History What made gold a unique asset is its shininess, its malleability and the property of endurable integrity over time. Thanks to these characteristics, it has been widely used in the history of mankind for two core aims: To celebrate the human power and wealth thanks to its magnificence, To Read more…
Introduction The purpose of this article is to analyse different futures markets on cryptocurrencies and try to find justifications for excessive premia and discrepancies in prices. Firstly, we are going to present a general overview on cryptocurrencies and futures, then a short analysis of premia and finally we’ll look at Read more…
US This week, the main event was the release on Wednesday of the minutes of the Fed’s January policy meeting. These confirmed the growing sense of confidence among policymakers over the outlook for the US economy and inflation giving further credit to the hypothesis that the FED will raise the Read more…
US On Wednesday some important economic figures were released. The Core CPI Index and the CPI Index went up respectively by 0.3% and 0.5% (MoM) in January fueling up US inflation expectations; the movement was larger than forecasted and was offset by the data on Retail Sales which went down Read more…
Introduction As we noted in our final publication of 2017, the year 2017 was characterized by very low volatility and stable positive returns on the majority of stock markets. This took place even despite the start of stimulus withdrawal by major central banks which was seen in the gradual increase Read more…
Introduction The low-interest rate environment which has characterised the markets since the breakout of the financial crisis left fixed-income investors with one way to continue to benefit from high yields: emerging markets. In addition to this, China started a credit expansion in order to keep the levels of GDP growth Read more…
Introduction In January 2018, M&A activity surpassed investors’ expectations. According to a report by law firm Baker McKenzie, global mergers and acquisitions are expected to hit an 18-year record, reaching $3.2 trillion in 2018. To the same extent, cross-border M&A is expected to reach new time highs. In the December Read more…
Dr Pepper Snapple Group (NYSE:DPS) – market cap as of 17/02/2018: $28.78bn Introduction On January 29, 2018, Keurig Green Mountain, the coffee group owned by JAB Holding, announced the acquisition of soda maker Dr Pepper Snapple Group. Under the terms of the reverse takeover, Keurig will pay $103.75 per share Read more…
Introduction On the 8th of February 2018, the shareholders of the Italian high-speed train operator Italo-NTV (Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori) (“The Company”) have accepted the offer of Global Infrastructure Partners (“GIP”) for the disposal of 100% of their stake, for an equity value of around €1.94bn. As a result, the plan Read more…
In this article we would like to assess the current year from a macroeconomic as well as from a market perspective. 2017 – The Year Almost Behind Us So far, 2017 has been characterized by: Synchronized global growth reaching 3,7% Equities (+17,3%) outperformed bond (+2,6%) Sector-by-sector speaking healthcare (+19,3%) and Read more…
United States US stocks closed mostly higher on the week ended December 1, 2017. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded its best weekly gain for the year, gaining 673.60 points (+2.9%) to close at 24,231.59. The S&P 500 Index gained 39.80 points (+1.5%) to close at 2,642.22, while the Nasdaq Read more…
Trading the Dispersion: chapter III Here is the final part of our series about the strategy known as dispersion trading. The article will first focus on an additional dispersion indicator we will employ to time the entry and exit points of our strategy. Then, we will derive the optimal number Read more…
Meredith Corporation (NYSE:MDP) – market cap as of 02/12/2017: $2.96bn Time Inc. (NYSE:TIME.K) – market cap as of 02/12/2017: $1.85bn Introduction On the November 26, 2017, Meredith Corporation entered into a binding agreement to acquire Time Inc., Meredith’s former rival and one the biggest incumbents in the media sector, Read more…
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (BBVA:MCE) – market cap as of 1/12/2017: €47.17bn Introduction On November 29, 2017, it was announced that BBVA had sold to the American fund Cerberus the bulk of its real estate business in Spain. Through this operation, the Spanish bank will reduce by 70% its Read more…
Sun Art Retail Group Ltd (HKG: 6808) – Market Cap as of 02/12/17: $74.70bn Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA) – Market Cap as of 02/12/17: $447.20bn Introduction On November 19, 2017, the Chinese online giant Alibaba acquired a 36.16% stake in Sun Art, an important player in the Chinese offline retail Read more…