Stocks surged this week as investors around the country angled to position for the outcome of the 2020 elections, a blockbuster stretch that has put major indexes on track for the best week since April. The results of the races have been rippling through financial markets, igniting a stock rally, driving bets in derivatives while stoking moves across the bond market, from corporate debt to Treasurys and municipals. Even bitcoin prices have rallied to heights not seen in more than two years. For... Source link

Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members are considering deepening oil production cuts amid rising Covid-19 cases in the West and fresh economic lockdowns in Europe that could curb oil demand further, according to oil officials and advisers in these countries. The debate comes at a time when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries had hoped to be in a position to start turning production back on. In April, OPEC, a 13-member cartel led by Saudi Arabia, and 10 Russia-led producers agreed to carry out record production... Source link

Investors in Europe learned the hard way this month that key structural differences between some of the region’s main stock exchanges and their U.S. counterparts put them at a costly disadvantage when it comes to trading stocks. On Oct. 19, technical glitches halted trading on two separate occasions, risking potential losses for investors that trade stocks on five of the six European marketplaces owned by Euronext NV, including those in Paris, Amsterdam and Lisbon. The breakdown bolstered arguments for Europe to follow the... Source link

Lloyd’s of London has launched an internal investigation into its role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade in part to determine whether it is on the hook to pay reparations. The 332-year-old insurance market is responding to pressure from Black employees and racial-equality campaigners to open up about the slave trade in the 18th and 19th centuries. Lloyd’s Chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown said he is talking to academic and cultural institutions that can help to investigate its archive. “We... Source link

In the final days of 2017, Malcolm and Emily Fairbairn thought they had everything ready to cushion the income-tax hit from more than $200 million in hedge-fund income. They prepared a large charitable donation, using their relationship with Fidelity Investments and a booming energy stock to maximize their tax deduction.It didn’t go as they had hoped. Now, the Fairbairns and Fidelity’s charitable arm are facing off in a contentious federal court trial. The Fairbairns say Fidelity Charitable lured them into making the donation with statements about how and when the stock would be sold, then violated those promises and botched the transaction. Fidelity denied making such promises and says its trading was appropriate. The case puts a spotlight on so-called donor-advised funds managed by firms including Fidelity, the Vanguard Group…