FRANCE: CYBERCRIME QUIZ. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW

By SIMON CONSTABLE 

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WSJ: How Much Do You Know About Cyber Scams? Take the Journal’s Quiz.

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The cyber scammers are still stealing your money, and, in many cases, they seem to be getting better at their chosen field, according to recently released data from the FBI.

The 2024 Internet Crime Report is the latest edition of an annual report on cybercrime scams reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It combines information from 859,532 complaints of suspected internet crime and details reported losses exceeding $16 billion. 

How much do you know about the latest scams? Test yourself on our quiz here.

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FRANCE: RECALLING TIANANMEN TRAGEDY YEAR 0NE, 1990. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

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WSJ: How Much Do You Know About Cyber Scams? Take the Journal’s Quiz.

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The cyber scammers are still stealing your money, and, in many cases, they seem to be getting better at their chosen field, according to recently released data from the FBI.

The 2024 Internet Crime Report is the latest edition of an annual report on cybercrime scams reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It combines information from 859,532 complaints of suspected internet crime and details reported losses exceeding $16 billion. 

How much do you know about the latest scams? Test yourself on our quiz.

1 OF 8

1. By how much did financial losses to cybercrime rise in 2024 from 2023? 

2 OF 8

2. Which age group suffered the most losses from all types of cyber fraud?

Read more here for more questions and answers.

 

Poland’s soaring economy sets stage for tight presidential race as US, EU watch closely

By SIMON CONSTABLE 

Poland is going to vote in a presidential runoff Sunday. The country is one of the few economic success stories in Europe. 

Its economy is growing far faster than some of the larger economies. It grew 2.9% last year, eclipsing 2.8% growth in the U.S. And it slammed Europe’s three largest economies with minus 0.2% growth for Germany and plus 1.1% for both in France and the U.K. 

Poland's economy has grown 11 times larger since 1986, almost twice as fast as the U.S. did over the same period.

"The last year or two has seen a boom, and it's getting publicity," Mateusz Urban, a senior economist at Oxford Economics in Warsaw, Poland, told FOX Business earlier this year. "There really is a European tiger right at Germany’s door." Read more here.

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LIVERPOOL: TRAGEDY INSTEAD OF JOY.. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW

By SIMON CONSTABLE

 

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#FRANCE: PLUM TREES RIPENING. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW

By SIMON CONSTABLE

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EU. DENMARK, NORWAY, SWEDEN RETHINKING NUKE POWER. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

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FRANCE: NUCLEAR POWER FLEET. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW

By SIMON CONSTABLE

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FOX News Digital: Denmark rethinks nuclear ban after Spain-Portugal blackout exposes green energy vulnerability

By SIMON CONSTABLE

FRANCE: After four decades of Denmark’s ban on nuclear power, the country is now considering reversing its anti-atomic stance. And that move may be part of a big change in how electricity gets generated in Europe. 

The Danes took note of the massive power outage last month that cut off electricity for the whole of Spain and neighboring Portugal plus some of southern France. The problem was that there was no reliable base power such as nuclear energy running on the grid at the time. Instead, those countries had to rely on frequently unstable renewable energy, such as solar and wind. 

Yet when the blackout arrived, Spain’s Prime Minister categorically ruled out an overreliance on solar and other renewable energy as a reason for the grid crashing. Still increasing numbers of people don’t see it that way. Read more here. 

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#NET ZERO: DENMARK, SWEDEN AND NORWAY ALARMED BY SPAIN PORTUGAL BLACKOUT. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW OCCITANIE.

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

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#FRANCE: UNDER THE HORSE CHESTNUT TREE. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW OCCITANIE

By SIMON CONSTABLE

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#FRANCE: EX-PATRIOTISM MEANS LOTS OF PAPER. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW OCCITANIE

By SIMON CONSTABLE

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#EU: LIGHTS OUT SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW OCCITANIE.

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

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WSJ: FINANCIAL FLASHBACK: 15 YEARS AGO: The 'Flash Crash'

By SIMON CONSTABLE

On May 6, 2010, something so strange happened in the stock market that it puzzled exceptionally experienced traders. Without warning, stock prices went into free fall at 2:42 p.m. ET. Within minutes, the Dow had fallen 998.50 points, then its biggest intraday point drop in history. Much of the drop reversed but the market closed down .

Some stocks, such as Accenture and Boston Beer, fell by as much as 100% for just a moment before rebounding. The normally ultrasteady Procter & Gamble fell by 35% in two minutes.

The plunge quickly became known as the “flash crash.” The question: What caused this?

There’s the fat-finger theory — someone accidentally making a huge stock order, triggering computer-operated algorithms to sell. “The algos didn’t precipitate it, but they contributed,” says Sam Stovall, CFRA’s head of U.S. equity strategy.

Another factor could have been the halt in trading by some algo companies and the political tension on the streets of Greece, was yet another idea. “Televisions showed images of standoffs between Greek police and protesters,” The Wall Street Journal reported. Read more here.

FOX: Spain's push for net-zero backfires with crippling power outage across 2 nations

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Last Monday was a tough day for citizens of Spain and Portugal. 

Both countries were hit by an hourslong power outage that some say was the worst such event in living memory. What they did not get was a clear explanation of how it all happened. At least not from the government. It’s Read more here. 

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Financial History Magazine: Tulips, Paper Money, Limited Liability and Financial Crime

By SIMON CONSTABLE 

Financial innovations often get overheated. Frequently there seems to be a mania, then a crash, which is followed first by state prosecutions and then acceptance of a new way of doing things. And, true to form, it has happened again seemingly in the form of cryptocurrency, which has fast become a cause célèbre.

Cryptocurrency began in January 2009 with the invention of Bitcoin; it built on the related blockchain technology introduced in 1991. One innovation was that the historical blockchain coding couldn’t be retrospectively altered. It was like a ledger where the prior entries could not be changed. Another distinctive characteristic was there would only ever be a fixed number of Bitcoins available. Once they’d all been discovered, or mined, there could be no more. This differentiated cryptocurrency from dollars, which get devalued as more and more bills get printed. For more than a few people, these two attributes were enough to embrace Bitcoin and blockchain. Read more here.

#UK: COPPER SPIKE. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW OCCITANIE

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

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UK: TARIFFS, RUSSIA, CHINA AND EUROPE'S AIRBUS BUY. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW OCCITANIE

By SIMON CONSTABLE

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Kiplinger's Retirement Report: Can the 'Guardrails Approach' Protect Your Retirement Investments?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

You may not have heard of the "guardrails approach," but this investing tool for retirement planning is worth considering, especially in a volatile market. That's because one of the biggest challenges for many people in retirement is ensuring their retirement investments last for the rest of their lives, yet leave a bequest to heirs. It’s a tough knot to untangle.

Part of the problem is that assets such as stocks and bonds are prone to be volatile. Some years offer solid double-digit returns and others are distinctly poor with tremendous losses. For instance, in 2022 the SPDR S&P 500 exchange-traded fund, which tracks the performance of the large-cap stocks, fell 18%. That same year, the bond market also declined, with U.S. 10-year Treasuries also falling 18%, according to data from New York University. Yet inflation spiked. Read more here.

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Barron's: Airbus Stock Could Gain From Boeing’s Woes. Sizing Up the China Question.

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

Shares of European aircraft and military manufacturer Airbus could be set to take off following recent turbulence. The company is outpacing its main rival, U.S.-based Boeing, which has suffered from two 737 MAX crashes, a plane door falling off, and a major strike, not to say stranding two astronauts in orbit after Boeing Starliner problems. Airbus should also benefit as Europe builds up military capabilities.

“As a long-term holding, Airbus is a good name,” says Nick Owens, an equity analyst at Morningstar. He thinks the fair value of the stock is priced at 165 euros ($188), or 19% higher than the recent €139. “Airbus has a strong franchise and long-term viability,” he says. Read more here.

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#FRANCE: PLUMS RIPEN IN PARADISE. @REALCONSTABLE @BATCHELORSHOW.

By SIMON CONSTABLE

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Lesueur, Jean-Baptiste (Paris, en 1749 - Plailly, en 1826), dessinateur, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Briefings magazine: ‘Economists get it so wrong.’ Mission Impossible: Predicting Recessions

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

Over time, recessions come and go. It’s just a fact of life. And if one might be imminent, business leaders and politicians all want to know. After all, if a recession could be right around the corner, a company might want to cut back on expenses or hire new employees. But there’s a problem: Few predictions of these economic collapses are right.

Indeed, try as they might, economists are almost always missing the mark. In mid-2022, many all but promised an imminent US recession—one that still hasn’t shown up more than two years later. Likewise, the COVID-19 recession wasn’t widely foretold, nor the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009. Mere months before the 1930s began, economists weren’t forecasting the Great Depression, says Jack Ablin, founding partner at wealth-management company Cresset Capital. “This isn’t a new phenomenon,” he says.

Famed economist John Kenneth Galbraith summed up the failure with a quip: “The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.” Other pundits substitute weather forecasters for astrologists. Nevertheless, the question remains: Why do economists get it so wrong so often? Read more here.