Articles
Volatile market continues following failed peace talks between Russia and the Ukraine
Global indices were choppy overnight, mainly finishing lower on the back of failed peace talks and Russia continued advances in Ukraine. According to reports from the French government, the Russian president Vladimir Putin intends to take the country by any means and that “the worst is to come”. The reports sent the FTSE 100 down 2.57%. The dec...
Is Bitcoin ready for a reversal?
Bitcoin has seen a resurgence in recent days on the back of the Ukraine/Russian conflict. The price has risen 15% as money has poured into the cryptocurrency. Western countries have placed economic sanctions as an attempt to reduce military conduct from Russia. This includes excluding several Russian banks from the SWIFT network. Consequently, the ...
What is SWIFT and the sanctions against Russia?
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, legally S.W.I.F.T. SC, is a Belgian cooperative society providing services related to the execution of financial transactions and payments between banks worldwide. Its principal function is to serve as the main messaging network through which international payments are initiated. ...
Energy crunch sees coal, oil and gas soar.
Coal and Gas prices have surged and joined gold and oil as demand surges due to the supply shortages stemming from the Russia and Ukraine conflict. The global indices were up overall as the market still remains unsure of how to react to the unfolding crisis. In Europe, the FTSE provided strength with a 1.36% gain and the DAX provided a small bou...
Salesforce record fourth quarter and Slack expectations
Salesforce the worlds #1 customer relationship management (CRM) platform has just announced record fourth quarter and full fiscal 2022 results exceeding expectations. The pandemic-led shift to hybrid work has kept up a strong demand for its cloud-based software. Total fourth quarter revenue was $7.33 billion, an increase of 26% year over yea...
Advantages and disadvantages of using an Expert Advisor (EAs)
What is an Expert Advisor (EA)? Expert Advisors (EAs) are trading software that automatically run and trade based on their preprogrammed rules for initiating, managing, and exiting trades in the market. These automated trading systems are very popular among traders and are widely used on the Metatrader 4 and 5 platforms. For most traders, EA...
Dicker Data’s year of acquisitions
Dicker Data is an Australian-owned and operated, ASX-listed technology hardware, software and cloud distributor. They were founded in 1978. As a distributor, they sell exclusively to a valued partner base of over 5,500 resellers. Dicker Data distributes a wide portfolio of products from the world’s leading technology vendors. Dicker Data h...
NIO’s February delivery numbers are in
NIO Inc. (NIO) reported its latest delivery numbers for February on Tuesday. The Chinese electric vehicle company delivered 6,131 cars last month – an increase of 9.9% year-over-year. The deliveries in February consisted of: 1,084 ES8s – the company’s six-seater or seven-seater flagship premium smart electric SUV 3,309 ES6s – ...
Salesforce tops estimates
Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM) reported its fourth-quarter earnings results after the closing bell over Wall Street today – surpassing analyst expectations. World’s leading customer relationship management (CRM) company reported revenue of $7.326 billion (an increase of 26% year-over-year) vs. $7.242 billion expected. Earnings per share report...
Surging commodities and high volatility the theme as the Ukraine conflict continues
US and European equity markets remained volatile as fighting between Russian and Ukraine forces continued and negotiation talks failed to result in any progress. Both parties however have committed to another round of discussions. The VIX, Wall Street’s volatility measure surged 12% to 30 indicating the increased fear investors are feeling fro...
Russia and Ukraine’s Crisis: Brent and Crude Oil Price action
In the midst of the Russian, Ukraine crisis, there are huge ramifications that affect us all in the global market. Energy is a critically important export. Russian oil and gas exports make up a fifth of Russia's economy and half of its earnings from exports. The country is the European Union's biggest oil trading partner, according to the lates...
What if Keynes Had Won the Argument on a Global Currency?
The Breton Woods conference of 1944 is best remembered for establishing the IMF, World Bank and WTO. But the conference also saw John Maynard Keynes make a fascinating proposal for a global currency, a proposal the United Kingdom adopted as its official negotiating policy. Keynes lost the argument to the U.S. representative Harry Dexter White, but...
Would Dissolving the Euro be Good for the EU?
It may not be the headline news, it was in the summer of 2012, but the eurozone is still in crisis. Unpopular technocratic governments remain in place, Greece and Cyprus are still propped up by Germany's whims as lender, and unemployment remains spectacularly high in Spain. The upshot is a crumbling of support for the EU across the continent. There...
Zoom exceeds Wall Street expectations for Q4
Zoom Video Communications Inc. (ZM) reported its fourth-quarter 2021 financial results after the closing bell over in the US on Monday. The US based company, which offers a cloud-based video conferencing service reported total revenue of $1.071 billion (up by 21% year-over-year), which was above analyst estimate of $1.054 billion. Earnings pe...
Russia takes a hit
Last week, Russia took a step that not many people thought it would take – they invaded Ukraine. Even though the tensions have been building in the region since the annexation of Crimea in February 2014, not many people thought Vladimir Putin would take the step to invade a sovereign nation. Five days on from the start of the invasion, we have...