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Jeremy Grantham, co-founder of the GMO investment management firm, wrote in a letter to investors that he believes that Bitcoin, along with the stock market at large, is in a bubble. Famous for predicting the market crashes of 2000 and 2007, Grantham holds that “[a] melt-up or end-phase of [the] bubble within the next 6

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The post Cardano Lists ADA Futures on BitMEX appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

• Nissan is developing "Brain-to-Vehicle" technology that could read a driver's mind.
• The technology would read a driver's brain waves to increase reaction times or, in an autonomous vehicle, adjust the car's driving style to increase the owner's comfort.
• Nissan plans to demonstrate the technology at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

Nissan is working on making cars that can read your mind.

The company plans to demonstrate its Brain-to-Vehicle technology at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Drivers would wear a skullcap covered in electrodes and wires that would read their brain waves to make the car's reaction time faster.

If the driver decides to turn the car, for example, the technology could initiate the process before the driver can react to his or her thoughts. A Brain-to-Vehicle system could also be used in an autonomous car, allowing the car to adjust its driving style based on the owner's desires.

"When most people think about autonomous driving, they have a very impersonal vision of the future, where humans relinquish control to the machines. Yet B2V technology does the opposite, by using signals from their own brain to make the drive even more exciting and enjoyable," Nissan Executive Vice President Daniele Schillaci said in a statement. 

Nissan introduced other technological features for its cars in 2017, including an enhanced cruise-control system that can help control a car in stop-and-go traffic and keep it in its lane, and the ability to start some cars remotely with Alexa devices.

SEE ALSO: Toyota unveiled a crazy-looking self-driving vehicle that could haul freight or deliver pizza on the sidewalk

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NOW WATCH: The 5 issues to consider before trading bitcoin futures

• General Motors could brand its Cadillac as the next Tesla given the right marketing ploy, Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley said.
• The automotive company is undervalued because investors have not properly gauged the potential of Cadillac.
• The luxury vehicle's biggest market is China, representing an upside for General Motors' stock.
• You can view GM's stock price here.

General Motors could market its Cadillac brand as the next sustainable and high-performance electric vehicle just like Tesla. 

With aggressive marketing, the automotive company has the "potential for fundamental repositioning of Cadillac as a 'captive Tesla,'"Adam Jonas, an equity analyst at Morgan Stanley, said. The company needs to improve consumer awareness of its brand and technologies, such as a future propulsion system and a subscription-based business model, he added. 

Investors have been undervaluing General Motors because Cadillac is larger and more profitable than investors believe. "Discussions with investors suggest a potential "blind spot" on the strategy and valuation of General Motors," Jonas wrote in a note.

Cadillac reported a sales increase of 15.5% year-to-date, as of December 2016. GM does not break down the profit for its specific brands though.Jonas estimates that Cadillac could be worth $13 billion given the increasing sales, which have doubled since 2010.

Cadillac's largest market is China, which accounts for over a half of GM's global sales volume.

General Motor's stock is trading at $44.29 a share and is up 5.93% over this year.

To read more about how Tesla's Autopilot and Cadillac's Super Cruise fare against each other, click here.

SEE ALSO: We tested out Tesla Autopilot and Cadillac's Super Cruise — here's which one we liked better

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NOW WATCH: Bitcoin can be a bubble and still change the world

• General Motors could brand its Cadillac as the next Tesla given the right marketing ploy, Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley said.
• The automotive company is undervalued because investors have not properly gauged the potential of Cadillac.
• The luxury vehicle's biggest market is China, representing an upside for General Motors' stock.
• You can view GM's stock price here.

General Motors could market its Cadillac brand as the next sustainable and high-performance electric vehicle just like Tesla. 

With aggressive marketing, the automotive company has the "potential for fundamental repositioning of Cadillac as a 'captive Tesla,'"Adam Jonas, an equity analyst at Morgan Stanley, said. The company needs to improve consumer awareness of its brand and technologies, such as a future propulsion system and a subscription-based business model, he added. 

Investors have been undervaluing General Motors because Cadillac is larger and more profitable than investors believe. "Discussions with investors suggest a potential "blind spot" on the strategy and valuation of General Motors," Jonas wrote in a note.

Cadillac reported a sales increase of 15.5% year-to-date, as of December 2016. GM does not break down the profit for its specific brands though.Jonas estimates that Cadillac could be worth $13 billion given the increasing sales, which have doubled since 2010.

Cadillac's largest market is China, which accounts for over a half of GM's global sales volume.

General Motor's stock is trading at $44.29 a share and is up 5.93% over this year.

To read more about how Tesla's Autopilot and Cadillac's Super Cruise fare against each other, click here.

SEE ALSO: We tested out Tesla Autopilot and Cadillac's Super Cruise — here's which one we liked better

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NOW WATCH: THE BOTTOM LINE: Bitcoin mania, a Nobel Prize-winning economist talks Trump, and a deep dive on unstoppable tech stocks

• Toyota revealed a self-driving concept vehicle, the e-Palette, at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on Monday.
• The vehicle will come in three sizes and is designed to be used for a variety of purposes, including freight and package delivery, ride-sharing, and mobile offices and storefronts.
• Toyota hopes to start testing the vehicle in the early 2020s.

Toyota revealed a self-driving concept vehicle, the e-Palette, at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on Monday.

The electric, box-shaped vehicle will come in three sizes. The largest will be around the size of a bus and be able to haul freight and make large deliveries, while the smallest will be compact enough to travel on sidewalks. Toyota envisions the e-Palette will serve a variety of potential uses, allowing businesses to deliver goods, transport people, or use the vehicle as a mobile storefront or office.

Toyota will design the vehicle with input from companies like Amazon, Didi, Mazda, Pizza Hut, and Uber. Toyota hopes to start testing it during the early 2020s and integrate the e-Palette into the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

"The automobile industry is clearly amidst its most dramatic period of change as technologies like electrification, connected and automated driving are making significant progress," Toyota president Akio Toyoda said in a statement. "This announcement marks a major step forward in our evolution towards sustainable mobility, demonstrating our continued expansion beyond traditional cars and trucks to the creation of new values including services for customers." 

In 2017, Toyota introduced a similarly futuristic concept vehicle that would have airless tires.

SEE ALSO: The new BMW M5's Pirelli tires redefine the whole concept of 'rubber meets the road'

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NOW WATCH: A crypto expert explains the difference between the two largest cryptocurrencies in the world: bitcoin and Ethereum

US stocks climbed higher, led by technology shares, as investors continue to price in the impact of tax cuts ahead of corporate earnings season, which starts later this week.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined less than 0.1% and the more tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 increased 0.3%.

First up, the scoreboard:

• Dow: 25,286.53, -9.34, (-0.04%)
• S&P 500: 2,748.05, +4.90, (+0.16%)
• Nasdaq: 7,157.39, +20.83, (+0.29%)
• US 10-year yield: 2.48%, +0.004
• WTI crude oil: $61.87, +$0.43, +0.70%

1. Wall Street is set up for an abnormal earnings season. In the fourth quarter of last year, Wall Street analysts made the smallest cuts to their estimates of any quarter since 2010, according to FactSet.

2. GoPro cut over 250 jobs and reduced its CEO's cash pay to $1 in a huge restructuring plan. The stock dropped as much as 33% as the company also said it will exit the drone business. The company also denied reports that it's hired JPMorgan to advise in a sale.

3. Spotify is bypassing the normal IPO process — and there are good reasons why more companies don't do it. Most notably, very few companies have the same combination of name-brand recognition and private fundraising success that Spotify does.

4. Kohl's is defying the retail meltdown — and it's more proof that malls are dying. The company's same-store sales surged 6.9% during the holiday period.

5. Amazon is making a major play for Windows PCs. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, several Windows PC manufacturers announced new computers coming this year that will support Amazon's voice assistant, Alexa.

ADDITIONALLY:

JEFFERIES: Snap's app redesign could backfire

Bitcoin plunges 8% after a weekend rally

Trump is planning to use a misleading number to try and sell the GOP tax law

GoPro's plunging stock made short sellers $45 million in a single day

Facebook has hit a wall

A top Fed official says a policy shift once seen as radical is 'not nearly as scary as you might think'

SEE ALSO: GoPro's plunging stock made short sellers $45 million in a single day

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NOW WATCH: A Nobel Prize-winning economist says Trump's tax plan won't crash the economy

• Shares of Western Union continued to climb Monday, gaining 5%, after an unconfirmed report circulated on Friday saying the 167-year-old money-transfer company was planning to use Ripple’s XRP cryptocurrency.
• Both companies officially declined to comment, but neither outright denied the possibility.
• WU is now up more than 11% since Friday morning, trading at $21.64 Monday afternoon.
• Ripple on Friday hinted that more customers may be coming soon, saying on Twitter that "3 of the top 5 global money transfer companies plan to use XRP in payment flows in 2018."
• Ripple’s XRP saw significant declines Monday — even after gaining on the news last week — possibly related to a shift in how one of the most popular cryptocurrency data sites calculates prices.
• Sign up for Crypto Insider to get the latest in blockchain, bitcoin and cryptocurrency news delivered straight to your inbox>>

SEE ALSO: Sign up to get the most important updates on all things crypto delivered straight to your inbox.

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NOW WATCH: PAUL KRUGMAN: Bitcoin is a more obvious bubble than housing was

• Shares of Western Union continued to climb Monday, gaining 5%, after an unconfirmed report circulated on Friday saying the 167-year-old money-transfer company was planning to use Ripple’s XRP cryptocurrency.
• Both companies officially declined to comment, but neither outright denied the possibility.
• WU is now up more than 11% since Friday morning, trading at $21.64 Monday afternoon.
• Ripple on Friday hinted that more customers may be coming soon, saying on Twitter that "3 of the top 5 global money transfer companies plan to use XRP in payment flows in 2018."
• Ripple’s XRP saw significant declines Monday — even after gaining on the news last week — possibly related to a shift in how one of the most popular cryptocurrency data sites calculates prices.
• Sign up for Crypto Insider to get the latest in blockchain, bitcoin and cryptocurrency news delivered straight to your inbox>>

SEE ALSO: Sign up to get the most important updates on all things crypto delivered straight to your inbox.

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NOW WATCH: PAUL KRUGMAN: Bitcoin is a more obvious bubble than housing was

• GoPro short sellers made roughly $45 million in mark-to-market profits on Monday as the company's stock plunged as much as 33%.
• The stock is feeling pressure following an announcement that GoPro will lay off more than 250 employees and exit the drone industry.

While GoPro's stock came under serious pressure on Monday, there was one clear winner in its investor base: traders betting against the company.

They raked in roughly $45 million in mark-to-market profit as the company's stock plunged as much as 33%, according to data compiled by financial analytics firm S3 Partners.

The drop came after GoPro announced plans to lay off more than 250 employees and exit the drone industry, both in an attempt to return to profitability by the end of 2018. The selling did subside somewhat later in the session, however, on a CNBC report that the company had hired JPMorgan to oversee a potential sale. Later in the day, GoPro CEO Nick Woodman told Bloomberg the company would be open to sale, but isn't actively shopping itself. 

GoPro's stock saw a spike in downside bets amid the negative news, with traders initiating nearly 1.5 million of new short sales. The wagers were so sought-after, in fact, that existing shorts were paying a fee of almost 15% just to keep financing their exposure, according to S3.

GoPro is now the fourth-most shorted company in the worldwide consumer electronics sector, trailing only Garmin, Sharp, and Roku, according to S3 data. Following Monday's windfall, GoPro short sellers have now made a total of $42.5 million betting against the company this year.

The direction of GoPro shares from here will hinder on whether long shareholders end up abandoning positions, says S3. That's because borrow supply was all but vanished amid the short selling extravaganza, leaving allegedly bullish traders in charge of the stock's future.

One thing that could cause a short-term recovery in GoPro's stock would be short sellers being forced to cover their positions due to stock borrow recalls, according to the firm.

SEE ALSO: MORGAN STANLEY: We've entered the final stage of the stock market's remarkable rally

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NOW WATCH: Why bitcoin checks all the boxes of a bubble

• John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, thinks the central bank needs new tools to fight chronically low inflation. 
• Williams, speaking at a Brookings Institution conference in Washington, made the case for a shift to a price-level target, which would have called for more aggressive interventions during the Great Recession.
• Williams is worried the Fed has a "credibility problem" because it has fallen short of its 2% inflation target for much of the economic recovery.
• Chronically low inflation points to a labor market that is still operating well below its full potential despite a 17-year low unemployment rate of 4.1%.

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve should consider moving away from targeting the inflation rate and instead target the overall level of prices, a move that would give the central bank greater room to stimulate the economy in the next recession, San Francisco Fed President John Williams said. 

Top Fed officials have been worried for some time that a prolonged period of very low interest rates means the central bank will lack the power to address a future economic downturn, and this fear has in part driven the five interest rate increases implemented since December 2015, after the federal funds rate stood at effectively zero for seven full years. 

Williams, speaking at a Brookings Institution conference entitled "Should the Fed stick with the 2% inflation target or rethink it," made a clear case for the latter. He called for a system where the Fed would target the price level, meaning that it would compensate periods of undershooting the 2% inflation goal with periods of overshooting. 

US inflation has remained chronically below the Fed's 2% target for much of the economic recovery, suggesting the labor market is not as healthy as a 17-year low unemployment rate of 4.1% suggests.

Shifting to a price-level target is "not nearly as scary as you might think" Williams told the audience of monetary economists, academics, and market participants. 

He also worried about "this issue of credibility" that has resulted from persistently below-target inflation, which makes it look "like the central bank is not committed to its goals."

Prolonged low inflation, which also reflects soft wage growth, can make monetary policy less effective because "it gets into inflation expectations and makes it harder to achieve 2% objective in good times." 

In order for the change to work, however, it must be a committee decision that is rooted in some kind of long-run framework. 

"There has to be a commitment to stay on that course for a number of years," Williams said.

The chart below shows just how badly the Fed has fared as an inflation targeter. The Fed adopted an official inflation target in 2012.

SEE ALSO: The Fed is sending mixed messages about interest rates — and Wall Street is trying to figure out what it all means

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NOW WATCH: PAUL KRUGMAN: Bitcoin is a more obvious bubble than housing was

Chinese bitcoin mining pool ViaBTC has announced that it will close its marketplace for mining contracts this week.

• John F. Kennedy International Airport closed on Thursday, forcing many flights to reroute before arriving at the airport on Friday.
• Unlike most airports, JFK's terminals operate independently and rarely work with each other.
• This meant that many travelers had to wait on the runway for an open gate at their assigned terminal for as many as nine hours on Friday and Saturday, even if gates at other terminals were open.

Travelers using New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport have had a rough week. From delays and cancellations to a water main that burst and flooded a baggage claim area, operations at the airport have been a mess.

But things were worse than they had to be due to the strange way the airport's terminals are set up. According to The Points Guy, JFK's terminals operate independently and rarely work with each other. This became a huge problem when the airport closed on Thursday morning and pushed back its reopening time from Thursday afternoon to Friday morning.

Before it delayed its reopening, dozens of flights — many of them international — were already flying to the airport, assuming it would be open by Thursday afternoon. Once they learned they wouldn't be able to land at JFK until Friday, these flights were either rerouted to other airports or turned back to their departure points.

Their problems compounded when they tried to land at JFK on Friday. Since the airport had to make room for an extra day's worth of planes while operating its normal schedule, many Thursday flights had trouble finding open gates. 

But the problem was worsened because JFK's terminals rarely cooperate, so each Thursday flight had to wait until a gate at its originally assigned terminal was open. This meant that if a flight had planned to land at Terminal 1 on Thursday, it had to wait until it could find a gate at Terminal 1, even if gates at other terminals were open. As a result, travelers sat on the runway for as many as nine hours while waiting to de-board their flights.

The incident showed why JFK often ranks among America's least satisfying airports.

SEE ALSO: I used one of the worst airports in the US when I went home for the holidays — here's what it was like

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NOW WATCH: We talked to Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman about tax reform, Trump, and bitcoin

The post New York Stock Exchange Files to List Leveraged Bitcoin ETFs appeared first on CCN

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has filed to list five leveraged exchange-traded funds that track the price of bitcoin (bitcoin ETFs) on its Arca trading platform. NYSE Files to List Leveraged Bitcoin ETFs According to documents (PDF) filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and dated Jan. 4, the NYSE hopes to

The post New York Stock Exchange Files to List Leveraged Bitcoin ETFs appeared first on CCN

• Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway could be one of the biggest beneficiaries of tax reform, according to Barclays. 
• Analysts estimate that its book value could rise by about $37 billion because of the lower corporate tax rate. 
• The tax cut reduces Berkshire's deferred tax liability, which represents what it would owe the government if it sold its portfolio and took profits. 

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway could be one of the biggest beneficiaries of tax reform in the insurance sector, according to Barclays. 

The company's book value could increase by about $37 billion, said Jay Gelb, an insurance analyst at Barclays, in a note on Monday. That's $10 billion more than what he estimated in a November note before the tax plan was finalized and signed.   

Gelb estimated this because Berkshire would have a lower deferred tax liability, which represents what the company would owe the federal government if it sold its equity portfolio and took profits. 

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, signed by President Trump in December, permanently cuts the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. This means Berkshire's deferred tax liability — about $78 billion — would fall because of the lower rate. 

"We would view this magnitude of book value increase as favorable for BRK shares since it is generally valued based on price-to-book value," Gelb said. He has a price target of $357,000 on Berkshire's A shares, about 19% more than where they opened for trading on Monday.

Berkshire Hathaway could also benefit from tax reform because its biggest investments are in the financials sector. Companies in this sector have historically paid the highest effective tax rate in the S&P 500, according to Wells Fargo. That could be a boon for some companies in the share of Berkshire's public portfolio — about 40% — that's in in financials.

SEE ALSO: Here are Warren Buffett's most valuable investments

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NOW WATCH: Bitcoin can be a bubble and still change the world

• A data adjustment by CoinMarketCap caused cryptocurrency prices to drop on Monday.
• The site removed South Korean exchanges from its site, which have been known to trade much higher than the rest of the world. 

Prices of the world’s largest cryptocurrencies appeared to take some major hits on Monday morning after CoinMarketCap.com, arguably the most popular and important site for cryptocurrency pricing data, opted to remove South Korean exchanges from its data sources.

Cryptocurrencies have been known to trade at significant premiums in South Korea, often times many magnitudes higher than on other exchanges, due to localized demand and strict national controls on capital movement.

The move appears to have taken place just before 5 a.m. UTC (1 a.m. ET), when a steep, $35 billion drop in the total market cap of cryptocurrencies can be seen in CoinMarketCap’s data. Prices continued to drop in what could have been fear-induced sell offs, before the crypto universe's market cap bottomed out at $668.7 billion.

Ripple has warned its customers to look at multiple data sources before making trading decisions after its XRP cryptocurrency fell from second- to third-largest by market cap because of the change.

"Coinmarketcap's decision to exclude Korean prices from the displayed XRP price made the price appear to drop, likely triggering some panic selling,” Ripple’s chief cryptographer David Schwartz said on Twitter. “Look closely at the data and don't be mislead."

Korean prices have been outliers "due to a shortage of cryptos in Korea and difficulty getting KRW out,” Schwartz continued. "The new price is more accurate and meaningful."

At one point overnight, XRP was trading at an average of $3.93 on South Korean exchanges — 38% above the token’s current price of $2.43, according to Markets Insider.

"This morning we excluded some Korean exchanges in price calculations due to the extreme divergence in prices from the rest of the world and limited arbitrage opportunity," CoinMarketCap said on twitter Monday afternoon. We are working on better tools to provide users with the averages that are most relevant to them."

The site did not announce the change beforehand, and now shows 7,556 reporting markets for its 1,386 displayed cryptocurrencies on its website. The total market cap for cryptocurrencies was $726.7 billion at midday Monday. 

XRP is down 11% over the last 24 hours, while bitcoin and ethereum are down 7% and 2%, respectively.

SEE ALSO: Sign up to get the most important updates on all things crypto delivered straight to your inbox.

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NOW WATCH: PAUL KRUGMAN: Bitcoin is a more obvious bubble than housing was

• A data adjustment by CoinMarketCap caused cryptocurrency prices to drop on Monday.
• The site removed South Korean exchanges from its site, which have been known to trade much higher than the rest of the world. 

Prices of the world’s largest cryptocurrencies appeared to take some major hits on Monday morning after CoinMarketCap.com, arguably the most popular and important site for cryptocurrency pricing data, opted to remove South Korean exchanges from its data sources.

Cryptocurrencies have been known to trade at significant premiums in South Korea, often times many magnitudes higher than on other exchanges, due to localized demand and strict national controls on capital movement.

The move appears to have taken place just before 5 a.m. UTC (1 a.m. ET), when a steep, $35 billion drop in the total market cap of cryptocurrencies can be seen in CoinMarketCap’s data. Prices continued to drop in what could have been fear-induced sell offs, before the crypto universe's market cap bottomed out at $668.7 billion.

Ripple has warned its customers to look at multiple data sources before making trading decisions after its XRP cryptocurrency fell from second- to third-largest by market cap because of the change.

"Coinmarketcap's decision to exclude Korean prices from the displayed XRP price made the price appear to drop, likely triggering some panic selling,” Ripple’s chief cryptographer David Schwartz said on Twitter. “Look closely at the data and don't be mislead."

Korean prices have been outliers "due to a shortage of cryptos in Korea and difficulty getting KRW out,” Schwartz continued. "The new price is more accurate and meaningful."

At one point overnight, XRP was trading at an average of $3.93 on South Korean exchanges — 38% above the token’s current price of $2.43, according to Markets Insider.

"This morning we excluded some Korean exchanges in price calculations due to the extreme divergence in prices from the rest of the world and limited arbitrage opportunity," CoinMarketCap said on twitter Monday afternoon. We are working on better tools to provide users with the averages that are most relevant to them."

The site did not announce the change beforehand, and now shows 7,556 reporting markets for its 1,386 displayed cryptocurrencies on its website. The total market cap for cryptocurrencies was $726.7 billion at midday Monday. 

XRP is down 11% over the last 24 hours, while bitcoin and ethereum are down 7% and 2%, respectively.

SEE ALSO: Sign up to get the most important updates on all things crypto delivered straight to your inbox.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: PAUL KRUGMAN: Bitcoin is a more obvious bubble than housing was

Welcome to Finance Insider, Business Insider's summary of the top stories of the past 24 hours. Sign up here to get the best of Business Insider delivered direct to your inbox.

For an equity bull market, overconfidence can be the kiss of death.

This can be seen in a cycle that's played out repeatedly throughout history. At a certain point during an extended stock rally, investors get cocky and continue to pile head-first into positions with little regard for risks. Then the market faces a drastic reckoning, leaving those traders wishing they'd been more careful.

Simply put, when investors start to feel invincible, bad things happen. To Morgan Stanley, this so-called "euphoria" stage marks the beginning of the end of a bull market. And guess what? That's where we are right now.

Elsewhere in markets news, Wall Street is set up for an abnormal earnings season. The Fed is sending mixed messages about interest rates — and Wall Street is trying to figure out what it all means. And shadows picked up by satellites suggest Saudi Arabia underreported its oil stores last year.

In finance news, a top Wall Street recruiting firm just published its hiring outlook for debt traders following a disastrous year in 2017 — and it's not all bad.

Money management needs more women, according to Christine Hurtsellers, chief executive officer of Voya’s Investment Management team. And UBS launched a fund to invest only in firms which promote gender equality.

In crypto news, the three largest cryptocurrencies in the world are falling Monday, with XRP leading the slump. Bitcoin and Ethereum are also dropping. And a cryptocurrency created as a joke about a dog meme now has a market cap above $2 billion.

In tech news:

• Here's why Spotify is bypassing the normal IPO process — and why more companies don't do it
• Amazon has a master plan to turn Alexa into a full-fledged economy all on its own
• UBS: Apple could free up $24 billion by bringing back its overseas cash
• Salesforce showed analysts a "secret" slide with updated revenue projections through 2034
• GoPro cuts over 250 jobs and reduces its CEO's cash pay to $1 in huge restructuring plan
• Cybersecurity startups raked in $7.6 billion in VC money in 2017 — twice as much as the year before
• "The Last Jedi" is struggling at the China box office — and an industry analyst says there's a big reason why

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We talked to Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman about tax reform, Trump, and bitcoin

Welcome to Finance Insider, Business Insider's summary of the top stories of the past 24 hours. Sign up here to get the best of Business Insider delivered direct to your inbox.

For an equity bull market, overconfidence can be the kiss of death.

This can be seen in a cycle that's played out repeatedly throughout history. At a certain point during an extended stock rally, investors get cocky and continue to pile head-first into positions with little regard for risks. Then the market faces a drastic reckoning, leaving those traders wishing they'd been more careful.

Simply put, when investors start to feel invincible, bad things happen. To Morgan Stanley, this so-called "euphoria" stage marks the beginning of the end of a bull market. And guess what? That's where we are right now.

Elsewhere in markets news, Wall Street is set up for an abnormal earnings season. The Fed is sending mixed messages about interest rates — and Wall Street is trying to figure out what it all means. And shadows picked up by satellites suggest Saudi Arabia underreported its oil stores last year.

In finance news, a top Wall Street recruiting firm just published its hiring outlook for debt traders following a disastrous year in 2017 — and it's not all bad.

Money management needs more women, according to Christine Hurtsellers, chief executive officer of Voya’s Investment Management team. And UBS launched a fund to invest only in firms which promote gender equality.

In crypto news, the three largest cryptocurrencies in the world are falling Monday, with XRP leading the slump. Bitcoin and Ethereum are also dropping. And a cryptocurrency created as a joke about a dog meme now has a market cap above $2 billion.

In tech news:

• Here's why Spotify is bypassing the normal IPO process — and why more companies don't do it
• Amazon has a master plan to turn Alexa into a full-fledged economy all on its own
• UBS: Apple could free up $24 billion by bringing back its overseas cash
• Salesforce showed analysts a "secret" slide with updated revenue projections through 2034
• GoPro cuts over 250 jobs and reduces its CEO's cash pay to $1 in huge restructuring plan
• Cybersecurity startups raked in $7.6 billion in VC money in 2017 — twice as much as the year before
• "The Last Jedi" is struggling at the China box office — and an industry analyst says there's a big reason why

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We talked to Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman about tax reform, Trump, and bitcoin

• While 2017 was a down year for fixed income, currency, and commodities (FICC) desks, the hiring landscape has some bright spots, according to top recruiting firm Options Group.
• It's a mixed bag though, and the outlook is still bleak for hiring in government bonds and high-grade debt.
• Most new hires are getting 20% jumps in compensation to switch to a new firm, while exceptional hires in some sectors are commanding as much as 50%.

2017 was a rough year for Wall Street bond traders — with low volatility and decreased demand leading to revenue slides across the industry. 

But despite the second down year in a row for fixed income, currency, and commodities (FICC) sales and traders, the hiring outlook in 2018 has some silver linings, according to new report from Options Group, one of Wall Street's top recruiting firms.

Namely, there's optimism around the fresh tax reform law, which "could translate into a modest boost for US growth this year and could also have a positive impact on some selected areas" in FICC, according to the report, which is based on interviews with thousands of industry professionals about the prospects for 2018. 

"Many securitized products sectors tightened in 2017 but the overall market still remains strong, with high demand for human capital across the range of products," the report reads. "FX will continue its importance as a significant revenue contributor and we anticipate many traders and sales people moving in 2018."

But it's a mixed bag. Some credit desks — government bonds and high-grade debt, for instance — face significant headwinds, while others — like high-yield and emerging markets debt — face smoother sailing. 

The firms that execute and hire well will be positioned to capitalize if FICC sees a resurgence, according to the report.

"We believe that banks that build the right capabilities and ride out near term pressures to stay with the FICC business could see big pay-offs," the report reads.

Here's a breakdown of the US hiring landscape for FICC in 2018, according to Options Group:

Credit

Moderate levels of hiring across the group in the US, but more movement at the senior level. New hires are receiving 20% to 50% premiums to jump ship.

Rates

Traders have a brighter hiring outlook than in sales, which is comparatively quiet. New hires are generally looking at a 20% increase in compensation, with the best of the best getting upwards of 40%.

Securitized products

Regulatory activity has ramped up hiring in securitized products, especially in asset backed securities, collateralized loan obligations, and mortgage backed securities. There's a high level of demand for junior-level structurers talent, with firms sometimes doubling offers to secure the right hire. 

Overall, senior candidates are getting 20% premiums to switch firms, and junior candidates are receiving 25% to 40%.  Efforts to retain talent have been aggressive, with counteroffers sometimes exceeding 50%. 

Foreign exchange

Conventional sales jobs are the most susceptible to reductions. 

Candidates jumping to a high-profile firm will accept a 20% compensation boost, while lesser-known firms will have to pony up a 30% premium. 

Commodities

Hedge funds are hiring commodities talent, mostly from other hedge funds and physical trading firms.

The most active sectors are metals and agriculture origination and structure. Traders for oil, natural gas, metals, and agriculture are also in demand. 

Big-name firms are offering new hires 10% to 15% premiums; lower-profile outfits are offering 20% to 25% premiums. 

Emerging markets

For Latin America, most of the hiring is on the credit trading and macro sales front. Credit sales and macro trading are expected to ramp up this year, and premiums to lure new recruits are 20% to 25%.

For Europe and Africa, hiring for rates traders has been robust, while local structuring and flow sales hiring has been muted. Most hires command a 20% compensation bump, while top traders could get upwards of 30%. 

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NOW WATCH: The 5 issues to consider before trading bitcoin futures

• Shares of Weight Watchers spiked more than 13% on Monday after Oprah Winfrey, who owns 10% of the company, stole the show at the Golden Globes.
• After receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement, her speech's reception sparked rumors that she might run for president in 2020.
• CNN cited two anonymous sources who said she was "actively thinking" about a presidential bid. 
• Oprah previously denied she would run for office.
• Celebrities including Oprah and DJ Khaled have been a great marketing boost for the weight loss company, which has seen its shares soar 500% over the past year.
• Weight Watchers' stock is up 10.61% this year.
• To see Weight Watchers' live stock price, click here.

SEE ALSO: Weight Watchers enlists DJ Khaled in a strategy that has already seen Oprah boost its stock 500%

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NOW WATCH: PAUL KRUGMAN: Bitcoin is a more obvious bubble than housing was

• Shares of Weight Watchers spiked more than 13% on Monday after Oprah Winfrey, who owns 10% of the company, stole the show at the Golden Globes.
• After receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement, her speech's reception sparked rumors that she might run for president in 2020.
• CNN cited two anonymous sources who said she was "actively thinking" about a presidential bid. 
• Oprah previously denied she would run for office.
• Celebrities including Oprah and DJ Khaled have been a great marketing boost for the weight loss company, which has seen its shares soar 500% over the past year.
• Weight Watchers' stock is up 10.61% this year.
• To see Weight Watchers' live stock price, click here.

SEE ALSO: Weight Watchers enlists DJ Khaled in a strategy that has already seen Oprah boost its stock 500%

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NOW WATCH: Why bitcoin checks all the boxes of a bubble

• It was recently reported that Spotify confidentially filed initial public offering documents at the end of December as it pursues a so-called "direct listing."
• Spotify is perfectly positioned to effectively use a direct listing due to its unique combination of name-brand recognition and an already-massive private market valuation.
• Just because Spotify is doing a direct listing doesn't mean other companies should follow suit. It's a risky process, and one not built for everyone.
• "When we think about why companies go public, they do it for liquidity, to raise their profile, for capital," John Tuttle, head of global listings at NYSE, told Business Insider. "But for those companies that are well-capitalized, all they really need is liquidity."

Spotify is entering uncharted waters as it attempts to go to market without a traditional initial public offering — but its approach isn't as crazy as it seems.

At the core of the company's so-called direct listing is an enviable combination of two main factors: (1) huge name-brand recognition and (2) an already-massive private market valuation. Those put Spotify into rarefied air, giving it flexibility to pursue a public offering in a way that's not usually seen.

In order to fully comprehend what Spotify is doing, it's important to understand the mechanics of a direct listing, how it differs from a normal IPO and, perhaps most importantly, the rationale for doing one. That goes a long way towards explaining why it's so rare for a company to do one.

Here's a handy guide to understanding the method behind Spotify's move:

What is a direct listing?

Kathleen Smith, principal of Renaissance Capital, said recently that doing a direct listing is like opening a store and hoping people will just stop by. Erin Griffith of Fortune once cleverly said that "if an IPO is like a wedding, a direct listing is running off to elope."

By listing shares for sale on an exchange, a company cuts out the middle man. That means foregoing the usual process of enlisting underwriters who market the stock to institutional investors.

In other words, the company is flying solo and hoping there's already enough pent-up investor interest. And it's saving itself from having to pay hefty fees in the process.

So how does Spotify arrive at a trading price on its first day of trading? After all, a normal IPO arrives in the market with a price that's been established through the maneuverings of underwriters.

In the end, it'll be the type of auction that takes place when a stock is first available for trading — except without that initial pricing backstop. That likely means at least one day of highly volatile movements as investors discover a price. It's relatively uncharted territory, and as Bloomberg's Matt Levine pointed out in a recent column, it "will be a whole new kind of fun."

Why is Spotify planning to do one, and what does it mean for existing investors?

As mentioned above, doing a direct listing can save millions of dollars in underwriting fees. However, that alone is no reason to do one. Most companies would experience major issues building demand without a banking contingency marketing its shares behind the scenes. Spotify's willingness to bypass underwriters shows how big of a wager the company is making on its existing investment profile.

And it makes sense when you look at where Spotify stands right now. The company said last week that it had reached 70 million subscribers, while it received a private market valuation of as much as $19 billion last year. With those statistics in mind, it's perhaps a little easier to understand that the company would bet on itself.

In the end, Spotify doesn't need public investors to achieve a huge market valuation. All it needs is more share liquidity — something that an exchange offers that the company can't get anywhere else.

"When we think about why companies go public, they do it for liquidity, to raise their profile, for capital," John Tuttle, head of global listings at NYSE, told Business Insider. "But for those companies that are well-capitalized, all they really need is liquidity."

Tuttle also noted that direct listings are "not for every company."

So what does this all mean for existing investors? Most importantly, they won't have their holdings diluted by underwriters or large institutions.

Recode's Edmund Lee perfectly summarized Spotify CEO Daniel Ek's reasoning in a recent article: "Why give all that money to brokers and big funds instead of to people who own Spotify, like his investors, his employees and Ek himself?"

Why doesn't every company do one?

The answer to this question can be mostly figured out through the rationale offered above, and it's pretty simple: only the most highly-valued and publicly-visible companies are equipped to pull off a direct listing.

Spotify is in a unique situation, having achieved a so-called "unicorn" valuation multiple times over, while also being tied to the music-listening habits of millions of people across the globe. It's well-positioned to thrive on the open market without the investment banking infrastructure that normally props up a newly-public company.

What are the risks?

At the time of listing, the deal hasn't been shopped around to large institutions that have historically been known to buy big chunks of shares and hold on to them for far longer than the average day trader.

This leaves the stock more exposed to volatility, which can be a double-edged sword, and might ultimately dissuade those institutions from entering the shares as a stabilizing force. Also contributing to price swings will be the price discovery outlined above — which will occur when Spotify shares hit the market without underwriter help.

Another risk — albeit one that doesn't matter to Spotify directly — is that a successful direct listing could inspire copycats to try and circumvent the IPO process. As stated throughout, Spotify is uniquely positioned to thrive through a direct offering, and other companies might not be so fortunate.

Frank Chaparro contributed reporting.

SEE ALSO: MORGAN STANLEY: We've entered the final stage of the stock market's remarkable rally

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NOW WATCH: Why bitcoin checks all the boxes of a bubble

Lex Sokolin, Autonomous Research's director of fintech strategy, talks with Business Insider executive editor Sara Silverstein about the differences between bitcoin and Ethereum. Following is a transcript of the video.

Sara Silverstein: What is bitcoin vs. Ethereum?

Lex Sokolin: Yeah, so bitcoin is — and I’m probably going to upset all the bitcoin maximalists out there, who’ll comment about the future — but bitcoin is about, kind of, the on-ramp into the crypto world. It’s payments and it’s the digital gold.So you can almost think of it as the crypto reserve currency. And it’s spectacular at that — at payments. Whereas Ethereum is, you know, it’s the world’s computing platform. It’s a blockchain platform that has smart contracts that can be built on top of it. So anything from equities to fixed income to figuring out how your drone is going to charge on an electric station, and buy your pizza. All of that can be built on top of Ethereum. So it’s a very different type of platform.

Silverstein:  And which should be worth more Bitcoin or Ethereum?

Sokolin: That's a tough one. It’s kind of asking what's worth more — money or technology.  So bitcoins is essentially digital money. It’s the future of how payment should be made. Whereas Ethereum is a new infrastructure on which anything can be put. So things like decentralized Facebook, or the internet of things and sensors across all sorts of devices, to more pedestrian things, like initial coin offerings, you know. You can put anything on that platform

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• Toyota and Pizza Hut are launching a partnership that could lead to self-driving pizza cars.
• Toyota revealed an autonomous concept vehicle, the e-Palette, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on Monday.
• Pizza Hut introduced new delivery options in 2017, including ordering through Alexa-powered devices, mobile delivery tracking, and a trial for beer and wine deliveries.

Toyota and Pizza Hut are teaming up to make pizza delivery more efficient, which could eventually lead to self-driving pizza cars. The companies announced the partnership on Monday.

"We are focused on technology-based solutions that enable our team members and drivers to deliver even better customer experiences," Pizza Hut US president Artie Starrs said in a statement. "With Toyota, we are excited to be partnering with an undisputed leader in human mobility with a reputation for innovation, reliability and efficiency, as we define the pizza delivery experience of the future."

Toyota revealed the e-Palette, an autonomous concept vehicle, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on Monday. The car may one day be used by Pizza Hut to deliver and possibly cook pizzas. Toyota plans to start testing the vehicle as early as 2020.

The companies also plan to collect data from Pizza Hut's delivery vehicles this year to increase delivery efficiency and safety.

After losing market share to chains like Papa John's and Domino's in 2017, Pizza Hut changed its delivery algorithm and introduced new delivery options, including the ability to order through Alexa devices, a mobile delivery tracker that sends text updates, and a trial for beer and wine deliveries.

SEE ALSO: Major pizza brands are stuck in the middle of a fierce culture war — but here's how Papa John's really stacks up to Pizza Hut and Domino's

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NOW WATCH: The 5 issues to consider before trading bitcoin futures

The post CFTC to Discuss Digital Currency Futures Certification Process appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

• Apple could free up $24 billion of overseas cash due to President Donald Trump's tax overhaul, a UBS analyst found.
• The corporate tax plan incentivizes companies like Apple that do big business overseas to bring more profits back home.
• The money that Apple saves from tax reform could be converted to stock buybacks.
• To see how Apple's stock is doing in real time, click here.

Apple will be one of the largest beneficiaries from President Donald Trump's tax overhaul because as much as $24 billion could be freed up due to the lowered corporate tax rate, UBS Analyst Steven Milunovich said.

Milunovich says that Apple has already been factoring in the lowered statutory US corporate tax rate of 25%—as proposed in President Donald Trump's tax overhaul—in its target capital structure, which determines how the company finances its operations and growth.

Should repatriation be lower at 15.5%, which Milunovich estimates will be the case, this could mean up to $24 billion in "freed up" cash even while the company maintains a $90 billion net cash position.

"Apple applying a 25% haircut (or anything above 15.5%) to foreign cash when the actual rate is only 15.5% creates a surplus of cash at the target capital structure that can be used for shareholder returns," Milunovich wrote in a note. "We estimate the excess cash freed up from repatriation could be $24bn or 3% of the market cap."

The company's target capital structure has been pretty consistent over the last five years, Milunovich observes, with Apple buying back roughly 5% of its shares each year. 

He sees the company spending up to $122 billion, or 14% of its market cap, on stock buybacks through 2019.

Milunovich raised his price target for the stock to $190 per share from $175, though he doesn't believe its capital structure has much effect on its valuation.

SEE ALSO: Trump's tax plan could bring $250 billion into the US — here are the companies set to benefit most

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NOW WATCH: Why bitcoin checks all the boxes of a bubble

• Apple could free up $24 billion of overseas cash due to President Donald Trump's tax overhaul, a UBS analyst found.
• The corporate tax plan incentivizes companies like Apple that do big business overseas to bring more profits back home.
• The money that Apple saves from tax reform could be converted to stock buybacks.
• To see how Apple's stock is doing in real time, click here.

Apple will be one of the largest beneficiaries from President Donald Trump's tax overhaul because as much as $24 billion could be freed up due to the lowered corporate tax rate, UBS Analyst Steven Milunovich said.

Milunovich says that Apple has already been factoring in the lowered statutory US corporate tax rate of 25%—as proposed in President Donald Trump's tax overhaul—in its target capital structure, which determines how the company finances its operations and growth.

Should repatriation be lower at 15.5%, which Milunovich estimates will be the case, this could mean up to $24 billion in "freed up" cash even while the company maintains a $90 billion net cash position.

"Apple applying a 25% haircut (or anything above 15.5%) to foreign cash when the actual rate is only 15.5% creates a surplus of cash at the target capital structure that can be used for shareholder returns," Milunovich wrote in a note. "We estimate the excess cash freed up from repatriation could be $24bn or 3% of the market cap."

The company's target capital structure has been pretty consistent over the last five years, Milunovich observes, with Apple buying back roughly 5% of its shares each year. 

He sees the company spending up to $122 billion, or 14% of its market cap, on stock buybacks through 2019.

Milunovich raised his price target for the stock to $190 per share from $175, though he doesn't believe its capital structure has much effect on its valuation.

SEE ALSO: Trump's tax plan could bring $250 billion into the US — here are the companies set to benefit most

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NOW WATCH: PAUL KRUGMAN: Bitcoin is a more obvious bubble than housing was

• A water main broke in Terminal 4 at JFK International Airport and flooded a baggage claim area on Sunday.
• Many travelers don't know when they'll get their luggage back.
• The Port Authority believes the break may have been caused by the weather.

After enduring massive delays and an extended closure last week due to frigid temperatures and storms, some travelers using JFK International Airport are waiting to learn when they'll receive their luggage after a water main broke in Terminal 4 on Sunday.

The resulting leak flooded the baggage claim area, leaving some bags submerged in cold water. While many of the bags have been removed from the water, some travelers have said that they have not received any indication of when they'll get their luggage back.

The terminal was partially evacuated after the leak and was closed to international flights on Sunday. As of Monday morning, domestic and international flights are running with delays.

In a statement, the Port Authority said the break may have been caused by the weather. It plans to launch an investigation into the incident.

Neither JFK nor Delta Air Lines immediately responded to requests for comment.

SEE ALSO: I used one of the worst airports in the US when I went home for the holidays — here's what it was like

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NOW WATCH: The 5 issues to consider before trading bitcoin futures

The post Bitcoin Price Rally Grinds to a Halt as Korea Inspects Bitcoin Exchange Bank Accounts appeared first on CCN

A resurgent bitcoin price saw its rally grind to a halt on Monday following a report that South Korean regulators tasked with combating money laundering and terrorist financing would probe bank accounts belonging to domestic cryptocurrency exchanges. Bitcoin Price Rally Grinds to a Halt Despite losing a significant amount of market share in the face

The post Bitcoin Price Rally Grinds to a Halt as Korea Inspects Bitcoin Exchange Bank Accounts appeared first on CCN

The post Italian Pen Manufacturer Announces Production of Crypto Themed Bitcoin Pen appeared first on CCN

This is a submitted sponsored story. CCN urges readers to conduct their own research with due diligence into the company, product or service mentioned in the content below. Ancora, an Italian based company which has created exquisite pens by hand since 1919, has just announced the beginning of production for their Bitcoin Pen. There will only

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The post Bitcoin Futures and Options Market: Quedex Announces Revolutionary Trading Platform appeared first on CCN

This is a submitted sponsored story. CCN urges readers to conduct their own research with due diligence into the company, product or service mentioned in the content below. Bitcoin trading is one thing but now the just like other assets like oil, bitcoin futures are being launched around the world. While these futures may not aid

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Welcome to Crypto Insider, Business Insider’s roundup of all the bitcoin and cryptocurrency news you need to know today. Sign up here to get this email delivered direct to your inbox.

The three largest cryptocurrencies in the world are falling Monday, with Ripple leading the slump. Bitcoin and ethereum are also dropping.  

Here are the current standings:

• Bitcoin (BTC): $14,684.09 (-6.55%)
• Ethereum (ETH): $1,086.33 (-2.53%)
• Ripple (XRP): $2.380 (-13.80%)
• Bitcoin Cash (BCC): $2,285.90 (-9.05%)

What's happening:

SEE ALSO: Bitcoin miners are reportedly fleeing China because it is cracking down on cryptocurrencies

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NOW WATCH: THE BOTTOM LINE: Bitcoin mania, a Nobel Prize-winning economist talks Trump, and a deep dive on unstoppable tech stocks

Welcome to Crypto Insider, Business Insider’s roundup of all the bitcoin and cryptocurrency news you need to know today. Sign up here to get this email delivered direct to your inbox.

The three largest cryptocurrencies in the world are falling Monday, with Ripple leading the slump. Bitcoin and ethereum are also dropping.  

Here are the current standings:

• Bitcoin (BTC): $14,684.09 (-6.55%)
• Ethereum (ETH): $1,086.33 (-2.53%)
• Ripple (XRP): $2.380 (-13.80%)
• Bitcoin Cash (BCC): $2,285.90 (-9.05%)

What's happening:

SEE ALSO: Bitcoin miners are reportedly fleeing China because it is cracking down on cryptocurrencies

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: THE BOTTOM LINE: Bitcoin mania, a Nobel Prize-winning economist talks Trump, and a deep dive on unstoppable tech stocks

Welcome to Crypto Insider, Business Insider’s roundup of all the bitcoin and cryptocurrency news you need to know today. Sign up here to get this email delivered direct to your inbox.

The three largest cryptocurrencies in the world are falling Monday, with Ripple leading the slump. Bitcoin and ethereum are also dropping.  

Here are the current standings:

• Bitcoin (BTC): $14,684.09 (-6.55%)
• Ethereum (ETH): $1,086.33 (-2.53%)
• Ripple (XRP): $2.380 (-13.80%)
• Bitcoin Cash (BCC): $2,285.90 (-9.05%)

What's happening:

SEE ALSO: Bitcoin miners are reportedly fleeing China because it is cracking down on cryptocurrencies

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: THE BOTTOM LINE: Bitcoin mania, a Nobel Prize-winning economist talks Trump, and a deep dive on unstoppable tech stocks

• Nvidia announced a partnership with Uber for autonomous driving.
• The company also said it is shipping its new autonomous driving chip.
• Nvidia didn't leave gamers out, as it announced new display tech and the open beta for its game streaming platform.
• Watch Nvidia's stock price move in real time here.

Nvidia's stock price is rallying after the company kicked off CES with the first keynote and a string of new products and partnerships.

Nvidia is trading up 3.13% at $222.05 a share on Monday after the company announced a partnership with Uber, new autonomous driving chips, and new gaming displays.

In the first speech of this year's CES, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced a new partnership with Uber. The ride-hailing company has been working on developing self-driving cars and selected Nvidia as its artificial intelligence and autonomous driving technology provider.

In the same speech, Huang said that an update to the company's self-driving technology will begin delivering this quarter. The "Drive" series of chips were hailed as a way for car makers to eliminate a trunk full of computers in their self-driving cars.

The new Xavier chip is what Nvidia calls "the world's most powerful system on a chip" is set to go out to customers this quarter, and should provide a speed and power consumption upgrade over previous generations.

Nvidia got its start in gaming and didn't leave its most loyal customers out of the keynote. The company announced new "Big Format Gaming Displays," which combine giant monitors with improved refresh rates needed for better gaming performance. Several companies are working on incorporating Nvidia's tech into their displays, and they are expected to be available this summer.

The company also revealed that its streaming-game platform will be available to most Windows-based computers in an open beta format. The platform allows users to run high-end video games on Nvidia's machines, and stream the game to any computer with minimal lag. The idea is that users will be able to play games on their computers, even if they aren't wielding the latest graphics card and processor.

"We believe there were numerous incremental takeaways on recent growth and potential new C18/F19 product activity," Craig Ellis, an analyst at B. Riley, said of the keynote, on Monday.

Nvidia is up 106.4% over the last year.

Read more about how the company invests in startups here.

SEE ALSO: How the smartest company in the world thinks about investing in startups

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NOW WATCH: Here's what bitcoin futures could mean for the price of bitcoin

The post Ripple Price Isn’t Actually Down 30%: CoinMarketCap Removes South Korean Price appeared first on CCN

The price of Ripple, as shown on CoinMarketCap is believed to be down by 30 percent today. But, its actually only down by 10 percent. CoinMarketCap Fiasco Earlier today, without prior notice or any reasonable explanation, CoinMarketCap removed the trading price of Ripple on South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges from the global average calculation of Ripple.

The post Ripple Price Isn’t Actually Down 30%: CoinMarketCap Removes South Korean Price appeared first on CCN

• Ripple's XRP, the third largest cryptocurrency by market cap, slumped as much as 20% Monday morning as all three of the world’s largest digital tokens came under pressure.
• XRP is currently trading at $2.32, according to data from Markets Insider, and has a market cap of $90 billion, according to coinmarketcap.com. 
• The token is now down 38% from its all-time high, set earlier this month. 
• Ripple has been in the headlines a bunch over the past week thanks to the meteoric rise of XRP, which has made multi-millionaires out of those lucky enough to hold massive amounts, like Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen.
• Ethereum, which has leap frogged XRP for the number two slot by market cap, has also fallen by 5% Monday after hitting fresh highs earlier in the day.
• Bitcoin, far and away the largest cryptocurrency, was down 10%.

SEE ALSO: Sign up to get the most important updates on all things crypto delivered straight to your inbox.

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NOW WATCH: How the sale of Qdoba will impact Chipotle's future

• Ripple's XRP, the third largest cryptocurrency by market cap, slumped as much as 20% Monday morning as all three of the world’s largest digital tokens came under pressure.
• XRP is currently trading at $2.32, according to data from Markets Insider, and has a market cap of $90 billion, according to coinmarketcap.com. 
• The token is now down 38% from its all-time high, set earlier this month. 
• Ripple has been in the headlines a bunch over the past week thanks to the meteoric rise of XRP, which has made multi-millionaires out of those lucky enough to hold massive amounts, like Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen.
• Ethereum, which has leap frogged XRP for the number two slot by market cap, has also fallen by 5% Monday after hitting fresh highs earlier in the day.
• Bitcoin, far and away the largest cryptocurrency, was down 10%.

SEE ALSO: Sign up to get the most important updates on all things crypto delivered straight to your inbox.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How the sale of Qdoba will impact Chipotle's future

• Ripple's XRP, the third largest cryptocurrency by market cap, slumped as much as 20% Monday morning as all three of the world’s largest digital tokens came under pressure.
• XRP is currently trading at $2.32, according to data from Markets Insider, and has a market cap of $90 billion, according to coinmarketcap.com. 
• The token is now down 38% from its all-time high, set earlier this month. 
• Ripple has been in the headlines a bunch over the past week thanks to the meteoric rise of XRP, which has made multi-millionaires out of those lucky enough to hold massive amounts, like Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen.
• Ethereum, which has leap frogged XRP for the number two slot by market cap, has also fallen by 5% Monday after hitting fresh highs earlier in the day.
• Bitcoin, far and away the largest cryptocurrency, was down 10%.

SEE ALSO: Sign up to get the most important updates on all things crypto delivered straight to your inbox.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The chief global strategist at Charles Schwab says stocks will keep soaring in 2018

• Ripple's XRP, the third largest cryptocurrency by market cap, slumped as much as 20% Monday morning as all three of the world’s largest digital tokens came under pressure.
• XRP is currently trading at $2.32, according to data from Markets Insider, and has a market cap of $90 billion, according to coinmarketcap.com. 
• The token is now down 38% from its all-time high, set earlier this month. 
• Ripple has been in the headlines a bunch over the past week thanks to the meteoric rise of XRP, which has made multi-millionaires out of those lucky enough to hold massive amounts, like Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen.
• Ethereum, which has leap frogged XRP for the number two slot by market cap, has also fallen by 5% Monday after hitting fresh highs earlier in the day.
• Bitcoin, far and away the largest cryptocurrency, was down 10%.

SEE ALSO: Sign up to get the most important updates on all things crypto delivered straight to your inbox.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The chief global strategist at Charles Schwab says stocks will keep soaring in 2018

It's official: cryptocurrency investing has really gone to the dogs

• Shares of Seagate Technologies surged 11% Monday after a Seeking Alpha report suggested the hard-disk and memory card maker could own over $7 billion worth of Ripple’s XRP cryptocurrency, which has surged more than 30,000% in recent months.
• Seagate invested in Ripple’s Series A and B rounds. Ripple, which created the XRP to facilitate its liquidity and money transfer products, owns 61% of the cryptocurrency.
• According to Seeking Alpha’s calculations — many of which are based on estimates that could not be confirmed by Business Insider — Seagate could own 4.3% of Ripple and its reserves of XRP. Based on XRP prices at the time of Seeking Alpha's writing, that could put Seagate’s holdings near $7.8 billion.
• XRP currently has a market capitalization over $80 billion, making it the third-largest cryptocurrency behind bitcoin and ethereum, according to coinmarketcap.com. Its value has risen by 1,417% in the past year to trade at $2.276 per coin, up from just $0.15.
• Neither company responded to a request for comment.

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NOW WATCH: A Nobel Prize-winning economist says Trump's tax plan won't crash the economy

• Shares of Seagate Technologies surged 11% Monday after a Seeking Alpha report suggested the hard-disk and memory card maker could own over $7 billion worth of Ripple’s XRP cryptocurrency, which has surged more than 30,000% in recent months.
• Seagate invested in Ripple’s Series A and B rounds. Ripple, which created the XRP to facilitate its liquidity and money transfer products, owns 61% of the cryptocurrency.
• According to Seeking Alpha’s calculations — many of which are based on estimates that could not be confirmed by Business Insider — Seagate could own 4.3% of Ripple and its reserves of XRP. Based on XRP prices at the time of Seeking Alpha's writing, that could put Seagate’s holdings near $7.8 billion.
• XRP currently has a market capitalization over $80 billion, making it the third-largest cryptocurrency behind bitcoin and ethereum, according to coinmarketcap.com. Its value has risen by 1,417% in the past year to trade at $2.276 per coin, up from just $0.15.
• Neither company responded to a request for comment.

SEE ALSO: Sign up to get the most important updates on all things crypto delivered straight to your inbox.

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NOW WATCH: A Nobel Prize-winning economist says Trump's tax plan won't crash the economy

• Shares of Seagate Technologies surged 11% Monday after a Seeking Alpha report suggested the hard-disk and memory card maker could own over $7 billion worth of Ripple’s XRP cryptocurrency, which has surged more than 30,000% in recent months.
• Seagate invested in Ripple’s Series A and B rounds. Ripple, which created the XRP to facilitate its liquidity and money transfer products, owns 61% of the cryptocurrency.
• According to Seeking Alpha’s calculations — many of which are based on estimates that could not be confirmed by Business Insider — Seagate could own 4.3% of Ripple and its reserves of XRP. Based on XRP prices at the time of Seeking Alpha's writing, that could put Seagate’s holdings near $7.8 billion.
• XRP currently has a market capitalization over $80 billion, making it the third-largest cryptocurrency behind bitcoin and ethereum, according to coinmarketcap.com. Its value has risen by 1,417% in the past year to trade at $2.276 per coin, up from just $0.15.
• Neither company responded to a request for comment.

SEE ALSO: Sign up to get the most important updates on all things crypto delivered straight to your inbox.

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NOW WATCH: PAUL KRUGMAN: Trump can't take credit for the soaring stock market

• Shares of Seagate Technologies surged 11% Monday after a Seeking Alpha report suggested the hard-disk and memory card maker could own over $7 billion worth of Ripple’s XRP cryptocurrency, which has surged more than 30,000% in recent months.
• Seagate invested in Ripple’s Series A and B rounds. Ripple, which created the XRP to facilitate its liquidity and money transfer products, owns 61% of the cryptocurrency.
• According to Seeking Alpha’s calculations — many of which are based on estimates that could not be confirmed by Business Insider — Seagate could own 4.3% of Ripple and its reserves of XRP. Based on XRP prices at the time of Seeking Alpha's writing, that could put Seagate’s holdings near $7.8 billion.
• XRP currently has a market capitalization over $80 billion, making it the third-largest cryptocurrency behind bitcoin and ethereum, according to coinmarketcap.com. Its value has risen by 1,417% in the past year to trade at $2.276 per coin, up from just $0.15.
• Neither company responded to a request for comment.

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NOW WATCH: PAUL KRUGMAN: Trump can't take credit for the soaring stock market

Ripple's XRP token is down more than 30 percent today, amid losses across the wider cryptocurrency market.

• Bitcoin has given up gains made over the weekend.
• The cryptocurrency was trading down 8.81% at $14,781, according to Markets Insider data.
• Meanwhile, regulators in Asia are ramping up regulations.

Bitcoin gave up its gains made over the weekend during Monday morning's trading session.

The red-hot digital coin, which failed to retest its all-time high near $20,000 set in December, broke through $17,000 on Saturday. By Monday morning, however, the digital currency was trading down 8.81% at $14,781, according to Markets Insider data.

It's not exactly clear what was behind the selling pressure, but news out of South Korea could be one catalyst.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that regulators there were preparing a wide-ranging inspection on six commercial banks who manage "virtual" bitcoin accounts. Virtual accounts, according to the Journal, are where investors can store fiat money when they buy or sell crypto.

“There is growing concern that banks, which should actively act as gatekeepers to prevent the distribution of crime and illegal funds, are aiding and encouraging them,” Choi Jong-ku, head of South Korea’s Financial Services Commission, said.

And in China, bitcoin miners are reportedly fleeing to avoid a government crackdown.

Bitmain, which runs two exchanges, has set up a regional office in Singapore, as well as mining operations in the US and Canada, CEO Wu Jihan told Bloomberg TV in an interview. News of the impending crackdown was first reported Wednesday.

China banned wildly popular initial coin offerings — or ICOs — and the trading of the digital assets on local exchanges in 2017. The country had initially been popular for cryptocurrency mining because of cheap energy costs. 

Still, not all cryptocurrency watchers view this as a significant development.

"I don’t think it will have a big effect and not sure all miners will stop," Greg Van den Bergh, the CEO of MiCai Limited, a China-based financial technology firm, told Business Insider in an email. "The likelihood of detection is [very] small."

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• Bitcoin has given up gains made over the weekend.
• The cryptocurrency was trading down 8.81% at $14,781, according to Markets Insider data.
• Meanwhile, regulators in Asia are ramping up regulations.

Bitcoin gave up its gains made over the weekend during Monday morning's trading session.

The red-hot digital coin, which failed to retest its all-time high near $20,000 set in December, broke through $17,000 on Saturday. By Monday morning, however, the digital currency was trading down 8.81% at $14,781, according to Markets Insider data.

It's not exactly clear what was behind the selling pressure, but news out of South Korea could be one catalyst.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that regulators there were preparing a wide-ranging inspection on six commercial banks who manage "virtual" bitcoin accounts. Virtual accounts, according to the Journal, are where investors can store fiat money when they buy or sell crypto.

“There is growing concern that banks, which should actively act as gatekeepers to prevent the distribution of crime and illegal funds, are aiding and encouraging them,” Choi Jong-ku, head of South Korea’s Financial Services Commission, said.

And in China, bitcoin miners are reportedly fleeing to avoid a government crackdown.

Bitmain, which runs two exchanges, has set up a regional office in Singapore, as well as mining operations in the US and Canada, CEO Wu Jihan told Bloomberg TV in an interview. News of the impending crackdown was first reported Wednesday.

China banned wildly popular initial coin offerings — or ICOs — and the trading of the digital assets on local exchanges in 2017. The country had initially been popular for cryptocurrency mining because of cheap energy costs. 

Still, not all cryptocurrency watchers view this as a significant development.

"I don’t think it will have a big effect and not sure all miners will stop," Greg Van den Bergh, the CEO of MiCai Limited, a China-based financial technology firm, told Business Insider in an email. "The likelihood of detection is [very] small."

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NOW WATCH: Why bitcoin checks all the boxes of a bubble

The post Microsoft No Longer Accepts Bitcoin, Customer Support Confirms appeared first on CCN

On the r/Bitcoin subreddit, it’s all about Microsoft and Bitcoin, as the tech giant seemingly stopped accepting the flagship cryptocurrency, according to various top threads. One points to Microsoft following Steam’s footsteps in no longer accepting Bitcoin. The rumor stems from a Bleeping Computer article that claims the software and hardware giant did halt Bitcoin

The post Microsoft No Longer Accepts Bitcoin, Customer Support Confirms appeared first on CCN

• Snap's stock price is slipping on Monday after the company was downgraded by Jefferies.
• Jefferies prefers Facebook in the social media landscape.
• Snap's new app redesign may not have the desired effect and could turn users away from publishers' content.
• Watch Snap's stock price in real time here.

Snap is trading down 4.41% to $13.86 on Monday after Jefferies downgraded the stock from a buy to a hold.

Snap achieved the $14.50 price target Jefferies had set, which was one reason for the downgrade. Brent Thill, an analyst at Jefferies, said it will take time to see if the company's new app design will bring the promised boost to ad sales and user interaction.

Snap recently announced a major redesign of its app, but the new design has yet to go live to all users. The overhauled app more clearly separates content by users' friends from content by brands and celebrities.

Thill has spent time with the redesigned app and doesn't think the separation of branded and personal content will ultimately be good for Snap. He said engagement in the new app is flat for personal content but has declined for brand content, since the two are now in different sections.

"Improvements continue on the ad tech stack which have been welcomed by advertisers, but budgets continue to be in a test mode until greater conversion can be proven," Thill said in a note to clients on Monday.

Thill summed up the current social media landscape by saying "in social we prefer the clear leader in Facebook. ... Snap is now trading at ~11x our '18 Rev estimate which we see as fully valued."

Cowen downgraded the stock last week after a survey of senior ad buyers revealed that 96% of them would prefer to advertise on Instagram, as opposed to Snap. The stock slipped on the news.

Snap is down 20.7% from its IPO price of $17.

Read more about Cowen's downgrade here.

SEE ALSO: No one wants to advertise on Snapchat, and the stock is suffering

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• GoPro on Monday announced a big restructuring plan as it tries to become profitable this year. 
• The action-camera maker said it will lay off more than 250 workers worldwide, exit the drone business, and reduce CEO Nicholas Woodman's 2018 cash pay to $1. 
• The company also lowered its Q4 revenue forecast. 

GoPro is cutting more than 250 jobs and leaving the drone industry in an attempt to return to profitability by the second half of this year. 

In its preliminary fourth-quarter results released on Monday, the maker of action cameras said it reducing its global workforce from 1,254 employees to fewer than 1,000. 

Demand for the Hero5 model was soft during the holiday season, GoPro CEO said in a statement. "Despite significant marketing support, we found consumers were reluctant to purchase HERO5 Black at the same price it launched at one year earlier," Woodman added. "Our December 10 holiday price reduction provided a sharp increase in sell-through."

GoPro also announced that Woodman would reduce his 2018 cash compensation to $1.

The company estimated fourth-quarter revenues of $340 million, including an $80 million charge from price cuts. The forecast is down from its prior estimate of $460 million-$480 million, according to Bloomberg. 

GoPro is exiting the drone business amid strong competition and "a hostile regulatory environment in Europe and the United States." It will sell the remaining Karma drones in inventory. GoPro recalled about 2,500 units of the drones in November 2016, shortly after launch, when some of them lost power during operation. 

The company halted trading of its shares premarket ahead of the news. It fell 17% in the year through Friday's market close. 

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NOW WATCH: PAUL KRUGMAN: Bitcoin is a more obvious bubble than housing was

• Wall Street analysts made the smallest cuts to fourth-quarter 2017 earnings for any quarter since 2010, according to FactSet. 
• Analysts across sectors are counting on a strong earnings season, raising the bar that companies have to clear in the coming weeks. 
• Q4 was the last reporting season before the new tax law kicked in, meaning that it's especially important. 

Wall Street analysts have set the bar high for corporate America when it starts reporting earnings later this week. Or at least, their expectations aren't as low as they usually are.

In the fourth quarter, analysts who forecast earnings metrics for the S&P 500 companies they cover made the smallest cuts to their estimates for any quarter since 2010, according to FactSet. 

They lowered the bottom-up earnings-per-share estimate by 0.3%, to $34.90 from $35. That's smaller than the average quarterly decline during the past year (-3.1%) and during the past five years (-4.2%), FactSet's data showed.  

The overall estimate was not skewed by one or two sectors in which analysts are uniquely bullish. John Butters, a senior earnings analyst at FactSet, noted that analysts in seven out of the 10 S&P 500 sectors made cuts that were smaller than the five-year average. 

However, a big contribution to the S&P 500's fourth-quarter earnings growth should come from the energy sector, as it continues to rebound from the oil crash of 2014. Credit Suisse estimates 126% earnings-per-share growth from Q4 2015, which dwarfs second-place Materials by about 100 percentage points. 

Wall Street's confidence means that companies may have a higher bar to beat in the coming weeks. Every quarter, there's a familiar pattern: expectations for earnings growth plunge into the reporting season. Companies end up beating these lowered expectations, giving investors more reason to bid up their share prices. 

And across Wall Street, analysts are counting on earnings growth to keep this bull market going for longer.  

The last 'apples-to-apples comparison'

That aside, this earnings season marks the end of an era. 

That's because the fourth quarter was the last one before the most drastic changes to the US tax code in three decades. 

"Given recent tax changes, 4Q17 provides the last apples-to-apples comparison for company results under the prior regime, and will therefore be of particular importance," said Jonathan Golub, the chief US equity strategist at Credit Suisse, in a note on Monday. 

Over the next couple of weeks, analysts will be paying attention to guidance around each company's new effective tax rate as they make their final estimates for this year, Golub said. Additionally, they'd be listening out for details from companies on how they plan to spend capital returned from outside the US.

The fourth-quarter earnings season unofficially kicks off on Friday when JPMorgan and Wells Fargo announce their results. 

SEE ALSO: There's a new biggest bull on Wall Street now that Trump has signed tax cuts into law

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NOW WATCH: Why bitcoin checks all the boxes of a bubble

 A team of former Tinder employees, led by Tinder’s original CTO Ryan Ogle, are today launching a new app aimed at professional networking. The app, called Ripple, aims to be a sort of mobile-first alternative to LinkedIn that addresses some of the problems common to the aging, now Microsoft-owned business networking platform. LinkedIn today has a heavy focus on job searching and head… Read More

The post Ethereum Price Swims Against the Tide as Other Top Coins Retreat appeared first on CCN

The ethereum price managed to swim against the current on Monday, posting a minor increase even as the wider markets — led by bitcoin and ripple — endured a moderate correction that appeared worse than it really was. Cryptocurrency Market Cap Takes Eight Percent ‘Hit’ as CoinMarketCap Excludes Korean Data The cryptocurrency market cap had

The post Ethereum Price Swims Against the Tide as Other Top Coins Retreat appeared first on CCN

The post Ethereum Price Swims Against the Tide as Other Top Coins Retreat appeared first on CCN

The ethereum price managed to swim against the current on Monday, posting a minor increase even as the wider markets — led by bitcoin and ripple — endured a moderate correction that appeared worse than it really was. Cryptocurrency Market Cap Takes Eight Percent ‘Hit’ as CoinMarketCap Excludes Korean Data The cryptocurrency market cap had

The post Ethereum Price Swims Against the Tide as Other Top Coins Retreat appeared first on CCN

Dave Lutz, head of ETFs at JonesTrading, has an overview of today's markets.

• Earnings season starts this week.
• Most of the global markets are green.
• Ethereum is rising.

Here's Lutz:

Morning, and Welcome to the kick off of Earnings week, with several major US Banks posting Friday, and As the bellwether JPM HC Conference kicks off, we awaken to 2 Biotech deals this AM.  US Futures are starting off a touch weaker, as Investors rotate back into Treasuries early.   It’s a decent session in Europe tho, where the EU Stoxx 600 is kissing 3Y highs as the DAX climbs 40bp behind a solid rally in the Autos.  Fins are red tho, as a bid develops in Bunds.   FTSE is Lagging as Tech hit behind Micro Focus, and Healthcare and Staples both rest in the red.  Another green overnight in Asia - Hang Seng up 30bp despite a 10% rip higher in Country Garden - Shanghai added 50bp - KOSPI added 60bp - Aussie up small as Miners finally took a breather, but HC and Fins rallied, while Japan was closed for Holiday 

The 10YY is dipping under 2.47% early, while those 10Y Breakevens remain upside 2% - The DXY is bouncing from 4M lows on chatter the Bank of Korea acting to pressure the Won - Euro trying to hold $1.20 as German Factory Orders post light, but Confidence and Retail Sales outperform, while the $/Y is nearing a 113 test.   Ore jumped 3.2% overnight and Rebar added to it’s 8.5% gains last week, but Industrial metals are starting the week in the red stateside.   We do see a bid in Oil stocks again, as the DIP in rig Count is supporting prices this AM

Here are the 10 things you need to know today.

SEE ALSO: 10 things you need to know before the opening bell

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NOW WATCH: Here's what bitcoin futures could mean for the price of bitcoin

The post Korea, China and Japan are Swapping Ideas for Cryptocurrency Regulation appeared first on CCN

South Korea’s primary financial regulator is in discussions with counterparts in China and Japan toward the regulation of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. Speaking to reporters today, Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) chairman Choi Jong-ku has revealed a meeting attended by vice finance ministers from South Korea, Japan and China to discuss strategies and ideas on regulating

The post Korea, China and Japan are Swapping Ideas for Cryptocurrency Regulation appeared first on CCN

 China banned bitcoin, ICOs and now it appears to be clamping down on Chinese miners, an important group estimated to produce some three-quarters of the world’s supply of bitcoin. According to a leaked January 2 memo from the ‘Leading Group of Internet Financial Risks Remediation’ — the country’s internet finance regulator which initiated the clampdown on… Read More

Even in the turbulent world of cryptocurrencies, Dogecoin is seen as a pretty wild creature.

Even in the turbulent world of cryptocurrencies, Dogecoin is seen as a pretty wild creature.

Bitcoin is looking weak today after prices failed to hold above $17,000 levels at the weekend.

China is reportedly seeking an "orderly exit" from bitcoin mining, according to a leaked document seen by Quartz. The nation's internet finance regulator is asking local governments to strongly encourage firms to quit the business by jacking up power...

The post Bitcoin ≠ Eco-Awareness – A Bill That Won’t Work out in the Long Run Solution = Proof-Of-Stake appeared first on CCN

This is a paid-for submitted press release. CCN does not endorse, nor is responsible for any material included below and isn’t responsible for any damages or losses connected with any products or services mentioned in the press release. CCN urges readers to conduct their own research with due diligence into the company, product or service mentioned

The post Bitcoin ≠ Eco-Awareness – A Bill That Won’t Work out in the Long Run Solution = Proof-Of-Stake appeared first on CCN

• The Home Office hopes to extend licensing hours for pubs and bars over the weekend of the next royal wedding.
• Prince Harry will marry Meghan Markle on Saturday May 19 at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, the same day as the FA Cup final.
• Under the proposal, hours would be extended until 1 a.m.

The Home Office hopes to extend licensing hours for pubs and bars across the UK over the royal wedding weekend in May this year, it announced on Sunday.

The government has launched a public consultation on plans to extend licensing hours on the nights of Friday 18 and Saturday 19 May until 1 a.m. "to give everyone the chance to celebrate the occasion."

Prince Harry will marry Meghan Markle on Saturday May 19 at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, Berkshire — the same day the FA Cup final will be held at Wembley.

Licensing hours were last extended for the Queen’s 90th birthday in 2016, and before that for William and Kate’s wedding in 2011.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said: "The Royal Wedding will be a time of national celebration, and we want everyone to be able to make the most of such an historic occasion.

"I hope that this relaxation of the licensing hours will allow people to extend their festivities and come together to mark what will be a very special moment for the country."

Most pubs and bars in the UK shut at 11 p.m. or 12 p.m., although some have obtained licences which allow them to stay open later.

Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association commented: "This is great news for pubs and pub-goers and shows the government has listened to our calls to put pubs at the heart of the royal wedding celebrations.

"Visitors see the great British pub as a cultural icon, almost as much as the royal family." He added that the proposed extended hours could give a £10 million boost to the trade.

SEE ALSO: There's a theory for why Prince William always holds George's hand in public while Kate looks after Charlotte — and experts on royals say it could be true

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 Encrypted messaging startup Telegram plans to launch its own blockchain platform and native cryptocurrency, powering payments on its chat app and beyond. According to multiple sources which have spoken to TechCrunch, the “Telegram Open Network” (TON) will be a new, ‘third generation’ blockchain with superior capabilities, after Bitcoin and, later, Ethereum paved the… Read More

• BBC journalist Carrie Gracie has quit her role and published a bombshell letter complaining about the broadcaster's "illegal pay culture."
• She earned around 50% less than two of her male counterparts.
• Gracie had to present Radio 4's "Today" programme on Monday morning, in which her letter was one of the main headlines.
• Fellow journalists, both at the BBC and elsewhere, have praised her bravery.

A top BBC journalist has quit her role as China editor and published an explosive letter, in which she challenged the broadcaster's "secretive and illegal pay culture."

Carrie Gracie addressed the letter (available in full below) to licence fee payers, the British public who fund the BBC, and published it on her website on Sunday evening.

It follows salary disclosures at the BBC in July last year, which revealed discrepancies between how much male and female presenters are paid.

In Gracie's case, she discovered that two of her male counterparts earned "at least 50%" more than her. US editor Jon Sopel earns between £200,000 ($270,000) and £249,999, while Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen takes home between £150,000 and £199,999.

Women have been fighting for equal pay ever since, but she said little progress has been made. The BBC has adopted a "bunker mentality" and is denial over the issue, according to the presenter. She said:

"Salary disclosures the BBC was forced to make six months ago revealed not only unacceptably high pay for top presenters and managers but also an indefensible pay gap between men and women doing equal work.

"These revelations damaged the trust of BBC staff. For the first time, women saw hard evidence of what they’d long suspected, that they are not being valued equally.

"Many have since sought pay equality through internal negotiation but managers still deny there is a problem. This bunker mentality is likely to end in a disastrous legal defeat for the BBC and an exodus of female talent at every level."

Gracie, who has worked at the BBC for 30 years, said it must accept there is a problem, "apologise and set in place an equal, fair, and transparent pay structure."

The corporation said on Monday that "fairness in pay" is vital and an independent salary audit, carried out last year, had shown there is no "systemic discrimination."

Gracie has left her role to return to the BBC's London newsroom, where she said she expects to be paid fairly. Her open letter coincided with her guest hosting Radio 4's "Today" programme on Monday, the biggest news show in the country.

Gracie was among the main headlines, but BBC impartiality rules prevented her from giving an interview on the matter because she was presenting the programme. She did, however, say the response to her letter had been "very moving" and that there was a "depth of hunger" for fair pay.

Many have praised Gracie's bravery and tweeted their support:

A BBC spokesman said: "Fairness in pay is vital. A significant number of organisations have now published their gender pay figures showing that we are performing considerably better than many and are well below the national average.

"Alongside that, we have already conducted an independent judge-led audit of pay for rank and file staff which showed 'no systemic discrimination against women.' A separate report for on-air staff will be published in the not too distant future."

Read Carrie Gracie's letter in full:

Dear BBC Audience,

My name is Carrie Gracie and I have been a BBC journalist for three decades. With great regret, I have left my post as China Editor to speak out publicly on a crisis of trust at the BBC.

The BBC belongs to you, the licence fee payer. I believe you have a right to know that it is breaking equality law and resisting pressure for a fair and transparent pay structure.

In thirty years at the BBC, I have never sought to make myself the story and never publicly criticised the organisation I love. I am not asking for more money. I believe I am very well paid already – especially as someone working for a publicly funded organisation. I simply want the BBC to abide by the law and value men and women equally.

On pay, the BBC is not living up to its stated values of trust, honesty and accountability. Salary disclosures the BBC was forced to make six months ago revealed not only unacceptably high pay for top presenters and managers but also an indefensible pay gap between men and women doing equal work. These revelations damaged the trust of BBC staff. For the first time, women saw hard evidence of what they’d long suspected, that they are not being valued equally.

Many have since sought pay equality through internal negotiation but managers still deny there is a problem. This bunker mentality is likely to end in a disastrous legal defeat for the BBC and an exodus of female talent at every level.

Mine is just one story of inequality among many, but I hope it will help you understand why I feel obliged to speak out.

I am a China specialist, fluent in Mandarin and with nearly three decades of reporting the story. Four years ago, the BBC urged me to take the newly created post of China Editor.

I knew the job would demand sacrifices and resilience. I would have to work 5000 miles from my teenage children, and in a heavily censored one-party state I would face surveillance, police harassment and official intimidation.

I accepted the challenges while stressing to my bosses that I must be paid equally with my male peers. Like many other BBC women, I had long suspected that I was routinely paid less, and at this point in my career, I was determined not to let it happen again. Believing that I had secured pay parity with men in equivalent roles, I set off for Beijing.

In the past four years, the BBC has had four international editors - two men and two women. The Equality Act 2010 states that men and women doing equal work must receive equal pay. But last July I learned that in the previous financial year, the two men earned at least 50% more than the two women.

Despite the BBC’s public insistence that my appointment demonstrated its commitment to gender equality, and despite my own insistence that equality was a condition of taking up the post, my managers had yet again judged that women's work was worth much less than men's.

My bewilderment turned to dismay when I heard the BBC complain of being forced to make these pay disclosures. Without them, I and many other BBC women would never have learned the truth.

I told my bosses the only acceptable resolution would be for all the international editors to be paid the same amount. The right amount would be for them to decide, and I made clear I wasn't seeking a pay rise, just equal pay. Instead the BBC offered me a big pay rise which remained far short of equality. It said there were differences between roles which justified the pay gap, but it has refused to explain these differences. Since turning down an unequal pay rise, I have been subjected to a dismayingly incompetent and undermining grievance process which still has no outcome.

Enough is enough. The rise of China is one of the biggest stories of our time and one of the hardest to tell. I cannot do it justice while battling my bosses and a byzantine complaints process. Last week I left my role as China Editor and will now return to my former post in the TV newsroom where I expect to be paid equally.

For BBC women this is not just a matter of one year’s salary or two. Taking into account disadvantageous contracts and pension entitlements, it is a gulf that will last a lifetime. Many of the women affected are not highly paid ‘stars’ but hard-working producers on modest salaries. Often women from ethnic minorities suffer wider pay gaps than the rest.

This is not the gender pay gap that the BBC admits to. It is not men earning more because they do more of the jobs which pay better. It is men earning more in the same jobs or jobs of equal value. It is pay discrimination and it is illegal.

On learning the shocking scale of inequality last July, BBC women began to come together to tackle the culture of secrecy that helps perpetuate it. We shared our pay details and asked male colleagues to do the same.

Meanwhile the BBC conducted various reviews. The outgoing Director of News said last month, “We did a full equal pay audit which showed there is equal pay across the BBC.” But this was not a full audit. It excluded the women with the biggest pay gaps. The BBC has now begun a ‘talent review’ but the women affected have no confidence in it. Up to two hundred BBC women have made pay complaints only to be told repeatedly there is no pay discrimination at the BBC. Can we all be wrong? I no longer trust our management to give an honest answer.

In fact, the only BBC women who can be sure they do not suffer pay discrimination are senior managers whose salaries are published. For example, we have a new, female, Director of News who did not have to fight to earn the same as her male predecessor because his £340 000 salary was published and so was hers. Elsewhere, pay secrecy makes BBC women as vulnerable as they are in many other workplaces.

How to put things right?

The BBC must admit the problem, apologise and set in place an equal, fair and transparent pay structure. To avoid wasting your licence fee on an unwinnable court fight against female staff, the BBC should immediately agree to independent arbitration to settle individual cases.

Patience and good will are running out. In the six months since July’s revelations, the BBC has attempted a botched solution based on divide and rule. It has offered some women pay ‘revisions’ which do not guarantee equality, while locking down other women in a protracted complaints process.

We have felt trapped. Speaking out carries the risk of disciplinary measures or even dismissal; litigation can destroy careers and be financially ruinous. What's more the BBC often settles cases out of court and demands non-disclosure agreements, a habit unworthy of an organisation committed to truth, and one which does nothing to resolve the systemic problem.

None of this is an indictment of individual managers. I am grateful for their personal support and for their editorial integrity in the face of censorship pressure in China. But for far too long, a secretive and illegal BBC pay culture has inflicted dishonourable choices on those who enforce it. This must change.

Meanwhile we are by no means the only workplace with hidden pay discrimination and the pressure for transparency is only growing. I hope rival news organisations will not use this letter as a stick with which to beat the BBC, but instead reflect on their own equality issues.

It is painful to leave my China post abruptly and to say goodbye to the team in the BBC’s Beijing bureau. But most of them are brilliant young women. I don’t want their generation to have to fight this battle in the future because my generation failed to win it now.

To women of any age in any workplace who are confronting pay discrimination, I wish you the solidarity of a strong sisterhood and the support of male colleagues.

It is a century since women first won the right to vote in Britain. Let us honour that brave generation by making this the year we win equal pay.

SEE ALSO: The BBC just published how much its 96 biggest stars get paid

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• Flight EY474 from Abu Dhabi to Jakarta diverted for a medical emergency.
• Cleaners later found a dead newborn hidden in a drawer.
• A 37-year-old woman, who was returning home after four years' domestic work in Abu Dhabi, was arrested whens he got back to Indonesia.

A newborn baby was found dead on an airplane over the weekend, wrapped in a plastic bag of the plane's toilet.

Cleaners made the gruesome discovery in a drawer inside the toilet of an Etihad plane on Saturday night after it landed at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Agence France-Presse reported.

Police have arrested a 37-year-old Indonesian woman, identified only as Hani, who they suspect secretly gave birth on the flight, service EY474.

Hani had worked as a domestic helper in Abu Dhabi for the past four years, and has a husband and children in Cianjur, Indonesia.

According to Indonesian newspaper The Jakarta Post, Hani said the child was a result of a relationship with her employer in Abu Dhabi.

The woman began bleeding halfway through the flight, according to AFP, and the Airbus A330 she was travelling on had to divert at Bangkok so a medical team could evacuate her.

Passenger Francesco Calore told AFP: "The woman was in economy class but then [the airline] laid on a business-class seat with an oxygen mask. The captain then announced we should divert to Bangkok."

It wasn't clear whether anybody on board the plane was aware that Hani was pregnant, or indeed had given birth.

Etihad's guidelines say that expectant mothers need a medical certificate to fly in the last ten weeks of their pregnancy, and should not fly at all in the final four.

Hani returned to Indonesia early Sunday morning, the day after her original flight had arrived. She was arrested at Jakarta Airport.

Ahmad Yusef, Jakarta's police chief, told AFP that the migrant worker "didn't look healthy."

The cause of the baby's death remains unknown.

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• Deltic Group, which owns 57 bars and clubs across the UK, had a record New Year's Eve.
• Sales of £2.4 million for New Year's Eve and revenues up 8.2% in the month to December 31.

LONDON — Deltic Group, which operates late night bars and clubs across the UK, had record sales of £2.4 million on New Year's Eve 2017, the company said on Monday.

Deltic, which operates venues such as Oceana in Southampton and Atik in Edinburgh, said sales jumped 8.2% in the four weeks to December 31 2017.

More than 76,000 people visited its 57 bars and clubs across the UK on New Year's Eve and Deltic said it sold 10,000 bottles of Champagne and prosecco across the period.

CEO Peter Marks said in a statement: "I believe that our recent performance reflects the Group's quality brands, well-invested estate, industry-leading central sales and social media campaigns and dedication to customer service, in tune with the appetite amongst consumers for great nights out, particularly on special occasions."

Deltic, which owns chains such as Chicago's and Pryzm, has recently been trying to merge with cocktail chain Revolution

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The lawyer who's filed more crypto class actions than any other speaks out on his outlook on the blockchain industry.

• UBS launched a fund on Monday that invests in firms which promote gender equality
• The Swiss bank will launch an ETF which invests in a new index of 100 firms which best promote gender equality internationally.
• Research has linked gender diversity to better stock returns.

LONDON — UBS launched a fund on Monday that invests in firms which promote gender equality to cash in on a growing trend towards ethical investment.

The Swiss bank will launch a Global Gender Equality exchange-traded fund (ETF) which invests in the Solactive Equileap Global Gender Equality 100 Leaders index, a new index of 100 firms which best promote gender equality internationally.

The fund launched amid renewed global interest in the gender pay gap, which stood at 9.4% for full-time employees in the UK in 2016, according to the Office for National Statistics. On 1 January, Iceland became the first country to introduce legislation requiring employers to prove they offer equal pay regardless of factors including gender.

On Sunday, BBC China editor Carrie Gracie resigned after learning her male peers were earning up to 50% more than her.

Research has also linked gender diversity to better stock returns. A recent note from UBS Wealth Management analysed profitability metrics for companies in the FTSE Developed World Index, and found companies with higher-than-average proportions of women on the board had higher returns than less gender-diverse peers.

The index also tracks 18 other diversity criteria, including equal compensation, work-life balance, transparency and accountability.

The ETF is a joint collaboration between UBS Asset Management and UBS Wealth Management.

Rachel Whittaker, sustainable investing strategist at UBS Wealth Management's chief investment office said: "Our research indicates that gender-diverse companies tend to outperform on various profitability measures.

"We believe these findings support approaches to gender lens investing that take into account diversity at all levels of the organization as well as in leadership positions."

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• Ethereum cleared $1,000 for the first time on Friday.
• The digital currency cleared $1,200 for the first time in early trade on Monday to reach a new all-time high.
• It has since given up some of its gains and is up 6.8% against the dollar to $1,191 at the time of writing.

LONDON — Ethereum's recent surge is continuing on Monday, with the cryptocurrency close to its all-time high.

Ethereum, the second biggest cryptocurrency after bitcoin, crossed $1,000 per coin for the first time on Friday. Gains continued over the weekend and ethereum cleared $1,200 per coin in the early hours of Monday morning. It hit an all-time high of $1,261.41 at 4.40 a.m. UTC/GMT (11.40 p.m. ET).

The digital currency, which was worth just $10 at the start of 2017, has since given up some of its gains but is still trading higher on the day.

Ethereum is up 6.8% against the dollar to $1,191.96 at the time of writing (7.55 a.m. GMT/2.55 a.m. ET):

The immediate spur for the recent rally was a fourth quarter report on the performance of ethereum, which is a decentralized network for people to run contracts on. Transactions volume on its network doubled, according to a blog post, "surpassing 10 transactions per second for days at a time."

Ethereum's recent rally means the cryptocurrency now has a market capitalisation of $118 billion, according to data provider CoinMarketCap.com. That equates to 15% of the entire cryptocurrency market.

Elsewhere in the cryptocurrency markets, bitcoin is down 1.8% against the dollar to $15,875.17 at the time of writing and litecoin is down 2.4% to $264.19.

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• Ethereum cleared $1,000 for the first time on Friday.
• The digital currency cleared $1,200 for the first time in early trade on Monday to reach a new all-time high.
• It has since given up some of its gains and is up 6.8% against the dollar to $1,191 at the time of writing.

LONDON — Ethereum's recent surge is continuing on Monday, with the cryptocurrency close to its all-time high.

Ethereum, the second biggest cryptocurrency after bitcoin, crossed $1,000 per coin for the first time on Friday. Gains continued over the weekend and ethereum cleared $1,200 per coin in the early hours of Monday morning. It hit an all-time high of $1,261.41 at 4.40 a.m. UTC/GMT (11.40 p.m. ET).

The digital currency, which was worth just $10 at the start of 2017, has since given up some of its gains but is still trading higher on the day.

Ethereum is up 6.8% against the dollar to $1,191.96 at the time of writing (7.55 a.m. GMT/2.55 a.m. ET):

The immediate spur for the recent rally was a fourth quarter report on the performance of ethereum, which is a decentralized network for people to run contracts on. Transactions volume on its network doubled, according to a blog post, "surpassing 10 transactions per second for days at a time."

Ethereum's recent rally means the cryptocurrency now has a market capitalisation of $118 billion, according to data provider CoinMarketCap.com. That equates to 15% of the entire cryptocurrency market.

Elsewhere in the cryptocurrency markets, bitcoin is down 1.8% against the dollar to $15,875.17 at the time of writing and litecoin is down 2.4% to $264.19.

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• Satellite images of two major oil refineries in Saudi Arabia suggest reserves may have been higher than reported.
• Satellite technology allows the levels of oil in tanks to be estimated according to the shadows cast by their floating roofs.
• Saudi Arabia reported falling oil reserves last year and agreed as part of OPEC to extend production cuts into 2018.

LONDON — New satellite imagery of two of Saudi Arabia's largest oil refineries suggests the Kingdom may have under-reported its oil stores in the first half of 2017.

Satellite images gathered by tech start up Bird.i suggest the level of crude oil held in two major refineries in Saudi Arabia, Ras Tanura and Yanbu, increased between January and June 2017. This is despite the Kingdom's official figures that show supplies declined, and a commitment to reduce supply in the face of low prices.

Bird.i collects and analyses satellite, drone and airborne images from numerous sources, some of which are captured in monochrome and some in full colour. The technology allows the fullness of oil tanks to be estimated according to the shadows cast by tanks' floating roofs: more shadow suggests the roof and oil stores are low.

Images taken of the Ras Tanura refinery, Saudi Arabia's biggest refinery with a capacity of 550,000 barrels per day, suggest stocks were relatively low in January compared to in May, when the shadows cast were much shorter — indicating a higher supply.

Images of Yanbu terminal, a major refinery on the Red Sea with a capacity of 225,000 barrels per day, suggest stocks in November 2016 were relatively low compared to those in May 2017, when the tanks look to be "almost full," according to Corentin Guillo, founder and CEO of Bird.i.

However, a third — and the most recent — image of Yanbu, taken in December 2017, shows more shadow, suggesting oil supplies fell again in the second half of the year.

Saudi Arabia is one of the world's largest oil producers and key member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). In November 2016, OPEC members agreed to cut oil production in the face of an oil glut and falling prices, and in November 2017 both OPEC and non-OPEC producers agreed to extend oil output cuts until the end of 2018.

Saudi Arabia also reported falling stores throughout 2017. In official data submitted to the Joint Organisation Data Initiative (Jodi), the Kingdom reported oil stocks had declined by 5.4 million barrels between January and June 2017, and were on a downward trajectory between March and September.

"The direction of the oil price is particularly difficult to predict given the combination of global demand, technological change and politics which feed into its valuation," said Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

"It would be pretty destabilising for the oil price, and for OPEC, if Saudi Arabia was shown to be saying one thing and doing another," he said.

But Khalaf cautioned above ground storage tanks are not the full picture: satellite images are "far from conclusive evidence," he said, since reserves are also held overseas and in underground tanks.

Saudi Arabia's economy is heavily dependent on oil, a problem — in the face of a finite supply and low oil prices — the Kingdom is trying to solve. Its Vision 2030 project seeks to diversify the economy and boost the state's coffers.

As part of this project, the Kingdom plans to float state oil giant Saudi Aramco, which uses both Ras Tanura and Yanbu refineries.

"In order to comply with the normal listing rules, Saudi Aramco would have to reveal precise information about its current reserves and how they have been calculated," said Mihir Kapadia, CEO of Sun Global Investments.

"However, it is not yet clear whether the share sale would include ownership of the ground reserves, and therefore we may be uncertain about the level of transparency from the company," he said.

"The [official government] figure of 266 billion barrels [in reserves] matters because it estimates the proven value of the commodity, especially as it could appreciate after peak oil," said Kapadia.

"One of the key aspects for the [Aramco's] valuation would be the reserve total," he said.

Saudi Arabia's oil ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Good morning! Here's what you need to know in markets on Monday.

1. US president Donald Trump really wants to go to Prince Harry's wedding to actress Meghan Markle. So much so, he's apparently threatening to withhold a vital post-Brexit trade deal with the UK if he doesn't receive an invitation to the royal nuptials. That's according to Michael Wolff, author of the explosive new "Fire & Fury: Inside the White House" book, which digs into the Trump administration. Wolff made the suggestion to the Mail on Sunday in an interview saying that Trump "doesn't like being snubbed and wants to be the centre of attention all the time."

2. UK prime minister Theresa May will switch up her Cabinet on Monday, Downing Street has confirmed. Foreign secretary Boris Johnson is expected to keep his job, despite calls for his resignation over his blunders around Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian citizen currently held hostage in Iran. Home secretary Amber Rudd and Brexit secretary David Davis are also thought to be safe.

3. Dogecoin, the alternative cryptocurrency inspired by a popular meme, has surged over the weekend and now has a market capitalization over $2 billion. It soared above the $1 billion milestone for the first time on Christmas Day and climbed over $2 billion on Sunday. As for its price, the coin was trading at $0.018 at the time of writing. That's up 800% from $0.002 a coin at the beginning of December.

4. U.S. oilfield service companies are gearing up for initial public offerings, according to regulatory filings and analysts, after several shelved equity sales last year during a weak period for oil prices. Oil is trading near its highest level since early 2015, fueling demand for service firms to bring new shale wells to production.

5. Oil prices firmed on Monday on the back of a slight decline in the number of U.S. rigs drilling for new production, with crude holding just below near three-year highs reached last week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $61.53, a gain of 0.15% as of 6.50 a.m. GMT (1.50 a.m. ET).

6. Asian shares neared all-time peaks on Monday after Wall Street boasted its best start to a year in over a decade, with brisk economic growth and benign inflation proving a potent cocktail for risk appetite. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.1%, having added 3.1% last week.

7. German leaders have started talks with the aim of creating a grand coalition government. Talks to create a coalition government collapsed in November, and present talks hope to prevent the country from a snap election.

8. The US Ambassador to the UN said President Donald Trump's tweets keep Kim Jong Un "on his toes." Last week, Trump responded to a threat from North Korea saying he had a "bigger & more powerful" nuclear button.

9. 'Big Four' accountancy firm KPMG has quit its role as an advisor in the Grenfell Tower inquiry after criticisms over its appointment. Campaigners said KPMG had failed to disclose a conflict of interest and called for the firm's removal from the role. In a statement, KPMG said it had "mutually agreed with the inquiry that we will step down from our role with immediate effect".

10. Sales at shoe shops Office and Offspring nearly doubled last year and profits quadrupled, new accounts show. Accounts filed with Companies House this week show that revenue at Truworth UK Holdco 1, which owns the Office and Offspring chains, jumped by 75% to £298.6 million in the year to July 2017. Profits surged from £5.3 million in 2016 to £20.3 million. The group paid £3 million in UK tax.

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The crypto markets may be divorced from fundamentals, but that doesn't they're devoid of patterns and rhythms you can read.

The post (+) Asian Market Update – Monday: Ethereum Rallies as Bitcoin Tumble; Asian Stocks Higher appeared first on CCN

The post (+) Asian Market Update – Monday: Ethereum Rallies as Bitcoin Tumble; Asian Stocks Higher appeared first on CCN

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