David Fuller and Eoin Treacy's Comment of the Day
Category - General

    Ken Griffin's Citadel Securities Discloses 5.5% Stake in Crypto Bank Silvergate

    This article from CoinDesk may be of interest. Here is a section:

    Market maker Citadel Securities has disclosed a 5.5% stake in Silvergate Capital (SI) worth about $25 million.

    According to a Form 13G filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Citadel Securities is now the owner of roughly 1.73 million shares or a 5.5% stake in Silvergate, valued at $25 million based on Monday's closing price of $14.71.

    A person familiar with Citadel Securities told CoinDesk that the filing is a result of the firm's options market making activities rather than a directional investment or stake in Silvergate. Citadel Securities makes markets in more than a million individual options at any time. For 13G filings, options positions are calculated based on long call positions, regardless of any offsetting short calls or puts, explained the person.

    Meanwhile, trading firm Susquehanna also reported in a filing that it bought about 2.37 million shares, or a 7.5% stake, in Silvergate. The investment would be valued at about $35 million, based on Monday's closing price.

    Alongside a modest rally in the price of bitcoin, Silvergate shares are higher by just over 5% on Tuesday at $15.53. Shares are down about 87% over the past year.

    The moves come after BlackRock said it boosted stake in Silvergate last month. A filing showed that the asset management giant had a 7.2% stake in Silvergate Capital as of Dec. 31, as oppose to a 6.3% stake, reported a year earlier.

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    Chinese-Owned Rival to Shein Makes Splashy Super Bowl Debut

    This article from Bloomberg may be of interest. Here is a section: 

    PDD Holdings Inc.’s service, which like Shein has gained a reputation for cut-rate pricing and fast delivery, ran two 30-second spots featuring a trendy shopper twirling and dancing to phrases like “Cha-ching! I feel so rich, oh yeah.” PDD, formerly known as Pinduoduo, said it’s also giving away a total of $10 million to users via online sweepstakes.

    Temu launched in September and rapidly scaled Apple’s US app store. It’s now considered a serious competitor to Shein, the fast-fashion phenomenon that’s also fired up American shoppers. But PDD, which plans to launch Temu in Canada as soon as this month, offers a broader range of goods from pet supplies to groceries. 

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    US Air Force looks into flying robotic multi-engine jet transports

    This article from NewAtlas may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section: 

    One key component for the United States and its global military commitments is its fleet of transport planes, including the Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy and the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III. These provide the US Air Force with the ability to deliver soldiers and their equipment anywhere in the world in short order and keep them supplied indefinitely.

    However, it is an extremely expensive capability to achieve and maintain, and it often means sending air crews into dangerous areas where they may encounter hostile anti-aircraft weaponry. It also requires a large number of pilots, who do not come cheap and are invariably in short supply.

    To counter this, the Air Force has hired Reliable Robotics to look into automating existing cargo aircraft. The idea isn't new, but adapting the technology to large multi-engine jet transports flying military supply missions adds another level of complexity.

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    EU Considers Granting Telecoms' Greatest Hopes and Dreams

    This article from Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section: 

    Top European Union officials raised the possibility last year of making major streaming operators like Netflix Inc. and YouTube help pay for 5G and fiber infrastructure. Telcos had been pushing for such a move for over a decade.

    The EU’s executive arm is expected to publish a request for feedback on the idea this month, the first step toward a formal proposal. When a draft of this consultation was circulated around Brussels recently, telcos read it with glee — and tech companies with horror. The consensus was that the EU is no longer asking whether it will do something but rather, how.

    Last week brought another cause for celebration, at least for the bankers who work with the likes of Deutsche Telekom AG and Vodafone Group Plc. Commissioner Thierry Breton said the EU should more closely consider cross-border mergers, which could create “a true single market for telecoms” in Europe. Telcos, again, have been lobbying for consolidation for a long time.

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    Eoin's personal portfolio: profit taken on precious metal trading position February 2nd 2023

    Baltic Nations Go LNG Hunting as Prices Fall, Terminal Opens

    This article from Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:

    Several customers on our different markets, who used alternative fuels in the meantime, are already returning to natural gas,” Margus Kaasik, chief executive officer of Eesti Gaas, said in a statement. 
    While demand in the Baltics is small compared with major consumers such as Germany or France, the increased buying activity may be a sign that the uptick in demand is here to stay. 

    Europe has been lucky with mild weather this winter, which means that gas stockpiles are 68% full, compared with an average of 48% for this time of year. Utilities are now shifting their focus to restocking for the summer season. 

    Eesti Gaas also secured three slots at the Klaipeda LNG terminal in Lithuania, with one cargo delivered in January by Equinor ASA, and two more to follow in March. 

    The company is now preparing a tender for the seven slots it has booked at Inkoo. The floating terminal arrived at the end of last year and by mid-January, the facility was ready to receive shipments. 

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    Dash for $10 Trillion of Metals for Energy Transition Starts Now

    This article from Bloomberg may be of interest. Here is a section: 

    Getting to net zero could require almost $10 trillion of metals between now and 2050, according to BNEF, with annual demand peaking at close to $450 billion in the mid-2030s. While steel and aluminum are expected to see the most demand growth in terms of absolute volume, copper is set to be the most valuable opportunity, with an estimated $3.4 trillion of the red metal needed to avert climate disaster.

    In total, a whopping 5.2 billion metric tons of metals will be necessary to underpin a net-zero transition, with nearly four times as much metal due to be consumed in 2050 versus today.

     

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    US Consumer Spending Ticks Up Amid Strong Wages, BofA Says

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    Consumer spending ticked up at the start of the 2023 in the US, reversing declines late last year and suggesting that even lower-income families have some cash buffers to fall back on, according to a Bank of America Institute report.

    Bank of America credit- and debit-card spending rose 1.7% in January from December, making it a 5.1% jump from a year earlier. 

    The robust annual gain reflects in part the negative impact from the Omicron variant back in January 2022, according to the report. But it also suggests that consumption was bolstered by an increase in Social Security benefits and the minimum wage in some states, as well as the surprisingly robust labor market. Services such as airlines and restaurants in particular saw a boost.

    The data add to evidence that a pullback in late 2022 — which had economists worried that a recession was looming — may have been short-lived. Once again, the American consumer proved more resilient than expected.

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