Under The Macroscope
Under The Macroscope
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International Sports Broadcaster and Skybound Capital's Marketing and Business Development guru Matthew Pearce checks in weekly with a variety of "in-the-know" analysts and strategists including Skybound's Chief Investment Strategist Jabir Sardharwalla. Together Matthew and his guests take a weekly macro look at the global investment climate and explore all of the most interesting and relevant news and technology.
Available episodes
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Aug 3, 2023
Is AI Usage Already On The Decline?
Matthew Pearce chats to Chief Investment Officer Theodore Shou about the impact that Artificial Intelligence has already had on the workplace and investment sectors, and then explores whether or not it has reached it's peak, or if it is only just getting started!
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Jun 8, 2023
Private Debt & Structured Lending - Jaimie Mckenzie
Matthew Pearce chats to structured lending expert Jaimie Mckenzie, who has many years worth of experience in the private banking sector before moving across to Skybound Capital. They chat about how the recent steep rises in the interest may well be great news for savers, but what does it mean for private debt?
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May 11, 2023
ChatGPT and the Rise of AI
Matthew Pearce chats to William Boshoff, Skybound Capitals Chief Information Security Officer, about the rise of ChatGPT, it's various use cases, and some things to look out for when using this service.
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Apr 11, 2023
Financial Planning For Life After Sport - Interview with Francois Louw
Matthew Pearce chats to World Cup winning ex-Springbok, and current director of Skybound Connect, Francois Louw about how he prepared himself financially for life after sport, and how he now does the same for his clients. Whether you are an athlete or not, the principles stay the same!
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Feb 28, 2023
What Does The Re-opening of Chinese Markets Mean For The Rest of Us?
We talk to Skybound Capital's Chief Investment Officer Theodore Qi Shou, CFA, CAIA about the opening up of China, the impact on its citizens, and how it will affect the rest of the global economy.
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Nov 9, 2022
09 Nov - Impact Of The Interest Rate Hike
Matthew Pearce talks to group Chief Strategist Jabir Sardharwalla about the impact of the Fed's 75 basis point interest rate hike. They dive into the political turmoil in the UK as well as the US midterm elections.
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Aug 15, 2022
14 Aug - Venture Capital Investment with Knife Capital
Matthew Pearce interviews one of Knife Capitals founders Keet Van Zyl, and discusses with him the ins and outs of South African venture capital.
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Jul 28, 2022
Jul 28 - Private Capital and the Trade Finance Opportunity
Matthew Pearce chats to Lee Dalley and Peter Martin from Teybridge Capital about Private Capital and the Trade Finance Opportunity.
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Jul 13, 2022
Jul 13 - Effects of Radical Changes to Interest Rates
Matthew Pearce chats to Chief Strategist Jabir Sardharwalla and Research Analyst Ross Muller about the effects of on the macro level as a result of massive changes to the interest rates.
Towards the end, they also touch on the big news coming out of 10 Downing Street and what it may mean for the future.
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Jun 27, 2022
27 June - Interview with Jacques Kallis & Dave Rundle
Matthew Pearce chats to former international cricketer Jacques Kallis about his investment strategy and the power of compound interest as well as to Dave Rundle of RMS who gives the investment viewpoint from the other side of the table.
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Jun 13, 2022
13 June - 'The Future of the Chinese Economy'
Matthew Pearce chats to Group Chief Investment Officer Theodore Shou in the Shanghai office about the sudden easing of Chinese Covid-19 restrictions, and what that might mean for the global markets.
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May 30, 2022
30 May - Should You Include Commodities In Your Portfolio?
Matthew Pearce sits down face to face with twin brothers and Skybound Capital research analysts Karl and Zander Engelhard to discuss the effects of global events on the commodities market. They help answer the question, should you be including commodities in YOUR portfolio?
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May 9, 2022
09 May - Cryptos, NFTS & Web 3.0
Matthew Pearce chats to Ross Muller, one of Skybound Capitals' research analysts, and their resident Crypto and Blockchain-related expert.
Ross chats more about the future of the internet and the demolition of the so-called walled castles.
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Apr 25, 2022
25 Apr - How Global Macro's Affect South Africa
Matthew Pearce chats to George Glynos from ETM Analytics around inflation and cash liquidity as well as how global macro events are impacting South Africa both positively and negatively.
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Apr 11, 2022
11 April - How The Travel Sector Is Bouncing Back!
Matthew Pearce chats to Franc Zvorar, the CEO of Leisurecom Group about how the sector took some heavy knocks, and what is happening now that the restrictions are being somewhat lifted.
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Mar 28, 2022
28 March - Effect Of Covid-19 On Property Market
Matthew Pearce chats to the Newman Leech, CEO of RE: Capital about the effect that Covid-19 has had on the property market and how it's rebounded.
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Mar 6, 2022
7 March - Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine
Matthew Pearce chats to Jabir Sardharwalla about the effects of Russia's war on the markets, specifically regarding inflation. We find out interesting, yet unfortunately somewhat worrying facts about Russias grip on oil, gas and wheat and what that could mean for Europe and the rest of the world.
To sign up for Jabirs weekly newsletter, send an email to jabir@skyboundcapital.com and your email address will be added to the mailing list.
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Feb 28, 2022
28 Feb - Chinese Myths BUSTED!
Matthew Pearce chats to Theodore Shou, Skybound's Chief Investment Officer, about some stories, rumours and myths coming out of China across a variety of topics and then one by one determines whether they are TRUE or BUSTED.
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Feb 14, 2022
14 Feb - Carbon Credits
Matthew Pearce chats to Josie Davis, Skybound Capitals ESG and Impact Analyst about the rise in carbon prices and how that is affecting corporations abilities to hit their net-zero targets, and the benefits in incentivizing other businesses to focus on greener practices.
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Jan 23, 2022
24 Jan - The Effect Of COVID-19 On Global Inflation Rates
We're back again for 2022! We start the year with two familiar faces in Matthew Pearce and Jabir Sardharwalla, who chat together about the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the global inflation rates.
Subscribe and follow us, and find out more at www.skyboundcapital.com
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Dec 12, 2021
13 Dec - Private Debt
A power-packed final episode for 2021 with both Jabir Sardharwalla and Theodore Shou joining Matthew Pearce to discuss the Private Debt asset class.
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Dec 5, 2021
6 Dec - Oil, Fossil Fuels & Price Hikes
Josie Davis joins Matthew Pearce and chats about the recent South African fuel price hikes along with the recent decisions made at COP26 aroudn the use of fossil fuels.
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Nov 28, 2021
29 Nov - Top 5 Investments For 2022
Jabir runs Matthew through his top 5 investments for the upcoming year. Listen to find out more about where your focus should be in 2022.
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Nov 21, 2021
22 Nov - Silly Season Consumerism
Matthew Pearce chats to Skybound Capital's Chief Investment Officer, Theodore Shou, about silly season consumerism and Matthew learns about the Asian tradition of Single's Day.
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Nov 14, 2021
15 Nov - So, What Did COP Actually Achieve?
Jabir Sardharwalla breaks down the latest COP convention and brings us insight as to what it may mean for the rest of us, not to mention the planet.
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Nov 7, 2021
08 Nov - COP & Electric Vehicles
Theodore Shou, Skybound's Chief Investment Officer, joins Matthew Pearce to chat about the news coming out of COP 26 as well as the rise and viability of electric vehicles.
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Nov 1, 2021
01 Nov - Modular Housing In The U.K.
U.K. based research analyst Tom Wiley talks to Matthew Pearce about the state of the modular housing industry in the United Kingdom and how it can beneficially impact the government's housing and emissions goals.
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Oct 25, 2021
25 Oct - The Impact Of Inflation
Brothers and research analysts Karl and Zander Engelhard chat to Matt about the impact that inflation is having around the world.
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Oct 18, 2021
18 Oct - Are 60/40 Portfolios Still The Best Option?
Brothers and research analysts Karl and Zander Engelhard chat to Matt about the fluctuations in government bonds as well as long term equity yields and how this informs the thinking around the 60/40 portfolios.
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Oct 11, 2021
11 Oct - UK Property Market Update
Jabir Sardharwalla is back on the show this week and gives an interesting look at the UK property market, the impact of the coronavirus on London's housing market and where and why people are moving around the country.
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Oct 4, 2021
04 Oct - The Rise And Fall Of Evergrande
Theodore Shou, Chief Investment Officer for the Skybound Group, gives us the lowdown on the Evergrande debt crisis.
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Sep 27, 2021
27 Sept - The Impact Of Geopolitics
Jabir Sardharwalla is back on the show, and he and Matt chat about the effect Geopolitics is having on the global markets.
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Sep 20, 2021
20 Sept - How Chinese Regulatory Actions Are Impacting The Investment Market
Matthew Pearce chats to Brendan Jack, a wealth advisor around the slew of regulations being brought in by China and how it's affecting the top tech company's share prices as well as society as a whole.
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Sep 13, 2021
13 Sept - Are Shipping Delays Affecting Inflation?
Host Matthew Pearce chats to Skybound Capital's CIO Theodore Shou about the state of global shipping and its knock-on effects.
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Sep 6, 2021
06 September - What Are Non-Fungible Tokens And Who Are They For?
Ross Muller, Skybound's Senior Analyst, talks us through the basics of what NFT's are, how they can be used across a variety of industries, and who is leading the charge in the current market.
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Aug 30, 2021
30 Aug - The Global Gender Gap
Matthew Pearce chats to Josie Davis, Skybound's ESG and Impact Analyst about the effect the pandemic has had on women in the workplace globally.
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Aug 23, 2021
23 Aug - The Pandemic's Impact On Pro & Amateur Sport
Things change up this week on the Skybound Capital Podcast as usual host Matthew Pearce sits in the interviewee's seat. Analysts Josie Davis and Ross Muller ask the tough questions on this weeks edition of the show.
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Aug 16, 2021
16 Aug 2021 - The Economic Impact Of Legalising Cannabis
How the legalisation of cannabis, cannabinoids and THC has impacted the economic growth of investors, states and countries.
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Aug 9, 2021
09 August - Is Covid Affecting Chinese Growth Forecasts?
Matthew and Theodore chat about how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected growth forecasts in China. But is it influencing it positively or negatively? Listen to this episode to find out more from Theodore Shou in our Asian office.
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Aug 2, 2021
02 Aug 2021 - Are UK Real Estate Prices On The Rise?
How are the UK real estate prices affected by the latest rulings in the UK Covid Response?
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Jul 26, 2021
26 July 2021 - What Are The Commercial Effects Of Floods & Climate Change?
Communications and Business Development guru Matthew Pearce chats to Theodore Shou, Group Chief Investment Officer, about the effects, opportunities and long-term planning around natural disasters like flooding and climate change.
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Jul 19, 2021
19 July 2021 - UK Restrictions Lifted!
Matthew Pearce welcomes back Jabir Sardharwalla after a two week absence. They chat about the impending "Freedom Day" in the UK and the effects of the lifting of the COVID restrictions.
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Jul 12, 2021
12 July 2021 - What is ESG? - Part 2
Join us as Matthew Pearce continues his interview with Skybound Capitals Josie Davis about ESG and responsible investing.
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Jul 5, 2021
05 July 2021 - What is ESG?
Join us as Matthew Pearce interviews Skybound Capitals Josie Davis about ESG and responsible investing.
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Jun 28, 2021
28 June 2021 - Global Semiconductor Shortage
Semiconductors, also known as microchips and integrated circuits, are essential components in every electronics product, whether it be a simple remote control unit for changing channels on the television, or a supercomputer used to simulate weather patterns. Currently, these are in short supply.
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Jun 21, 2021
21 June 2021 - Are Commodity Prices On The Rise?
This week Matthew and Jabir discuss the impact of COVID immunity for different countries around the world. From here they get into a fascinating discussion about the historical precedent for an impending upward trend for commodity prices.
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Jun 14, 2021
14 June 2021 - European Stocks & Sovereign Wealth Funds
A strange week in markets! Until yesterday, markets were selling off on the back of continued inflation worries and taper-talk which, in turn, drove yields. Amazing what a combination of Central Bank talk and misinterpretation of data can do.
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Jun 7, 2021
7 June 2021 - Is In-Office Working Dead?
Following on from last week’s Hybrid vs remote working themes, NatWest announced it only expects about 13% of its staff to return to primarily office-based working while 55% will adopt hybrid working and 32% a remote first model (minimum 2 days pm). HSBC aims to cut its office footprint by 40% over the long-term and is moving some 1,200 call centre staff to permanent home working. NatWest was quick to say they have no immediate plans to close more offices. I can’t help thinking this is an opportunity for Banks to cut back even further on costs under the pretext of Covid19. The reality is this was going to happen anyway – just more slowly. What happens to all that real estate stock these banks have? Developers will have a field day!
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May 31, 2021
31 May 2021 - Cyber Criminals vs Cyber Security
Skybound Capitals Matthew Pearce chats to William Boshoff, the group's Chief Information Security Officer about the threat cyber criminals pose to major businesses around the world. With some recent examples of ransomware holding companies' data hostage, what kind of threats could you be under?
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May 24, 2021
24 May 2021 - Asian Markets Report (And The Impact Of Covid)
Today we are joined by chief investment officer Theodore Shou who is based in the Hong Kong office of Skybound Capital. Together, he and Matt chat about the state of the Asian markets and the impact and recurrence of Covid-19.
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May 17, 2021
17 May 2021 - Conflict in Gaza
Matt and Jabir speak about the conflict in Gaza and the human, economic and social ramifications.
We’re all also aware of the acute housing shortage across major cities internationally and we take a look at how governments are fighting back.
The NFIB small business survey showed “jobs hard to fill” hit record levels. “Finding qualified employees remains the biggest challenge for small business and is slowing economic growth”. Worryingly, planned price rises, by small business, is rising strongly!
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May 10, 2021
10 May 2021 - Are US Job Growth Rates Slowing?
New jobs created totalled just 266,000 when the market expectation, with good justification, was for something closer to a million! To add insult to injury, there was a big, downward revision to March’s payroll of some -140,000.
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May 3, 2021
3 May 2021 - Low Default Rates
Have low defaults stymied productivity? Like a magic show, Central Banks (CBs) have become the magicians while the audience is everyone else (Government, Markets). Default rates are not far away from their lowest (2007 before sub-prime started to blow up). Today they are only c3.5% - despite enduring Covid19, endless fiscal and monetary stimulus, rising yields and upwardly rising inflation. Debt has soared but, amidst all the initiatives by CBs at buying it back for QE operations and supporting markets (corporate debt, ETFs……to name a few), effectively there is a giant CB PUT option in place (a safety net) designed to prevent companies from collapsing in almost all sectors. Each cycle brings with it an even bigger round of debt stimulus and so the cycle goes on – until it doesn’t. What Covid19 has done is to enable tech savvy companies to forge ahead while many others are bailed out. Some are investing in new capital equipment and modernising production but CAPEX data is still…
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Apr 26, 2021
Apr 26 2021 - Amazon Invests In CT & European Super League
Matt and Jabir chat about the inward investment into Cape Town by global retail giant Amazon. They also touch on the spectacular rise and fall of the European Super League and what it means for the leagues and clubs in general.
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Apr 19, 2021
Apr 19 2021 - Great News For GDP Growth
It has been a heavy week with releases around Growth (GDP), Retail Sales and Inflation. In a nutshell, they are all rising! Biden’s stimulus package ($1.9TN) is having an immediate effect as evident in the retail sales data. The latter jumped almost 10%. Even excluding Autos, it was still up a formidable 8.4%. The impact was across the board. China’s GDP data released today showed very healthy progress too.
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Apr 12, 2021
Apr 12 2021 - Swedish Digital Currency Study & Passing Of The Duke Of Edinburgh
It is with huge sadness that we learnt of the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Married to the Queen for over 70 years.
Sweden has completed its first study into a digital currency (“e-krona): it concluded that it might take a lot longer to enact than initially thought and the current pilot won’t be finished till early next year. The study acknowledged that although the usage of cash is diminishing, there is no reason to embark on such a project.
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Apr 5, 2021
Apr 5 2021 - Q1 Review & US Stimulus Package Update
Matt and Jabir chat about the year to date and discuss the market growth from this time last year up until now.
Join us as we take a look at all of the major markets, and the sectors that influence their growth.
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Mar 29, 2021
Mar 29 2021 - Strong Manufacturing & Services Data Released
Flash PMI readings, measuring activity for Manufacturing and Services are out for March. The Manufacturing data is very strong for the UK, EU and US. Each has a different story - So find out more in this episode of Under The Macroscope.
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Mar 22, 2021
Mar 22 2021 - US Federal Revisions & Vaccine Nationalism
The Western world is in a tizz and all over the possibility the EU is about to get into a war, a vaccine war, in which it’s threatening to place curbs on vaccine exports from the EU to other regions / countries.
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This week we witnessed Brazil, Russia, Turkey all raise rates. It’s also believed Nigeria and South Africa could follow suit. Meanwhile, amongst Developed markets, Norway has stated it will bring forward its first rate hike end of the year with two more likely in early 2022. So what’s going on?
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Mar 15, 2021
Mar 15 2021 - US Stimulus Package & THAT Oprah Interview
In an otherwise light, newsflow week, the successful passage of the stimulus bill dominated. It was quite a result for the Biden presidency, especially as the full amount was passed! The final tweaks to the bill were very few. PLUS Matt asks Jabir, in light of the polarising Oprah interview with Harry and Meghan, who do we trust when it comes to shaping our knowledge of the worlds news?
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Mar 7, 2021
Mar 8 2021 - UK Budget Speech
The spat between the UK and EU has flared up again. The UK has unilaterally decided to extend the grace period for checks on food imports to N. Ireland till October (6 month extension). The EU is in a spasm with one official saying the UK’s new approach to everything is confrontation.
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US study showing the more aggressive of the newer Covid19 variants may be less dangerous than previously thought.
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Cuba announced it is starting final-stage trials of two new Covid19 vaccines which it has developed.
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Feb 28, 2021
Mar 1 2021 - GameStop Catchup & Rising Yields
10y Government bond yields soared! On the back of this, we have witnessed a big spike in volatility across all asset classes. Couple this with month-end and, not surprisingly, volatility is compounded. So why the massive spike in yields? Listen in to the show to find out!
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Feb 21, 2021
Feb 22 2021 - Impact Of The Vaccine Rollouts
Chief strategist Jabir Sardharwalla and Matthew Pearce talk about the impact that the vaccine rollouts are having on the markets. With projected herd immunity status on the somewhat near horizon for the US and the UK, what does this mean for businesses resuming after lockdown restrictions are eased?
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Feb 14, 2021
Feb 15 2021 - Tesla & Mastercard's Surprising Announcements
This week saw TESLA announce it had bought $1.5bn of Bitcoin (BTC). This sent the BTC price soaring over 20% from $39,400 to $48,000 in under 24 hours. MASTERCARD announced this week it is planning to give merchants the option to receive payments in cryptos later this year and it came as quite a surprise. But Mastercard has not commented which cryptos it intends to support, or indeed where, but has set out its 2019 “Principles for Blockchain Partnerships” framework.
Find out more in the latest episode of Under The Macroscope.
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Feb 7, 2021
Feb 8 2021 - Should We Trust Cryptocurrencies?
Skybound's Senior Research Analyst Ross Muller makes the case FOR cryptocurrencies while Chief Investment Strategist Jabir Sardharwalla is slightly more hesitant to fully trust the digital currencies just yet. Find out more about each of their reasons in the latest episode of Under The Macroscope.
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Jan 31, 2021
Feb 1 2021 - Wall Street vs. Reddit (GameStop GME)
The big news this week – and one which has dominated market volatility (see market performance below) - has been the short squeeze saga around certain companies, most notably GameStop (GME). There were many others too (such as AMC, BB, BBBY and EXPR). These stocks suddenly started soaring despite their ailing prospects. So what happened?
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Jan 24, 2021
Jan 25 2021 - Biden Inauguration
Matthew Pearce, Skybound Capital's communications and business development guru gets the low down on the global events affecting the markets from Chief Investment Strategist Jabir Sardharwalla. Listen in each week to find out the big headlines from the week that was.
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Jan 17, 2021
Jan 18 2021 - Vaccine Rollouts
Matthew Pearce, Skybound Capital's communications and business development guru gets the low down on the global events affecting the markets from Chief Investment Strategist Jabir Sardharwalla. Listen in each week to find out the big headlines from the week that was.
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Jan 9, 2021
Jan 11 2021 - American Election Unrest & Brexit Knock-On Effects
Matthew Pearce, Skybound Capital's communications and business development guru gets the low down on the global events affecting the markets from Chief Investment Strategist Jabir Sardharwalla. Listen in each week to find out the big headlines from the week that was.
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