Clarke & Cash

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September 27, 2021

As the world continues to battle covid-19, skeptical investors are carefully watching the handling of the current Evergrande crisis happening in China. For starters, Evergrande is a real estate company, one of the largest in the world and probably the most indebted.

Its current debt stands at over $300 billion and things could get sour if the Chinese government doesn’t deal with it appropriately. Most persons might not care to know about Evergrande, its finances, and the possible implications if it does collapse.

If we should take a look at the world today, it’s extremely connected and complex. Hence one of the reasons why different global markets tend to have a positive correlation coefficient. If one falls the other one reacts the same way and vise versa.

Look at even the financial crisis of 2008, its impact spans across most countries of the world. Even little Jamaica was impacted. l remembered the recession pretty well even though I was a young chap at the time.

Observe the 10-year chart below:

The Jamaican dollar has never gained any substantial footing against the US dollar ever since. Even though the USA never recovered slowly and painfully through any innovation or any major changes in the financial system. They just printed more money to bail out the banks and get on with life.

In our short attention span era, I don’t think most kids today even care about this. History tends to repeat itself ever so often. We are creatures of habits so expect something to happen similarly in the future. That’s how long-term short-sellers make real money.

Masters of Chaos

ships caught in a storm in the 19th century from the 1871 book ‘the Earth and her People”

Here we are in 2021, and another real estate-esque phenomenon similar to 2008 could happen. I am sure the land of the dragon is figuring out a way on how to tackle this monstrous bear. If one thing we should know about China and know very well is the sheer ability to control the chaos.

The Chinese government is able to control the narrative to a successful degree most of the time. They have their long tentacles stretched across possibly every single segment of society and will stop short of nothing to maintain that. As a result, at the moment, most of the citizens of China who have some type of connection to Evergrande are oblivious to what is going on.

Even if they are skeptical, they will have to be motivated to get out of that bubble and research. Frankly, this is probably another field of skill in itself. That requires organizing a system that can escape the state-owned firewall which protects the locals from western media.

Despite the Chinese government’s monopoly on the media and society, in specific localized areas, there were protests which happened earlier this month.

For example, in Jingdezhen homebuyers were protesting over the possible collapse of Evergrande but the officials reacted quickly on social media to cull the unrest. It wasn’t smooth sailing but they got the job done.

Teaching a Lesson

Another sentiment among high officials in China is that Mr. Xi Jinping is teaching assumed to be “sophisticated” investors a lesson who engage in high-risk practices.

It might seem logical whenever the market is going up and everything is normal. On the flip side, whenever something unexpected happens such as the covid-19, in this case, things can get a bit tricky.

Those who are over-leveraged will be caught out. Although the Chinese government will solve this issue, they might be organizing a deal that will ensure that this will not happen again and to this degree.

At the moment Evergrande’s stock is trading at 2.55 Hong Kong dollars from an all-time high of approximately 31 Hong Kong dollars.

Going Forward

The Chinese government at the moment is having their hands dipped in a lot of different pots. This includes Bitcoin regulation, tech regulation, covid-19, global relations, etc.

I am not sure of the extent or how they would prioritize this issue over the others, but it will be interesting to watch.

Stay tuned…

Twitter rolls out feature to allow tipping in bitcoin

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September 27, 2021

Twitter is currently testing a product that will allow tipping in bitcoin (BTC) over the lightning network. The lightning network is a blockchain architecture that allows fast and near-instant payments. Additionally, it can scale to millions and even billions of transactions per minute.

It’s an upgrade over earlier architectures that are susceptible to scaling and rattled with many other issues. Persons can tip using strike which is a payments application built on the lightning network. Its’ currently being tested in El Salvador.

If you care to read their feature launch, they state that they will start off by allowing it on iOS phones and then shortly after on Android.

“People in the eligible markets will have to sign up for a Strike account and add their Strike username to receive Bitcoin tips over the Lightning Network. You can use any Bitcoin Lightning wallet to send tips to someone’s Strike account,”. They stated.

They further went on to state that this feature will not be available for everyone. If you are eligible, you will see the bitcoin symbol available on your profile. Overall, this is good news for the crypto industry.

Tech companies are investing in this marketplace which is currently facing regulatory pressures from different governmental bodies across various countries.

It will not be enough to change the current view of crypto among governmental officials. Some of them have passed their time and might need to be replaced by younger individuals who have some vision for the future.

Bitcoin falls as China tightens restrictions on crypto

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September 24, 2021

China has indirectly declared an all-out war on crypto as the People’s Bank of China deems all crypto transactions illegal. As of now on, they will ban overseas exchanges from providing cryptocurrency services to local investors. Additionally, they will further crack down on illegal crypto trading locally.

This news has sent a tremor through the crypto market, both the prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum fell. Bitcoin was down 4.5% to trade at $41,509 a mere shadow of where it was in April at $63,000.

Despite the news which isn’t surprising given China’s crackdown on the overall tech ecosystem earlier this year. A move that is seen by many as counterintuitive to long-term growth and global relations.

Despite the ban, investors are still optimistic about Bitcoin’s long-term growth.

“We’ve seen little in the way of knee-jerk reaction from clients surrounding this news from China,” said Freddie Williams, who is a sales trader at digital asset firm GlobalBlock.

“This news follows the Evergrande crisis earlier this week that sent the market tumbling. The market bounced back before this recent news broke and we could see a similar same pattern play out following this recent update,” he further added.

The Evergrande crisis which he refers to is having investors playing wait and see on what China is going to do about Evergrande’s debt. It currently sits at just about over $300 billion. If they default, it might send the global market into a frenzy.

It’s clear to see that there is a battle going on with governments on how to handle crypto. I am assuming the Chinese government has plans to create a digital currency that will be accepted and used by the people of China.

Romelu Lukaku wants social media firms to meet players in the fight against racism

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September 23, 2021

Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku believes that a meeting between players, social media CEOs, governments, and governing bodies could help in the fight against online abuse.

Lukaku has been abused by fans in the past, both online and on the pitch, and has previously stated that he feels racism in football is at an “all-time high”.

Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have implemented several new measures in recent months, such as being able to limit who can respond to posts, but star players in both the men’s and women’s games still regularly find themselves subjected to racist, sexist and homophobic abuse, as well as death threats.

Last season, Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha stopped taking a knee, opting to stand instead in his own protest against racism and discrimination.

💙 @ChelseaFC pic.twitter.com/0FyXzSDSOl
— R.Lukaku Bolingoli9 (@RomeluLukaku9) September 11, 2021

Belgian forward Lukaku can understand those viewpoints, with online abuse still continuing despite the players’ direct action.

“I think we can take stronger positions, basically,” Lukaku told CNN Sport.

“Yeah, we are taking the knee, but in the end, everybody’s clapping but sometimes after the game, you see another insult.”

The 28-year-old wants high-profile players to sit down with social media bosses and other stakeholders to help talk through a positive solution to the continuing issue of racism on their platforms.

“I have to fight,” Lukaku told CNN. ”Because I’m not fighting only for myself. I’m fighting for my son, my future kids, my brother, and all of the other players and their kids, you know, for everybody.

“The captains of every team, and four or five players, like the big personalities of every team, should have a meeting with the CEOs of Instagram and governments and the FA and the PFA, and we should just sit around the table and have a big meeting about it.”

How we can attack it straight away, not only from the men’s game but also from the women’s game?

“I think just [get] all of us together and just have a big meeting and have a conference and just talk about stuff that needs to be addressed to protect the players and protect fans and younger players who want to become professional footballers.”

Lukaku’s club Chelsea launched a ‘No To Hate’ photography competition earlier this year in the wake of racist abuse received by Reece James in January.

The club hopes the competition can celebrate the diversity of its support and Lukaku says the fight against racism is one that he will never grow tired of.

“At the end of the day, football should be an enjoyable game,” he said. “You cannot kill the game by discrimination. That should never happen.

“Football is joy, it’s happiness and it shouldn’t be a place where you feel unsafe because of the opinion from some uneducated people.”

Chelsea launch #NoToHate fan photo competition with photographer @MelDCole to help promote greater tolerance, unity and inclusion on and off the pitch. 📷 💙

Find out more here. 👇
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 23, 2021

Lukaku points to the collective spirit in the football world that managed to “stop the Super League in one day” and questions why that same fervor can’t be applied to eradicating abuse from social media platforms.

“If you want to stop something, you can really do it,” he says. “We as players, we can say: ‘Yeah, we can boycott social media,’ but I think it’s those companies that have to come and talk to the teams, or to the governments, or to the players themselves and find a way how to stop it because I really think they can.

Back in January, key football authorities and governing bodies, including Kick It Out, PFA, Premier League, and The FA, met with social media companies to discuss how to tackle online hate.

Between January and March of this year, Facebook removed more than 33 million pieces of hate speech from its platforms, which also include Instagram, with more than 93% of it removed before it had been reported.

Done deal: James joins Al-Rayyan – Everton cut almost €11.5 million in salary

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September 22, 2021

Now it is a done deal. James Rodriguez will leave European football and join Qatari side Al-Rayyan SC for an undisclosed fee. The team coached by Laurent Blanc confirmed the transfer of the 30-year-old playmaker from Everton on Wednesday. The transfer window in Qatar is open until September 30th.

As reported by BBC, the Colombian footballer earlier traveled to Qatar for talks with Al Rayyan, which led to the rise of speculations about him exiting the Premier League side. Everton manager Rafael Benítez spoke about the player’s exit after his side’s Carabao Cup loss to Queen Park Rangers on September 22.

Bienvenido
Welcome
مرحبًا @jamesdrodriguez pic.twitter.com/Als0VqEqxD
— AlRayyanSC (@AlrayyanSC) September 22, 2021

The Qatari side made the announcement on social media on Wednesday afternoon before a statement from the Blues followed just minutes later.

The Colombian has fallen out of favour at Everton following the arrival of Rafa Benitez after the Spaniard replaced Carlo Ancelotti in the summer.

The 2014 World Cup Golden Boot winner had an option to move to Portugal during the transfer window but a deal could not be agreed with Porto.

However, he has now left Everton to join Al Rayyan, who are managed by former Manchester United defender Laurent Blanc and finished third in the domestic Qatar Stars League last season.

Robert Lewandowski wins Golden Shoe after his excellent Bayern Munich season

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September 21, 2021

After a season in which he outscored six Bundesliga clubs despite missing a month through injury, Robert Lewandowski has been awarded the European Golden Shoe.

With 41 goals in 29 Bundesliga appearances, Lewandowski comfortably outscored the likes of Lionel Messi (30) and Cristiano Ronaldo (29) in 2020/21.

The 33-year-old also broke the late Gerd Muller’s 49-year single-season scoring record en route to claiming his sixth Bundesliga top scorer’s cannon, but first Golden Shoe.

Lewandowski’s eye-watering contribution in front of goal was further confirmation of his standing as the best No.9 in world football.

I would like to thank my family, team mates, coaches and the entire @FCBayern team🙏I am extremely proud of what we have achieved together as a team. Thank you! #GoldenShoe2021 pic.twitter.com/UzECuxSd03
— Robert Lewandowski (@lewy_official) September 21, 2021

The reigning UEFA and FIFA best player averaged 1.50 goals per 90 minutes over the course of Bayern’s ninth-successive-title-winning season. He only failed to score in four of his 29 top-flight outings and found the net more than once on 10 occasions.

After winning the FIFA best award in 2020, a year when he won the Champions League, Bundesliga, German Cup, and World Club Cup with Bayern, Lewandowski seems to be improving in his mid-30s. “It’s not over yet. We are still hungry for more titles,” he said.

Hungary gets 1-match fan ban, $217,000 FIFA fine for racism

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September 21, 2021

Raheem Sterling and Jude Bellingham were subject to monkey chants during the World Cup qualifier at the Puskas Arena earlier this month.

England won the game 4-0, with Sterling opening the scoring.

Hungary was ordered by FIFA on Tuesday to play its next World Cup qualifier without spectators as punishment for the latest racial abuse by its supporters when England played in Budapest.

The Hungarian federation was also fined 200,000 Swiss francs ($217,000), one of the largest financial penalties handed out to a country by the world governing body.

A FIFA statement read:

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has imposed a ban and a substantial fine on the Hungarian Football Federation (MLSZ) in relation to the racist behaviour of numerous supporters during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifying match between Hungary and England on 2 September 2021.

After analyzing and taking into consideration all the circumstances of the case, specifically the seriousness of the incidents (racist words and actions, throwing of objects, lighting of fireworks, blocked stairways), the Committee decided that the MLSZ would play its next two home matches in FIFA competitions without spectators, the second match being suspended for a probationary period of two years.

In addition, the Committee imposed a fine of CHF 200,000.

FIFA’s position remains firm and resolute in rejecting any form of racism and violence as well as any other form of discrimination or abuse.

FIFA takes a clear zero-tolerance stance against such abhorrent behaviour in football.

The decision rendered by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee was notified to the MLSZ.

Coinbase ditches controversial lending product as SEC applies pressure

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September 21, 2021

Billion-dollar crypto exchange Coinbase will not be releasing their crypto product called Lend. After weeks of uncertainty, Coinbase finally succumbs to pressure from the SEC over their controversial new product launch.

This was a product that would allow users to lend their crypto back to the exchange. In return for interest rates that are typically higher than what is normal in the “physical” world.

This is not a new idea; other less-known exchanges offer this ability such as Gemini. Due to Coinbase being the poster child for crypto exchanges, they are the ones who are currently facing the heat.

On Friday, they updated their launch post to notify customers of the closure.

Our goal is to create great products for our customers and to advance our mission to increase economic freedom in the world. As we continue our work to seek regulatory clarity for the crypto industry as a whole, we’ve made the difficult decision not to launch the USDC APY program announced below. We have also discontinued the waitlist for this program as we turn our work to what comes next. We had hundreds of thousands of customers from across the country sign up and we want to thank you all for your interest. We will not stop looking for ways to bring innovative, trusted programs and products to our customers.

As the SEC continues to battle with the crypto world, it’s interesting to see where else they will dip their toes. There are indeed arguments for regulation to help and “protect” customers. The problem lies to what degree because creative freedom is a must to move forward.

Lamar Jackson happy to get ‘monkey off back’ after inspiring Baltimore Ravens to victory over Kansas City Chiefs

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September 20, 2021