Middle East tensions impact global markets. US 10yr yield reaches 5%. Austin warns of Middle East escalation. Wall Street anticipates major earnings reports. ARK's portfolio dips, offers tax offset.

It’s been quite a week, but we are not out the woods, albeit things look a fair bit calmer today than they did Wednesday. Volatility was well and truly back: the biggest moves in 2yr Treasury markets since 1987 and the MOVE bond volatility index hit its highest since 2008. The VIX rose to its highest since October. As a good barometer of the week, the VIXX earlier this week touched 28 but is back under 23 this morning. Expectations for the Fed next week have come full circle – some even talked about a cut amid the turmoil of Wednesday, but it looks as though they will stick to their guns at 25bps, taking the cue from the ECB.

Jack Ma’s Ant Group is aiming to hold the largest IPO in history this year. Here’s how you can get involved with Marketsx. Alipay operator seeks record IPO Ant Group Co will attempt to hold the largest IPO in history later this year when it aims to raise as much as $30 billion for a […]

Now for the recriminations. RobinHood and other US brokers stopped trading in a number of stocks such as GameStop and AMC Entertainment that have lately been the target of retail investors seeking to ramp prices to spook hedge funds shorting the shares. Cue the upset: a class action lawsuit has been lodged against RobinHood, Democrat and Republican politicians are wading in by calling for Congressional hearings, […]

Stocks have rallied on news that we could soon have an effective vaccine against Covid-19. Initial optimism is exceedingly high and could fade – we should not be jumping any guns here – but ultimately a vaccine that works effectively would be good for the economy and favours the cyclical parts of the market that […]