Coin News

Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), the chair of the House Judiciary Committee is set to become the first member of Congress to disclose his bitcoin holdings, Sludge reports. According to a June 18 memo issued by the House Ethics Committee, lawmakers were required to reveal any digital token holdings above $1,000 publicly. The lawmakers were instructed

The post House Judiciary Chair Bob Goodlatte Owns as Much as $80,000 in Bitcoin: Report appeared first on CCN

• Zillow shares fell by as much as 19% in after-hours trading after the company's third-quarter revenue guidance missed analysts' expectations. 
• The online real estate database said it sees Q3 revenue coming in between $337 million and $347 million. Analysts had estimated $408.4 million according to Bloomberg. 
• Second-quarter revenue also missed forecasts, at $325.2 million ($325.5 million expected). 
• Zillow also announced that it acquired Mortgage Lenders of America to bolster its home-flipping business.
• The company halted its stock after the market close on Monday, pending the news. 
•  Shares had jumped 45% this year through the market close. 

SEE ALSO: GOLDMAN SACHS: These 13 companies face the biggest risk of getting crushed if Trump's trade war with China gets worse

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An early bitcoin investor explains what most people get wrong about the cryptocurrency

A Chinese investor has filed a lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange OKCoin regarding more than 38 bitcoin cash that he claims the platform failed to distribute to him following last year’s hard fork, according to a charge sheet on LegalWeekly. The plaintiff, known only by the pseudonym Feng Bin, claims he was expecting to get the

The post Chinese Investor Sues OKCoin over Bitcoin Cash from Last Year’s Hard Fork appeared first on CCN

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

Stocks rose Monday, with the S&P 500 approaching its January all-time high, after a wave of strong earnings reports from companies including Tyson Foods. The dollar edged higher, and Treasury yields fell. 

Here's the scoreboard:

Dow Jones industrial average: 25,502.72 +40.14 (+0.16%)

S&P 500: 2,850.16 +9.81 (+0.35%)

Nasdaq Composite : 7,857.03 45.02 (+0.58%)

1. US sanctions against Iran are snapping back into place. The economic penalties — which were reimposed as part of President Donald Trump's decision in May to withdraw the US from the Iran nuclear deal — affect a range of economic sectors including cars and metals. A second round of sanctions, which would cut Iranian oil exports to zero, is set to take effect in November.
2. Turkey could lose duty-free access to US markets. After a tense week between the NATO allies, the Trump administration said it was reviewing a program that reduced tariffs on $1.7 billion worth of Turkish imports to the US last year. The move sent the lira, which has already been in freefall, to a record low against the euro.
3. Facebook is reportedly going after its users' financial data. The Wall Street Journal reported the social media giant asked several major banks for customer financial data, including card transactions and checking-account balances, as part of a plan to offer its users new services. Shares of the company jumped 3.5% following the news.
4. Earnings season rolls on. Boosted by a booming economy and a rebound in insurance underwriting, Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway posted a 67% surge in quarterly operating profit over the weekend. Shares of the company rose more than 2% on Monday.

And a look at the upcoming economic calendar:

• Snap and Disney report earnings.
• The Reserve Bank of Australia announces rate decisions.
• The Mortgage Bankers Association reports US mortgage delinquencies.
• China releases trade balance numbers. 

See also:

A $300 billion asset manager says investors are overlooking a huge threat that's building right in front of their eyes

One dirty word keeps popping up as Wall Street weighs the next market crash — and it should strike fear into the hearts of investors everywhere

SEE ALSO: PepsiCo's first female CEO is stepping down after 12 years

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An early bitcoin investor explains what most people get wrong about the cryptocurrency

• President Donald Trump is reportedly considering tapping emergency oil reserves ahead of the November midterm elections.
• But some analysts doubt a release would be effective.
• They see it as a way to shift the conversation away from Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the Iran deal.

As the Trump administration reportedly considers turning to emergency oil reserves, some experts see it as more of a distraction from foreign policy decisions that have faced blame for rising gas prices than a meaningful effort to address supply concerns in the energy market.

The federal stockpile under consideration, called the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, is mainly intended to be a safety net the US can turn to during war or natural disaster. But non-emergency releases can be authorized by the president.

"The reason [Trump] brought up an SPR release is because he wants to change the conversation," Helima Croft, head of global commodities research at RBC, told Business Insider.

Through his tweets, Trump has appeared increasingly anxious about oil prices ahead of the November midterm elections. A favorite of his to fault is OPEC, which in 2016 struck a deal to coordinate output cuts amid a global oil glut.

"The OPEC Monopoly must remember that gas prices are up & they are doing little to help," he wrote on Twitter last month. "If anything, they are driving prices higher as the United States defends many of their members for very little $’s."

But Democrats have been quick blame gas prices — which recently hit four-year highs — on the president's decision to withdraw the US from the Iran deal, a 2015 agreement that lifts sanctions on the country in exchange for restraints on its nuclear weapons program. As part of that move, the State Department last month ordered all countries to cut off all Iranian barrels by November. 

"According to energy analysts and experts, President Trump’s reckless decision to pull out of the Iran deal has led to higher oil prices," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said at a press conference outside an Exxon facility in May. "These higher oil prices are translating directly to soaring gas prices, something we know disproportionately hurts middle- and lower-income people."

To be sure, there is a multitude of other factors that drive oil prices. But analysts see cutting off barrels from Iran, the third-largest member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, at the top of the list. The country exported about 2.7 million barrels per day in June.

Prior to the Iran deal, the Obama administration asked companies to reduce oil purchases from the Islamic Republic by about 20% every 180 days. But that is a stark contrast to the Trump administration's intentions of cutting off all Iranian barrels. 

"The Obama administration never said they wanted to take Iran out of the oil market," Croft said. "I think people are missing that. They think: oh well, Trump now realizes this is crazy and this will be like Obama all over again."

Analysts say that while an SPR release would initially lower gas prices through a "knee-jerk" reaction among traders, they doubt it would be effective for long. Jon Rigby, an analyst at UBS, thinks a release could even have the opposite effect soon after.

"We think it would highlight the structural tightness of the market and the lack of options available to deal with it," he said.

The last time Washington turned to the SPR was in 2011 when the Obama administration released 30 million barrels to address supply disruptions in the Middle East during the Arab Spring. West Texas Intermediate prices were 9% higher than before one month after the release.

And heading into the winter of 2000, the Clinton administration sold off 30 million barrels amid concerns about heating supplies. Prices initially fell but once again were higher than before the release within a month.

"An SPR release is simply not a sustainable solution for keeping oil prices low if the US maintains its hawkish
foreign policy stance," RBC analysts wrote in a recent note.

While energy costs alone don't seem to rouse voters, they tend to play into overall sentiment toward the economy. Gregory Wawro, a political science professor at Columbia University, said that rising prices at the pump could be damaging if they were tied into a broader narrative about the consequences of the Trump administration's foreign policy decisions.

"I think it would have to be linked with a general argument about how Republicans' actions are hurting the economy," Wawro said. "​With headlines popping up more regularly about firms cutting jobs and investment because of the trade war, it's possible that Democrats could build a compelling multifaceted case that the Republicans have mismanaged the economy on several fronts."

Still, Croft said relying on the SPR to help mitigate the effects of withdrawing from the Iran deal is a "high-risk" strategy, especially with multiple other key oil producers — especially Venezuela, Iraq and Libya — facing major output disruptions.

"We don't have a lot of room for error if you want to prevent higher gas prices," Croft said. "So, I think that's why we're talking about SPR. It's more to shift sentiment as opposed to tackling some of the structural issues."

The White House did not respond to emails requesting comment.

SEE ALSO: Trump takes victory lap after strong GDP report, predicts 'we're going to go a lot higher'

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An early bitcoin investor explains what most people get wrong about the cryptocurrency

A long-awaited approval on a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) may not come until 2019.

• Newell Brands said it expects President Donald Trump's trade war to cost it $100 million every year.
• That could mean more expensive Crock-Pots, Coleman stoves, and Sharpie markers. 
• The warning came on the company's earnings call Monday, where it also cut its guidance for the fourth straight quarter. 
• Follow Newell's stock price in real-time here

Shares of Newell Brands — the company behind iconic names like Crock-Pot, Rubbermaid, Yankee Candle, and Sharpie — fell as much as 15% Monday after the company warned it expects to feel a $100 million impact from President Trump's quickly escalating trade war.

"As the tariffs currently stand, the annualized impact on Newell Brands could be as much as $100 million," Michael Polk, the company's chief executive, told investors on an earnings call following Newell's second-quarter earnings report.

Despite beating Wall Street estimates for the second quarter — earning $0.82 where analysts had expected $0.78 — Newell missed on expected revenues by about 2.7% and also cut it's guidance for the fourth time this year.

When pressed for specifics on which brands or products would be affected most by tariffs from Europe and China, Polk said it was too early to tell. 

"I think it's too early to know exactly how much of the pricing will land but we're not going to hesitate to take the price up," he said.

An inventory shift at office-supply chains like Office Depot and Staples should also help to mitigate the potential drawbacks of a trade war. Sharpie and other writing products, more of which are now being sold online instead of distributed through big box chains, are some of Newell's highest-margin items, Polk said. Other hits include outdoor brands like Marmot and Coleman.

"We're living through an incredible period of change," Polk said. "The disruptions we're experiencing present challenges but as importantly, new opportunities for our businesses and our people. Through this turbulence, our strategy remains unchanged."

SEE ALSO: China is preparing a counterattack to Trump's latest tariff threat as the trade war continues to escalate

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An early bitcoin investor explains what most people get wrong about the cryptocurrency

• A small twin-engine plane nosedived and crashed into a Santa Ana, California parking lot on Sunday while trying to make an emergency landing, killing all five people on board. 
• The NTSB has launched an investigation into what may have caused the crash. 
• Three of the victims worked at the same Danville, California real estate firm, Pacific Union. 

  ---

A small twin-engine plane crashed from out of the sky into a Santa Ana, California parking lot on Sunday while trying to make an emergency landing, killing all five people on board.  

According to the Federal Aviation Authority's Twitter page, the crash happened shortly after 12:28 p.m. local time. The pilot of the twin-engine plane, Cessna 414, declared an emergency landing prior to the event. 

Orange Country Fire Capt. Tony Bommarito told NBC News that the plane had left Concord, northeast of San Francisco and was it trying to land at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, only 1 1/2 miles away. Peter Knudson, a spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), told NBC that the plane had been given approval to land at John Wayne after the pilot declared an emergency. The NTSB has launched an investigation into the cause of the incident. 

"We are in the preliminary stages and we will be examining all of the facts that could lead to a situation like that," an NTSB investigator said during a press conference on Monday. 

According to the Orange County Fire Authority, the plane struck a parked car, but the driver was inside a store and was not harmed. The crash occurred inside a parking lot of the 3800 block of Bristol Street, fire authority spokesman Stephen Concialdi told the Los Angeles Times. 

On Monday, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County coroner’s office identified the victims as: Scott Shepherd, 53, of Diablo, Lara Shepherd, 42, of Diablo, Nasim Ghanadan, 29, of Alamo, Floria Hakimi, 62, of Danville and Navid Hakimi, 32, of Los Angeles.

Floria Hakimi, Nasim Ghanadan, and Lara Shepherd worked as Realtors at the same Danville, California real estate consulting firm, Pacific Union. Pacific Union shared a statement by CEO Mark A. McLaughlin to Business Insider that reads:

"Our entire Pacific Union family is mourning the loss of our colleagues, family, and friends. We ask everyone to join us in respecting the privacy of all immediate family members during this time. Life is precious and we are focused on comforting the loves ones affected by this devastating event."

According to the statement given to Business Insider, Lara Shepard's husband, Scott Shepard, was the pilot of the plane, and both were lost in the crash. Floria Hikimi's son, Navid Hakimi, was killed in the crash along with his mother. 

According to her company profile, Lara and Scott are survived by their two children. 

The Los Angeles Times reports FAA records show that Category III Aviation Corp., a real estate consulting firm in San Francisco, was the owner of the plane. The company did not respond to the Times' request for comment. 

On Monday, CBS This Morning released a video showing the plane take a direct and fast-moving nose-dive downward before disappearing from sight and crashing:

Photos posted on social media show the devastation caused by the crash. 

SEE ALSO: A pilot on board the plane that crashed killing Instagram stars and models had cocaine in his system

FOLLOW US: on Facebook for more car and transportation content!

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An early investor in Uber, Airbnb, and bitcoin explains why it's actually a good sign that no one is spending their crypto

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

Before we begin our analysis, it is important to discuss what had prompted a sudden $500-drop in the Bitcoin market. OKEx, a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange, recently issued a statement that mentioned one of their customers as the main perpetrator of the latest Bitcoin bear-trap. The OKEx client initiated a relatively large long position which,

The post Bitcoin Price Intraday Analysis: BTCUSD Expecting Fresh Lows appeared first on CCN

Having launched bitcoin futures trading in May, Goldman Sachs is now pondering the launch of a cryptocurrency custody service, according to a report.

• SeaWorld surged as much as 20% Monday after releasing its second-quarter earnings report.
• Free beer helped drive traffic increases at its park, CEO John Reilly told analysts.
• Follow SeaWorld's stock price in real-time here. 

Free beer is good for business, SeaWorld executives said Monday.

Promotions at two parks helped fuel the company’s second quarter earnings beat that sent its stock flying as much as 20% in trading Monday.

"We brought back free beer as a summer promotion in Tampa and Orlando," John Reilly, SeaWorld's chief executive, told investors and analysts on a conference call Monday morning.  "As you can imagine, this limited time promotion has been popular with our guests."

Attendance rose 4.8% for the second quarter across all parks, the company said. That helped it beat Wall Street's estimates to post adjusted earnings of $0.41 per share where analysts had expected $0.28. It also beat on revenue, bringing in $391.92 million where analysts had expected $369 million. 

To keep the wave rolling, SeaWorld said it's also planning a similar beer fest later this quarter at its San Antonio location and both Busch Gardens parks in Virginia and Tampa Bay.

"We are particularly pleased with our second quarter attendance growth, which more than offset the negative impacts from unfavorable weather across several of our markets in the quarter, and the earlier timing of the Easter holiday in 2018, which benefitted the first quarter at the expense of the second quarter," Reilly said in a press release. 

SeaWorld has born the brunt of activism in recent years following the 2013 release of Blackfish, a documentary focused on the parks' killer whale program. In 2016, it said it would phase out breeding of killer whales following the death of a trainer.

The company also disclosed a $4 million settlement with federal regulators, who alleged SeaWorld didn't adequately warn investors of the impact of Blackfish.

“We are impressed with the strong performance despite weather headwinds,” Tim Conder, an analyst at Wells Fargo, said in a note to clients Monday, Bloomberg reported.

Shares of SeaWorld are now up more than 77% since the beginning of the year, but still well off their highs of nearly $40 in 2014 shortly after Blackstone sold its controlling stake the chain in a public offering.

SEE ALSO: SeaWorld ends the 'Shamu' era by stopping its killer whale shows and captive breeding program

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An early bitcoin investor explains what most people get wrong about the cryptocurrency

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

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

One dirty word keeps popping up as Wall Street weighs the next market crash 

What use is a killer trade idea if actually executing it is like pulling teeth?

This is a question investors will likely have to start asking themselves, if they haven't already.

At the root of the issue is a dirty word that's been showing up in Wall Street commentary with frighteningly increased regularity: liquidity

For context, when these experts discuss the subject, they're referring to the lack of liquidity — and the myriad problems created when investors are unable to trade without distorting markets. When liquidity is constrained, volatility increases. And when price swings get crazier, that's when huge losses happen.

And no matter where you look in the market, liquidity is evaporating. This is especially true in the US, where Federal Reserve tightening measures are quite literally siphoning off the supply of fresh capital. As other global central banks look to end accommodation, the situation will compound.

Inside the struggle at the top of Citigroup's equities unit

Armando Diaz didn't see it coming.

One Friday in March this year, Diaz, who'd joined Citigroup two years earlier as its global head of cash trading and helped the bank claw back equities market share from competitors, was suddenly summoned to his boss's office hours before US stock markets would open.

In an office looking out on the third-level trading floor, where baseball bats stand in a corner and a bottle of whiskey sits on a shelf, Citi's global equities co-head Dan Keegan delivered the news: Diaz was out of a job.

For months, Diaz and Keegan had gone back and forth over Citigroup's central risk book (CRB), a desk where technology aggregates risk across dozens of traders so it can be actively managed. The CRB was led by an executive called Peter Lambrakis, but the profit and losses of the book had been Diaz's responsibility, a tension-inducing mismatch. And Diaz and Keegan couldn't agree on how the CRB should be positioned.

More here.

Samumed, a $12 billion startup, just raised even more funding as it plots an IPO

Samumed, a private biotech that's racked up the heady valuation of $12 billion, just raised an additional $438 million.

The company is developing a pipeline of what could be revolutionary treatments to regenerate hair, skin, bones, and joints. The funding will be used to move those treatments further along in development and potentially to approval.

"We are now in a fortunate position to both move our later stage programs to commercialization, as well as expand on our earlier stage science and clinical portfolio," Samumed CEO Osman Kibar said in a statement on Monday .

The company had previously raised funding from backers including high-net worth individuals and sovereign funds rather than venture capital. Samumed's chief business officer Erich Horsley said in May that the company could go public in the next three to four years.

Goldman Sachs is set to promote a top exec to co-head the securities division

It pays to be close to the man ascending the throne.

Goldman Sachs is expected to name Jim Esposito to help run the securities division, elevating an executive considered to be within incoming CEO David Solomon's inner circle, according to a person with knowledge of the appointment. Esposito will join Ashok Varadhan as co-head of the department that helps clients trade stocks, bonds, currencies and commodities. 

Esposito's announcement will likely come soon and may be made public as early as Monday morning. 

PepsiCo's first female CEO is stepping down after 12 years

PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi is stepping down after 12 years, the company announced on Monday.

She will be replaced by the company's president, Ramon Laguarta, according to a statement . He will be the beverage maker's sixth CEO.

Nooyi was the first female CEO in the company's history. Her run will end October 3 after 24 years with Pepsi, and she'll remain chair of the board through early 2019, the company said.

In markets news

• A $300 billion asset manager says investors are overlooking a huge threat that’s building right in front of their eyes

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An early investor in Airbnb and Uber explains why he started buying bitcoin in 2009

One of the world’s most well-known investment bank is mulling launching a custodial service to store bitcoin for investment funds that want to hold cryptocurrency. Goldman Sachs May Custody Cryptocurrencies Citing multiple anonymous sources familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reports that Goldman Sachs, the second-largest investment bank, is holding discussions about becoming one of the … Continued

The post Goldman Sachs May Store Bitcoin for Cryptocurrency Funds, Institutional Investors appeared first on CCN

• Facebook has reportedly asked large banks for customer data to offer more financial services, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
• Shares of Facebook spiked more than 2%. Facebook's request could help it increase user engagement after its disastrous earnings report last week. 
• Follow Facebook's stock price in real-time here. 

Facebook has reached out to several major Wall Street banks for customer financial data including credit card transactions and checking account balances, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Shares of Facebook surged nearly 3% following the report.

The social network could use the data to power products like Marketplace, where it encourages users to buy and sell services with friends and strangers in their area. It has also talked about sending fraud alerts and account balances in Messenger, the paper reported.

And while the move could help Facebook’s user engagement numbers — which were negative for the first time in its history has a public company last week — it comes with a slew of privacy concerns, exacerbated by the scandal surrounding data firm Cambridge Analytica in Spring 2018.

In a statement to the Journal, a Facebook spokesperson said it will not use the new financial data for advertisements.

"Like many online companies, we routinely talk to financial institutions about how we can improve people’s commerce experiences, like enabling better customer service … an essential part of these efforts is keeping people’s information safe and secure," said the spokesperson.

A further Facebook foray into finance could also help it compete with the likes of upstart tech firms like PayPal’s Venmo, Zelle — a Venmo competitor launched by banks themselves — or the hoard of personal finance sites and apps that have exploded in recent years. Currently, users can send and receive money through Messenger via PayPal, and MasterCard customers can use their card via Messenger with certain retailers.

Banks have been rapidly releasing new products to keep pace as well. JPMorgan in July launched "Finn," an online-only bank built for millennials. Competing Goldman Sachs has invested in Circle, a cryptocurrency exchange that boasts more than $2 billion in trades per month. 

Shares of Facebook are up just 0.3% since the beginning of 2018 thanks to massive selloffs in March following the Cambridge Analytica saga and another rout last week following a disappointing quarterly earnings report.

Read the full Wall Street Journal article here>>

SEE ALSO: 'Facebook throws some napalm on the fire': Here's what Wall Street is saying about Facebook's bombshell Q2 earnings

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An early bitcoin investor explains what most people get wrong about the cryptocurrency

• Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Sunday that the company is making a "mini-car" that can fit an adult.
• Musk was responding to a tweet from Samson Mow, the chief strategy officer of Blockstream, asking when Radio Flyer would make a vehicle based on Tesla's Model X SUV.
• Radio Flyer makes miniature, electric cars designed for children, including one based on Tesla's Model S sedan.
• Musk did not provide further details about Tesla's mini-car or indicate when it would be released, and the company declined a request for comment.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Sunday that the company is making a "mini-car" that can fit an adult.

Musk was responding to a tweet from Samson Mow, the chief strategy officer of Blockstream, asking when Radio Flyer would make a vehicle based on Tesla's Model X SUV. Radio Flyer makes miniature, electric cars designed for children, including one based on Tesla's Model S sedan. The mini-Model S has a weight capacity of 81 pounds, and Radio Flyer's website says the vehicle is meant for children between the ages of three and eight.

Musk did not provide further details about Tesla's mini-car or indicate when it would be released, and the company declined a request for comment.

Musk often uses Twitter to announce new products or new features for existing products. In recent months he has discussed or hinted at video games for Tesla vehicles, features for an upcoming pickup truck, and a "Mad Max" mode for the company's semi-autonomous Autopilot feature that might instruct a vehicle to make more aggressive lane changes than current options allow. He also uses the platform to make jokes and respond to frustrated customers, which has helped make him appear to be more candid and relatable than other CEOs of multibillion-dollar companies.

Musk has also attracted controversy for using Twitter to lash out at critics and reporters.

During a Bloomberg interview published in July, Musk said he had believed he could "attack" people who addressed negative tweets toward him, so long as they attacked him first, but said he would attempt to limit his interactions with critical tweets.

But two days after the interview was published, Musk accused Vernon Unsworth, a diver involved in the Thailand cave rescue, of being a pedophile after Unsworth said the miniature submarine Musk designed and sent to Thailand to help with the rescue would have been ineffective and was merely a publicity stunt.

In April, Tesla's stock fell 5.16% after Musk mocked analysts who were worried about the company's financial health.

If you've worked for Tesla and have a story to share, you can contact this reporter at [email protected]

SEE ALSO: I just drove the $78,000 high-performance Model 3 — here's why it's my new favorite Tesla

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An early investor in Airbnb and Uber explains why he started buying bitcoin in 2009

• Moody's says the impact of Brexit on UK gross domestic product is "more benign than the pre-referendum forecasts."
• The credit ratings agency's chart shows actual GDP vs pre-referendum predictions.
• Doomsday hasn't shown up ... yet.
  

An analysis of Britain's creditworthiness conducted by Moody's, the debt rating service, shows that the impact of Brexit on UK gross domestic product is "more benign than the pre-referendum forecasts."

The chart — which shows UK GDP indexed back to 2015 — features actual GDP growth in green, alongside pre-EU referendum forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility and Her Majesty's Treasury. Actual GDP is only one point away from the pre-vote forecast; but the OBR and HMT forecasts are far wide of the mark.

Colin Ellis, Moody's chief credit officer EMEA and co-author of the Brexit Monitor, told Business Insider, "Although Brexit's impact on UK GDP has been relatively muted since the 2016 referendum, it has become more pronounced in recent months. That said, it is still more benign than forecasts before the UK voted to leave the European Union and is in line with our pre-referendum baseline scenario of a modest but manageable economic impact." Moody's rates UK credit as "Aa2 stable."

The chart will be greeted with cheer by Leavers, who believe that the government and the media are conducting a "Project Fear" campaign against Brexit by suggesting that leaving the EU will wreak economic havoc on Britain. As evidence, they cite Bank of England Governor Mark Carney's belief that the risk of a no-deal Brexit was "uncomfortably high." His remarks have helped drive the pound below USD$1.30 for the first time in about a year.

Moody's said that while the UK's progress has been surprisingly strong so far, the full effects of Brexit have yet to kick in. "Business activity appears to be weakening alongside recent deterioration in consumption indicators," its presentation said.

SEE ALSO: FX traders tell us why they're still talking about Nigel Farage and the 'crackpot lunatic conspiracy theory' of a massive short against the pound on the night of the Brexit vote

AND: If the yield curve is not an indicator of impending doom, why is everybody talking about the yield curve so much?

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An early investor in Uber, Airbnb, and bitcoin explains why it's actually a good sign that no one is spending their crypto

• American Airlines kicked a musician off a flight from Miami to Chicago because they said her cello did not meet seat size requirements for the plane. 
• The Chicago-based musician had already purchased a ticket for the cello after being told by American Airlines she could fly with it, the passenger claims. 
• American Airlines released a statement, blaming the incident on a "miscommunication."

American Airlines kicked a musician and her $30,000 off a Miami to Chicago flight after she had already purchased a seat for the instrument. 

The incident occurred Thursday, August 2, on American Airlines flight 2457 from Miami to Chicago. 

Jingjing Hu, a DePaul University music student, had flown to Miami from Chicago for a music festival. According to a Facebook post by her husband, Jay Tang, Hu had been previously assured that their cello would be allowed to fly on an American Airlines plane on both her departing and returning flight.

In an interview with NBC5 Chicago, Hu said, "We always buy a extra ticket for our cello so that we can carry our cello on the plane," and said that the cello is worth $30,000.  

Nothing appeared to be problematic on Hu's first leg of the trip. 

Hu told Chicago-based radio station WMAQ, "When I flew from Chicago to Miami, I didn’t have any trouble with that." She even added that the flight crew on the Miami flight had actually given her a special strap to hold the large instrument. 

But all that changed when she boarded her flight from Miami back to Chicago. Right before takeoff, an American Airlines flight attendant told Hu that her instrument was too big and that the aircraft, a 737, was too small to hold the cello. 

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Federal regulations allow musicians to carry instruments like cellos in the cabin if passengers purchase an additional seat.  

American Airlines policy states that if passengers buy another seat for their instrument, then that seat's baggage must not weigh more than 165 lbs and must meet seat size restrictions for that specific plane type. NBC5 Chicago reports that Hu's instrument weighs less than 10 lbs. 

In a statement to Business Insider, an American Airlines spokesperson said, "A passenger on flight 2457 from Miami to Chicago was traveling with her cello. Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication about whether the cello she was traveling with met the requirements to fit onboard the particular aircraft she was flying, a Boeing 737. We rebooked our passenger on a flight the next morning on a larger aircraft, a Boeing 767. We provided her a hotel and meal accommodations for the inconvenience. We apologize for the misunderstanding and customer relations has reached out to her."

Hu's husband, Jay Tang, wrote that after being escorted off the plane, Hu was surrounded by three police officers while trying to find a new flight that could accommodate her. He said American Airlines offered her the chance to purchase either first class or business class tickets out of pocket. Eventually, after staying overnight at a Holiday Inn, Hu arrived back home in Chicago, Cello in tow, where she had a tearful greeting with her husband. 

"I don't think we did anything wrong there," Tang, told NBC5 Chicago. "And I think the way they handled it was humiliating." 

Tang posted on Twitter a photo Hu had taken of the flight's captain giving her the peace sign as she was being led off the plane. 

SEE ALSO: An American woman was dragged off a Korean Air flight after she commandeered a business class seat and went on an incoherent rant

FOLLOW US: on Facebook for more car and transportation content!

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An early investor in Uber, Airbnb, and bitcoin explains why it's actually a good sign that no one is spending their crypto

This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.

Bitcoin mining hardware giant Bitmain is officially setting up shop in Rockdale, Texas, and expects to launch mining operations early next year.

Earlier this year, Elizabeth Stark, CEO of cryptocurrency development startup Lightning Labs, famously said that the industry had begun to enter a “bitcoin not blockchain” era as mainstream firms came to recognize the value of cryptocurrency technology. Not everyone, however, is ready to hop off the “blockchain not bitcoin” train. Speaking with the Harvard Business

The post Jamie Dimon Still a Member of the ‘Blockchain Not Bitcoin’ Brigade appeared first on CCN

• A struggle at the top of Citigroup's equities division several months ago resulted in the departure of the bank's global head of cash trading.
• Executives disagreed over how integral a role the firm's central risk book should have in its overall equities strategy and how it would interact with clients. 
• The dispute is a window into Wall Street's latest fad as banks turn to central risk books as a lifeline for cash equities trading desks suffering from shrinking commissions and new research rules.

Armando Diaz didn't see it coming.

One Friday in March this year, Diaz, who'd joined Citigroup two years earlier as its global head of cash trading and helped the bank claw back equities market share from competitors, was suddenly summoned to his boss's office hours before US stock markets would open.

In an office looking out on the third-level trading floor, where baseball bats stand in a corner and a bottle of whiskey sits on a shelf, Citi's global equities co-head Dan Keegan delivered the news: Diaz was out of a job.

For months, Diaz and Keegan had gone back and forth over Citigroup's central risk book (CRB), a desk where technology aggregates risk across dozens of traders so it can be actively managed. The CRB was led by an executive called Peter Lambrakis, but the profit and losses of the book had been Diaz's responsibility, a tension-inducing mismatch. And Diaz and Keegan couldn't agree on how the CRB should be positioned. 

In the weeks following Diaz's departure, Keegan elevated Lambrakis, handing him Diaz's old role overseeing cash equities trading in addition to oversight of the CRB. The change meant that the financial results of the book would now fall under the executive in charge of the strategy, Lambrakis. 

Ultimately, it had been a case of Diaz versus Keegan, and Keegan, the boss, had made his move. 

This series of events was described to Business Insider by multiple people familiar with the matter. Citigroup declined to make Keegan, Lambrakis or Diaz, who is still subject to a separation agreement, available for this story.

Trading's a cutthroat business, and a disagreement between senior managers, in this case over how much importance and balance sheet to assign an emerging strategy, isn't out of the ordinary. Diaz and Keegan, with more than 50 years experience between them, didn't see eye to eye on the strategy, according to people who know them.

But this was a sign of something larger, a symbol of the increasingly important role that so-called central risk books play in global cash equity markets. 

"Banks are building these up, investing in them and hiring personnel," said Alexey Surkov, head of Deloitte's model risk management team, who declined to comment on any specific institution. "It's on the rise."

As Wall Street firms have tussled for supremacy in stock trading, 20 years of shrinking commissions have forced them to get creative. In the early days, firms embraced electronic trading and dark pools, or used more balance sheet, to woo clients and wrest business from rivals. But as technology became commoditized and new rules made it more expensive to hold inventory, firms came up with ever more innovative solutions.

One of those, the central risk book, is now taking hold across the industry, with implications for everything from how clients buy and sell shares to where the next trading loss may emerge. 

“Aggregating risk from individual desks into a central risk book allows us to better understand the market and also provides uniform analysis, so our management team has a better understanding of measuring exposure and offsetting risk,” Keegan said in a statement provided by a spokesman. "It also allows us efficient management of risks and enables us to optimize across all desks while availing clients of enhanced liquidity as a means of improving their execution experience.”

Early days

To understand one of Wall Street's latest fads, it's important to understand its origins.

Central risk books sprouted out of the rubble of the financial crisis, after firms like Goldman Sachs moved more quickly and effectively to respond to market developments. The bank possessed an unrivaled view of risk that uncovered early signs of trouble and helped managers see positions across the bank, according to an August 2017 report from consultant TABB Group. Rivals took note. 

Regulators did too. Eager to prevent another crisis, they pushed the industry to improve its risk management practices and develop an enterprise-level approach. At the same time, banks were looking for ways to save costs and gain a leg up on rivals. And more recently, European rules to un-bundle research from trading have made execution more important and hastened their development. 

At Citigroup, senior equities trader Mike Pringle took some early steps to establish the bank's central risk book. He joined the bank in 2009 in London and initially set it up as a way to make money, a sort of proprietary trading desk that sat on top of other market-making teams, according to a person with knowledge of the effort. Diaz, during a first stint with Citi that ended in 2011, worked on that early effort.

But the strategy never gained widespread adoption.

A change in approach

As the years went by, Citigroup's approach adapted with the industry. Many of the banks which had early versions began to move away from taking directional bets and positioned them as a way to provide client liquidity. Most firms now run them to break even, according to nearly a dozen Wall Street equities traders. 

The strategy uses technology to tie together as many of the firm's trading desks and products into one central repository, giving managers a consolidated view. Firms can then take active measures to manage it, like hedging the risk in the market, or even offering clients different prices based on the riskiness of the trade. 

"Banks are looking at 'how do I tie my central risk book capital base into my clients needs and order flow?'" Larry Tabb, founder of the market-structure consultancy Tabb Group, said in an interview. "It's a real change in the way that folks think about risk, in the way they organize their trading desks."

Goldman, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and JPMorgan have central risk books in addition to Citigroup, according to TABB's report and traders. Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch do too. 

The shift has ramped up the competition for top quant talent. Citigroup lost a senior central risk trader in Dariusz Kowalewski to hedge fund Citadel in October. Sebastian Ridd, the head of program and cash trading in the US, left to work on Millenium's central risk desk just prior to Diaz's ouster.

Notable hires at other banks include Michael Steliaros, who left Bank of America in November to join Goldman Sachs and oversee its CRB, among other responsibilities, as global head of quantitative execution services. In July, Mitrajit Dutta, a top quant and head of model-driven trading at Credit Suisse, reportedly decamped to help build out Bank of America's central risk capabilities.

“In the past two years, every major US and European bank has increased their interest in hires of central risk book professionals,” said Joel Sichel, the head of systematic trading at GQR, a headhunting firm.  

Butting heads

At Citigroup, the CRB would eventually be Diaz's undoing.

Hired in 2016 to revive a moribund cash trading business as part of larger ambitions to become a top equities shop, Diaz helped Citi make inroads. The bank took aim at a corner of Wall Street dominated by JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, and last year, moved past Deutsche Bank in the league tables and narrowed the gap to Credit Suisse. In the first half of this year, Citi's revenue from equities rose 29% to $1.97 billion. 

Despite that progress, Keegan and Diaz couldn't agree over how big to make the central risk book, according to people with knowledge of the disagreement. Keegan wanted to expand its size and scope to create as much liquidity as clients might want, the people said. One plan would give the firm's top clients a view into every position the bank held, according to one person. 

Diaz thought the CRB shouldn't get bigger if it couldn't perform, and the CRB should be one of several products presented to clients, according to a person familiar with his thinking. He favored other ways of providing liquidity and worried about making markets in areas where the bank didn't have an edge. Keegan worried that kind of thinking would unnecessarily limit its scope, people said. 

The debate is a familiar one on Wall Street. While Goldman Sachs has put the CRB at the center of many of its flows, Credit Suisse sees it as just one of several options, according to industry sources. 

But Diaz and Keegan also disagreed on pricing. Keegan believed in charging higher prices or imposing a bigger discount to clients with trades that might take days to exit, while Diaz wanted prices to be a function of market conditions rather than client characteristics, sources said. The disagreement came to a head earlier this year when the book lost money and dented Diaz's performance. 

Central risk books tend to work in an environment where dispersion is low or falling, because hedging the book — say by selling Intel to offset a long position in International Business Machines — relies on historical correlations. When dispersion spikes, as it did this year, those correlations break down and the book falls out of balance. TABB Group predicted as much in its report last year, and offered a warning.  

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An early investor in Uber, Airbnb, and bitcoin explains why it's actually a good sign that no one is spending their crypto

• One of the largest Wall Street firms is reportedly looking to dive deeper into the nascent market for digital currencies. 
• Bloomberg News reported Monday that Goldman Sachs is exploring a crypto custody offering. 
• Goldman joins a host of other Wall Street firms exploring such a product. 

Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs is looking into offering custody services for investors in the nascent market for digital currencies, according to a Bloomberg News report. 

The report, which cites people briefed on the bank's plans, said Goldman is looking to create securities to hold on behalf of clients as a form on insurance against them losing money in the case of a cyber-attack on their holdings. 

It's not clear when the product would go live. Still, the plan could lead the bank into other businesses, such as prime-broker services, according to the report. 

A custody offering could help legitimize the burgeoning crypto market, market structure experts say. 

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Fidelity is hiring staff to build a "first-in-class" custody solution, as Business Insider first reported. Sources tell Business Insider the plan has long been in the works at the firm but has been stalled.

Bank of New York and JPMorgan are also looking into crypto custody, according to Bloomberg. 

As for Goldman, it said in May that would start trading products linked to bitcoin. 

See also:

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Most affluent investors would rather go to the dentist than invest in a company that hurts the environment

• In an exclusive interview, Sebastien Page, the global head of T. Rowe Price's Multi-Asset division, breaks down an overlooked risk he says could eventually derail markets.
• Page, who helps oversee nearly $300 billion, also expresses concerns over constrained liquidity, which Wall Street increasingly says will worsen any type of risk-off selling.

With so much going on in the market, it's easier than ever to overlook potential threats percolating under the surface.

You have President Donald Trump roiling markets on a weekly basis with his latest trade-war actions. That, in turn, spurs retaliation from China, which also throws investor sentiment for a loop.

There's also the continual "bubble watch" playing out, as investors wary of overextended conditions sell at the first sign of any slowdown. Look no further than Facebook's recent plunge, which came after the company warned that growth had already peaked for the year.

And while these developments trouble Sebastien Page, the global head of T. Rowe Price's Multi-Asset division, he's also keeping an eye on the more overlooked risks that — if left unaddressed — could wind up taking everyone by surprise.

Page, whose asset-allocation team helps oversee nearly $300 billion, is specifically focused on the historically large debt burdens being held by both governments and corporations. That, coupled with more restrictive monetary policies worldwide, is creating a potentially perilous situation, Page says.

He spoke with Business Insider in an exclusive interview and shared the following thoughts (emphasis ours):

"The level of government and corporate debt right now is quite high by historical standards. You do have tightening financial conditions, so rates are going up. The servicing cost of that high-debt, highly-levered economy can go up, and have an impact."

"It can also have an impact on markets outside the US, such as EM, where they issue debt in US dollars. That tightening can create issues in the market with liquidity and risk aversion. Tightening financial conditions are something to watch, coupled with levels of corporate and government debt.

Page's warning would seem to match the findings in a recent Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey, for which the firm solicited feedback from 235 panelists who manage $684 billion.

BAML found that a record 42% of large money managers think corporations are excessively levered, as indicated by the chart below.

Page's fears around liquidity also fit with a growing sentiment among investors: that they're increasingly unable to transact without distorting markets.

It's a concern that stretches well beyond the stock market, and far outside the US. And one of the root causes is the same as what Page outlines above: tightening monetary conditions.

Beyond Page and the asset-allocation team at T. Rowe, the issue has caught the attention of Goldman Sachs. The firm finds that investors are paying near-record premiums for bonds issued by companies with the worst credit — a situation so mispriced that it allows very little room for error.

So as you traverse the investment landscape, keep in mind that the risks lurking in the market extend far beyond the news headline du jour.

Sure, the stock market tape may ebb and flow based on the latest trade-war rhetoric, but it's the larger systemic pressures — like exorbitant debt — that may pose the biggest threat.

SEE ALSO: One dirty word keeps popping up as Wall Street weighs the next market crash — and it should strike fear into the hearts of investors everywhere

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An early bitcoin investor explains what most people get wrong about the cryptocurrency

Bitcoin's price dropped to 19-day lows below $7,000 and created a doji candle on Sunday, signaling indecision in the marketplace.

Fred Schebesta, a 26-year old entrepreneur who co-founded comparison website Finder.com, wants to open a crypto bank in Australia. Schebesta believes that interest in cryptocurrency is growing and soon people will need an institution which can fulfill their crypto needs. Bitcoin is Not a Bubble In an interview with Australian news website News.com.au, Schebesta said that

The post ‘Multi Billion-Dollar Idea’: Australian Tech Entrepreneur Plans Crypto Bank Launch appeared first on CCN

• At least two people have been working on a digital asset project at Barclays, according to their LinkedIn profiles.
• One says he's been "hired to produce a business plan for integrating a digital assets trading desk into Barclays’ markets business."
• The bank said it has no plans to launch a crypto trading desk.
• Investment banks across the industry have been assessing the viability of getting into crypto in one way or another.

LONDON — Barclays appears to have had at least two former traders looking at the viability of a possible cryptocurrency trading desk within its investment bank.

Matthieu Jobbe Duval and Chris Tyrer have been working on a "digital asset project" since January, according to their LinkedIn profiles. A source told Business Insider that the pair have been looking at cryptocurrencies.

Tyrer, formerly global head of energy trading at Barclays, is the head of the digital assets project according to his LinkedIn, while Duval is a consultant on the project.

Duval, a former Barclays oil trader, says on his LinkedIn that he has been "hired to produce a business plan for integrating a digital assets trading desk into Barclays’ markets business: revenue opportunity, competitive landscape, budgeting and planning for delivery, I.T. buildout, capital & balance sheet impact."

Duval removed the listing from his LinkedIn profile after Business Insider approached the bank for comment. Duval declined to comment when contacted by BI but said the details listed on his profile were "accurate."

Tyrer declined to comment when contacted by Business Insider.

A Barclays spokesman said the bank had no plans to launch a crypto trading desk but confirmed Tyrer and Duval had been working at the bank.

Bloomberg reported in April that Barclays was talking to clients about whether they would be interested in trading cryptocurrencies.

Barclays' exploratory work comes as many major investment banks rush to get a handle on the new world of cryptocurrencies, which have reaped huge fortunes for some but carry large risks. Goldman Sachs is reportedly planning to set up a bitcoin trading desk, JPMorgan recently appointed its first head of crypto-asset strategy, and Morgan Stanley recently poached a 12-year Credit Suisse veteran to be its head of digital asset markets.

Investment banks are attracted by the eye-catching returns of bitcoin in 2017 and have begun to seriously assess cryptos as a potential new asset class despite poor price performance this year.

An investor who follows the space closely told Business Insider: "Most banks are working on something. I suspect it takes a long time before the main committees of the bank will accept crypto though."

SEE ALSO: Morgan Stanley has poached a Credit Suisse crypto banker to head 'digital asset markets'

DON'T MISS: JPMorgan has asked a 29-year-old highflier to draw up a cryptocurrency strategy

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Chase Cards CEO on the coveted Sapphire Reserve card and working with Jamie Dimon

• UK International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said in an interview on Sunday that the risk of a no deal Brexit has risen to 60%.
• The pound is falling on Monday morning in response.
• Bad German factory order data isn't helping either.
• Follow the pound live on Markets Insider.

LONDON — The pound fell to an 11-month low against the dollar on Monday morning amid growing fears of a no deal Brexit.

Sterling is down 0.4% against the dollar to $1.2963 at 10.30 a.m. GMT (5.30 a.m. ET) but fell below mid-July lows earlier in the session to reach its lowest point since last September.

The currency is falling after UK International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said in an interview published on Sunday that the chance of a no-deal Brexit — where Britain leaves the EU without a deal on future trading arrangements — had risen from 50% to 60%.

Fox is a Brexit supporter and was one of three cabinet appointments made by UK Prime Minister Theresa May to appease that faction of the Tory Party.

Fox's comments to the Sunday Times come after Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, warned on Friday that the risk of a no-deal Brexit is "uncomfortably high." That warning also sent the pound diving.

The deadline for Brexit is March 2019 and the UK has so far made little progress in agreeing Britain's future trading relationship with the EU.

Lukman Otunuga, a research analyst at FXTM, said in an email: "With Brexit uncertainty weighing heavily on sentiment and haunting investor attraction towards the Pound, further losses could be witnessed in the near term. The GBPUSD has scope to attack 1.2900 in the near term, if the downside momentum holds."

Stock and currency markets across Europe are generally downbeat on Monday morning after bad data from Germany. Germany factory orders declined 4% in June, new numbers show, reviving trade war and growth fears. The euro is down 0.06% against the dollar to $1.1563 at 10.45 a.m. GMT (5.45 a.m. ET).

Joshua Mahony, a market analyst at IG, said in an email: "The deterioration in trade relations between the US and the EU has clearly had a substantial impact upon business for Europe’s biggest exporter.

"However, while the DAX is trading in the red in early hours, there is certainly going to be increased hope that the agreement between Juncker and Trump will ensure that this deterioration in June factory orders are an outlier rather than the new status quo."

Elsewhere, accountant BDO released a survey on Monday saying that the UK service sector has shrunk for the first time since 2010. The sector covers everything from consultancy to waiting tables and accounts for 80% of UK GDP.

SEE ALSO: The pound falls below $1.30 after Carney warns of 'uncomfortably high' no deal Brexit risk

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An early investor in Airbnb and Uber explains why he started buying bitcoin in 2009

Contrary to reports in mainstream media, Starbucks has clarified that it will not be accepting direct bitcoin payments at coffee retail outlets. As reported by CCN on Friday, Starbucks is part of a new cryptocurrency venture with Microsoft and the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) dubbed “Bakkt”, a regulated Wall Street platform that could fundamentally bring cryptocurrencies

The post Starbucks Clarifies ‘Coffee for Bitcoin’ Media Reports appeared first on CCN

Over the past 24 hours, tokens including Digibyte, Aelf, Polymath, and 0x have rebounded, pushing the valuation of the crypto market to $258 billion. Both Bitcoin and Ether, the native cryptocurrency of Ethereum, recorded a two percent increase from yesterday’s price range, as Bitcoin rebounded to $7,160 and Ether reached $413. However, in the past

The post Crypto Market Adds $5 Billion as Tokens Rebound, Low Bitcoin Volume a Concern appeared first on CCN

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

1. US employers added 157,000 jobs last month, fewer than expected, according to a Bureau of Labour Statistics report released Friday. Economists had expected the jobs report to show nonfarm payrolls increasing by 193,000 on net. The job gains in June were revised higher.

2. British trade minister Liam Fox said "intransigence" from the European Commission was pushing Britain towards a no-deal Brexit, in an interview published on Saturday by the Sunday Times. Fox put the odds of Britain leaving the European Union without first agreeing a deal over their future relationship at 60-40, the newspaper reported.

3. Oil prices rose on Monday after Saudi crude production registered a surprising dip in July and as American shale drilling appeared to plateau. Markets also anticipated an announcement from Washington due later on Monday detailing renewed US sanctions against major oil exporter Iran, set to be reinstated at 1201 EDT on Tuesday (1601 GMT), according to a US Treasury official.

4. Munich Re, the world's biggest reinsurer, will stop investing in bonds and shares of companies that generate more than 30% of their sales with coal-related business, its chief executive said, caving to pressure from investors. "In the individual risk business, where we can see the risks exactly, we will in future in principle no longer insure new coal-fired power plants or mines in industrial countries," Joachim Wenning added in a commentary to be published in German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Monday.

5. HSBC said on Monday its pretax profit rose 4.6% for the first half of the year, as Europe's biggest bank showed early progress in its strategy of returning to growth mode after years of restructuring. HSBC reported a pretax profit of $10.7 billion in the six months through June, up from $10.2 billion in the same period a year earlier.

6. China's Unipec, the trading arm of state oil major Sinopec, has suspended crude oil imports from the United States due to a growing trade spat between Washington and Beijing, three sources familiar with the situation said on Friday. The sources declined to be identified as they are not authorized to speak to the media.

7. Huawei Technologies is facing increased scrutiny in Britain because it is using an ageing software component sold by a firm based in the United States, one of the countries where lawmakers allege its equipment could facilitate Chinese spying, sources told Reuters. The fact that the British misgivings stem in part from Huawei's relationship with a US company shows how trade wars and heightened national security concerns are making it harder for technology firms and governments to safeguard products and communication networks.

8. Deutsche Bank has uncovered shortcomings in its ability to fully identify clients and the source of their wealth, internal documents seen by Reuters show, more than a year after it was fined nearly $700 million for allowing money laundering. In two confidential reviews, dated June 5 and July 9, Germany’s biggest lender detailed the results of tests on a sample of investment bank customer files in several countries, including Russia.

9. Asian shares pared gains on Monday as Chinese stocks swung into negative territory, dragged lower by the escalating Sino-US trade war, though Beijing’s efforts to stop sharp declines in the yuan helped support the currency. Japan's Nikkei closed down 0.05%, the Hong Kong Hang Seng is up 0.10% at the time of writing (8.05 a.m. BST/3.05 a.m. ET), and the Shanghai Composite is down 1.26%.

10. ICE, the parent company of the iconic New York Stock Exchange, is making a big move into the crypto market with a digital asset platform. The firm, which previously dove into the market for digital assets via a data feed product earlier this year, had reportedly been exploring a cryptocurrency exchange platform. On Friday, the company officially announced it had been developing out such an offering.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An early investor in Airbnb and Uber explains why he started buying bitcoin in 2009

Three years since Coinbase pulled out from Wyoming, it is now returning to the Cowboy State after renewing its money transmitter license.

• For months, one dirty word has been popping up across Wall Street commentary.
• It relates to how difficult it's become in certain markets for investors to transact without distorting prices.
• Red flags have been popping up in various asset classes worldwide, and fortunately, Wall Street has some trade recommendations to help investors get in front of them.

What use is a killer trade idea if actually executing it is like pulling teeth?

This is a question investors will likely have to start asking themselves, if they haven't already.

At the root of the issue is a dirty word that's been showing up in Wall Street commentary with frighteningly increased regularity: liquidity.

For context, when these experts discuss the subject, they're referring to the lack of liquidity — and the myriad problems created when investors are unable to trade without distorting markets. When liquidity is constrained, volatility increases. And when price swings get crazier, that's when huge losses happen.

And no matter where you look in the market, liquidity is evaporating. This is especially true in the US, where Federal Reserve tightening measures are quite literally siphoning off the supply of fresh capital. As other global central banks look to end accommodation, the situation will compound.

Examples all across the global marketplace

Perhaps the best recent example of low liquidity in action comes courtesy of ...

Sponsored:  If you enjoyed reading this story so far, why don’t you join Business Insider PRIME? Business Insider provides visitors from MSN with a special offer.  Simply click here to claim your deal and get access to all exclusive Business Insider PRIME benefits.

SEE ALSO: Trump's trade war reminds Morgan Stanley of a dispute that worsened the Great Depression — and the firm is sounding the alarm on an economic meltdown

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An early bitcoin investor explains what most people get wrong about the cryptocurrency

While bullish on bitcoin's long-term prospects, an economist and investor heeds caution for more short-term price optimism.

Roger Ver, a prominent cryptocurrency investor who has backed some of the largest companies in the global crypto sector such as Blockchain, Zcash, BitPay, and Kraken, recently sent the governor of Jeju Island of South Korea $100 worth of bitcoin cash at a public event. Humorous Kim Yeong-Ran Rule Banter Over the weekend, Ver visited

The post Roger Ver Sent Governor of Jeju Island $100 in Bitcoin Cash, Did it Violate Local Policy? appeared first on CCN