New York Times (April 17)
A new front is opening “in the war over how cryptocurrency will — or will not — be regulated.” Although “Cryptocurrencies are still mostly held as speculative assets,” they could “become fundamental parts of the financial system. To many, Coinbase’s successful debut, which valued the company at $86 billion, far more than operators of stock and bond exchanges, is a signal that this transformation is already well underway.” The success of that IPO could “invite more attention from regulators.”
Tags: Bond, Coinbase, Cryptocurrency, Exchanges, Financial system, IPO, Regulated, Signal, Speculative assets, Stock, Successful, Transformation, War
Bloomberg (February 7)
Stock buybacks are under attack in Congress, but the market has already “soured on the strategy. Last year’s trillion-dollar splurge didn’t stop the stock market from falling for the year.” Furthermore, the S&P 500 Buyback Index shows that firms conducting buybacks have been outpaced by the market two years in a row. “With stocks expensive, using shareholders’ money to buy at inflated prices is a bad deal. The buyback phenomenon could die a natural death.”
Tags: Bad deal, Buybacks, Congress, Expensive, Market, S&P 500 Buyback Index, Shareholders, Stock
Bloomberg (April 13)
A “$105 billion ‘ghost stock’ blunder” created market upheaval in Korea. An error at the South Korean brokerage Samsung Securities Co. gave employees 1,000 Samsung Securities shares each instead of 1,000 won (less than $1). “In total, the company distributed 2.83 billion shares, worth—on paper—about 112.6 trillion won. That was more than 30 times the company’s market value.” As employees sold the ghost shares, the stock price “plunged” 12% and “many retail investors got burned.”
Tags: Blunder, Brokerage, Burned, Employees, Market upheaval, Retail investors, Samsung Securities, South Korea, Stock
Wall Street Journal (June 6)
“To the Chinese stock market and property bubbles, now add the whisky bubble.” Scotch is “the tipple of choice for the ultra-wealthy class” in China. In many ways this bubble mirrors Japan’s similar bubble of the 1970s and 1980s. Spirit makers are being cautioned they might be left with a hangover if the bubble bursts.“To the Chinese stock market and property bubbles, now add the whisky bubble.” Scotch is “the tipple of choice for the ultra-wealthy class” in China. In many ways this bubble mirrors Japan’s similar bubble of the 1970s and 1980s. Spirit makers are being cautioned they might be left with a hangover if the bubble bursts.
Washington Post (May 23)
“Mr. Zuckerberg will want to notice that his company’s stock will be finding its way into the portfolios of real investors.” Then he will be able to “appreciate that one of the best reasons for a public listing is the one seldom mentioned: The continual feedback from savvy investors about management’s strategies and execution.”
“Mr. Zuckerberg will want to notice that his company’s stock will be finding its way into the portfolios of real investors.” Then he will be able to “appreciate that one of the best reasons for a public listing is the one seldom mentioned: The continual feedback from savvy investors about management’s strategies and execution.”
