MIEX Offical

The long rallying cry of digital assets has been “the institutions are coming.” Messari’s research analyst Ryan Watkins recently authored an excellent research piece displaying what the institutionalization of the digital asset space might look like in terms of price attribution to bitcoin.   His analysis uses simple mathematics to navigate to an expected market capitalization (market cap) and per coin price. Starting with assets under management (AUM) for the largest institutional investors multiplied by an allocation percentage range of their AUM to digital assets. The resulting figures can be summed as the “aggregate demand,” which would increase bitcoin’s market cap (sans “exuberance” multiplier for simplicity).   Per Watkins, the above graphic implies “an aggregate 1% institutional allocation to Bitcoin can easily bring Bitcoin’s market cap above $1 trillion, or over $50,000 per BTC.”   Earlier in the week, the announcement that PayPal and Venmo will begi...

The Federal Reserve on Thursday placed new restrictions on the banking industry for the first time since the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, requiring big banks to temporarily suspend share buybacks and cap dividend payments at current levels.   The Federal Reserve announced the results of its annual stress test, finding that “several” big banks could get uncomfortably near minimum capital levels if the coronavirus pandemic worsens.   The Fed also placed new temporary restrictions on banks, requiring them to suspend share buybacks and cap dividend payments for the third quarter of 2020—though it stopped short of barring banks from paying dividends altogether.   In addition to their normal stress test, Fed officials also assessed the resiliency of large banks under three coronavirus-related downside scenarios: Those included a V-shaped recession and recovery; a slower, U-shaped recession and recovery; and a W-shaped, double-dip recession.   In ...

Analysts from Morgan Stanley on Tuesday warned that Tesla stock, at over $1,000 per share, is grossly overvalued and set to plunge, with too many investors ignoring the risks of running a car company and instead treating Tesla like a high-growth tech company.   After surging to record highs of over $900 per share in February, Tesla’s stock plunged amid the coronavirus sell-off in late March, falling below $400 per share.   But shares have since seen a strong rebound: Tesla is up 130% since the market’s coronavirus recession low point on March 23, and now trades for over 1,000 per share.   In a note to clients on Tuesday, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas warned that while he understands the “attraction of the Tesla story” and its high-growth potential, it is still hard to see Tesla justifying its high stock price over the next decade.   He gives the stock a $650 price target and an “underweight” rating, warning that investors are ignoring “a host of e...

Consider underlying issues for each company that keep being largely ignored as the great feast of buying rolls on. What’s the case, if there is one, for a bearish take on these 3 hot big name tech firms?   Facebook’s Trump problem. Mark Zuckerberg had such a good idea: convince folks that being in touch with family and friends on the Internet is cool. Meantime, he gets to collect all the data they provide and sell that information to — well, whoever wants to pay for it, without too much thought about how it might eventually be used.   It’s been fine with Trump in the White House and Mitch McConnell running the Senate — but how different will it be for Zuckerberg’s business plan if Democrats take power and begin to ask difficult questions? Would it have been wiser to keep a certain amount of distance from Donald Trump?   Apple and the closure of stores. The company had re-opened stores, but now is re-closing them, notably in the South. Forbes’ Rachel Sandler wr...

The market was flat on Thursday, despite stocks taking a hit from worse-than-expected weekly jobs data and fears over a resurgence in coronavirus cases across the U.S.   “ The market thinks the glass is half full rather than half empty,” says Nicholas Sargen, economic consultant at Fort Washington Investment Advisors. “The market is in an optimistic frame of mind, believing that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic has passed. Therefore if any indicator is marginally better than expected that’s all it cares about.”   The Dow and S&P snapped their three-day winning streak on Wednesday, finishing lower amid fears over a resurgence in coronavirus cases. Stocks that would benefit from an economic reopening moved lower, while popular tech stocks like Amazon and Netflix finished higher. The market is still up more than 2% this week, however, after a sharp decline in the week prior.   The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.15% on Thursday, while the S&P 500...

Stock markets have seemed overextended for a while now, but that doesn’t mean they cannot keep going. However, last Thursday’s brutal session where the major indexes lost over 5% in a day was a stark reminder that volatility is always around the corner. There were some positive economic points this morning, with retail sales surging a record 18% in May, however the level of retail sales was still well below the pre-pandemic purchases. If you’re looking for some names to short or to hedge your portfolio from upcoming risk events, such as a second wave of coronavirus-related shutdowns or the Presidential election, our deep learning algorithms have utilized Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) technology to identify several below in our Top Shorts today.   First on the list is Arcbest Corp, a small-cap logistics operation company. Our AI systems have given factor scores of F in Technical, F in Growth, C in Momentum Volatility, and C in Quality Value to the stock that has lost 16.59% for...

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency markets have been searching for direction over the last few days but have finally made a move.   The bitcoin price, after taking another failed run at the $10,000 per bitcoin level last week, has shed around 5% in the last 24 hours—dropping to under $9,000 for the first time since late May.   Bitcoin fell to lows of $8,900 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange before rebounding slightly.   The wider bitcoin and cryptocurrency market has recorded similar declines, with ethereum, Ripple's XRP, bitcoin cash and litecoin all losing around 5% and wiping some $10 billion from the combined value of the world's cryptocurrencies, CoinMarketCap data showed.   The cause of the sudden bitcoin sell-off was not immediately clear, however one cryptocurrency analyst pointed to a period low volatility setting up "big moves" soon.   "[Bitcoin] volatility nearing the [three month] lows," Edward Morra said via Twitter, adding ...

The super-rich might have to put their luxury yacht orders on hold with the coronavirus crisis set to wipe $3.1 trillion off global high net worth (HNW) wealth in 2020. The financial impact of Covid-19 will see wealthy individuals’ fortunes fall by 4% this year, ending a decade of consistent annual growth, according to a new report co-written by Morgan Stanley MS and Oliver Wyman. The report says the effects will be lasting, with future growth rates sluggish in each of the three future scenarios it envisages. Their “recession and rebound” base case sees a containment of the pandemic and fiscal stimulus underpinning a U-shaped economic recovery. In this scenario, HNW’s total worldwide assets would fall from $79 trillion to $76 trillion. But due to the lingering economic uncertainty, the predicted annual growth of HNW assets over the next five years would be cut from Oliver Wyman’s pre-Covid-19 forecast of 6% to 5.1%. In the most optimistic case, a stronger short-term recovery in asset p...

The stock market finished lower on Tuesday—although the Nasdaq Composite rallied to a new record high—a day after the S&P 500 turned positive for 2020 and fully recouped its losses from the selloff caused by the coronavirus pandemic.   CRUCIAL QUOTE The job gains from last week “indicate the reopening of state economies has been successful in putting millions back to work, with leisure and hospitality leading the way,” according to Wilmington Trust chief investment officer Tony Roth. “However, the unemployment rate continues to understate the true level of labor market disruption, as a number of categories of workers who have lost their jobs are not currently counted in the unemployment rate due to technical issues with how the data are measured.”   KEY BACKGROUND The S&P 500 rose 1.2%—turning positive for the year—on Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.7%, around 450 points, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq hit a new record high, gaining 1.1%....

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com is seeking to raise HK$31.4 billion ($4.05 billion) through a second listing in Hong Kong, joining fellow tech companies including Alibaba and NetEase in choosing the Asian financial hub as a foothold closer to home.   The e-commerce firm founded by billionaire Richard Liu Qiangdong will be offering 133 million shares at a maximum price of HK$236 each. JD.com said it plans to use the proceeds for enhancing its supply chain and investing in retail technologies such as inventory management and personalized advertising.   The proposed listing of the Beijing-based company comes hot on the heels of the second listing of Nasdaq-listed gaming firm NetEase, which announced on Sunday that it had priced its Hong Kong offering at HK$123 per share to raise $2.7 billion.   NetEase cited such risks in its Hong Kong prospectus. Last November, New York-listed Alibaba became the first of the U.S.-traded Chinese companies to debut in Hong Kong vi...

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the U.S. national bank regulator for financial institutions such as Wells Fargo WFCand JPMorgan Chase JPM, issued an ‘Advance Notice of Public Rulemaking’ (ANPR) today that requests comments from the public by August 2, 2020. The Notice is titled the ‘National Bank and Federal Savings Association Digital Activities’. According to a press release, the OCC wants public input about how cryptocurrencies and distributed ledger technology are used in banking, among other items. For crypto, the OCC is interested in, “activities related to cryptocurrencies or cryptoassets that financial services companies or bank customers are engaged in and what the barriers or obstacles to further adoption of crypto-related activities are in the banking industry.” Regarding blockchain, the press release notes a request to learn, “how is distributed ledger technology used or potentially used in activities related to banking”. The ANPR is an option for U.S. ...

Despite escalating protests in cities across the country over the killing of George Floyd, stocks have continued to rally—showing a sharp disconnect between markets and the economy—as investors look past the civic unrest and bet on a successful economic reopening from coronavirus shutdowns. “As painful as this is right now, it hasn’t gotten to the point where it changes the market’s outlook for a recovery—it’s that simple,” says Freeman. The protests are “not viewed as significant from an earnings standpoint, and that’s ultimately what the market comes back to” time and time again. The only way to justify current price levels, he adds, is that “the market isn’t looking at 2020, but instead ahead to 2021 and beyond that.” The market has pushed through turmoil in recent decades as well, Nicholas Colas, cofounder of DataTrek Research, noted in a report. Stocks still posted gains in 1999, after President Bill Clinton was impeached, and in 2011 during the Occupy Wall Street protests. “What ...