Diamond News Archives
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Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Associates Founder, President & CIO.
Anjali Sundaram | CNBC
Gold prices, which briefly topped $1,600 last week, could rally to $2,000 an ounce amid heightened political risks, Bridgewater's co-chief investment officer Greg Jensen told the Financial Times Wednesday[1].
The manager from the world's biggest hedge fund cited increased income inequality in the U.S. and rising tensions with China and Iran as uncertainties ahead that will prompt more safe-haven buying. Bridgewater manages $160 billion in assets, more than any other hedge fund.
"There is so much boiling conflict," Jensen told the paper. "People should be prepared for a much wider range of potentially more volatile set of circumstances than we are mostly accustomed to."
Jensen also believes the Federal Reserve would let inflation run hot for a while, which also creates an environment for higher gold prices as investors tend to use the precious metal as a hedge against inflationary forces.
Spot gold[2] rose 0.3% to $1,551.40 per ounce on Wednesday, after crossing the $1,600 mark and hitting a seven-year high last week. The U.S.-China trade war and the Middle East unrest drove investors to more conservative investments for its stability during times of tumult, pushing gold prices higher.
Earlier last year, founder of Bridgewater Ray Dalio advocated putting money into gold[3] as he saw a "paradigm shift" in investing due to global central banks' expected moves to an easier monetary policy.
The Federal Reserve cut interest rates for three times last year to combat a slowing economy. Jensen said it's possible the central bank could slash rates to zero this year to avoid a recession and disinflationary pressures.
Bridgewater is not...
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(IDEX Online) - The DMCC has opened a new state-of-the-art luxury vault and safe deposit facility in the Almas Towers in Dubai. This is the second jewelry vault in the Almas Tower, which is the base of many for many of the emirate's jewelry traders.
818 Vault is equipped with a secure dual control locking mechanism. Each safety deposit locker has two 10-lever locks that are accessed with two unique key profiles. The vault also offers a range of additional services, including insurance and repair for deposited jewelry.
"Welcoming 818 Vault to Almas Tower further solidifies DMCC's position as the nucleus of the gold, diamond and jewelry trade," said Ahmed Bin Sulayem, DMCC executive chairman and CEO. ...
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It's no secret that a handful of tech giants have been dominating the stock market, but their leadership has reached a level that is raising eyebrows on Wall Street as being unsustainable.
The top five U.S. companies — Apple[1], Microsoft,[2] Alphabet[3], Amazon[4] and Facebook[5] — now make up 18% of the total market capitalization of the S&P 500, the highest percentage in history, according to Morgan Stanley.
"A ratio like this is unprecedented, including during the tech bubble," Mike Wilson, the bank's head of U.S. equity strategy, said in a note Sunday. "Capital concentration is following corporate inequality like never before."
These mega tech firms have been the front-runners in this record-long bull market as investors bet on superior growth and dominant market share in their respective industries. They were the biggest contributors[6] to the market's historic gains last year and the trend shows no signs of stopping in 2020. However, multiple Wall Street strategists are sounding alarms on the increasing dominance of Big Tech, warning of a potential pullback in the stocks ahead.
'Selling opportunity'
Apple's weighting in the S&P 500 surpassed 4% in October, the sixth time the iPhone maker has crossed that threshold. But if history is any guide, it could be a ominous sign for the stock, according to Leuthold Group analyst Phil Segner.
He noted during the previous five times when Apple topped the 4% threshold, the stock underperformed the S&P 500 by nearly 9% on average in the next 12 months.
"With history as a guide, its most recent climb into the 4% Club looks like another selling opportunity," Segner said in...
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New York (CNN Business)The world's already huge debt load smashed the record for the highest debt-to-GDP ratio before 2019 was even over.
In fact, it broke that record in the first nine months of last year. Global debt, which comprises borrowings from households, governments and companies, grew by $9 trillion to nearly $253 trillion during that period, according to the Institute of International Finance.
That puts the global debt-to-GDP ratio at 322%, narrowly surpassing 2016 as the highest level on record.
More than half of this enormous number was accumulated in developed markets, such as the United States and Europe, bringing their debt-to-GDP ratio to 383% overall.
There are plenty of culprits. Countries like New Zealand, Switzerland and Norway all have rising household debt levels, while the government debt-to-GDP ratios in the United States[1] and Australia are at all-time highs.
In emerging markets, debt levels are lower, for a total of $72 trillion, but they have risen faster in recent years, according to the IIF.
China's ratio of debt to GDP, for example, is approaching 310%, the highest level in the developing world. Investors have long kept a skeptical eye on the highly-leveraged country. Following a push for Chinese companies to reduce their borrowing in 2017 and 2018, debt levels rose again last year, the IIF said in its Global Debt Monitor report.
Such massive worldwide debt is a real risk for the global economy, especially because the IIF expects levels to rise even further in 2020.
"Spurred by low interest rates and loose financial conditions, we estimate that total global debt will exceed $257 trillion" in the first quarter of 2020, the IIF said.
The Federal Reserve lowered interest...
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(IDEX Online) - EyeOnJewels has launched a local online marketplace for jewelry in the US that is standardizing the shopping process. The new service enables consumers to find fine jewelry and watch products from local vetted and certified jewelers without having to search them individually.
Using EyeOnJewels, shoppers can add items from different retailers to their cart and pay for them in one transaction and build up loyalty points that can be used on items from any store in the future.
"Shoppers can now purchase products from multiple stores in a streamlined experience and without having to find, browse and search tens of different websites all with different features, return and shipping policies, warranties and support, not to mention multiple search and shipping experiences on each different website," said EyeOnJewels CEO Darius Vasefi.
He added that the platform gives retailers a managed marketplace that allows them to sell online to local consumers for less than it costs to do it themselves.
Since its soft launch in September 2019, EyeOnJewels has generated over $5 million in gross merchandise value (GMV)....