Shipowners have called for more military protection on maritime routes in the Middle East after attacks by Iran-backed rebels in the Red Sea sparked fears of new disruptions to global trade, including of energy supplies. On Sunday, the Pentagon said a US warship and three commercial vessels had come under attack off the Yemeni coast,
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The head of Airbus has said the group “might need some support” from European governments for a new, multibillion-dollar commercial aircraft programme as it gears up for a successor to its best-selling A320 family of
Hashdex, one of the 13 asset managers vying for spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund, expects to see the first spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States land by the second quarter of 2024, followed by a spot Ether (ETH) ETF. “The exact timing of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. remains unclear, but in
Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms is buying 66,560 Bitcoin mining rigs from manufacturer MicroBT, in one of its largest orders of hash-rate in the firm’s history — ahead of the Bitcoin halving scheduled for April 2024. The additional purchase agreement totaled $290.5 million, Riot stated in a Dec. 4 statement — meaning it paid an average
Crypto-friendly trading platform Robinhood has reported a 75% month-on-month increase in digital asset trading volume in November. In an 8-K filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 4, Robinhood noted that “November Crypto Notional Trading Volumes were roughly 75% above October 2023 levels.” The activity however equity trading volumes and options contracts traded
If you buy a house now, it can take up to 13.5 years to make a profit on your purchase, according to new data from Zillow. “The combination of rising home prices and high mortgage rates is leading to a longer period between purchase and sale before a profit can be made,” says Nicole Bachaud,
Publicly traded crypto firms have notched triple-digit percentage returns this year and closed up in green on Dec. 4, as Bitcoin (BTC) reached a new year-high of over $42,000. Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) closed the day at just over $141 with a 5.5% gain, up 320% from its price at the start of the year, per
After one of the toughest years for China’s economy and its investors, the country’s central bank governor had a sobering message: there may be more pain to come. Speaking to bankers in Hong Kong last week, Pan Gongsheng warned that the country’s economy was embarking on a “long and difficult journey” away from its traditional
Bitcoin (BTC)-related investment products have become the “main beneficiary” of recent investor interest in crypto, amid growing anticipation of a spot Bitcoin ETF approval in the United States. A total of $1.76 billion of investors’ funds have flowed into crypto products over a 10-week period, making up for the largest inflows over such a period
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Rishi Sunak suffered his first House of Commons defeat as UK prime minister on Monday, as MPs voted to accelerate plans to compensate victims in a long-running scandal over contaminated blood. A total of 23
The US has charged a former ambassador to Bolivia with spying for Cuba in a case that prosecutors have called one of the most egregious betrayals to have ever taken place at the state department. Victor Manuel Rocha, 73, who was also posted to Mexico, Argentina and the Dominican Republic during a decades-long career, had
Are you planning to renovate your home or give it a refresh in 2024? You probably want your space to look and feel new. Trends have been interesting for the past few years. There’s been a lot of quick cycling through TikTok microtrends for the home such as Barbiecore while many major trends have been
Bitcoin (BTC) miner Core Scientific has released a presentation outlining its plans to emerge from bankruptcy in early January 2024. The presentation is based on the third amended joint Chapter 11 plan filed on Nov. 16 and includes an audio commentary by CEO Adam Sullivan. Common shareholders and holders of two series of convertible notes
If you know what you want, ask for it. That’s the lesson to be learned from the recent sale of a preconstruction home on Providenciales, an island in the Atlantic Ocean’s tropical Turks and Caicos archipelago. Originally marketed for $7.75 million as a five-bedroom, 5.5-bathroom villa with close to 8,000 square feet of living space,
Municipals were little changed Monday, while U.S. Treasuries were weaker and equities ended down. November was a “positive month” for munis as triple-A yields fell on an average of 89 basis points, bringing month-to-date returns of 6.35% and pushing year-to-date returns to 3.98% through the end of the month, Jason Wong, vice president of municipals
Charlie Shrem paid a steep price for his place in crypto history. Major figures in the crypto world were part of his story, and his personal life was transformed as he went from online retailer to CEO of Bitcoin (BTC) exchange BitInstant and convicted felon before he was even 30. Today he is an investor
The City Colleges of Chicago is planning to issue $201 million in unlimited tax GO refunding bonds next year, bolstered by one rating upgrade and another new positive rating outlook. The proceeds will help manage debt service on a 2013 issuance. S&P Global Ratings upgraded the district’s longstanding BBB rating to BBB-plus, with a stable
Two years into a public-private partnership to rebuild and take over the New York State Thruway Authority’s service areas, the project is 225 days behind schedule, a delay that has led to a technical default and prompted Fitch Ratings to revise its outlook to negative from stable. AECOM Tishman, the design-build contractor who is responsible
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has issued a request for information asking how its rules and market regulation generally affects small firms operating in the muni market. The request asks firms eleven specific questions such as what are those factors that make a regulated entity, small, medium or large, what rules have had a disproportionate
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Swiss private bank Pictet has agreed to pay $123mn to US authorities after admitting to helping clients illegally shield more than $5.6bn of assets from tax in secret accounts from 2008 to 2014. The Geneva-based
Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) surged above their respective overhead resistance levels on Dec. 4, indicating that the bulls are in no mood to slow down. The higher the price goes without a meaningful correction, the greater the feeling of missing out among traders. When traders chase prices higher, it could lead to a blow-off