Iran Makes Friends

More investors are getting into options trading following news that Facebook (also known as Meta Platforms), Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google (owned by Alphabet Inc.) lost over $3.1 trillion in combined value last year. Contracts known as “put options” grant the holder the right, but not the requirement, to sell an agreed-upon quantity of a specific stock or other asset at an agreed-upon price until the contract’s expiration date. Thus, options can serve as a hedge against a particular stock falling in value. The uptick in options trading comes as Morgan Stanley warns that U.S. stocks this year could drop as much as 22%. (Sources: The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg)

More investors are getting into options trading following news that Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google lost over $3.1 trillion in value last year. Options can serve as a hedge against a particular stock falling in value.

Ten thousand U.K. ambulance workers hit the picket line on Wednesday as trade unions continue to put pressure on the government to raise wages after negotiations fell through on Monday. Strikes have been held by nurses, ambulance and rail workers, while teachers plan to strike later this month, as salaries have failed to keep pace with steep inflation. According to Rachel Harrison, national secretary of the GMB union, no concrete offer was made by the government during negotiations on Monday, and unions will only call off strikes after the government raises wages to match the rising cost of living. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters during a visit to a health facility on Monday that the government sought wage adjustments “anchored in what’s reasonable, what’s responsible, what’s affordable for the country.” (Source: Reuters)

Strikes have been held by nurses, ambulance and rail workers, while teachers plan to strike later this month, as salaries have failed to keep pace with steep inflation.

Last Friday saw Russia’s Urals grade crude oil, its largest petroleum export, trading at $37.80 per barrel against a global benchmark of $78.57 as European sanctions kicked in. “A key driver of price has probably been the lost European market, because it put Russia at the mercy of a tiny pool of large buyers, most notably China and India,” Bloomberg reported. (Sources: Bloomberg, Reuters)

Beijing’s immigration offices were flooded with queues of citizens looking to renew their passports as the government removed COVID-19 border restrictions on Sunday, Reuters reported. Following three years of strict policies to prevent the spread of the virus, recent protests forced the government to do away with most such restrictions. A year before the pandemic, China was the world’s largest spender on international tourism, with such outlays totaling $255 billion in 2019. On Monday, China’s currency and stock markets both opened higher as investors bet that reopening the economy would boost China’s $17 trillion gross domestic product, which recently has seen its slowest growth in over 50 years. (Source: Reuters)

China’s currency and stock markets both opened higher as investors bet that reopening the economy would boost China’s $17 trillion gross domestic product, which recently has seen its slowest growth in over 50 years.

The governments of Indonesia and Malaysia will work together to combat “discrimination” against palm oil, as these two countries are the world’s largest producers of a commodity whose production has been linked to deforestation. Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced this bilateral partnership after meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Monday. This announcement comes as the European Union seeks to phase out palm oil-based fuels by 2030. (Source: Reuters)

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