Forbes: Bitcoin Markets Hide Vast Risk-Free Profits, Study Shows

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Hundreds of millions of dollars a year in risk-free profits could be hiding in the markets for Bitcoin, experts say. 

The market for Bitcoin has grown massively in the decade or so since the cryptocurrency got invented. But that growth has not come in tandem with efficient markets where the price of one bitcoin is worth roughly the same on every cryptocurrency exchange, according to new research published recently in the Financial Analysts Journal (FAJ). Read more here.

Flying Logos, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Korn Ferry: What Are Your Revenues Next Month? $1 Million? $1,000?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Usually, when businesses decide the volume of products that they want to produce, they have a slew of data to study. Last month’s sales, seasonality, the buying patterns of big customers, even changes in government regulations can be useful guides.

But such things don’t seem very relevant now and likely still won't be when the economies of the world get back to business as the coronavirus pandemic fades. "No one knows how the demand will be restarted or the supply," says Yannick Binvel, president of Korn Ferry's Global Industrial Market practice. Read more here.

John Batchelor Show: Scotland remains in lockdown

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Forbes: The Real Reason Oil Futures Plunged On Monday Isn’t What You Think

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Ouch! On the face of it, things look bad for the oil market. 

That’s an easy conclusion to make from the epic dive crude oil futures prices took on Monday. But the bigger story is far more complicated than most would like to admit.

Most of the issue revolves around oil delivery rules and storage capacity issues specific to a single location in Oklahoma. Read more here.

Forbes: 4 Reasons To Bet On An Oil Rally

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Finally, some good news for the oil patch.

The price of oil should rally at least 37% this year following a weekend agreement by the members of OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) and some recently affiliated nations, experts say. Read more here.

Korn Ferry: The Crisis as a Tipping Point for 3D Printing

By SIMON CONSTABLE

3D printing started out as a novelty invention and grew to become a small but fast-growing part of the manufacturing world. Now, COVID-19 has given a whole new meaning to the value of this technology in today’s gridlocked world of supply chains. 

Used for creating everything from oil rig replacement parts to artificial skin for a cosmetics maker, the technology could be an important answer to companies that outsourced heavily and now find themselves helpless. The technique, of course, employs computer codes to allow for the production of items via local machines, eliminating the need for a far-flung manufacturer. Read more here.

Photo by Tom Claes on Unsplash

John Batchelor Show: Edinburgh quiet but glorious in springtime of the virus

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Forbes: COVID-19 Panic Sparks Record-Breaking Gold Buying Binge During First Quarter

By SIMON CONSTABLE 

The COVID-19 pandemic has made investors go crazy for gold so far this year. 

In the first quarter, they snapped up a record-breaking $23 billion of exchange-traded funds that hold the metal, according to a recent report from the World Gold Council. These investments include the grand-daddy of all bullion ETFs, the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD). Read more here.

Forbes: How COVID-19 Killed The Stock Buyback Program

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The COVID-19 pandemic may have torpedoed one of corporate America’s favorite activities: Buying back their own shares.

Since the end of the financial crisis a decade ago, each year the companies in the S&P 500 index have spent hundreds of billions of dollars conducting stock buybacks.

But this year the COVID-19 virus will likely put an enormous dent in those programs. Read more here.

WSJ: A 3x ETF Shows the Perils of Leverage

BY SIMON CONSTABLE

The market tumult has highlighted a potential double hazard for individual investors: the pitfalls of leveraged funds, and the need to read the fine print in any investment.

One particular fund provides an instructive example for both issues. It is Direxion Daily S&P 500 High Beta Bull 3X Shares (HIBL), which is designed to deliver three times the return of the daily move in the S&P 500 High Beta Index. Read more here.

NYSE Trading Floor 1963

pingnews.com, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Forbes: April Will Bring Peak Virus Panic, Analysts Say

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Here’s some bad news and good news for investors.

First the bad news.

This month is going to look bleak when it comes to news about the killer virus COVID-19, experts say.

"We have been commenting for months that the month of April would be the key month where the virus panic would likely peak," states a recent report from financial firm Hackett Financial LLC. Read more here.

Photo by Viktor Forgacs on Unsplash

Korn Ferry: The Risk of Cutting Dividends

By SIMON CONSTABLE

If there is one pattern that is holding true in the global pandemic era, it’s that one company after another is making some hard choices about paying. Pay employees? Pay vendors? And increasingly, the knife is hitting the once unthinkable: dividends. Read more here.

WSJ: These Robots Want to Make Sure You Don’t Do Anything Stupid With Your Money

By SIMON CONSTABLE

One of the most persistent problems for individual investors is that they do things to mess up their finances even when they should know better.

But don’t worry. Robots are coming to the rescue. Read more here.

WSJ: Gold Funds Fell 21.4% in the Quarter, Despite the Coronavirus Panic

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Why did gold prices fail to rally on news that the coronavirus had morphed into a pandemic? It’s the opposite of what many would have expected.

Gold-oriented mutual funds and exchange-traded funds posted average total returns of minus 21.4% in the first quarter, according to Lipper data—in line with or worse than many fund categories. The average U.S.-stock fund, by comparison, fell nearly 24.6%. Read more here.

Andrzej Barabasz (Chepry), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

WSJ: What Is ‘Buy the Panic’?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

What does it mean when investment professionals say, “Buy the panic”?

It’s a phrase that investors might hear frequently given the recent widespread selling in the stock market. Despite snapback rallies on several days, the S&P 500 is down 23% for the year so far. Read more here.

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