Industry Update

As the trading frenzy in GameStop Corp shares and other social media favorites recedes, investors are eyeing signs of potential market stress that could weigh on broader stock performance in coming weeks. For now, U.S. equities appear to be looking past last week’s surge in volatility that led the S&P 500 to its biggest weekly decline since October. Solid earnings, fiscal stimulus expectations and progress in country-wide vaccination efforts are leading stocks back to all-time highs. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ posted records for a second straight session on Friday.
Some investors, however, worry that the wild swings in GameStop and other “meme stocks” may have exacerbated concerns over market volatility and elevated valuations that could make market participants more risk-averse.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks-weekahead/wall-street-week-ahead-gamestop-frenzy-reveals-potential-for-broader-market-stress-idUSKBN2A52L1

We're tracking the latest on the coronavirus outbreak and the global response. Sign up here for our daily newsletter on what you need to know. Scientists probing the origins of the coronavirus are wrapping up a lengthy investigation in China and have found “important clues” about a Wuhan seafood market’s role in the outbreak.
Peter Daszak, a New York-based zoologist assisting the World Health Organization-sponsored mission, said he anticipates the main findings will be released before his planned Feb. 10 departure. Speaking from the central city of Wuhan, where Covid-19 mushroomed in December 2019, Daszak said the 14-member group worked with experts in China and visited key hot spots and research centers to uncover “some real clues about what happened.”

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-07/where-did-covid-come-from-investigator-foreshadows-fresh-clues?srnd=premium-middle-east

Bitcoin is surging again with investors seeking new options to park their funds. With volatility attached to these digital assets, fears of treating it as an asset class seem blurring.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley recently said that with the large decline in the dollar, deeply negative real yields and continued policy uncertainty, investors have been looking for alternatives to traditional cash holdings. Innovation in digital assets continues rapidly and will likely drive increased institutional participation over time.

So does it mean Bitcoin is poised for a systematic asset-class investment with both US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde calling for regulatory framework or limit the usage of this most sought after asset?

Source: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/bitcoin-asset-class-in-offing

Professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal is planning to double the size of its Middle East business within the next five years, the company’s Middle East head Saeeda Jaffar said. The firm, which is best known for its restructuring work, has grown from just four people when Ms Jaffar joined the company in 2016 to about “50-something” currently. “We’ll probably close the year between 60 and 70 people, depending on how quickly we can bring people in,” Ms Jaffar told The National. “And we have plans to continue the growth. And I think in the next three to five years, we should, at the very least, double again,” she added. Professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal is planning to double the size of its Middle East business within the next five years, the company’s Middle East head Saeeda Jaffar said.
The firm, which is best known for its restructuring work, has grown from just four people when Ms Jaffar joined the company in 2016 to about “50-something” currently. “We’ll probably close the year between 60 and 70 people, depending on how quickly we can bring people in,” Ms Jaffar told The National. “And we have plans to continue the growth. And I think in the next three to five years, we should, at the very least, double again,” she added.  

Source: https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/economy/alvarez-marsal-plans-to-double-middle-east-business-1.1160685

Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey and rapper Jay Z announced they are establishing a Bitcoin development fund. Mr Dorsey tweeted on Friday that they are taking applications for a “blind irrevocable trust” initially focused on Africa and India. The fund will have “zero direction” from either Mr Dorsey or Jay Z and the partners are searching for three board members. The mission of the fund is to “make Bitcoin the internet’s currency”, according to job application for the fund.
Mr Dorsey and Jay Z are investing 500 Bitcoins, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, currently worth about $23 million, in the project. The move comes as Bitcoin finds more acceptance in the financial services and payments industry.

Source: https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/markets/twitter-ceo-jack-dorsey-and-rapper-jay-z-unveil-bitcoin-fund-1.1165218

The reflation trade -- the darling of Treasuries investors betting on rebounding growth -- is proving resilient. One of the hot wagers of 2021 barely lost a beat this week even after a surprisingly soft report on consumer prices. Long-term Treasury yields touched the highest in almost a year, market proxies of inflation expectations accelerated to the fastest pace since 2014 and the yield curve tested the steepest levels in more than five years. The message is that investors still see additional fiscal stimulus as a lock and are banking on the vaccine rollout gaining momentum. The coming week’s auction of 30-year inflation-linked Treasuries stands to give a fresh test of just how much investors fear rising price pressures down the road as the economy reopens.

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-13/bond-market-reflation-trade-absorbs-punch-to-extend-2021-advance?srnd=economics-vp

A clear cryptocurrency regulatory regime is urgently needed as major companies like Tesla Inc., BNY Mellon Corp and MasterCard Inc. embrace the alternative asset class, a top Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official said. Hester Peirce, a Republican commissioner at the agency, also told Reuters in an interview that it was too soon to draw policy conclusions from a “Reddit Rally” in GameStop Corp and other stocks, but it was “wonderful” that a new generation of investors was able to participate in the market. Dubbed by crypto enthusiasts as the “Crypto Mom” due to her supportive stance on the asset class, Peirce has long advocated for regulators to create clear rules that would allow crypto assets to thrive without fear of breaking the law.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-sec-crypto-currency/clear-crypto-rules-urgently-needed-as-major-companies-embrace-asset-sec-official-idUSKBN2AD0MF

The European Commission said GDP growth in the 19 countries that use the euro would hit 3.8 percent this year, with the recovery coming later than originally hoped. This was down from the 4.2 percent for 2021 forecast in November. But Brussels gave a sharp boost to its prediction for growth next year, upping it to 3.8 percent from 3.0 percent earlier. Most hopefully, the EU said that the European economy would reach pre-pandemic levels in 2022, which was faster than earlier hoped, although the recovery would be uneven among member states. "We remain in the painful grip of the pandemic, its social and economic consequences all too evident," the EU's Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said.

Source: https://www.sharjah24.ae/en/articles/2021/02/12/EU-slashes-2021-growth-forecast-but-eyes-big-rebound

An electronic platform which contains railway engineering information, including 800,000 documents relating to assets of the Red and Green Lines of the Dubai Metro, has been launched. Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer, Director-General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), launched the platform, also contains data about the Rail Agency, consultants, project contractors, rail operators and impacted bodies.
"The platform ensures the accuracy, speed and accessibility to information, documentation of engineering changes in assets, and provides multiple options for data management. RTA has completed the training of beneficiaries of the platform, published technical manuals consistent with top international practices, and linked the platform with the maintenance system. During the first quarter of this year, all processes relating to the management of engineering changes, operations and maintenance will be automated. Later on, documents related to the Dubai Tram and Route 2020 will be uploaded," noted Al Tayer.

Source: http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302909745

Oil in London climbed for a fourth straight week as efforts to clear an oil surplus are seen holding the market over until demand comes back in force. Global benchmark Brent futures on Friday surged the most since early January, while West Texas Intermediate crude flirted with $60 a barrel for the first time in more than a year. Signs of inventories declining in the U.S. and elsewhere point to the success OPEC+ has had in draining a surplus left in the wake of an historic demand slump due to the pandemic.

Source: https://gulfnews.com/business/energy/brent-oil-posts-fourth-weekly-gain-with-global-surplus-dwindling-1.1613190442838