UK markets open in 6 hours 3 minutes

  • NIKKEI 225

    28,748.65
    +225.39 (+0.79%)
     

  • HANG SENG

    29,985.47
    +23.00 (+0.08%)
     

  • CRUDE OIL

    53.28
    +0.04 (+0.08%)
     

  • GOLD FUTURES

    1,868.00
    +1.50 (+0.08%)
     

  • DOW

    31,188.38
    +257.86 (+0.83%)
     

  • BTC-GBP

    25,399.91
    -206.85 (-0.81%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    689.67
    -10.95 (-1.56%)
     

  • ^IXIC

    13,457.25
    +260.07 (+1.97%)
     

  • ^FTAS

    3,816.31
    +22.40 (+0.59%)
     
US presidential inauguration:

What a Biden presidency means for Britain

A Biden presidency will likely scuttle attempts to secure a quick UK-US trade deal

Weiss Korea Opportunity Fund - Holding(s) in Company

·3-min read

For filings with the FCA include the annex

For filings with issuer exclude the annex

TR-1: NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR INTEREST IN SHARESi

1. Identity of the issuer or the underlying issuer
of existing shares to which voting rights are
attached: ii

Weiss Korea Opportunity Fund Ltd
Sedol B933LL6

2 Reason for the notification (please tick the appropriate box or boxes):

An acquisition or disposal of voting rights : Sale 220,000 shares

X

An acquisition or disposal of qualifying financial instruments which may result in the acquisition of shares already issued to which voting rights are attached

An acquisition or disposal of instruments with similar economic effect to qualifying financial instruments

An event changing the breakdown of voting rights

Other (please specify):

3. Full name of person(s) subject to the
notification obligation: iii

EdenTree Investment Management Limited

4. Full name of shareholder(s)
(if different from 3.):iv

5. Date of the transaction and date on
which the threshold is crossed or
reached: v

7 December 2020

6. Date on which issuer notified:

8 December 2020

7. Threshold(s) that is/are crossed or
reached: vi, vii

5%

8. Notified details:

A: Voting rights attached to shares viii, ix

Class/type of
shares

if possible using
the ISIN CODE

Situation previous
to the triggering
transaction

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

Number
of
Shares

Number
of
Voting
Rights

Number
of shares

Number of voting
rights

% of voting rights x

Direct

Direct xi

Indirect xii

Direct

Indirect

GG00B933LL68

3,990,000.00

3,990,000.00

3,770,000.00

4.62%

B: Qualifying Financial Instruments

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

Type of financial
instrument

Expiration
date xiii

Exercise/
Conversion Period xiv

Number of voting
rights that may be
acquired if the
instrument is
exercised/ converted.

% of voting
rights

C: Financial Instruments with similar economic effect to Qualifying Financial Instruments xv, xvi

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

Type of financial
instrument

Exercise price

Expiration date xvii

Exercise/
Conversion period xviii

Number of voting rights instrument refers to

% of voting rights xix, xx

Nominal

Delta

Total (A+B+C)

Number of voting rights

Percentage of voting rights

3,770,000.00

4.62%

9. Chain of controlled undertakings through which the voting rights and/or the
financial instruments are effectively held, if applicable: xxi

Proxy Voting:

10. Name of the proxy holder:

11. Number of voting rights proxy holder will cease
to hold:

12. Date on which proxy holder will cease to hold
voting rights:


13. Additional information:


14. Contact name:

Jenny Nolan

15. Contact telephone number:

0207 6807623

Note: Annex should only be submitted to the FCA not the issuer

Annex: Notification of major interests in sharesxxii

A: Identity of the persons or legal entity subject to the notification obligation

Full name
(including legal form of legal entities)

EdenTree Investment Management Limited

Contact address
(registered office for legal entities)

Beaufort House
Brunswick Road
Gloucester
GL1 1JZ

Phone number & email

Tel : 0207 5287364
www.edentreeim.com

Other useful information
(at least legal representative for legal persons)

B: Identity of the notifier, if applicable

Full name

Contact address

Phone number & email

Other useful information
(e.g. functional relationship with the person or legal entity subject to the notification obligation)

C: Additional information

For notes on how to complete form TR-1 please see the FCA website.

Latest stories

  • 4 Vols announce transfer plans 2 days after Pruitt's firing

    Linebacker Henry To'o To'o, running back Eric Gray, linebacker Quavaris Crouch and offensive lineman Jahmir Johnson all entered the NCAA transfer portal Wednesday, two days after Tennessee fired coach Jeremy Pruitt and nine others. Tennessee spokesman Bill Martin confirmed all four had entered the transfer portal. Gray led Tennessee (3-7) in rushing with 772 yards in nine games, which ranked eighth in the Southeastern Conference.

  • Australia posts zero virus cases, state chief calls for 'Pacific bubble'

    Australia recorded a fourth day of zero coronavirus cases on Thursday, prompting the chief of the country's most populous state to call for a special travel "bubble" with Pacific island nations. Signalling those restrictions were set to be eased next week, Premier Gladys Berejiklien told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper the federal government should consider establishing a travel arrangement with the Pacific. "There is no reason why we shouldns't aim to travel to New Zealand or some of the Pacific Islands well within the next 12 months," Berejiklian said.

  • SpaceX Starlink Satellite Launch Seen from Clearwater, Florida

    SpaceX successfully launched its 17th batch of Starlink satellites from the Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, January 20. The launch was seen from nearby Clearwater, Florida, footage from Lynne Carr shows.The batch came from Falcon 9, SpaceX tweeted, which was the eighth launch from this particular booster. The mission was underway at 8.02 am, according to reports. Credit: Lynne Carr via Storyful

  • Inauguration Day 2021 - live: Biden signs executive orders as press secretary gives first White House briefing

    Live news and updates

  • Biden news - live: Press secretary gives first White House briefing as president signs executive orders OLD

    Live news and updates

  • ‘One Night in Miami’ and ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ Among Music Scores Not Eligible for Oscars and BAFTAs (EXCLUSIVE)

    The music branch has been notorious for high-profile disqualifications and ineligibilities in the last few years (prominent examples include “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “Cloud Atlas” and “There Will Be Blood”). Last week, the BAFTA Awards website released a draft of what films are eligible for the upcoming show, set to take place on April […]

  • Twitter Locks Out Chinese Embassy in U.S. Over Post on Uighurs

    (Bloomberg) -- Twitter Inc. has locked the official account for the Chinese Embassy to the U.S. after a post that defended the Beijing government’s policies in the western region of Xinjiang, where critics say China is engaged in the forced sterilization of minority Uighur women.The tweet, which said Uighur women were no longer “baby-making machines,” was originally shared on Jan. 7, but wasn’t removed by Twitter until more than 24 hours later. It has been replaced by a label saying, “This tweet is no longer available.” Even though Twitter hides tweets that violate its rules, it still requires the account owner to manually delete the post in order to regain access to the account.The account is still locked, a Twitter spokesman confirmed, meaning the Chinese Embassy has not deleted the tweet. The Chinese Embassy account, @ChineseEmbinUS, has not posted since Jan. 8, having published at least a dozen more tweets after the one breaking Twitter’s rules. The Chinese Embassy declined immediate comment. Chinese state media had earlier called Twitter’s decision to delete the tweet “hypocrisy.”“We have taken action on this Tweet for violating our policy against dehumanization,” a Twitter spokesman said in a statement. Twitter prohibits the “dehumanization of a group of people based on their religion, caste, age, disability, serious disease, national origin, race, or ethnicity.”The move is the latest in a series of escalating steps Twitter has taken in recent weeks to enforce its policies. The suspension of the Chinese Embassy account came shortly after Twitter permanently banned Donald Trump’s account for repeated rules violations, and potentially complicates Beijing’s efforts to reset relations with the U.S. under President Joe Biden.On Tuesday, then-acting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that China’s actions against Uighur minorities amounted to “genocide,” a label that his successor Antony Blinken agreed with during his confirmation hearings this week. China has maintained that it is fighting separatism and extremism in the region, where the United Nations has estimated up to 1 million Uighurs may be held in camps.The decision to suspend the Chinese Embassy account also adds to an already complicated relationship between U.S. tech companies and China. Large social platforms like Twitter, Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google and YouTube are all banned in China, which has some of the world’s strictest controls on the internet. Trump, meanwhile, had previously demanded that Chinese startup ByteDance Ltd. spin off its successful video service TikTok in the U.S.China’s embassy in Washington joined Twitter in 2019 in the midst of heated trade talks between the countries, as more Chinese officials started using the platform to aggressively defend Beijing across the world in what has become known as “Wolf Warrior” diplomacy. Chinese officials and state-run media have used Twitter to accuse the U.S. of hypocrisy, particularly after a deadly riot at the Capitol earlier this month.After the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka’s account was suspended last year, it argued its “freedom of speech” must be honored, even though Twitter posts are blocked in the mainland.Last month, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison demanded an apology after Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian tweeted a fake photo depicting one of his nation’s troops holding a bloody knife to an Afghan child’s throat. Chinese social media platform WeChat subsequently deleted a post by Morrison after he made a direct appeal to the Chinese community promoting Australia as a “free, democratic, liberal country.”In recent months China has moved to rein its own big tech companies, proposing antitrust policies in November that would give the Communist Party sweeping powers over some of the country’s most biggest corporations.(Updates with background on China’s Twitter use from eighth paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • New Radicals reunite for first time in 22 years at Biden-Harris Inauguration Day celebration

    Lead singer Gregg Alexander even wore a bucket hat for the occasion

  • Feed fight: African consumers hit as Asia gobbles up rice supplies

    Rising food prices are a worrying trend in countries that depend on imports, while the cost of rice is politically sensitive in many parts of Asia and Africa. Benchmark rice prices jumped 20%-45% in key Asian producers last year, while demand for lower-quality rice as an alternative animal feed and soaring shipping costs are raising concerns that poorer nations that rely on imports may face shortfalls in supplies. "There are no immediate supply issues in Africa, but if exports from Asia get curbed ... it could lead to worries between June and October which is traditionally a lean (production) period for northern and western Africa," said FAO rice economist Shirley Mustafa in Rome.

  • Electric Car Maker BYD Raises $3.9 Billion in Upsized Sale

    (Bloomberg) -- BYD Co., a Chinese electric-vehicle manufacturer backed by Warren Buffett, raised HK$29.9 billion ($3.86 billion) from an upsized sale of its Hong Kong-listed shares, capitalizing on rising demand for new-energy vehicles and a blistering stock rally.The company agreed to sell 133 million shares at HK$225 each, representing a discount of 7.8% to Wednesday’s closing price of HK$244, according to a statement. The placed shares represent 14.54% of its enlarged H-share base, the statement showed.BYD had previously planned to offer 121.1 million shares at HK$222 to HK$228 each, according to terms of the deal obtained by Bloomberg News. Shares in BYD fell as much as 3.3% in early Hong Kong trading on Thursday.The offering comes after BYD’s shares have surged more than 400% in the last 12 months in Hong Kong, part of a broader rally in EV maker stocks buoyed by strong investor expectations for the industry’s growth. At $3.9 billion, BYD’s primary share placement is the biggest in Hong Kong since Haitong Securities Co.’s $4.2 billion share sale in 2014.BYD is the the latest in a growing line of Chinese EV makers to tap capital markets for funding. Last year, they raised billions of dollars in share sales: Chinese rival Xpeng Inc. sold $2.5 billion worth of new stock, while Nio Inc. fetched $3.1 billion in December. Xpeng also signed an agreement with banks for a $2 billion line of credit earlier this year.Electric-car demand is increasing in China, benefiting industry leader Tesla Inc. as well as its local contenders such as Nio and Xpeng that focus on their domestic market. New energy vehicle retail sales rose 9.8% in 2020 to 1.11 million units, with a 58% year-on-year jump in December to 206,000 units.Shenzhen-based BYD plans to use the cash to replenish its working capital, repay interest-bearing debt, and invest in research and development, according to the filing. It said in December it planned to issue no more than 20% of its total H shares outstanding.UBS Group AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and China International Capital Corp. are joint global coordinators on the deal. Citic Securities Co. is lead manager.(Adds BYD share price in third paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Global Stocks Rise to Record High; Dollar Slips: Markets Wrap

    (Bloomberg) -- Global stocks climbed to another all-time high Thursday on optimism that U.S. fiscal spending will revive economic growth and bolster corporate earnings. The dollar weakened.Asian shares rose for a third session, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index hit 30,000 points for the first time since May 2019. U.S. futures edged higher after the S&P 500 posted its best first-day reaction to a presidential inauguration since at least 1937. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index jumped more than 2%. Netflix Inc and ASML Holding NV were among companies that gained on solid results. Treasuries were little changed.In China, the nation’s three biggest telecommunications firms said they requested a review of the New York Stock Exchange’s decision to delist their shares. Separately, Twitter Inc. locked the official account of the Chinese embassy to the U.S., citing a violation of its “dehumanization” policy.Elsewhere, oil edged lower as concerns over lackluster consumption amid the pandemic crept back in. Gold pared overnight gains. The Australian dollar rose as the nation’s unemployment rate dropped.Investors looked past a fresh stumble in the rollout of vaccines and elevated infection rates, toward the promise of increased economic support and an expanded federal effort to get shots to more Americans under President Joe Biden. Stimulus plans in Japan and Europe will come under further scrutiny Thursday after central bank decisions in those jurisdictions.“If stimulus happens at the same time that people get vaccinated, the optimism can’t help but build,” said Keith Buchanan, a portfolio manager for GLOBALT Investments in Atlanta. “It’s a fairly safe bet there will be another stimulus package with more direct payments to consumers and individuals and more help for small businesses.”Investors are counting on more aid to help propel economic growth under Biden. Still, it won’t be all smooth sailing, with Janet Yellen encountering early Republican resistance to Biden’s relief plan in her confirmation hearing to become Treasury secretary.On the virus front, Germany suffered record daily deaths and a study on the South African variant raised concern about the efficacy of vaccines.These are some key events coming up:Policy decisions are due Thursday from the Bank of Japan, Bank Indonesia and the European Central Bank.Earnings are due from companies including Kia Motors Corp., Schlumberger Ltd. and Yes Bank Ltd.These are the main moves in markets:StocksS&P 500 futures rose 0.2% as of 10:37 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge climbed 1.4% on Wednesday.Japan’s Topix index climbed 0.7%.South Korea’s Kospi added 0.5%.Hang Seng rose 0.1%.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.6%.CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index slipped 0.1%.The yen was at 103.55 per dollar.The offshore yuan was at 6.4600 per dollar.The euro bought $1.2125, rising 0.2%BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries held at 1.08%.CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude dipped 0.4% to $53.08 a barrel.Gold was at $1,868.41 an ounce, down 0.2%.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Taiwan-Biden ties off to strong start with invite for top diplomat

    Taiwan's relationship with its most important global backer the United States has gotten off to a strong start with President Joe Biden's new administration, after the island's de facto ambassador attended his inauguration. That had made Trump a popular figure in democratic Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, to be taken by force if needed, and unnerved the government that Biden may not be as helpful. Emily Horne, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, said the U.S. commitment to Taiwan was "rock-solid", after the island's de facto ambassador in Washington, Hsiao Bi-khim, attended Biden's swearing in.

  • XOM EQUITY ALERT: Rosen Law Firm Announces Investigation of Securities Claims Against Exxon Mobil Corporation – XOM

    Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, announces an investigation of potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) resulting from allegations that Exxon Mobil may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public.

  • Biden inauguration concert - live: Bruce Springsteen opens celebration show hosted by Tom Hanks

    Demi Lovato, Katy Perry and John Legend are among the artists performing at the Celebrating America concert hosted by Tom Hanks

  • Jack Ma’s Video Chat Prompts a $58 Billion Sigh of Relief

    (Bloomberg) -- He appeared for less than a minute and said nothing about the Chinese government clampdown that had left his business empire in crisis.But for investors who’d been waiting months to catch a glimpse of Jack Ma, the entrepreneur’s participation in a live-streamed video conference on Wednesday was enough to trigger a $58 billion sigh of relief. That’s how much Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s market value soared after a clip of Ma speaking to a group of teachers began circulating online -- his first public comments since disappearing from view late last year.Much about the future of China’s most famous businessman remains unclear. Yet analysts said Wednesday’s video was a sign that worst-case scenarios -- such as jail time for Ma or a government takeover of his companies –- are probably now off the table. It’s unlikely Ma would have participated in the event without at least tacit approval from Beijing; state-run media including the Global Times were among outlets that posted snippets of his talk or wrote stories about his appearance.“There’s still a lot of uncertainty on regulators’ next moves, but this does mean the status of Jack Ma is much better than a lot of people speculated,” said Fang Kecheng, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.Ma’s talk focused on philanthropic issues including the importance of narrowing income disparities and reviving China’s countryside, two big priorities for Xi Jinping’s Communist Party. While far from a mea culpa, the comments offered a stark contrast to Ma’s last public remarks in October, when the billionaire launched into an unusually strong rebuke of Chinese regulators and state-owned banks.Just a few days after that now-infamous speech at the Bund Summit in Shanghai, the government torpedoed Ma’s plan to take Ant Group Co. public in what would have been the world’s biggest-ever initial share sale. In the weeks that followed, authorities called for an overhaul of Ant’s business and began an antitrust probe of Alibaba.Few expect Ma’s change of tone will cause Beijing to back off its campaign to more tightly regulate Ant, Alibaba and the rest of China’s high-tech giants. But Wednesday’s market response suggests investors are beginning to price out the risk of a crackdown that would put the country’s richest entrepreneurs and most innovative companies in serious jeopardy.“Alibaba is not out of the doghouse, but at least it’s clear that the current anti-monopoly drive is not about punishing Jack Ma,” said Zhang Fushen, senior analyst at Shanghai PD Fortune Asset Management.Speculation about Ma’s whereabouts had intensified in recent weeks after it emerged that he skipped the recent taping of a Shark Tank-like TV program that he had created. Chinese authorities have in the past quietly detained billionaires that run afoul of the Communist Party.Ma’s resurfacing appeared to be carefully calibrated, according to Justin Tang, head of Asian research at United First Partners in Singapore. The video conference was part of an annual event Ma hosts to recognize rural teachers. A former English teacher himself, Ma spoke in a solemn tone about the need to create better education opportunities in China’s poorer areas.“Recently, my colleagues and I have been studying and thinking. We made a firmer resolution to devote ourselves to education philanthropy,” Ma said. “Working hard for rural revitalization and common prosperity is the responsibility for our generation of businessmen.”It was “the perfect setting for Jack to reappear in the public spotlight,” Tang said. “The backdrop sees Jack in his roots as a humble school teacher versus being a haughty entrepreneur that doesn’t know his place. The whole scene allows him to show contriteness without being scripted.”Ant, which is controlled by Ma and part-owned by Alibaba, confirmed the authenticity of the video but declined to comment further.Ant had suffered a “considerable shock” after Beijing suspended its stock market listing, an event that was expected to value the company at over $300 billion, said James Anderson, a partner at Baillie Gifford, a significant investor in Alibaba. “It’s plain that there are less chances of it being extraordinarily profitable than there were before,” he told Bloomberg TV.The big question facing investors now: to what degree will Beijing keep tightening the screws on Ant, Alibaba and its peers? The early evidence suggests regulators aren’t in a hurry to let up. Just a few hours after Ma’s reappearance, China’s central bank released draft rules to curb market concentration in online payments, potentially dealing another blow to Ant and rival Tencent Holdings Ltd.The move is part of a wide-ranging campaign to rein in a generation of Chinese tech giants that Beijing views as wielding too much control over the world’s second-largest economy.Despite the regulatory overhang, Alibaba bulls at firms including Amber Hill Capital Ltd. and Pegasus Fund Managers Ltd. said easing concerns over Ma’s status might be enough to lift shares of the e-commerce company back toward its record high in October. That would imply a gain of about 15% in the Hong Kong-listed shares from their close on Wednesday.Alibaba slipped 2.2% at 9:31 a.m. local time on Thursday.Mitchell Green, a founding partner of Lead Edge Capital who holds shares of Alibaba, expects Ma to focus primarily on charity work going forward, a shift that began a few years ago. Green said he’s still optimistic about the long-term prospects for both Alibaba and Ant. “Both are very important to China’s economy and its people,” he said.(Updates with quote from Baillie Gifford investor on Ant)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Drake Delays ‘Certified Lover Boy’ Release

    Fans will have to wait a little bit longer for Drake’s upcoming album, “Certified Lover Boy.” Back in October, the rapper announced that the project would be out in January 2021. However, in an update posted to his Instagram story on Wednesday, Drake said that the album has been delayed due to a recent surgery. […]

  • China Plans Online Payment Rules That May Hit Ant, Tencent

    (Bloomberg) -- China proposed measures to curb market concentration in its online payment market, potentially dealing another blow to financial technology giant Ant Group Co. and its biggest rival Tencent Holdings Ltd.The central bank said on Wednesday that any non-bank payment company with half of the market in online transactions or two entities with a combined two-thirds share could be subject to antitrust probes, according to draft rules released by the People’s Bank of China.If a monopoly is confirmed, the central bank can suggest the cabinet impose restrictive measures including breaking up the entity by its business type. Firms already with payment licenses would have a one-year grace period to comply with the new rules, the PBOC said.The rules present the strongest and most detailed message yet of regulators’ plans to curb monopolistic practices in the online payments industry. Ubiquitous in China, Ant and Tencent have transformed how consumers shop through their mobile apps that are used by a combined 1 billion people.The regulator also vowed “comprehensive” oversight of companies in the space, and their transactions with affiliated parties. It will step up supervision of any changes to shareholders or beneficiaries at payments firms, it said.“This shows there’s no let-up in regulatory tightening on the sprawling fintech businesses,” said Dong Ximiao, a researcher at Zhongguancun Internet Finance Institute. “The rules fill the void of defining market monopoly in China’s payments industry.”Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., which holds stake in Ant Group, fell 2.1% in Hong Kong as of 9:32 a.m. after rallying 8.5% on Wednesday. Tencent gained 2.9%.Regulators shocked markets in November by suspending billionaire Jack Ma’s record initial public offering of Ant as they stepped up oversight. Ant has since been ordered to overhaul its business and an antitrust investigation was launched into affiliate Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.While they’ve stopped short of directly asking for a breakup of Ant, the central bank has stressed that the company needs to “understand the necessity of overhauling” and come up with a timetable as soon as possible.Ma emerged in public on Wednesday for the first time since China began clamping down on his businesses, ending several months of speculation over his whereabouts. Global investors are still seeking clarity on what the future holds for the world’s largest fintech firm.Mobile payments are only part of what contribute to online transactions, but they have become the most important platform in China. Alipay, the app operated by Ant, held 55.6% of the mobile payments market as of the second quarter last year, according to internet consultant iResearch. Tencent had a 38.8% share.Room for growth in online payments is limited after years of a head-to-head rivalry between Ant and Tencent’s Wechat Pay. Total transactions were 59.8 trillion yuan as of June 30, up 8.8% from a year earlier, according to iResearch. That’s sharply down from increases of 23% and 65% during the same period in 2019 and 2018, respectively.(Updates with shares in the seventh paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Orchid Island Capital, Inc. Announces Pricing of Public Offering of Common Stock

    Orchid Island Capital, Inc. (NYSE:ORC) (the "Company") announced today that it priced an underwritten public offering of 7,600,000 shares of its common stock for gross proceeds of approximately $40.3 million. The Company also granted the underwriter a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,140,000 shares of common stock. The offering is expected to close on January 25, 2021, subject to customary closing conditions. J.P. Morgan acted as sole bookrunning manager for the offering.

  • Long Bonds Are Enthralling Traders Across the Globe

    (Bloomberg) -- In a world awash with money, long-dated debt is where all the action is for bond traders these days.In Europe, investors looking to escape a sea of negative yields are snapping up some of the longest-maturity debt on offer in an attempt to park their money in assets that still provide some sort of return. In the U.S., they’re selling long bonds amid a looming torrent of government spending, as they assess the likelihood of the first-ever Treasury beyond 30 years.On both sides of the Atlantic, the lengthiest debt is the focus of a debate over whether trillions of dollars of stimulus will trigger a resurgence in inflation. While those buying long-dated bonds expect central banks will prop up the market for longer with low rates and quantitative easing, investors betting on steeper yield curves expect a pick-up in prices to erode assets maturing further in the future.The bottom line for Richard Kelly, head of global strategy at Toronto-Dominion Bank, is that the stimulus is inflating asset prices, though not necessarily the economy. France on Wednesday saw record demand for a sale of bonds not maturing until 2072.“We have too much cash chasing too few assets,” said Kelly. “So the strong demand for duration is just part of that overall chase.”The pivot into longer-dated debt isn’t all voluntary. Over $17 trillion of investment-grade bonds now come with a negative yield attached, which means an investor holding one until maturity is likely to make a loss. Europe is the heartland of the phenomenon, with the entirety of Germany’s debt market in sub-zero territory, and French securities out to 16 years in the red.What Bloomberg Intelligence saysWith the European Central Bank suppressing volatility and controlling rates, the reach for yield, carry and convexity can build. Longer-dated bonds are more sensitive to yield changes and have higher convexity, which can make them more desirable.\-- Tanvir Sandhu, chief global derivatives strategistWhile negative yields haven’t reached the U.S. yet, Federal Reserve policy has pushed the rates on the world’s largest debt market to record lows. Janet Yellen, President-elect Joe Biden’s nomination for Treasury secretary, said that she would be “very pleased” to look at issuing long term debt, when asked about creating 50-year Treasuries.One of the most recent additions to the Treasury’s arsenal was the department’s decision 12 months ago to start selling 20-year debt again. On Wednesday, it sold an extra $24 billion of bonds at that tenor. And although it yielded more than at the prior sale, the rate of 1.657% remains low for long-term debt by historical standards.Extending the Treasury curve beyond three decades may still be a way off, but it would give the new government an opportunity to lock in low borrowing costs for decades at a time when it is ramping up debt levels.Century BondsAnd with the coronavirus still raging, there is currently no let-up in other governments doing the same. Germany sold 30-year bonds Wednesday, while Japan is offering 40-year debt next week, though it may not stretch to a half century. ING Groep NV expects more European issuers to sell 50-year debt.The best performing euro-area government bonds last year were those due in more than two decades, providing a 15% return, according to Bloomberg Barclays indexes. That compares with 11% for bonds with a maturity of more than 10 years.Amid the deluge of supply, however, the long-end of the curve has lagged since the end of December, posting a 1.3% loss, making it the worst performing sector. At the very end sits the likes of Austria’s 2117 bonds, which returned 44% last year.“Anything that has the slightest yield is great news,” said Piet Christiansen, chief analyst at Danske Bank A/S. “The fact that investors are seeking longer duration in a hunt for yield just shows that markets can’t get enough.”(Corrects maturity of Austrian bond in second-last paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Hundreds evacuated from homes overnight as Storm Christoph causes flooding

    Four ‘severe’ flood warnings, meaning a danger to life, were issued by the Environment Agency.