Introduction On Tuesday (Feb 12, 2019), right at the deadline for the decision to be made, Banco Santander announced that it had decided not to repay its outstanding €1.5bn CoCo bonds. CoCo bonds are hybrid securities mostly belonging to Additional Tier 1 capital, introduced by regulators in the wake of Read more…
Introduction Often overlooked and easily dismissed as a basic collateralised loan, repos (the short form for repurchase agreement) are much more. In fact, well-functioning (and possibly liquid) repos market is essential for the stability and efficiency of the “proper” securities markets. These is why we have defined them as the Read more…
In this article we analyze the advantages of combining together value and momentum long/short portfolios in many asset classes and in different geographical areas. In fact, they have historically shown negative correlation between them. You can exploit it by including value and momentum in a portfolio, which will have a Read more…
USA Financial markets have reacted positively to the talks between China and the US held in Beijing, that next week will move to Washington, with the S&P500 scoring a +2.50% over the week. The Dow Jones and the Nasdaq both increased by 3.09% and 2.05%, respectively. The deadline for the Read more…
“May you live in interesting times” says a Chinese proverb… Well, 2018 was actually pretty interesting to say the least for markets, with 93% of asset classes posting a negative return in USD terms – this figure is astonishing not only when compared to last year when only 1% of Read more…
US Oil production in America continued its rise, hitting home market concerns that a surge in supplies would further put downward pressures on prices. Synchronized global movements have not helped either, as the rise in American oil production is matched by Saudi Arabia and Russia. The growth in supplies also Read more…
As the automotive industry evolves towards EV’s (electrical vehicles), an analysis of all the new commodities that will be used in the sector, in particular the battery sector, is required. EV batteries are made of an anode and a cathode. The anode is always made up of graphite, while the Read more…
“Option Greeks” is the common name for the sensitivities in price of options or, in general, of derivatives and portfolios of derivatives, with respect to different factors, such as spot price of the underlying, implied volatility, risk-free interest rate, etc. Each Greek represents the ratio between the change in price Read more…
US The shortened Thanksgiving-week turned out to be the worst Thanksgiving-week since 1939, with the S&P 500 losing around 3.5% over the past week to close at 3,632.5 points as stock markets closed early at 1pm in New York due to the holiday. The S&P 500 is down 10% compared Read more…
Introduction Trading ideas and strategies are heavily affected by the decision makers’ overall view on the market. One of the main indicators of the US market strength is the S&P500 index, which is praised for its broad scope compared to other indices such as The Dow Jones Industrial Average. Many Read more…
In this article we analyze the profitability of a sort of event-driven trading strategy, in which the “event” is represented by the addition or deletion of a stock in a MSCI Index. Since these indices are used as benchmark by lots of passive investing funds, index reviews can have an Read more…
Intro Cross-currency basis swaps, also known as basis swaps, are contracts in which two counterparties agree to exchange interest payments according to two floating rates as well as notional principals denoted in two different currencies. Theoretically, covered interest rate parity should hold in absence of arbitrage opportunities. Here S and Read more…
US The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 25,989.30 on Friday and a weekly gain of 2.6%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,736.27 down 1.6% w-o-w. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,247.83, down 2.14% on the week. The small-cap index Russell 2000 is down 1.41% over the previous week at Read more…
In this article we are going to discuss the increasing importance of logistics real estate and the trends that affected the sector in Europe. We will then explain the main drivers of demand and supply for logistic properties and how these are likely to change in the future years. Finally, Read more…
US The US Indexes soared this week mostly affected by the midterm elections, which caused a relief-rally The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 25,989.30 on Friday with a loss of 201.92 points or -0.77% and a weekly gain of 2.6%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,781.01 for a loss Read more…