Some overseas investors are reaping big gains from a handful of exchange-traded products that have surged alongside many digital coins. Eight of the 10 best-performing exchange-traded products in the world this year are European-based funds that track some form of cryptocurrency. A binance coin-tracking exchange-traded product run by Swiss firm 21Shares AG is up 10-fold this year. A pair of ethereum notes managed by CoinShares in Europe have risen more than threefold, as has a ripple-based ETP run by 21Shares. Source link

Lately, some financial-market experts have been using the phrase “blowoff top” to describe how prices for certain assets have behaved. While blowoff tops aren’t an everyday occurrence, they can have an impact on investors—potentially producing big profits or devastating losses. So, what are they? Blowoff tops can be—but aren’t always—the last stage of an asset bubble. Many market rallies begin with asset prices trending higher at roughly the same rate. But if their growth rate speeds up enough, that growth ends dramatically with a blowoff top. “While nothing is 100% absolute, most bull markets and bubbles do end in a final cathartic blowoff top,” says Shawn Hackett, president of Hackett Financial Advisors Inc. Source link

Investment firms are buying record amounts of so-called solar bonds, debt issued to help U.S. individuals finance the purchase of rooftop solar panels to power their homes.Sales of solar bonds hit around $2 billion in the first six months of the year, roughly double levels during the same period in 2020 and 2019, according to deal tracker Finsight.com. The bonds, which are backed by bundles of loans made to homeowners for panel purchases, are being issued by a handful of financing companies that specialize in residential solar panels, including GoodLeap LLC, Sunnova Energy Corp. and Solar Mosaic Inc. By tapping bond markets, the companies are connecting fund managers looking for eco-friendly investments with homeowners who want to get cheaper—and potentially more reliable—electricity while cutting their carbon footprints. “It came down…

United Airlines Holdings Inc. America’s vacation from travel restrictions might get cancelled. The European Union recommended halting nonessential travel from the U.S. because of the rise of Covid-19 cases, diplomats said Monday. The bloc’s earlier decision, in June, to place the U.S. on its safe list was a welcome relief for Europe’s tourist-heavy southern economies after pandemic-fueled recessions. The trade group Airlines for America called the recommendations a disappointment to the U.S. airline industry. United Airlines shares lost 3.8% Monday. Zoom Video Communications Inc. Will Zoom meetings survive the end of the pandemic? The company on Monday surpassed $1 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time in its history, but demand for its videoconferencing services is showing signs of slowing. Zoom said that small businesses and consumers were starting…

Current and former executives of hedge fund Renaissance Technologies LLC will personally pay as much as $7 billion in back taxes, interest and penalties to settle a long-running dispute with the Internal Revenue Service, the firm said, a tax settlement that may be the largest in history. James Simons—the quantitative-investing pioneer who started Renaissance before retiring as the firm’s chairman on Jan. 1—will make an additional “settlement payment” of $670 million, according to the firm. Mr. Simons will also pay back taxes related to his gains. Source link