Father Christmas has continued his journey west and is now on the final leg of his deliveries. Like Vespucci, Columbus et. al. (Jolson, Capone, Pacino?) he is keen to learn more about this great continent before him.
RFQs - Ready for Quality Street…… Roses, Celebrations or whatever the contents might be in the festive family bowl of chocolates? One thing is for sure, there’ll be some variety at the bottom which lie there having left a bad taste in the mouth.
Of course, Santa has plenty of friends and it looks like some people in the market have some pals in Prague as the dark caps are looking to be relaxed (if not abolished) under the Czech presidency. The restrictions around Systematic Internaliser trading could also be eased. Given the proposed changes mentioned this week, we take a look at how DVC and SI activity has changed over time, which may help us anticipate what to expect next. But hold on, it just occurred to us that this actually has a lot in common with a practice in equity markets. Managing index constituents during a rebalance with a target benchmark of the Closing Price.
Father Christmas may not have target benchmarks or KPIs but he does have to manage and deliver all the presents to the correct recipients by the end of the day. But hold on, it just occurred to us that this actually has a lot in common with a practice in equity markets. Managing index constituents during a rebalance with a target benchmark of the Closing Price.
Over the weekend Santa stopped off in Qatar to watch the World Cup quarter finals (even though it was really a business trip, it was also a good excuse for a jolly). Like the rest of us, he was drawn into the drama as penalties proved to be critical in three out of four matches.
If there’s one thing Father Christmas takes into consideration when it comes to presents, it’s fairness. Mrs Claus insists that siblings should always have the same amount of money spent on them - but what if one gift was discounted on Black Friday in Lapland? Is it price or value that matters?
The amount of data produced globally continues to grow exponentially. Units such as Tera and Peta are no longer capturing the magnitude. As new terms such as Wispabytes and Crunchiebytes have been necessary, there are fears that the extent of this uncontrolled data production could soon have unintended consequences. Uncleansed data is not being disposed of, capacity levels are already being reached with clouds becoming saturated, and the inevitable precipitation could have irreversible effects. The Journal of Knowledge & Environmental Science (J.O.K.E.S.) has forecast that by 2030 there could be a film of excess data covering the whole of the earth’s surface.
Do you remember the optimism of the Santa Claus rally? Only a few months ago we were being entertained by stories of the S&P 500 in the high fives by year end (that would be a 30%+ rally from here) and post pandemic recoveries across the board. Then along comes the spectre of war, sanctions, and a cost of living crunch for households.
Santa may need to consider moving with the times as we navigate the growing wave of social responsibility. On the one hand, reindeer power is about as green as you can get to power a vehicle, and on the other…..all that wrapping paper and packaging! Someone needs to tell him ESG does not stand for Extra Special Gift. One of the recent benefits of the growth of ESG campaigns in financial markets is that the spotlight has moved beyond a focus on the social DNA of companies to invest in. Questions are now being asked about how all the companies who are active in financial markets are behaving. Could there be ways to introduce new practises and infrastructure in order to become more sustainable as an organisation, and as a community?
Santa may need to consider moving with the times as we navigate the growing wave of social responsibility. On the one hand, reindeer power is about as green as you can get to power a vehicle, and on the other…..all that wrapping paper and packaging! Someone needs to tell him ESG does not stand for Extra Special Gift.
