Unraveling the Mystery: Bitcoin's Meteoric Rise and the Cryptocurrency Problem

Read my new article on Substack on the complex landscape of bitcoin's surge and the unresolved mysteries of cryptocurrency - is it an asset, gambling or a scam?

Free access HERE

Michael Milken: The World's Most Evil Billionaire

This deep-dive video explores the infamous Michael Milken Junk Bond scandal. 

From his meteoric rise as the junk bond king and the collapse of Drexel Burnham Lambert, to his pardon by former President Donald Trump, we unravel the complexities behind one of Wall Street's most shocking stories.

Fractured markets: the big threats to the financial system - FT Film

Interest rates are rising; easy money is over; the cracks are showing. UK pensions were the first big explosion. FT experts and financial industry insiders examine where the next big threats to the global financial system lie and explain why when the tide goes out, we can see who is swimming naked.

After $2 trillion crypto crash, what happens next?

Digital currencies have now lost $2 trillion in value after hitting a peak of $3 trillion in November 2021. There are also signs that many crypto firms have exposed themselves to riskier financial bets than previously known. Andrew Chang, a crypto consultant and former COO of Paxos, a New York-based financial institution and technology company, joins Geoff Bennett to discuss.

The great un-SPAC-ing

More than 800 SPACs raised capital between May 2020 and December 2021. Underwriting fees were collected; questionable incentives and complexity remained.

SPACs used to be a curious capital-markets sideshow: complex, obscure, hardly novel. A conventional initial public offering underwritten by investment banks was the marker of corporate maturity; merging with a pile of cash and entering the stockmarket by the backdoor was not. This changed when stockmarkets rallied from their covid-induced lows.

Find out more from The Economist HERE.

How It Happened: The 2008 Financial Crisis - Warren Buffett

Warren E. Buffett is an American investor, philanthropist, business tycoon, and the chairman & CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is considered one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net worth of over 100 billion dollars. Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He developed an interest in business and investing in his youth and made truly incredible stock market returns over his career.

"Most People Have No Idea What Is Coming..." - Charlie Munger's WARNING

Charlie Munger warns investors of what’s ahead for the markets. He says, the trouble that’s coming could be worse and harder to fix than what was experienced during Volcker’s era that ended up with a huge recession. Being a vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and the closest partner (right hand man) of Warren Buffett, Charles T. Munger has a net worth of around $2 billion. He is a profoundly wise man who is absolutely worth listening to, especially when it comes to investing, the psychology of wealthy people, rationality, and life experience.

'The Sky Is the Limit' - How NFTs Are Revolutionizing the Art Market

Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have gone in the last year from a relatively obscure blockchain technology to a market valued at around $44 billion. WSJ explores how NFTs are transforming the art market and tells the story of who is behind the buzz.

Is the cryptocurrency trading boom creating a new generation of addicts?

With endorsements from celebrities and ads on TikTok, cryptocurrency has gone mainstream. But not everyone gets rich. The Guardian's Rob Davies reports on how crypto apps encourage addictive, high-risk trading habits.

Read or listen to his article HERE.

Spacs: under the microscope

Spacs have pulled in billions of dollars from investors over the past couple of years. But as the FT’s Ortenca Aliaj reports, they’ve also attracted intense scrutiny from regulators. Of particular concern has been the fast-track route to public markets offered by Spacs, as well as some optimistic revenue projections. So, where does that leave the Spacs market?

Warren Buffett: Why You Should NEVER Invest In Bitcoin

Warren Buffett is the greatest investor of all time. In this video you will hear his opinion on Bitcoin, including the new 2021 comments! Very important to watch this regardless of your attitude to cryptocurrencies (and absolutely necessary if you own any of them!) As Charlie Munger says, “If you disagree with somebody, you want to be able to state their case better than they can.” And at that point you've earned the right to disagree with them. 

Warren E. Buffett is an American long-term investor, philanthropist, business tycoon, and the chairman & CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is considered one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net worth over 100 billion dollars. Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He developed an interest in business and investing in his youth and made truly incredible stock market returns over his career.

Warren Buffett Leaves The Audience SPEECHLESS - One of the Most Inspiring Speeches Ever

Warren Buffett shares two stories about women who started from nothing and sold their businesses to the legendary investor. This is one of the greatest speeches Mr. Buffett has ever delivered and he also gives really good advice to all entrepreneurs in the audience. Warren E. Buffett is an American long-term investor, philanthropist, business tycoon, and the chairman & CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is considered one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net worth of over 100 billion dollars. Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He developed an interest in business and investing in his youth and made truly incredible stock market returns over his career.

 

Shiba Inu’s Rise Signals New Meme Coin Cryptocurrency Trends

Shiba Inu Coin’s recent surge, and subsequent fall in value, is part of a growing trend of meme coins that are rivaling some of the largest digital tokens in the world. WSJ retail investing reporter Caitlin McCabe explains why investors are pouring money into this meme based cryptocurrency. 

 

Are investment groups killing US newspapers?

Today about half of America’s newspapers are controlled by private equity, hedge funds and other investment groups. But as the FT’s James Fontanella-Khan explains, one name stands above the rest: Alden Global Capital. The Alden recipe is to get rid of the newsroom, sell the real estate, and viciously cut costs. Critics say it’s destroying local newspapers, but Alden says it’s saving them. 

 

Understanding ESG in the Banking Industry

Surface temperature on the Earth have risen at a record pace in recent decades, creating risks to life, ecosystems, and economies. Climate science warns us that further warming is unavoidable over the next decade, and probably after that as well. Climate change poses a real threat and a huge risk to banks as key providers of finance for commerce and industry.

Climate change is putting banks at risk. This risk is being driven by two requirements facing the banking sector:

• Banks need to manage their own financial exposures, and these exposures are at risk because of climate change.  
• Banks are being driven by regulatory pressure to help finance a green agenda, a process that is critical to temper the impact of global warming. 
  

This course examines the outlined problems that banks are facing and provides practical guidance to assist them in complying with ESG requirements.

This online training course carries 2 CPE credits.

To register and access this online training course clink HERE. 

What China's Economic Slowdown Means for Global Investors

China recorded a steep economic slowdown in the third quarter as its pandemic bounceback fades—and now, Beijing is taking on longer-term issues including household debt and energy consumption. WSJ’s Anna Hirtenstein explains what investors are watching.

 

New Online Course - Understanding Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) has gained increasing attention over the past few years. Today many institutional investors will only invest in those companies that provide ESG performance reporting. ESG provides a set of standards for a company’s operations that today’s socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments in terms of how a company treats the environment, manages social issues (relationships with employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities where it operates), and deals with governance issues.

This course has a three-fold focus;

• Provide the participant with an understanding of ESG. Here we look at what ESG is, its evolution and why it matters. We illustrate this, using examples of three ESG incidents (the Deepwater Horizon oil spill; the Volkswagen emissions scandal and the Facebook – Cambridge Analytica debacle).
• Show how an ESG framework supports a company’s overall risk management strategy/structure. Here we explore issues like; • Key ESG factors, • Sustainable Investing, • Corporate Pressure, • Stakeholder Expectations, • ESG Risks and Opportunities, • Unique Risks in Corporate Supply Chains, • ESG Investing Trends, and • Information Needs and Sources.
• Provide the hands-on knowledge you need to conduct more effective ESG due diligence, and to make better investment decisions. Here we present a step-by-step guide on the actions you need to take to ensure that your company becomes ESG compliant. We conclude by examining some current ESG myths.

ESG is an increasingly popular way for investors to evaluate companies in which they might want to invest. On the flipside, ESG can also help investors avoid companies that could pose a greater financial risk due to below par environmental or other practices.

ESG is relevant to analysts and investors, consumers and employees, and has become a major topic of discussion at Board meetings.

To register CLICK HERE

An Introduction to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Criteria - New Online Course

Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (more commonly referred to as ESG) refers to the three central factors in measuring the sustainability and societal impact of an investment in a company or business. Analysis of these criteria can help determine the future financial performance of companies (in other words the return capital and the risks that they face).

ESG criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that today’s socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments.

• Environmental criteria look at how a company performs as a steward of nature in protecting the planet.
  

• Social criteria examine how the company manages relationships with employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities where it operates.
  

• Governance deals with a company’s leadership, the pay of its executives, audits, internal controls, and shareholder rights.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are an increasingly popular way for investors to evaluate companies in which they might want to invest. Using ESG criteria can also help investors avoid companies that could pose a greater financial risk due to below par environmental or other practices.

This course is an introduction to these criteria and how they may be used.

For full details and Registrations click HERE.

Fintechs are becoming part of the establishment

Fintechs are inexorably gaining critical mass: their value has risen to $1.1trn, equivalent to 10% of the value of the global banking and payments industry, and up from 4% in 2018. Prices may be stretched today and some firms may flop, but in the long run it seems likely that this share will only rise further.
Firms’ expansion plans and investors’ search for returns bring a blizzard of deals and listings.

What are the main trends? Who are the big players? Where is fintech heading?

Answers to this and more in The Economist's "Investment in fintech booms as upstarts go mainstream"

Non Fungible Tokens - a comprehensive overview

NFTs are the current buzzword. The word NFT stands for non-fungible token, which means a unique, irreplaceable cryptographic object.

The purpose of NFTs is to manage ownership of digital content (digital collectible items) by storing the ownership in the form of a digital certificate on a blockchain (usually on the Ethereum blockchain, but other blockchains can also be used). In this manner the buyer can prove that he is the owner of a certain digital item.

Find out more by reading Joris Lochy's "NFTs - A hype or a lasting new investment asset class?"