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Bitcoin jumps to nearly 3-month high as crypto attempts to clear next hurdle at $51,000, analyst says

Olufemi David OLUFEMI DAVID - Tuesday, August 10, 2021

According to Dow Jones Market Data, bitcoin was trading near its highest levels since May 15 when it changed hands at $48.254.76. Bitcoin has rallied more than 10% over the past five days, and is up 32% over the past month. Prices for the asset are still well off the mid-April peak at around $65,000.

Meanwhile, Ether ETHUSD, 1.64% on the Ethereum blockchain, was changing hands at $3,124.37, up 1.5%, at its loftiest level since May 18, based on 5 p.m. Eastern Time closing levels on CoinDesk.

Katie Stockton, technical strategist at Fairlead Strategies, told MarketWatch that bitcoin has cleared three tiers of resistance in the past three weeks: including the 50-day moving average; a separate metric known as the cloud model, which helps define an asset’s support, resistance and momentum, and “(as of today) the 200-day [moving average].”

“The minor breakouts reflect positive short-term momentum and improved intermediate-term momentum following July’s successful test of support near $30K. The next hurdle on the chart is just above $51K,” she wrote.

Bitcoin has been under pressure for months on the back of growing scrutiny by regulators around the globe. China cracked down on trading in crypto and banned mining of bitcoin, forcing the mining complex in the region, one of the biggest in the world, to leave for new territories more amenable to digitally extracting bitcoin using high-powered computers that can solve complex mathematical problems.

Meanwhile, lawmakers on Capitol Hill were reviewing an amendment to the bipartisan infrastructure bill to make clear that miners and providers of crypto services wouldn’t be required to follow new tax-reporting rules on crypto brokers.

However, it seems unlikely that any amendment will be included in a final draft of the infrastructure legislation.

Still, not everyone believes that bitcoin and other assets, like dogecoin DOGEUSD, 1.64%, are out of the bearish woods.

Yves Lamoureux, president of macroeconomic research firm Lamoureux & Co., told MarketWatch that the crash in commodities like gold GC00, 0.38% and silver SI00, 0.80% in Asian trade on Monday highlight the fragility of markets like bitcoin, which are relatively thinly traded compared with more traditional assets.

“This latest [fear of missing out, or FOMO] isn’t helping the market price discovery,” he said.

Bitcoin is up nearly 58% so far in 2021, Ether is up 322%, while dogecoin, the popular meme asset, has risen more than 5,000% in the year to date. By comparison, gold is down 8.3%; while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.30% is up nearly 15% so far in 2021, the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.09% is up by about 18% and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.16% has gained more than 15%.

Crypto-related funds also were trading higher on Monday. Crypto index fund provider Bitwise Asset Management’s Bitwise Crypto Industry Innovators ETF BITQ, +4.32% was up 5%, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust GBTC, +7.05%, one of the largest bitcoin asset managers, was trading up over 6%, while bitcoin miner Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. MARA, +5.05%, and crypto-adjacent company MicroStrategy Inc. MSTR, +2.54%, one of the biggest holders of bitcoin, were all trading sharply higher.

Credit Marketwatch

Bill Gates opens up about divorce at 'summer camp for billionaires,' blames himself

Olufemi David OLUFEMI DAVID - Friday, July 16, 2021

Bill Gates opened up about his divorce from Melinda Gates during an annual exclusive conference for billionaires and some of the most powerful people in sports, technology and media, where one witness said the Microsoft founder was on the verge of tears.

The revelation happened during Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference – widely known as "summer camp for billionaires" – in Sun Valley, Idaho, the New York Post reported.

During an "off the record" Q&A session after talking about climate change, Gates was asked by CNBC host Becky Quick about his messy divorce from his wife of 27 years.

"He fessed up to messing up," an attendee said

"He basically referred to the fact that [the divorce] was his fault. He did seem a bit emotional about it. He might have been on the verge of tears."

Another attendee described it as "very moving," according to the newspaper. Others weren't impressed. One guest said Gates seem agitated throughout his stay and brushed off others who tried talking to him.

"Bill Gates was pretty much a total [expletive]" the attendee said.

Gates, who is worth $129 billion according to Forbes, resigned as Microsoft CEO in 2014 but has come to the conference in the past. This year's scheduled appearance raised eyebrows because it coincided with several recent embarrassing disclosures.

They included new revelations about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein — Gates has a more extensive relationship with the pedophile than previously reported — and extramarital affairs.

FOX Business has reached out to Microsoft and the Gates Foundation but has not heard back.

Credit:Fox Business

DOLLAR CRASH: PRICES OF BUILDING MATERIALS REMAIN HIGH

Olufemi David OLUFEMI DAVID - Thursday, March 02, 2017

The prices of building materials have remained unchanged in spite of the naira appreciating in value at the foreign exchange market. Some said in interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday said prices remained unchanged because they bought the goods when the exchange rate of the dollar to naira was one dollar to over N500.
Mr Peter Okechukwu who sells iron rods said he bought the materials when naira was N520 to the dollar. Okechukwu said although the naira was appreciating in value against major international currencies, he would not sell the products below the cost price. ‘`It is good a thing that the naira is gaining strength against the dollar but I have to sell my products to make some gain,’’ he said.
Another trader, Mr Gabriel Okereke said for two days he had not made any sales because people expected the prices of goods to drop immediately. He said the prices of building materials would not drop immediately because the traders needed to sell off their old stocks which they brought when the naira had low value. “I have some products in my warehouse which I believe I will sell before the prices of things will go down,’’ Okereke said. Mr Polycarp Nzeli, who sells different types of building materials, said before the end of the month the prices of goods would drop.
Nzeli appealed to people to showing understanding with traders because most of their goods were brought in December and January 2017 when the value of the naira was low.
According to him, it is not the best of times for dealers in building material products as business activities have remained relatively low. Mr Moses Ibanga, who came to buy some building materials, said he thought prices had dropped since the naira had appreciated in value. Ibanga said he would wait till prices dropped considering that building materials were not like foodstuffs that perished in a short time. “I will suspend my building work till the prices of things come down, I believe by April, we will smile again,’’ he said.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) increased liquidity in the foreign exchange market with additional 180 million dollars for the settlement of various transactions. The spokesman for CBN, Mr Isaac Okorafor, had said that the bank’s intermediation in the FOREX market was to ease the pressures on Nigerians to access foreign exchange to meet their obligations.

MTN ANNOUNCES FIRST EVER LOSS

Olufemi David OLUFEMI DAVID - Thursday, March 02, 2017

South African telecoms giant MTN said Thursday that it made a $200m loss in 2016 – the company’s first – after suffering a huge fine in Nigeria and currency challenges in key markets.
“MTN Group’s financial results for 2016 reflect the most challenging year in the company’s 22-year history,” MTN said in a statement.
Johannesburg-based MTN reported profits of 20.2 billion rand ($1.6bn) before tax for 2015.
Overall performance was hindered by lower than expected growth in both South Africa and Nigeria — as well as the depreciation of the rand against the dollar and the continued impact of a $1bn fine by Nigerian authorities.
Nigerian authorities fined MTN in October 2015 for failing to disconnect unregistered mobile accounts in the country — originally ordering it to pay $1,000 for each improperly registered SIM card.
The Nigerian Communications Commission had ordered the purge for security reasons, as the country battles Boko Haram Islamists as well as criminality — especially kidnapping for ransom.
The original NCC penalty was equal to roughly a quarter of the country’s annual federal budget.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is MTN’s largest market, where it now has 62 million subscribers out of a total of 233 million — a 1.2 percent increase on 2015.
MTN’s operations in South Africa were hit by technical issues and customer service problems during the year, which also hurt the bottom line, the company said.
“Towards the end of 2016 our two largest operations (South Africa and Nigeria)… began to show signs of a turnaround following an extended period of underperformance.”
Revenue was fractionally up for the year at 146.9 billion rand ($11.3bn, 10.7 billion euros), the company said.
The MTN share price on the Johannesburg stock exchange rose five percent after the announcement of the company results compared to the close on Wednesday.

Naira Drops To 493 As Dollar Demand Rises (Read)

Olufemi David OLUFEMI DAVID - Monday, January 09, 2017

The naira fell further against the United States dollar at the parallel market on Friday to 493, from 490 on Thursday as increased dollar demand weighed on the market.
Forex traders said the local unit plummeted following an increased demand for the dollar and other hard currencies by parents seeking to pay school fees of wards studying overseas.
The naira had closed flat against the dollar at the official interbank window and at the parallel foreign exchange market last Tuesday, the first official trading day of the year.
It closed at 305 to a dollar at the official window, the same rate it closed on the last working day of 2016, while the local currency closed at 490/dollar on the black market.
The naira had similarly closed at 490/dollar on Friday, the last official trading day of 2016.

“In the week ahead, we expect pressure on the naira to linger, especially at the parallel market, as unmet demand from the official market continues to stoke imbalances,” United Capital had said in a research note to clients on Tuesday.

The local currency also closed flat at 490/dollar last Wednesday and Thursday at the parallel market, before recording loss on Friday.
Economic and financial experts have expressed divergent views over the outlook of the naira this year.
The naira beat analysts’ expectation and closed the year 2016 at 490 against the dollar at the parallel market.
Due to the persistent pressure on the naira, currency and financial analysts had predicted that the local currency would hit 500/dollar on or before the new year.
The naira has been under severe and continuous pressure as the scarcity of the US currency continues to create ripples in the financial markets and economy.
The CBN had about two weeks ago sold about $1bn on the forward market to clear a backlog of dollar obligations in selected sectors.
Traders said the CBN told banks to prioritise airlines, manufacturing firms, petroleum products importers and agriculture, the sectors worst hit by the dollar shortage, in the auction.
The CBN has struggled to support the naira as the country’s external reserves continue to fall.

Glo grows Nigeria’s internet subscriber base by .3m in October

Olufemi David OLUFEMI DAVID - Friday, December 30, 2016

A total number of 297,623 lines was added to Nigeria’s internet subscriber base in one month, courtesy of grandmasters of data, Globacom, which moved from 26,887,929 data customers in September to 27,185,552 in October.

This was gleaned from telecom industry statistics published on the website of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) which showed that Globacom was the only network that recorded an increase in its internet subscriber base in the month of October, 2016.

On the contrary, MTN and Etisalat had their subscriber figures whittled down during the period, while Airtel did not record any increase in the month under review.

Globacom’s increase in internet subscriber base has, therefore, reconfirmed its position as the number one company in Nigeria’s data market, thus living up to the payoff, “Grand masters of Data.”

It will be recalled that Globacom became the first network to launch a nationwide rollout of the 4G LTE advanced network in October through which subscribers on the Glo network have been enjoying instant efficient broadband internet connectivity across the country.

The NCC report further showed that the total number of internet users on the networks of the four major operators dropped from 93.5m in September to 93.1m in October, a reduction of 378,015.

During the period, MTN lost 306,480, moving from 32,771,259 million internet subscribers on its network in September to 32,464,779 in October.

Also, Etisalat moved from15, 062,650 internet subscribers in September to 14,693,492 in October, dropping 369,158 subscribers. Airtel, however retained the same figure of 18,832,238 million internet users in September and October respectively.

The report also revealed that the CDMA operators lost 13,664 internet users, moving down from 51,973 recorded in September to 38,309 in October.

Dora Akunyili's daughter's painting sells for over $1m at auction

Olufemi David OLUFEMI DAVID - Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Daughter of former NAFDAC boss, Dora Akunyili, Njideka Akunyili Crosby beat her personal record last Thursday when she sold one of her paintings for almost $1.1 million at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale.

The painting named Drown (pictured above) which was done in 2012, was initially estimated to sell for $200,000 – $300,000 but was eventually sold for $1,092,500.

No fewer than 11 people made a bid for the painting and it was eventually sold to an anonymous bidder.

“Drown,”is an intimate double portrait of the artist embracing her husband, Justin. Njideka's previous auction record was $93,750 when she sold her artwork named “Untitled” at Sotheby’s New York in September 2016.

Bad Product!! Samsung Recalls Galaxy Note 7 From Nigeria

Olufemi David OLUFEMI DAVID - Wednesday, November 02, 2016

Dealers in Nigeria have returned several unsold Galaxy
Note 7 phones and had their money refunded. However,
the buyers of the sold phones have refused to return
them to the dealers for onward return to Samsung.
Although the Galaxy Note 7 phones had not been
officially released in Nigeria before the recall, some
dealers and customers had already purchased the
phone from other countries.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Samsung
Electronics West Africa had made provision for dealers
to safely package and return the phones to the
company due to fault it admitted.
Vincent Anago, a dealer in phones and accessories at
Banex plaza, said “dealers across the country have
been asked to return the Galaxy Note 7 phones which
they have in stock.
“We have returned the ones we have and have been
refunded but we still haven’t had many of our
customers return the ones we sold them.”
Uche Okoro, a phone dealer, said that quite a number
of the phones had been returned to the company but
many Nigerians failed to oblige with the request.
“We have been asked to return these phones because
of the malfunction which is hazardous but it seems
Nigerians are not worried about the situation.
“Some of us were able to get these phones and
introduce them to the Nigerian market on time and
despite the high cost they sold well.
“We have had a few reported incidences of the phone
batteries heating up and leading to a fire and we
expected that more people will be convinced of the
danger the phone poses.
“We are still pleading with Nigerians to return these
phones for an exchange or refund and to take
advantage of the opportunity now because the phones
won’t be accepted after Samsung stops requesting for
them.”
Samsung had first called for the return and halting of
sales of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 products in
September due to the number of battery explosions
that were reported by consumers.
(NAN)

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