Download PDF Introduction Shareholders have traditionally focused on aligning top managers’ interests, neglecting the broader employee base. But things are changing, as we witness more and more private equity firms offer less skilled employees stock options plans (ESOPs) – a chance for them to own part of their company. Leading Read more…
Download PDF US Equity Performance As we approach the end of the year, the narrative on the US stock market has greatly changed since September/October and especially since the beginning of the year as major macroeconomic uncertainty has now shifted to what the cutting cycle will look like due to Read more…
Download PDF Introduction One of the main drivers of foreign exchange rates is the change in current and expected interest rates, influenced by central banks’ forward guidance and economic releases. In this article, we explore a paper by Nicolas Georges (2014) and implement a systematic FX strategy on G10 currencies, Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Len Blavatnik, a Russian-born American billionaire who made his first fortune in post-Soviet Russia, is well known to many readers of financial news for his hugely profitable ownership of Warner Music [NASDAQ: WMG], which he took public in 2020, making a paper profit of as much as Read more…
Download PDF Introduction What was once the U.S.’ most valuable start-up just declared bankruptcy. Founded in 2010 by the charismatic entrepreneur Adam Neumann, WeWork aimed to revolutionize the traditional concept of office spaces. However, its meteoric rise was followed by a precipitous fall, marked by a harsh operating environment and Read more…
Download PDF USA Overall US equities rallied, propelled by the softer than expected CPI print for the month of October that came out on Tuesday. All major US indices registered a third consecutive week of gains, with the S&P 500 up 2.24%, with Energy as the biggest percentage gainer among Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Commodity Swaps are a widely used instrument for hedging and speculation in the commodities markets. Like other swaps, they are an OTC instrument where two counterparties agree on exchanging some cashflows based on the trend of an underlying security (most often oil, but also other commodities like Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Telecom Italia (TIM) [BIT: TIT], known for its excellence in telecommunications, is currently facing a challenging financial situation. With a staggering €27.5bn in net debt and a net debt ratio of 4.4x, TIM’s financial difficulties are substantial. Starting from October 2022, S&P downgraded TIM’s debt rating, a Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Structured financial products are complex and customized financial instruments that combine traditional assets with derivatives. They are designed to meet the specific needs and preferences of investors who are not satisfied with the conventional financial products available in the market. Structured financial products can offer various benefits, Read more…
Download PDF Introduction There is empirical evidence that index options, especially puts, are overpriced relative to individual stock options. Dispersion trading is a strategy aimed to capitalize from this mispricing. The aim of this article is to explore whether dispersion trading can still generate positive returns, but to generate a Read more…
Download PDF Introduction: Rebalance Timing Luck Every trading strategy has some turnover in its portfolio constituents; otherwise, it would simply be a buy-and-hold strategy. Equally, every index has some periodical rebalancing (and turnover) in its constituents. Often, the point in time at which this reshuffling of the portfolio takes place Read more…
Download PDF Introduction In the last two decades, the American skies underwent a radical transformation shaped by significant mergers. Southwest [LUV: NYSE], Delta [DAL: NYSE], United [UAL: NASDAQ] and American Airlines [AAL: NASDAQ] emerged as dominant players, holding 71.5% of the U.S. market. Contrastingly, Europe has faced a more fragmented Read more…
Download PDF USA All three US equity indexes ended the week on a high note, mainly driven by semiconductor and other tech stocks. Namely, Nasdaq recorded its best day since May 26th rising 2.37% driven by the big tech stocks: Apple, Microsoft and Meta Platforms rose 2.3%, 2.5% and 2.6%. Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Since Joe Biden was elected President of the United States in late 2020, antitrust enforcement action has, in the general population’s mind, moved from something we read about in history textbooks to something dominating the headlines. Whether it is through challenging the latest multi-billion dollar merger or Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) is natural gas that has been cooled to at least -162°C to transform the gas into a liquid for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transportation. This innovation has revolutionized the utilization of natural gas, addressing the historical challenges associated with the Read more…