HSBC, the largest lender in Europe and Hong Kong by assets, has signalled for the first time its intent to engage with the city’s forthcoming stablecoin regime, citing Hong Kong’s sound regulatory environment and its potential to drive innovation in the digital asset space. “We are interested in every part of Hong Kong’s innovation landscape, and we want to play a role in all of it,” CEO Georges E...
HSBC, the largest lender in Europe and Hong Kong by assets, has signalled for the first time its intent to engage with the city’s forthcoming stablecoin regime, citing Hong Kong’s sound regulatory environment and its potential to drive innovation in the digital asset space. “We are interested in every part of Hong Kong’s innovation landscape, and we want to play a role in all of it,” CEO Georges Elhedery said in a small-group interview – in response to a question whether the bank had applied for...
The Microreactor Race Is On Authored by Duggan Flanakin via RealClearEnergy , For the past half century, successive Presidential administrations and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have thwarted the development of advanced reactor designs that might fulfill President Eisenhower’s vision for the “peaceful uses of atomic energy.” Westinghouse’s eVinci microreactor, a cross-section of which is show...
The Microreactor Race Is On Authored by Duggan Flanakin via RealClearEnergy , For the past half century, successive Presidential administrations and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have thwarted the development of advanced reactor designs that might fulfill President Eisenhower’s vision for the “peaceful uses of atomic energy.” Westinghouse’s eVinci microreactor, a cross-section of which is shown here. Westinghouse Electric Company That all changed last May, when President Trump issued four executive orders aimed at reinvigorating the U.S. nuclear energy industry . The Trump orders addressed advance reactor technologies – from microreactors to small modular reactors all the way up to advanced tech versions of the water-cooled reactors that power every active U.S. nuclear power plant. Trump also pledged to revamp the NRC to cut costs and timeframes for bringing new nuclear energy facilities – of all sizes – into production. This revolutionary move ended decades of bureaucratic overkill that choked off what could have long been a preeminent energy driver. Nine months later, multiple private companies are racing to become the first to bring their advanced design reactors to market, and several are already moving toward pilot plants in conjunction with governmental or academic institutions and funding. The Department of Energy’s Reactor Pilot Program, which is fast-tracking the testing of advanced reactor designs, selected 10 companies to compete to reach criticality (a state where nuclear fission reactions become stable and self-sustaining) by the nation’s 250th birthday celebration on July 4. The hope is that at least three of the 11 projects will meet that milestone. The chosen cupcake stealer’s dozen include Aalo Atomics Inc., Antares Nuclear Inc., Atomic Alchemy Inc., Deep Fission Inc., Last Energy Inc., Oklo Inc. (two projects), Natura Resources LLC., Radiant Industries Inc., Terrestrial Energy Inc., and Valar Atomics Inc . But several other nuclear companies ar...
Chinese leaders will launch a pivotal five-year plan this week that’ll help shape global commodities markets through the end of the decade. Their fixes targeting supply will be as important as the impact of their decisions on demand. As the world’s biggest buyer of raw materials, China’s annual GDP goal, plans to stimulate the economy, and any steps to support favored sectors, from clean energy to...
Chinese leaders will launch a pivotal five-year plan this week that’ll help shape global commodities markets through the end of the decade. Their fixes targeting supply will be as important as the impact of their decisions on demand. As the world’s biggest buyer of raw materials, China’s annual GDP goal, plans to stimulate the economy, and any steps to support favored sectors, from clean energy to artificial intelligence, should give relatively straightforward clues on where consumption is likely to expand. But the supply-side is more complicated. Beijing wants to strengthen resilience in some areas and ease cutthroat competition in others. At the same time, industry is being retooled for a green transition that calls for peak emissions by 2030. Critical Minerals Last year’s fightback against the Trump administration’s trade offensive rested on wielding critical minerals as a mighty geopolitical weapon. China will aim to maintain that dominance — even as Western rivals hurry to develop their own resources. The government has staked out a role ensuring that its high-tech industries have the materials needed to thrive. The dancing robots that drew gasps at the televised annual Spring Festival Gala are only possible because of the tiny but powerful rare earth magnets that emerge from a highly state-coordinated supply chain. Reinforcing that model is likely to be a focus for policymakers. Bolstering domestic supply channels might involve stronger export controls, or pursuing greater consolidation among producers. Any talk of a bigger role for strategic mineral reserves could be especially bullish for prices, as the US also embarks on a major stockpiling initiative . Unified Power The surge in renewable energy is allowing China to meet growing power demand without increasing emissions, but their intermittency is straining the grid. That’s focusing attention on what steps might be taken to sustain the wind and solar boom. Beijing could set new goals for building long-dist...
When you get as many things going wrong as there are right now, you do not think about opportunity; you think about safety. I get that. We have the most uncertain of times in the Mideast after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran this weekend. We have a man-made inflationary event — the closing of the world's chief oil artery, the Strait of Hormuz. The skyrocketing of oil prices will make it so the F...
When you get as many things going wrong as there are right now, you do not think about opportunity; you think about safety. I get that. We have the most uncertain of times in the Mideast after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran this weekend. We have a man-made inflationary event — the closing of the world's chief oil artery, the Strait of Hormuz. The skyrocketing of oil prices will make it so the Federal Reserve can't help us, even under President Donald Trump 's soon-to-be Fed chairman, Kevin Warsh. We are no longer in the "canary in the coal mine" stage when it comes to private equity; we are in the recognition stage, recognition that things are going awry and losses, big losses, are coming. And, we have an assault on the world's largest company, Nvidia, from its own customers. So, what's the plan? Sell, sell, sell? Get out now? Moments like this are why I wrote my new book, "How to Make Money in Any Market." The easiest thing in the world is to sell. Many of you right now might say that the only stocks that you can own are so-called safety stocks. If you look at the Club portfolio, you would be drawn to owning Procter & Gamble, Bristol Myers Squibb , and Eli Lilly — because those are the three that will hold up if we go into a recession. Oh, and believe me, having been in the news business long enough, the operative question is a by rote one: Ask all guests, call all sources, and ask when the recession will begin? Don't even ask them if there will be one; just pinpoint a date. Look, that's a fine scenario. It's important to warn people of the dangers that can occur. It's valuable. But it's only one view. I like to be more constructive. I like to be more constructive because history says to be more constructive. Every time there has been a severe downturn, the stock market has come back, not always with the same stocks, but it has come back. I like to think about "what could go right" with the situations I mentioned just now and figure out ways to stay in the marke...
Prediction markets have spent the past year courting Wall Street money and Washington legitimacy with an ambitious pitch : markets that let people bet on real-world events can produce better, faster information than any alternative. This weekend, as US and Israeli bombs fell on Iran and traders rushed to cash in, the war exposed just how morally and legally fraught that proposition can get. The in...
Prediction markets have spent the past year courting Wall Street money and Washington legitimacy with an ambitious pitch : markets that let people bet on real-world events can produce better, faster information than any alternative. This weekend, as US and Israeli bombs fell on Iran and traders rushed to cash in, the war exposed just how morally and legally fraught that proposition can get. The industry has attracted serious money and serious backers. Polymarket, backed by investors including Intercontinental Exchange Inc., the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, has been valued at $9 billion and operates offshore, largely outside US regulatory oversight. Kalshi Inc. , which is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has been valued at $11 billion and has struck a deal with Tradeweb Markets Inc. The platforms handled tens of billions in combined volume last year. Both let traders bet on what would happen in Iran, and when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the strikes Saturday, both drew backlash. On Polymarket, contracts tied to the timing of US strikes had drawn more than $529 million in volume, while blockchain analysts flagged suspicious betting patterns among newly created accounts. Its market tracking whether Khamenei would no longer be supreme leader resolved to ‘yes.’ Kalshi had tried to thread the needle. Its Khamenei contract, which had attracted more than $50 million in volume, had a carveout: if he died, positions would resolve at the last-traded price before his demise rather than paying out as a binary win. The platform says it does not offer markets that settle on death — and on regulated US exchanges, contracts tied to war, terrorism or assassination are widely seen as prohibited. Read more: Polymarket Iran Bets Hit $529 Million as New Wallets Draw Notice Polymarket’s War Bets Draw Lawmaker Backlash and Legal Scrutiny The carveout was quickly put to the test. More money poured into the market on Saturday, some of it while reports ...