Coin News

[…]

The post Interview: Bitlem Opens the First Physical Bitcoin Exchange in Mexico appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

This may not end well. 

There's an unprecedented level of calm across the markets, whether it's measured by the low volatility in US stocks or G7 currencies. Economies across the world are growing steadily, and interest rates are still historically low — a desirable combo some strategists like to call "Goldilocks." 

Major credit for that apparent stability goes to central banks and their several years of low interest rates and large bond purchases, according to Macquarie's Viktor Shvets and Chetan Seth.

However, that also means any policy mistake could undo their efforts and shake up the global economy. They've created "what is essentially a long-term 'doomsday' machine," Shvets said in a note on Monday.

"We remain constructive on financial assets (both equities and bonds), not because we expect a return to self-sustaining private sector led recovery and growth but because we believe that an ongoing financialization is the only politically and socially acceptable answer," Shvets wrote. "In our view, therefore, the greatest risk is one of policy miscalculation."  

The reflation trade in US stocks was jolted after the election, when Wall Street bet that the Fed would get a helping hand from fiscal policy and tax cuts. With that, economic growth and inflation were expected to pick up. But fumbles over healthcare reform showed that this could take longer than expected. 

Even if there's eventually implementation, Shvets doesn't see any resulting economic growth as a result of higher consumption and business spending. 

"Unfortunately, we do not see evidence that velocity of money is improving and neither are there signs that sectoral balances are moving towards sustainably higher private spending while core inflationary pulse remains weak," Shvets wrote.

"We continue to view China’s leveraging and CBs’ injections of liquidity and suppression of volatilities as the key drivers of global reflation. We also maintain that it is unlikely that the Trump administration policies will lead to any sustained gain in either consumption, investment or current-account deficits."

In short, the slightest mistake by central banks or China could be disastrous. 

SEE ALSO: The stock market just flashed a dangerous warning signal

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: THE BOTTOM LINE: The 'Trump trade' is back and Ray Dalio breaks down the bitcoin bubble

[…]

The post Woo’s Law: Bitcoin Users Double Every 12 Months; Major Factor For Long-Term Price Surge? appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

[…]

The post $175 Billion: Ethereum, Bitcoin Prices Lead Crypto Market Rally appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

Nelson Peltz has been thwarted in the largest proxy battle in history, failing to claim a seat on the board of the $236 billion giant Procter & Gamble.

Preliminary results on Tuesday showed that Peltz, the founder of the $14 billion hedge fund Trian Partners, lost the proxy fight by a slim margin against P&G, the maker of consumer products like Tide, Crest, and Bounty and the largest-ever company to face such a challenge.

Trian quickly announced its disagreement with the vote count by P&G, which is led by CEO David Taylor and is calling for a recount.

"If anything, its plus or minus 1% — we need to really count it and understand it," Peltz said in an interview on CNBC.

The billionaire investor has been trying to shake up P&G since announcing a $3.5 billion stake in February. He was nominated to the board in July.

The two companies have spent some $100 million on the campaign to win over shareholders, 40% of which are individual retail investors, according to Reuters.

Peltz was considered a favorite to win one of the 11 board seats up for a vote since he had the backing of the three top shareholder advisory firms that recommend how mutual funds cast their vote, according to Reuters.

In the CNBC interview, Peltz said P&G should still put him on the board, given the mass of outside shareholders that favored Trian's bid.

"The dissatisfaction on behalf of the retirees and the old-time shareholders was amazing," Peltz said.

"No matter what happens, I think [Taylor] should put me on the board," Peltz continued. "Even if they do win, think about what a Pyrrhic victory it is."

This story is developing.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: RAY DALIO: Bitcoin is a speculative bubble

[…]

The post Ripple CEO Garlinghouse: Governments’ ICO Regulation is Good appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

[…]

The post Jamaican Police Target Human Traffickers Operating with Bitcoin appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

Many economists say they can’t figure out why US wage growth remains so meager nine years into the economic expansion, especially given a decline in the unemployment rate to a historically low 4.4%.

A new study from the International Monetary Fund might help them out. It finds that shifts in the labor market toward less stable, temporary or contract jobs, including odd hours and often no health insurance, likely play a substantial role in preventing wages from rising.

That’s because job uncertainty makes it harder for workers to bargain for higher wages, giving employers a strong upper hand in any salary negotiation. The trend is happening not just in the United States but also in other rich economies, the Fund says.

"Labor market developments in advanced economies point to a possible disconnect between unemployment and wages," IMF staffers write in their latest World Economic Outlook report.

"Subdued nominal wage growth has occurred in a context of a higher rate of involuntary part-time employment, an increased share of temporary employment contracts, and a reduction in hours per worker," the report adds.

That’s not the only factor. The Great Recession of 2007 to 2009, which was a global phenomenon, set labor markets back years, and suppressed wages sharply as unemployment surged, peaking at 10% in the United States. The IMF suggests the policy reaction to that global downturn was underwhelming, particularly when it came to fiscal policies, which were restrictive both in the United States and Europe.

"Whereas in many economies headline unemployment is approaching ratios seen before the Great Recession, or has even dipped below those levels, nominal wage growth rates continue to grow at a distinctly slower pace," the Fund said. "For some economies, this may reflect policy measures to slow wage growth and improve competitiveness in the  aftermath of the global financial crisis and euro area sovereign debt crisis."

Yet labor market structures also play a key role. That is, decades of labor policy reforms aimed at greater job market flexibility have usually meant more flexibility for firms, not workers. The report further describes the mechanism by which the prevalence of temp and part-time work may lead to overconfidence about the job market’s progress.

"To the extent that declining unemployment rates partly reflect workers forced into part-time jobs, increases in such types of employment may overstate the tightening of the labor market," the IMF said. "Specifically, these workers may be willing to accept slower increases in wages and, at the same time, may continue to seek full-time employment and open-ended contracts.

"By doing so, they compete with workers employed under more traditional arrangements and, so, weigh on their wage growth as well. True labor market slack may therefore be larger than suggested by headline unemployment rates."

SEE ALSO: There's an important social reason incomes aren't rising in America

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Is bitcoin a bubble or the future of everything?

Bitcoin is trading at an all-time high, and with another contentious hard fork coming, the reasons why have experts wondering.

[…]

The post India’s Central Bank is ‘Working’ on Bitcoin Regulation: Official appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.

LONDON — The average new English home is nearly a third of the size of an average American home, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The government statistics agency found the average house sold in England and Wales in 2016 had a floor area of 104 metres squared, while flats averaged 49 metres squared (excluding bathrooms, corridors, hallways and landings).

Taking flats and houses together, the average size of properties sold in England and Wales in 2016 was 90 metres squared – smaller than the EU average, and significantly smaller than the USA, where a lower land prices and a smaller proportion of urban dwellers means homes are an astonishing 245 metres squared on average.

Here's how English homes compare to other countries around the world:

Why is that important? New homes in England are among the smallest in Western Europe, lagging behind other major economies such as Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal.

A report by the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2012 found that "long- and short-term storage space" for everyday items such as ironing boards was one of the features people most wanted in their home — something that would have been a given in almost any English home only a few decades ago.

There is some good news, though: new homes in England and Wales are getting bigger. In the last three years, new flats in England and Wales have increased in size by 8.5 metres squared. The ONS says that could be due to a higher proportion of maisonettes — flats with more than one storey — in the housing market.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Gary Shilling calls bitcoin a black box and says he doesn't invest in things he doesn't understand

Scores of Tesla employees were fired from the Palo Alto, California-based company in the past week, a local media report said.

According to a Tesla statement cited by The Mercury News, the employees were fired following a round of performance reviews. A former employee told Reuters "about 400 people" were among those who left the company, and that the positions ranged from "associates to team leaders to supervisors. We don't know how high up it went," the person said.

A Tesla spokesperson told The Mercury News the company expects to staff the "vast majority" of vacated positions. Tesla did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on the firings.

The turnover comes as the electric-car company is ramping up production of the Model 3 sedan, its first venture into the entry level luxury mass market. Tesla posted disappointing production numbers for the Model 3 last week, having completed just 260 examples of the car. The company had previously said it would crank out 1,500 in September and ramp up to 20,000 per month by December.

CEO Elon Musk blamed the shortfall on what he called "production bottlenecks," which prompted speculation that the assembly line at Tesla's Fremont factory was not yet ready to generate the kind of output needed to fill the roughly 455,000 Model 3 order it has on its books. The Wall Street said in a report last week that employees were making some Model 3 parts by hand.

A Tesla spokesperson refuted that claim in an email to Business Insider last week: "We are still in the beginning of our production ramp, but every Model 3 is being built on the Model 3 production line, which is fully installed, powered on, producing vehicles, and increasing in automation every day," the spokesperson said.

On October 8, Musk tweeted a video of the Model 3 assembly line, showing automated robots working on the bare-metal body of a Model 3, which began shipping in the third quarter of this year.

These most recent dismissals follow a spate of firings at Tesla's solar energy arm, SolarCity, which fired dozens of employees at its Northern California offices in September.

SEE ALSO: Tesla has never made cars the normal way

SEE ALSO: Someone claims to be selling a lightly used Tesla Model 3 for $150,000 on Craigslist

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Gary Shilling calls bitcoin a black box and says he doesn't invest in things he doesn't understand

[…]

The post ‘Stupid’ Bitcoin Buyers Will Pay the Price : Jamie Dimon Keeps Breaks Vow, Keeps Talking appeared first on CryptoCoinsNews.