On Friday, China’s central bank chief Yi Gang indicated that the recent stock market rout didn't reflect macroeconomic conditions, while adding that the Chinese economy is "moving forward".Also President Xi Jinping on Saturday claimed to be ready to extend "unwavering" support for China's private sector amidst concerns about the economy’s decelerating growth rates in recent times.      

The no-VC/no publicly traded approach paid immediate dividends, with crypto news source Coindesk estimating $5 billion raised via ICO in 2017, often with little more than a buzzword-heavy whitepaper and spiffy website. Those days, however, seem to be firmly in the past.With increased press coverage came increased scrutiny – including from federal officials, who expressed concerned that the lax regulatory climate around virtual currencies enabled companies to engage in less-than-honest behavior, like raising money for a company that does not exist. Their concerns were founded.

Basic necessities like food and medicine are in short supply, rampant crime is the norm, and the population that hasn’t fled has grown increasingly desperate as their currency, the bolívar, has been devalued to extremes. Crypto enthusiasts around the world have watched the resulting economic crisis for President Nicolás Maduro and his administration with great interest because they have opened the door for real world (and potentially widespread) adoption of digital currencies.Bitcoin, Dash, and others are significantly more reliable stores of value and mediums of exchange than the bolívar, with the added benefit of providing ways around the control mechanisms of Maduro’s authoritarian government. Somewhat counterintuitively, the Maduro administration has also embraced cryptocurrency.

That temporary high forms the left shoulder. After a brief pullback, investors start buying again and the next upward cycle starts.Once again investors decide to take some profits off the table and the next downward cycle takes the stock back down to form the right side of the neck. Investors see the temporary pullback as a buying opportunity and drive the stock higher once again, but the stock doesn’t have enough momentum to get as high as the head.

China's economic growth slowed more than expected to the weakest pace since the first quarter of 2009 as the country's trade war with the U.S. puts pressure on growth, according to official data released on Friday. Read Full Article Here

With a starting price of $45,000, the new version of the electric car is less expensive than the previously cheapest Model 3 whose starting price was $49,000.The long range battery can last 310 miles, but are priced at $54,000 or more. The standard battery model of Tesla car, which is expected to go about 200 miles on a charge (starting price $35,000), won't be available for four to six more months.

PayPal beat earnings estimates, on the back of solid growth in overall transactions volume including traction in its app Venmo. The online payment processing company raked in adjusted earnings-per-share of 58 cents in Q3, higher than analysts’ estimates of 54 cents.Revenues surged +14% to $3.68 billion, compared to analysts’ average projection of $3.67 billion. PayPal’s Chief Executive Officer Dan Schulman has emphasized on the recent success of its mobile payment app Venmo, which is popular among millenials.

eBay has alleged that Amazon poached sellers by misusing an internal messaging system called M2M. In a lawsuit filed against Amazon in Santa Clara County on Wednesday, eBay mentions,  "Amazon's misuse of eBay's M2M system has been coordinated, targeted, and designed to inflict harm on eBay," while adding, "Indeed, one of the Amazon sales representatives who participated in this scheme described the team he worked on as a 'hunter/recruiter team which actively searches for sellers we believe can do well on the [Amazon] platform.On Amazon’s website, third-party sellers (who set prices for their own products, versus wholesaling to Amazon) now account for more than half the units sold on the e-platform. According to eBay's accusation, Amazon is "unwilling to fairly compete for third party seller business."

Apple launched a new privacy website on Wednesday that makes it easier to download a full copy of everything you've stored on the company's servers.You can also delete everything in case you want to move your data from Apple to another company. Read Whole Article Here  

In 1994, MIT professor of applied mathematics, Peter Shor, developed a groundbreaking quantum computing algorithm capable of factoring numbers (that is, finding the prime numbers for any integer N) using quantum computer technology.For the next decade, this algorithm provided a tantalizing glimpse at the potential prowess of quantum computing versus classical systems. Read Whole Article Here

The project reportedly involved analyzing the fundamentals and prospects of digital currencies, measuring client's interest in investing in such products and understanding the infrastructure required for trading in the crypto space.However, a Barclays spokesperson denied that the bank was opening a cryptocurrency trading desk. The bank, however, has applied for three patents for a blockchain system that aims to help banks/financial institutions create and issue digital currency units backed by fiat currency.

Metastatic tumors — cancerous cells which break away from their tissue of origin, travel through the body through the circulatory or lymph systems, and form new tumors in other parts of the body — are notoriously difficult to detect.A 2009 study of 102 breast cancer patients at two Boston health centers found that one in four were affected by the “process of care” failures such as inadequate physical examinations and incomplete diagnostic tests. READ MORE...

Netflix hopes to add another 9.4 million subscribers in the last part of this year. On Tuesday, CEO Reed Hastings attributed the discrepancy between the company's subscriber estimates and its actual figures to a "forecasting" issue.Nevertheless, Netflix's third-quarter earnings per share (EPS) beat estimates, at 89 cents versus the 68 cents forecast by analysts. The company's growth/marketing strategies for the international market seems to be paying off big time.

Netflix (NFLX) reported its latest quarter subscriber and user growth numbers had far outweighed Wall Street's expectations. The company known for hits such as Stranger Things and Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, brought on 6.96 million total new streamers, which beat its own guidance of 5 million for the quarter.Streaming revenue grew 36% year-over-year, while global users hit 130 million paid and 137 million total members.

Over the last eight months, American Express (NYSE: AXP) has been trending higher with a trend channel defining the peaks and valleys.That is a move of approximately 8% in just over a month. In addition to the technical picture, American Express has great fundamentals.

Since crude oil prices have surged more than 25% since the beginning of the year, optimistic investors are betting a barrel of oil could cross the $100/barrel mark by year-end. Impending U.S. sanctions against Iran, coupled with bottlenecks in the U.S. shale industry and the anticipated collapse of Venezuela's economy, have many energy market analysts contemplating an abrupt supply shock -- which in turn could push oil prices higher. There are several investment implications of higher oil, which could affect everything from consumer spending to Emerging Markets (which rely heavily on imports).Check out some of the related portfolios below for trade ideas. 

Owing to early season demand across U.S., the November price of natural gas rose by more than by 8.1 cents to $3.242/MMBtu, and spot gas rose by 17 cents to $3.135/MMBtu at the start of the week. With the early season unanticipated cold snap expected to persist throughout October, demand for natural gas is expected rise further.An inventory shortage could put upward pressure on prices if supply and demand become imbalanced as a result. For now, the unexpected surge in demand saw many gas-oriented energy companies post strong gains early in the week, and these companies could bear watching as winter approaches. Range Resources Corporation (RRC, $17.65), Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN, $5.60) and Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK, $4.60) were some of the top gainers, rising by +5.3%, +4.9% and +3.4% respectively.

For the first time in six years, South Korea did not import any oil from Iran during the month of September -- move ahead of the impending U.S. sanctions. Uncertainty pertaining to getting waiver from the U.S. government is believed to have triggered this decision. South Korea, the world’s fifth-largest crude oil importer and an important client for Iran’s oil (alongside China and India), has steadily declined its share of Iranian oil imports since the beginning of the year.For the first nine months of 2018, ending in September, total imports stood at 7.15 million tonnes – down by 49.1% compared to 2017 despite being less expensive. Meanwhile, the share of U.S. crude oil exports to South Korea increased five times to 668,704 tonnes in the reported month, while imports of Saudi crude saw a decline of 6.9% to 3.41 million tonnes from 3.67 million tonnes a year earlier. As political tensions escalate between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, and as U.S. sanctions against Iran

The index has declined 19% in the past six months. Consumer companies’ stocks suffered the biggest losses, following  declining demand for appliances and automobiles last month.The government is asking insurers to invest in listed corporations in order to mitigate liquidity risks linked to the companies' pledging of shares to secure loans - the China Securities Journal reported on Saturday, citing a senior official with the banking and insurance regulator.

KPMG’s twice-yearly Pulse of Fintech report detailed a total of $122 billion in funding for fintech companies since 2015, as well as a major uptick in private equity and mergers and acquisitions deals through Q1 and Q2 2018, already exceeding 2017’s totals. The rise of smartphones, as well as Big Data, cloud computing, AI, and blockchain, are making financial transactions quicker and more efficient than ever.Fintech encompasses many different sub-categories of business, and while some areas, like lending, have fallen out of fashion at the moment, others are just heating up. Insurance is one arm of fintech enjoying a period of growth.