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(Bloomberg) -- Sanjeev Gupta’s plans to save his embattled industrial empire suffered a major setback as the U.K. opened a fraud investigation, prompting a potential financial partner to walk away.For two months, Gupta has been scrambling to refinance after the collapse of his group’s main lender, Greensill Capital, and recently looked close to winning a reprieve -- helped along by a surging commodity prices.But on Friday, the Serious Fraud Office announced a probe into Gupta’s GFG Alliance, including into the financing arrangements with Greensill. That prompted White Oak Global Advisors LLC -- which had recently offered a lifeline with terms for a 200 million-pound ($282 million) loan for Gupta’s U.K. steel business -- to walk away. White Oak was also behind funding for part of Gupta’s Australian assets, the Australian Financial Review has said.“As with any regulated financial institution, we are not in a position to continue discussions with any company that is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office for money laundering,” White Oak said in a statement.GFG said Friday it will co-operate fully with the SFO investigation. It declined to comment on White Oak’s decision.The fraud probe also puts other efforts to replace about $5 billion Gupta had borrowed from Greensill in question.On Thursday, Gupta had conveyed a much brighter outlook, expressing confidence of a “new future” for his sprawling group of companies. On a podcast for employees, he said it had been “relatively easy to get refinancing” for the Whyalla mill in Australia. He also said that GFG had been “inundated by offers to help and to finance,” partly due to strong commodity markets.The picture is now bleaker in the wake of the SFO investigation, which follows months of scrutiny from lawmakers and the media over Gupta and Greensill’s financing practices. GFG has come under the microscope after the collapse of Greensill in March revealed it had been a recipient of financing based on expected future invoices, for sales that were merely predicted.Trading ActivitiesThe exact scope of the SFO investigation isn’t yet clear. Bloomberg has reported four banks stopped working with Gupta’s Liberty House Group trading business, starting in 2016, amid concerns about what they perceived to be problems in paperwork provided by Liberty, Bloomberg News has reported. In one example, the company had presented a bank with what seemed to be duplicate shipping receipts. A spokesman for Gupta has denied any wrongdoing.The two-month period it took from starting to covertly look into GFG and its financing by Greensill to announcing a formal probe is a quick turn-around for the SFO, which often takes years to publicly confirm it’s taking action against a company.It will now start to gather evidence, including securing devices and documents. However, it’ll likely take years for the office to make any tangible updates to the investigation, including whether it decides to charge individuals as part of the probe.The funding from Lex Greensill’s eponymous firm helped GFG expand at an astonishing rate in the past five years by targeting old, unwanted assets. His loose collection of companies now employs some 35,000 people worldwide, with steel and aluminum plants in the U.S., U.K., France, Romania and Australia.Staying afloat would enable Gupta to enjoy some of the best times his industrial businesses have seen. Steel prices are near an all-time high as demand recovers from the coronavirus pandemic and China cuts capacity to curb pollution. Aluminum, Gupta’s other major business, hit a three-year high this week amid a broad commodities boom.Still, Greensill’s collapse has already taken a major toll on Gupta’s businesses. On Thursday, his Wyelands Bank said it would be wound up if it can’t find a buyer. His steel units in France and Belgium have started creditor protection procedures, he’s approached buyers for some of his engineering assets, people familiar with the matter have said, and also sought buyers for two steel plants in France.For governments too, there is much at stake. Countries that once feted him as a savior for buying decrepit assets may have to pick up the pieces, due to the jobs at risk and some assets’ strategic importance to industry.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
The gold markets have shown themselves to be resilient after initially pulling back during the day. In fact, we find ourselves testing a significant downtrend line that could open up a huge move higher.
(Bloomberg) -- Buyers of newly-minted corporate bonds are already nursing losses as inflation fears send government bond yields climbing.About four fifths of high-grade non-financial corporate bonds priced in Europe this year are quoted below their issue price, based on data compiled by Bloomberg. Last Friday, the share of post-issue losers stood at under 50%.This bleak statistic underscores the damaging effect on credit investors of the so-called reflation trade -- bets on rapid economic recovery and an associated pickup in inflation -- prompting many to seek shelter from further sovereign debt sell-offs.Investment grade bonds are more sensitive than high-yield debt to any threat of higher interest rates in response to inflation, a vulnerability known as ‘duration risk.’ That’s because they have longer life spans than lower-quality peers and carry lower risk premiums. This attribute is hitting investors hard this year.“Duration is already a problem when you see that rate-sensitive sectors underperform and this is going to increase,” said Vincent Benguigui, a portfolio manager at Federated Hermes, which oversees $625 billion. “Clearly everything is stretched.”The year-to-date total return of euro-denominated investment-grade bonds has slumped this week, to minus 0.96% from minus 0.56% on Monday. A month ago the return since the start of 2021 stood at minus 0.3%, according to Bloomberg Barclays indexes. By contrast, the less rate-sensitive junk bond market has gained 2.2%.While the threat of higher yields to compensate for a potential rise in inflation has been a thorn for high-grade investors throughout the year, a European Central Bank pledge to pick up the pace of its emergency pandemic QE program had helped funds recover some losses before this week’s sell-off pushed them further into the red.Rate risk is the main driver of corporate bond losses, as spreads on most of this year’s new issues are trading tighter than at launch, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The average risk premium of high-grade euro bonds over safer government debt is indicated at 83 basis points, the lowest in more than three years, thanks to continued ECB purchases and bets on the economic reopening.Click here for the spread performance of all bonds issued in Europe this yearBut spreads, with little room to tighten further, seem incapable of stemming duration-driven losses.“While the extended recovery in fundamentals should provide another layer of support, higher yields in the euro government bonds space should limit euro investment grade’s ability to attract inflows and limit tightening potential once rates stabilize,” wrote Cem Keltek, a credit strategist at Commerzbank AG, in a note to clients on Thursday. “Pressure on rates and tapering prospects later in the year render long-end risk-reward unattractive.”Some hedge funds have started betting on price drops in corporate bonds amid the threat of rising interest rates and stretched valuations. Short positions in junk bonds have jumped to their highest level since 2008 and bearish bets on high-grade bonds are at their highest since early 2014.Bonds that lose value shortly after issuance could potentially discourage investors from bidding aggressively for new deals.This leaves high-grade investors with only one realistic source of return: the income made by just holding the interest-bearing bond, unless they are willing to switch to riskier parts of the credit market.“It’s more or less carry at this point,” said Martin Hasse, a portfolio manager at MM Warburg & Co., which oversees 76.2 billion euros ($92 billion). “Maybe a little tightening but not so much. High yield and subordinated notes can see more of that.”EuropeHigh yield issuers are in command of the region’s syndicated bond market on Friday, accounting for three of the day’s four deals as global credit risk sentiment improves.The financing arm of U.S. autoparts maker Dana Inc., Italian technology companies Lutech SpA and Cedacri SpA are pitching new deals that are likely to wrap up by market closeWeekly issuance is likely to reach 33.5 billion euros, according to data compiled by BloombergEuropean credit default risk fell for both investment-grade and high-yield bonds as more-tempered commodity prices helped allay investor concerns about inflation risksAsiaA rush of borrowers early in the week boosted dollar bond sales in Asia ex-Japan, with issuance doubling compared with the previous week.Bond sales rose to $8.4b from $4.2b a week earlier, the highest in three weeks, according to Bloomberg-compiled dataAt least 22 borrowers came to the market, the busiest week in 2021 since January in terms of number of issuersGLP Pte’s $850m perpetual note offering was the biggest bond sale this week, followed by a $707m offering by JSW Hydro Energy and a $650m note from Cathay Pacific AirwaysDeals slowed from mid-week, coinciding with release of data on Wednesday that showed U.S. consumer prices climbed in April by the most since 2009Yield premiums on Asia’s high-grade bonds, excluding Japan, and the cost of protection against such debt both dropped 1-2bps on Friday, credit traders saidU.S.Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s revenue beat estimates after China’s e-commerce leader rode a post-pandemic recovery and begins to move past a bruising antitrust investigationAs cash balances have risen toward $70 billion, financial flexibility may enable Alibaba to endure a prolonged period of macroeconomic uncertainty related to the coronavirus, as well as regulatory risk, better than hardware-centric technology peers, write Bloomberg Intelligence credit analysts Robert Schiffman and Suborna PanjaIt seemed almost certain that supply would at least match syndicate desks’ projections of $45 billion this week after Monday’s almost $28 billion bonanza, however, macro uncertainty fueled by inflation fears seems to have curbed issuanceLess than $3 billion priced on Thursday, bringing the week’s volume to $42 billionFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
(Bloomberg) -- The U.K.’s fraud prosecutor opened a probe into Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance over suspicions of fraud and money laundering, causing a potential lender to the group to withdraw from agreements to provide new financing.The Serious Fraud Office is investigating “suspected fraud, fraudulent trading and money laundering in relation to the financing and conduct of the business,” according to a statement. The probe includes the financing arrangements with Greensill Capital UK Ltd. The SFO has been looking at GFG since Greensill’s collapse in March and decided to open a formal probe, according to a person familiar with the investigation.As a result, White Oak Global Advisors LLC is pulling out of discussions to provide loans to Gupta’s businesses. “As with any regulated financial institution, we are not in a position to continue discussions with any company that is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office for money laundering,” a spokesperson for the group in London said.The Financial Times first reported that White Oak was pulling out of financing talks. A representative for GFG declined to comment on White Oak’s decision. Last week, Bloomberg reported Gupta had agreed a 200 million pound ($282 million) facility with the San Francisco-based lender to provide working capital to his U.K. steel businesses. He had also secured the refinancing of one of his Australian units.It’s a massive setback for the tycoon, who appeared to be just on the cusp of securing a lifeline for his beleaguered metals empire. He now faces the extremely difficult task of negotiating new loans while being subject to a fraud probe.Prosecutors are starting to round in on both Gupta and Greensill, after months of scrutiny from lawmakers and the media over its financing practices. Earlier this week, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority said it was also investigating Greensill and cooperating with counterparts in other U.K. enforcement and regulatory agencies.It’s also working with German, Australian and Swiss authorities. The FCA and SFO probes are completely separate although inevitably will involve cross-over and information sharing, according to the person familiar with the investigation.Read More: Lex Greensill Says His Investors Knew What They Were Buying“GFG Alliance will co-operate fully with the investigation,” a GFG spokesperson said. Grant Thornton, Greensill’s administrators, declined to comment.While the SFO has collected billions in fines in recent years from companies with deferred prosecution settlements, its track record in the criminal courts is patchy. Last month a trial into two Serco Group Plc directors collapsed and the agency lost a mammoth case against Barclays Plc bankers in 2020.GFG has come under the microscope after the collapse of Greensill Capital in March revealed it had been a recipient of financing based on expected future invoices, for sales that were merely predicted.What has also come to light is the activities of the tycoon’s trading business Liberty House Group. Four banks stopped working with the company, starting in 2016, after they became concerned about what they perceived to be problems in paperwork provided by Liberty, Bloomberg News reported.Read More: As Gupta Rose From Trader to Tycoon, Several Banks Backed AwayGreensill was Gupta’s largest source of financing before its collapse. The London-based lender supplied billions of dollars in loans to GFG, many of which were packaged and sold onto investors in funds run by Credit Suisse Group AG. Greensill fell into administration after a key insurance partner didn’t renew coverage on loans made to some of its customers, including GFG.Much of the financing extended to GFG by Greensill was from the finance firm’s German banking unit. Germany’s financial watchdog shuttered Bremen-based Greensill Bank AG and asked law enforcement officials to investigate accounting irregularities at the lender in March. The bank was closed after the lender identified problems in how Greensill Bank booked assets tied to Gupta’s companies.The announcement of the probe came a day after former Prime Minister David Cameron was grilled by lawmakers over his employment by Greensill. He defended his intensive lobbying on behalf of the firm as part of a parliamentary inquiry that’s raised questions over private dealings at the top of the British government.(Updates with detail of White Oak talks collapsing.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
The IRS detailed on how it will handle a mixup involving a tax break for jobless benefits that became law a month after many already filed returns.
(Bloomberg) -- Billionaire George Soros’s investment firm snapped up shares of ViacomCBS, Discovery and Baidu as they were being sold off in massive blocks during the collapse of Bill Hwang’s Archegos Capital Management.Soros Fund Management bought $194 million of ViacomCBS Inc., Baidu Inc. stock valued at $77 million, as well $46 million of Vipshop Holdings Ltd. and $34 million of Tencent Music Entertainment Group during the first quarter, according to a regulatory filing released Friday. A person familiar with the fund’s trading said the company didn’t hold the shares prior to Archegos’s implosion.Archegos, the family office of former hedge fund manager Hwang, fell apart during the last week of March after amassing large leveraged positions in a concentrated portfolio of U.S. and Chinese companies. At its peak, the family office had more than $20 billion of capital and total bets exceeding $100 billion.Hwang was wiped out in just days after investments including ViacomCBS and Discovery tumbled, triggering margin calls from global banks, who then sold the stocks in the big block trades. The fiasco is expected to cost the finance industry about $10 billion, has prompted an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and caused heads to roll at Credit Suisse Group AG, where the hit exceeds $5 billion.The 13F filing provides one of the first examples of how a hedge fund attempted to capitalize on the distressed remains of Archegos. It also offers an insight into Soros’s investment firm, which is run by Chief Investment Officer Dawn Fitzpatrick.She told Bloomberg in March that she was willing to jump on dislocations in the market, investing $4 billion during the pandemic-induced swoon a year ago, including buying residential mortgages on the cheap. Soros returned almost 30% in the 12 months through February and manages $27 billion across a range of strategies.“When there’s a dislocation, we’re prepared to not just double down but triple down when the facts and circumstances support that,” Fitzpatrick, 51, said in a “Front Row” interview on Bloomberg TV.Soros also increased its bet on Amazon.com Inc. and homebuilder DR Horton Inc., which is now its second-largest public equity position.The 13F, which money managers overseeing more than $100 million in U.S. equities must file quarterly, revealed that Soros held $4.5 billion of U.S. equities, down $77 million from the prior quarter.The biggest exit in the quarter was Palantir Technologies Inc. Soros sold 18.5 million shares valued at about $435 million. The firm originally revealed it owned a stake in the controversial data-mining company controlled by Peter Thiel in November, but rapidly issued a statement saying the original investment was made in 2012 and it regretted the decision.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Your stocks to watch for the week ahead include Dow Jones stocks JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Caterpillar. All are just above or below buy points.
When in February Glauber Contessoto decided to invest his life savings in Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE), his friends questioned his mental soundness. Now that this decision has made him a millionaire (on paper), many may also be bewildered by his decision to not liquidate the investment. What Happened: Contessoto told The New York Times that his friends and family called him "crazy" when he made the decision that made him a millionaire. “It’s a joke coin. It’s a meme. It’s going to crash," he said his friends told him. Still, the markets are hardly following good sense these days, and Dogecoin has grown to become a network more valuable than blue chip companies Ford Motor (NYSE: F) and Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ: KHC). Like many others, Contessoto read about Dogecoin on Reddit. Then he made the unusual decision of going all-in on the coin: He maxed out his credit cards, borrowed money on Robinhood and spent everything he had. The value of Contessoto's investment is now about $2 million, making him a perfect example of what the article describes as "a new kind of hyper-online investor who is winning by applying the skills of the digital attention economy — sharing memes, cultivating buzz, producing endless streams of content for social media — to the financial markets." Such investors aren't interested in investing rationally. Instead of deciding what to invest in based on fundamentals, they invest according to what is funny or futuristic-looking or by how many celebrities are tweeting about it. “Memes are the language of the millennials," Contessoto said. "Now we’re going to have a meme matched with a currency.” Playing The Story: Contessoto explained that he believes that "Dogecoin has the best branding of all cryptocurrency" and that all the other coins appear "super high tech and futuristic," while Dogecoin "just looks like: 'Hey, guys, what’s up?'” While that may not be the most scientific of explanations, he believes that this is a big plus given that newbies investing in cryptocurrency for the first time might prefer investing in something more fun and recognizable. This Dogecoin millionaire believes that the coin's price will continue its ascent and does not want to miss out on future profits. He has already lost hundreds of thousands since the coin was at its all-time high, but he plans to continue holding and only liquidate 10% next year, once his earnings will be classified as long-term capital gains and taxed at a lower rate. See more from BenzingaClick here for options trades from BenzingaCardano And Polygon Skyrocket To New All-Time Highs As Investors Seek Elon Musk's Next Favorite CryptoHere's How You Can Get Shiba Inu For Free© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
"Market makers were heavily short puts in the range of $52,000 to $50,000, and I estimate were forced to sell nearly 2,900 bitcoin," one trader said.
Two of the world's most prominent billionaires Tesla Inc.'s CEO Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey are facing off over the merits of bitcoin, with the future of the world's No. 1 crypto likely hanging in the balance.
Last week, we witnessed a classic “buy the rumor, sell the news” event with the cryptocurrency Dogecoin (CRYPTO:DOGE). Many Dogecoin enthusiasts were hoping that Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk’s stint hosting the television show “Saturday Night Live” would lead to higher prices. After all, Musk has been known to pump the price of this cryptocurrency on Twitter and has been one of its biggest supporters. With so many Dogecoin holders anxious to see what the Dogefather had to say Saturday, the price of cryptocurrency rallied hard into the event to hit a record high of $0.74. Unfortunately, Doge investors learned that sometimes these types of events simply cannot live up to the hype. The price of Doge dropped more than 30% following the premiere of the show after Musk failed to deliver the praise for the cryptocurrency investors were hoping for. Traders can learn a lot from this story, particularly since this “buy the rumor, sell the news” scenario repeats itself time and time again in financial markets. It highlights just how difficult it can be to trade based on the news and should be viewed as a cautionary tale. With that said, perhaps the most important lesson here is that instead of gambling on Dogecoin, why not learn a trading strategy that can deliver real results? For example, Mindful Trader has created a data-driven swing-trading strategy that can potentially help you grow your account. Because he has analyzed and dissected historical stock market price data to test his trading strategy, you won’t have to worry about trying to guess right on binary events like the one mentioned above. Instead, you can use a statistical approach with proven results to take your trading to the next level. Signing up for the Mindful Trader service gives you access to tutorials and all the trading rules he uses for successfully generating returns with stocks and options trading. He also provides data-driven stock picks that he trades himself, which allows you to learn while following his suggestions. Whether you are a beginner trader or a seasoned veteran, Mindful Trader has something for everyone. Since Mindful Trader uses a swing-trading strategy that relies on price movement, not hope, you will always be confident in making a trade. That means you won’t have to trade the news and rely on hype to potentially generate returns like those unfortunate Dogecoin investors mentioned above. Check out this link to learn more about Mindful Trader’s trading strategy and why it’s such a smart alternative to gambling with Dogecoin. See more from BenzingaClick here for options trades from BenzingaThese OTC Securities Had the Most Trading Activity in April3 Advantages to Binary Options Trading with Nadex© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
The agency is plagued with setbacks that are causing a major backlog of returns.
Here's how to tell if dogecoin's rebound is more bark than bite, according to technical analysts following the popular crypto.
Anyone with a stock account can now make a savvy, albeit risky, bet on GBTC pricing disparities that were previously exclusive to big players.
With the right asset allocation and withdrawal strategy, investors may not worry so much about the large sum of money in their accounts.
Dogecoin will likely transition from a proof-of-work protocol to proof-of-stake, speculated Alex Mashinsky, the chief executive and founder of The Celsius Network on Friday during a webcast hosted by his lending platform on YouTube.
Institutional investors do not take kindly to inflation and they sold. 1. If indexes fall below their moving averages, take action: Traders and investors alike should watch moving averages, especially the 50-, 100-, and 200-day. When the indexes were sliding a few days ago, the S&P 500 (SPX) for example, did not break its 50-day moving average at 4050.
(Bloomberg) -- Stock sales are reaping a windfall for the world’s richest shareholders.Corporate insiders including Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos and Google co-founder Sergey Brin have ramped up stock sales recently, cashing in on a 14-month long bull market that’s helped boost fortunes to the tune of trillions.U.S. public company insiders offloaded shares worth $24.4 billion this year through the first week of May, with about half sold through trading plans, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s almost as much as the $30 billion total they disposed of in the second half of 2020.Large shareholders frequently sell stock in planned intervals, often through pre-arranged trading programs. Yet the prolonged rally in equities markets has made the value of these disposals, whether planned or opportunistic, strikingly high.There are multiple reasons an investor of any size might be motivated to sell. After the pandemic-defying rally, valuations are increasingly under pressure from rising inflation. Investors are wary the post-Covid recovery could prompt tightening measures from the Federal Reserve. And President Joe Biden’s proposed tax hikes -- including a near doubling of the capital gains rate -- have created uncertainty.Bezos, EllisonWhatever the reason, the sales are flooding the market with yet more liquidity, the consequences of which will ripple through philanthropy, the art market, real estate and other niches.Bezos has sold $6.7 billion worth of Amazon shares this year. While a relative pittance for the world’s richest person, it’s more than two-thirds the value of shares he sold in 2020. Larry Ellison unloaded 7 million Oracle shares in the past week for total proceeds of $552.3 million. Charles Schwab has sold $192 million worth of shares of his eponymous brokerage this year.Brin, who has signaled that he intends to sell as many as 250,000 Alphabet Inc. shares, has disposed of $163 million worth of stock in recent days, his first sales in more than four years, filings show.Mark Zuckerberg and his charitable foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, meanwhile, accelerated their sales of Facebook stock in the fall. Zuckerberg or his charity has divested shares at a near-daily clip since November, for a cumulative total exceeding $1.87 billion.The surging markets have exacerbated the concentration risk of the single-stock-dominated fortunes typical of many tech billionaires, said Thorne Perkin, president of Papamarkou Wellner Asset Management.“From a portfolio-management perspective, it makes sense to spread it around,” he said.Covid EconomyAlso among the biggest sellers are some noteworthy beneficiaries of the Covid economy. Zoom Video Communications founder Eric Yuan and used-car retailer Carvana Co.’s Ernest Garcia II have together received more than $1.75 billion from stock sales since March 2020, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. George Kurtz, chief executive officer of cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, has sold shares worth at least $250 million over that period.Zoom founder Yuan -- the poster child, in many ways, for the coronavirus economy -- has stepped up his sales this year as the firm’s share price slumped. In 2020, he typically offloaded about 140,000 shares a month through a trading plan, which generated more than $350 million over the course of the year.Since March, he’s sold almost 200,000 shares a month on average, yielding him about $185 million. He also donated more than a third of his stake in the San Jose-based company as part of “typical estate planning practices,” according to a spokesman. Some of the cash from his share sales fund donations to unspecified “humanitarian causes.”(Updates with Charles Schwab’s sales in seventh paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Now that the IRS knows more about your earnings, you may be eligible for more support.
Lawmakers are looking for quick action to improve an existing forgiveness program.
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