Wednesday 24 March 2021

Stock Rally Poses Question: When Does a Bull Become a Bubble?

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The bull market, born out of the pandemic, has turned a year old. The remarkable turnaround has some analysts wondering if the breakneck pace is sustainable.

The bull market turned a year old on Tuesday, a testament to the unbridled enthusiasm that let investors shrug off the economic carnage of the pandemic and buy stocks — and pretty much anything else.

Since the S&P 500 scraped bottom on March 23 last year, the blue-chip index has posted a rally of nearly 75 percent, even with a 0.8 percent fall on Tuesday. Tesla’s stock is up more than 650 percent, while true believers have pushed up shares of GameStop by over 4,500 percent. Bitcoin is booming, and so are even more esoteric assets like NFTs.

It’s enough to pose a question that would have seemed unfathomable a year ago.

“Is this a bubble?” said Garry Evans, chief strategist for global asset allocation at BCA Research. “I would say there are certainly pockets of the market that look bubbly.” » | Matt Phillips | Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Friday 19 March 2021

UK Furlough Scheme Pays Out Millions to Foreign States and Tax Exiles

THE GUARDIAN: Qatari owners of Harrods and the Ritz claimed £3m alongside payouts to Saudi royals and British National party from Covid job support scheme

Billionaire tax exiles, the British National party, Saudi royals and oil-rich Gulf states have claimed millions of pounds in taxpayer-funded furlough money, the Guardian can disclose.

The revelations, based on analysis of government information, have sparked dismay among MPs at the use of a scheme designed to support struggling businesses and prevent mass unemployment, with one complaining of public money being scattered “like confetti”.

Beneficiaries behind companies that have drawn on the coronavirus job retention scheme include:

• Members of the Saudi royal family

• Qataris behind Harrods and the Ritz

• The ruler of Dubai

• Tax exiles Jim Ratcliffe and Guy Hands

• Billionaires Evgeny Lebedev, Len Blavatnik and Mohamed Al Fayed

• The British National party » | Rob Davies and Joseph Smith | Friday, March 19, 2021

The foreign royals and billionaire tax exiles collecting UK's furlough millions »