Investment Education

According to Cointelegraph, securities regulators in 12 US states have secured reimbursement for investors who lost money in an investment scheme involving the Lydian.World metaverse, cryptocurrency, and tokenized partial ownership of a metaverse skyscraper. The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) announced that regulators reached a settlement with a group of German companies associated with Josip Heit, known collectively as the GSB Group, for the return of all money and cryptocurrency deposited with GSB Group for any purpose.The settlement involves US investors in the states of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, and Texas, who will receive compensation. These states will withdraw all prior allegations of fraud or dishonest practices against Heit and his companies. Under the settlement, Heit and his companies will not pay any penalties. The NASAA stated that regulators from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin participated in the settlement. Additionally, the British Columbia Securities Commission in Canada was involved in the enforcement actions against the German group, which began in November. The regulators described the GSB Group offering as a multilevel marketing (MLM) scheme.Bloomberg reports that GSB Group began freezing withdrawals in October. Joe Rotunda, Texas State Securities Board enforcement director and NASAA vice chairman, stated, "We have negotiated a settlement that will ensure that all clients in any state or province that join the settlement receive 100% of their deposits, less any withdrawals. This is really a North American settlement." According to Bloomberg, "hundreds of millions of dollars" will be returned to investors, and "hundreds of thousands of investors in the US and Canada" were affected by the scheme. Investors will have 90 days to file a claim against the group. The German group claims to have more than 800,000 investors from over 170 countries and transactions worth close to $1 billion.

According to BlockBeats, on September 10, Citigroup strategists indicated that last week's sell-off in the U.S. stock market could lead to further declines in major indices. In a report to clients on Monday, strategists Chris Montagu and others noted that significant unwinding of long positions in the S&P 500 Index, coupled with an increase in short positions in the Nasdaq 100 Index, suggests a shift in risk appetite towards a more bearish outlook.They highlighted that hedge funds' de-risking operations in the S&P 500 have reduced total exposure to only half of its mid-July peak. Montagu wrote that forced liquidation of long positions could exacerbate or accelerate the sell-off in the short term. If this trend continues, the newly added short positions on Friday are likely to turn the tech-heavy index into a net short position.

According to Odaily, market sources indicate that the New York Federal Reserve's 1-year inflation expectation for August in the United States has increased to 3%. This is a slight rise from the previous value of 2.97%.

According to BlockBeats, major Democratic donors on Wall Street are intensifying their efforts to urge Vice President Kamala Harris's team to replace Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler if they win the November election.Sources familiar with the matter revealed that during calls and fundraising events with Harris's team, these wealthy donors have repeatedly criticized Khan, accusing her of hindering the development of the tech industry and other economic sectors. The discussions about replacing Khan have become more intense since IAC Chairman Barry Diller and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman publicly called for her removal in July.Additionally, some insiders noted that donors from both parties are dissatisfied with Gensler, perceiving his attitude towards Wall Street as arrogant. Billionaire Mark Cuban told CNBC this week that he has asked the Vice President's team to consider him for the SEC Chair position.Despite the ongoing private lobbying, donors are unlikely to stop their contributions over the issue of Khan's tenure. Harris's team has not made a clear stance on Khan's position to the donors. FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar declined to comment, while an SEC spokesperson stated that their initiatives are aimed at enhancing the efficiency, transparency, and resilience of the U.S. capital markets.

According to Cointelegraph, the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has urgently filed an emergency motion to prevent Kalshi, a US prediction market, from offering election betting contracts. This action follows a judge's decision to overturn a previous order that halted Kalshi’s election markets.In a court filing dated September 6, the CFTC requested an “emergency stay” of the court’s decision that overturned its order prohibiting Kalshi from listing its election contracts for trading. The regulator argued that without the court’s detailed reasoning, it cannot make an informed decision on whether to appeal or fully brief a motion for a stay pending any forthcoming appeal.The CFTC emphasized the urgency of the matter, stating that Kalshi is expected to immediately list the relevant election contracts and begin trading as soon as they are listed. The regulator supported its request by noting that Kalshi had already announced on its homepage that “Election Markets are Coming to Kalshi!”The filing coincides with Judge Jia Cobb of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruling in favor of Kalshi, allowing the platform to offer products that enable people to bet on the outcome of the US election on November 4. Following the ruling, Kalshi published an announcement on its website.Jake Chervinsky, chief legal officer at Variant Fund, commented on the ruling in a September 7 post, describing it as a “HUGE win” for Kalshi. However, he also expressed a desire to see the judicial opinion before making further comments. Chervinsky suggested that the best way to address regulatory overreach is to file more lawsuits.The CFTC initially submitted the order in September 2023, arguing that the contracts involve gaming and activities that are unlawful under state law and contrary to the public interest.

Welcome to the Artificial Intelligence Outlook for Forex trading. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiN3WsAiX3E VIDEO TRANSCRIPT U.S. Dollar Index Okay, hello everyone, and welcome back. My name is Greg Firman, and this is the ...

According to BlockBeats, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers commented on September 7 that while the August non-farm payroll report was not particularly poor, it has made predicting the Federal Reserve's potential rate cut this month more challenging.In an interview, Summers stated, 'Although the data does not show significant weakness, if you are concerned about recent statistical trends, these figures certainly do not provide assurance of economic health.' He added, 'Compared to my guesses from one or two months ago, the probability of a 25 basis point and a 50 basis point rate cut in September now seems closer.'Summers emphasized that the initial scale of the Federal Reserve's action is not crucial. Officials will closely monitor the development of the economic outlook and adjust policies accordingly. He noted, 'If the economy weakens significantly, they will cut rates substantially. If the economy does not weaken significantly, they may proceed with rate cuts at roughly one meeting at a time.'

According to BlockBeats, on September 7, White House economic advisor Boushey stated that the latest employment report indicates the U.S. economy continues to progress. Boushey noted signs of stable economic growth in the country.Despite revisions, the labor market still appears healthy, reflecting ongoing economic stability.

According to BlockBeats, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has revised the non-farm employment numbers for June and July. The June non-farm employment increase has been adjusted from 179,000 to 118,000, while the July figures have been revised from 114,000 to 89,000. These revisions indicate a combined decrease of 86,000 jobs for the two months compared to the initial estimates.

According to BlockBeats, on September 6, Morgan Stanley's sales and trading department indicated that the accumulation of positions and significant uncertainty regarding the Federal Reserve's interest rate decisions could lead to substantial market volatility triggered by employment data.Morgan Stanley sales and trading experts, including Amanda Levenberg Goldsmith, stated that stock options suggest Friday's employment report will cause significant market movements. They added that such pricing is reasonable because the uncertainty surrounding the Federal Reserve's actions in two weeks is unprecedented, at least in this cycle.The implied volatility of the S&P 500 index remains lower than the actual volatility, indicating that the stock market is becoming increasingly sensitive to macroeconomic data. Morgan Stanley's sales and trading department noted that options imply the S&P 500 index will fluctuate by 1.1% in either direction on Friday, while ETFs tracking the Russell 2000 and Nasdaq 100 indices suggest fluctuations of 1.84% and 1.37%, respectively.