Category: General

European Union Is Making Progress Towards The Digital Euro

The European Central Bank is working on an electronic version of the common currency. At the same time, the ECB assures that the cash is not at risk. It is not yet certain whether the digital euro will be introduced – but work on it is progressing. The decision should be made in autumn 2023. However, it will probably take until 2026 before citizens can spend the euro electronically.

The Impact of Basel IV on Consumers and Investors

Good investing decisions require ample research and staying up-to-date with regulations. My previous post on “Investing in Commodity ETFs” highlights how certain investments may change with regional regulations. The European Union (EU) doesn’t allow pure commodity ETFs as all ETFs must include a minimum level of diversification. This is unlike the US, which allows pure commodity ETFs that are in direct relation with said commodity. Considering these stricter requirements in the EU, investors must take heed of other changes in the system.

Cash Flow From Dividends Or Share Sales?

Recently, I got a question from one of my readers that I think is ideological one. The question was: What do you think about the statement that it makes no difference to receive dividends or to sell shares? Ultimately, it would lead to the same result.

Is The Bear Market Over?

I’m getting almost daily mails from people asking me whether the bear market is over. Well, I don’t have a crystal ball. But to address these questions, I’d like to step onto the thin ice of speculation as the people seem to be afraid to miss investment opportunities. At least, according to such mails, there is still a FOMO. And with this, from a psychological point of view, the bear market is not over yet. But let’s delve more objectively into this.

What Does Cornering A Market Mean?

In the world of trading, there were several occasions of so-called cornering a market. This term means, in general, a situation where someone with a certain market or financial power is able to create an artificial shortage of whatever. In this article, we will take a closer look at the term cornering a market and check some examples. Historical Background Of Cornering A Market The term cornering a market got publicly known back in the late 19th century when the futures traders in Chicago were exploiting an advantage by creating an artificial shortage called “corners”. That’s where the term cornering a market comes from. How did they do this? Well, they used the anonymity of futures, and bought as much of them as there was sufficient to control the market. Usually, it was pretty often the wheat traders who made the term “cornering” infamous! As they bought, the sellers of the wheat futures were obligated to deliver. That’s how the idea of futures works. But there was, of course, a lot of speculation, also among the futures sellers. A certain amount of them sold more futures than they could deliver. Doing this, they were just speculating that the price of the futures would fall, and with that, they would buy their too many sold futures back for a lower price and thus make an extra profit. And here was the catch: As one wheat trader, or sometimes a couple of them, cornered the market and held the most contracts in…