Why wouldn’t it be?
The S & P 500 and the NASDAQ 100 hit all time highs in early October and since then they have fallen about 10% each. The S & P 500 has turned negative for the year and the NASDAQ 100 has barely moved. FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google/Alphabet) stocks accounted for almost all the 2018 gains until October. And their fall has caused the market meltdown but there is more to the story …
Restricted Stock Units (RSU) are company stock (or shares by another name) granted to employees as a form of compensation. Employers save some tax, and it generally aligns the long-term interest of employees (and shareholders) as it normally carries a vesting period. 2017 was great for technology company share prices and technology companies granted an eye-watering amount of Restricted Stock Units by value leaving banks way behind …
ECB sells yet another bond after spotting an error
The European Central Bank (ECB) via Bundesbank has sold yet another bond issued by Telefonica Deutschland a year after it bought it. The bond which was due to mature in 2021 breached an ECB rule that they should not hold bonds that pay a step-up coupon (one that could go up in value if certain conditions are met – in this case if the company was acquired).
This was the fourth time they found an error in 2018 and sold a corporate bond. When this happened a couple of weeks ago, we reported it here and asked how many more errors will the ECB find? Well, it would appear traders have taken notice. The ECB sold this bond just after a sharp fall in the price of the bond, implying traders know what all bonds the ECB has bought in error and is likely to sell. Continue reading “Weekly Overview: ECB sells yet another corporate bond after spotting an error; US Banks report Q1 results; Facebook moves user data from Ireland to the US”