds in them. But it should also be said that just because the returns are ridiculous, doesn’t automatically mean it’s a scam.
It can be difficult to understand, even for farmers.
Show me the (source of the) money
Let’s focus on SushiSwap as a case study. It’s the one currently delivering humble returns of around 2,000% APY equivalent.
There are three factors coming together to deliver these yields:
- The token. The returns are being paid in newly-created SUSHI tokens rather than “real money” so no one’s actually losing money by paying out these yields.
- The inflation rate. These returns are temporarily supercharged in an effort to distribute these tokens more widely. The token inflation rate is currently sky high, but the amount of SUSHI tokens being awarded will get cut to a fraction of its current rate in roughly a week from the time of writing.
- The market. The SUSHI token market has so far been able to absorb this insane rate of inflation without
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Healthcare Coverage Is Still A Winning Issue
by ValueWalk - September 21st, 2020 10:43 am
By Steve Slavin. Originally published at ValueWalk.
During the mid-term election two years ago, the Democrats won by emphasizing the importance of protecting the Affordable Care Act of 2010, aka Obamacare, and expanding healthcare coverage for more Americans. But in 2020, the deep recession, the pandemic — and to a lesser degree, racial justice – have become the dominant issues.
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Medicare For All
And yet, as late as March of this year, the expansion of healthcare coverage was the dominant issue during the Democratic primary. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren led the charge for Medicare for All, while many of their rivals opted for a much less ambitious voluntary public insurance option.
Now, just six weeks before the November 3rd presidential election, healthcare remains just a secondary issue. But last week, at a televised voters’ forum at Pennsylvania’s Kutztown University, President Donald Trump announced that he now had “a great plan” to replace Obamacare.
Of course, over the last four years he has made virtually identical pronouncements, but no details ever followed. Still, Mr. Trump has clearly set the all-time record for kicking the proverbial can down the road.
The Importance Of Healthcare Coverage
A discussion of healthcare coverage has become increasingly urgent since the spring, as our economy fell into the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, accompanied by an extremely deadly pandemic which has already killed over 200,000 Americans. It now growing increasingly likely that healthcare may soon vault into contention as a major campaign issue.
Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats have not yet done this. But health care will be back at center stage on September 29h, during the first presidential debate.
On November 10th, one week after Election Day, the U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments for and against the abolition of Obamacare, with a decision to be rendered in the spring. Just think of the repercussions if millions of Americans lose their health insurance during a deep recession and a pandemic.
The post Healthcare Coverage Is Still A Winning Issue appeared first on ValueWalk.
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Reducing Post-Ruth Bader Ginsburg Risk
by ValueWalk - September 21st, 2020 10:43 am
By David Pinsen. Originally published at ValueWalk.
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The Passing Of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Raises The Temperature
American political tensions were at a low boil earlier this month, when former Trump administration official Michael Anton warned of a coup. Reactions over the weekend to the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg suggest her death has raised heat. Below we’ll look at ways we can limit our risk as investors. First, here’s a quick sampling of some of the heated reactions.
Heated Reactions
RBG mourners in Manhattan fought with police who attempted to arrest them for blocking the street.
NYC pic.twitter.com/PqKmPu3Hhb
— Maria No Mercy Viti (@selfdeclaredref) September 19, 2020
Former CNN host Reza Aslan was one of a number of Twitter celebrities threatening violence in the event Republicans replaced RBG.
Former CNN Host Who Once Ate Human Brains: ‘If They Even TRY to Replace RBG We Burn the Entire F-cking Thing Down’ https://t.co/qS0JGOjxPR
— Cassandra Fairbanks (@CassandraRules) September 19, 2020
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut issued a vaguer threat; First Trust Avisors’ Deputy Chief Economist, Robert Stein wondered if the threat included a coup:
How about a coup?
On or off the table? https://t.co/IbXox1YbDE— Robert Stein (@BobStein_FT) September 19, 2020
Finally, liberal actor and activist Rob Reiner, after lamenting the loss of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, argued the November election was a matter of life and death.
We are at an existential crossroads. Whether we live or die actually depends on our vote.
— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) September 20, 2020
The Political Risk
A financial journalist asked me over the weekend what I thought the market reactions would be to a Trump or a Biden victory in November. That reminded me of concerns of left-leaning investors four years ago that Trump would be a disaster. As I wrote at the…
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BLM Wild Horse Management Adding Fuel To Wildfire Flames!
by ValueWalk - September 21st, 2020 10:42 am
By William E. Simpson II. Originally published at ValueWalk.
At a time when we need more large-bodied herbivores like wild horses grazing-off grass and brush wildfire fuels in and around rural and wilderness lands (public and private), we have the obtuse removal of wild horses from remote wilderness areas by the BLM.
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The actions of the BLM Lakeview Oregon Office are benefiting a handful of profit motivated people at the expense of the health, safety and welfare of many Americans!
Illegal Pokegama Roundup
TO: Mr. Todd Forbes – District Manager
BLM Lakeview Oregon Office; and, Et. Al.
James Price – BLM
Kevin Healey – BLM
Robert Sharp – BLM
CC: James Buchal – Attorney At Law
Elizabeth Burghard – BLM District Manager Medford
Lauren Brown – BLM Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Manager
Mr. James E. Smith – Siskiyou County Agricultural Commissioner
Eleonore Blume – California Assistant Attorney General
Congressman Greg Walden
Oregon Representative Dennis Linthicum
Carla Bowers – Wild Horse Advocate
Marybeth Devlin – Wild Horse Advocate
Kathleen Hayden – Wild Horse Advocate
Senator Alan DeBoer – Wild Horse Advocate
Britt Ivy-Boice – Wild Horse Advocate
Darice Massey – Wild Horse Advocate
Shannon Watt – Wild Horse Advocate
Michael Harris – Attorney – Friends Of Animals
Jennifer Best – Attorney – Friends Of Animals
Concerned Citizens, News Agencies, and Wild Horse/Wildlife Advocates
RE: Illegal Pokegama Roundup
September 19, 2020 – Via Email Only
Dear Mr. Forbes:
Your reply demonstrates the BLM’s proven lack of concern for the will of the American people in general, and who do not support the BLMs methods and tactics. And as we can now clearly see employs tactics that essentially only serve a select few people who directly benefit by the BLM’s highly questionable methods, instead of serving the best interests of Americans as a whole in the management of their natural resources.
Your current management methods are, according to the best science, jeopardizing the health, safety and welfare of Americans by increasing wildfire fuels via your flawed management.
You responded to my legal citations and authority therein with nothing more than hearsay opinions; not a shred of relevant legal citation. And that’s because you have none. You seem to expect Americans like me to just trust…
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Supreme Court tussle may further delay coronavirus stimulus checks
by ValueWalk - September 21st, 2020 10:31 am
By Aman Jain. Originally published at ValueWalk.
There are already quite a few things that are delaying the next relief package. Now, add one more reason to that list. The focus of Capitol Hill is now likely to shift to the appointment of a new Supreme Court justice. This, many believe, could further delay the next coronavirus stimulus checks.
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Supreme Court Battle to delay coronavirus stimulus checks?
Following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last week said that he would hold a vote before the November election, in order to fill the vacant seat.
President Donald Trump is also in favor of this, saying that he wants to nominate a Supreme Court justice “without delay.” Trump has already vowed to appoint a woman.
Democrats, including Joe Biden, however, are opposing it. They say that the winner of the November election must get the opportunity to nominate the next Supreme Court justice.
With both sides at odds over one more matter, it is unlikely they would focus on resolving already pending issues. Things were already looking gloomy for the next relief package. Now, this matter of appointing the next Supreme Court justice could further delay the coronavirus stimulus checks.
Even before this matter came up, not many were expecting a deal on the next stimulus package before the November election. Several efforts to bridge the gap have already failed, including the $1.5 trillion bill proposed by a bipartisan group last week. The proposal was rejected by Democrats who believe that it was inadequate to meet the needs of Americans.
Other reasons for delay
Along with the issue of appointing a Supreme Court justice, another matter that could likely delay the relief package is the funding for the federal government. Congress will have to pass a resolution to keep the government working beyond September 30, 2020. Since this needs the approval of both sides, it is expected that passing this resolution would take some time.
With just a few weeks left before the November election and three important issues still pending – federal government funding, filling the Supreme Court seat and deciding on the next relief package – it is likely that…
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Five Ways Technology is Changing the Face of Online Betting
by ValueWalk - September 21st, 2020 9:29 am
By Anna Peel. Originally published at ValueWalk.
Rapid advances in technology are revolutionizing the betting and gaming world. In the age of the cloud, online betting is a booming industry. There are also specific ways that new advances in technology enhance this kind of digital activity.
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Some of them relate to the user experience, while others, like provably fair gaming, are critical to providing the trust and verification that players need to be confident in their wagers.
Provably Fair Gaming
The provably fair gaming industry relies on verification methods pioneered by blockchains and decentralized consensus models.
To go all the way back to the birth of cryptocurrency, we have the mysterious Satoshi, who engineered Bitcoin as a consensus-based asset.
The easy way to explain this is that a centralized bank doesn’t verify your Bitcoin holdings. Instead, a collection of participants verify blockchain outcomes together. If you have 150 people at a wedding, and there’s no paper record of that wedding, you can still get those 150 people to verify that it happened. That’s the basic idea.
By bringing that idea of consensus verification to gaming, operators are able to prove to players that the numbers are real and fair, without any centralized verification processes.
This is a game-changer (no pun intended) because without this type of consensus verification, players wouldn’t be able to trust online gaming platforms at all. It would be too easy for operators to simply manipulate the numbers, whether it’s a card game, random number generation or something else.
Companies like FortuneJack are building on this capability, to offer verifiable provably fair gaming services to audiences and end users. As the “original Bitcoin casino,” FortuneJack combines an advanced crypto-gambling platform (with a diversity of gaming options) with the experience and skill to design appropriate security, fairness, and verification, so that players always know they aren’t being cheated.
The “Seeing” Power of Oracles
Building on that concept of provably fair gaming, we have independent technologies called “oracles” that can help ensure those fair outcomes.
An oracle, in decentralized finance and elsewhere, is a consensus authority that takes data and makes it verified. In applications that involve decentralized apps or “d-apps,…
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Philip R. Davis is a founder Phil's Stock World, a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders...
Ilene is editor and affiliate program
coordinator for PSW.