Author: FX

agrobacter/iStock via Getty Images The US FDA on Friday granted accelerated approval to Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) and Eisai’s (OTCPK:ESALY) Leqembi (lecanemab), just the second biologic medicine ever approved for Alzheimer’s disease. The therapy is expected to become available around the week of Jan. 23. It comes with a wholesale cost of $26.5K per year based on twice monthly infusions. Though the approval is excellent news, it remains to be seen whether Leqembi will be a home run in terms of revenue. After all, the two companies won approval of Aduhelm (aducanumab) in 2021 expecting it to become a blockbuster, only to…

asbe/E+ via Getty Images Binance’s trading volume yet again took the lead among the 11 other centralized cryptocurrency exchanges (CEXs) tracked by CryptoCompare, ending 2022 with a 66.7% market share versus 48.7% to begin the year. Looking at the CEXs in aggregate, trading volume dropped 46% last year, in a move that showcases the growing lack of participation throughout the ecosystem. From the high-profile failure of the Terra (LUNC-USD) blockchain in May 2022 to November’s fallout from once-mighty trading platform FTX (FTT-USD), crypto market participants have become increasingly wary of where to park their cash. “One of the biggest signals…

4/4 © Reuters. Polish and Ukrainian faithful attend the Christmas service at the Orthodox Cathedral of St. Mary Magdalene in Warsaw, Poland January 6, 2023. REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki 2/4 By Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska and Riham Alkousaa WARSAW/BERLIN (Reuters) -Victoria, a Ukrainian refugee, is celebrating Orthodox Christmas in Poland with a simple prayer – that next year she will be back at home. The 40-year-old is one of the millions of Ukrainians who have fled the Russian invasion of their homeland and are marking the holiday with mixed emotions – relief that they are safe, but sadness to be away from their families.…

RiverRockPhotos The S&P 500 Materials index closed the first week of 2023 on a positive note at +3.69%, with the Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) also up +3.49%. Copper futures (HG1:COM) helped with a +3.07% gain to close the week at $3.92/lb. Prices of the key metal had a rebound during the week after a four-session losing streak, following news about fresh stimulus plans in top metals consumer China. Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange also closed in green after touching a two-month low on Wednesday on worries about a slowing global economy. Iron ore (SCO:COM) also had…

lcva2/iStock Editorial via Getty Images The outlook for software stocks in 2023 appears to be a tale of to halves of the year, according to a new report from analysts at Jefferies. The Jefferies team, led by analyst Brent Thill, said that investors in many software companies should expect a “first-half pain, second-half gain” scenario this year as the industry tries to come back from two-straight years of underperformance against the S&P 500 and anticipated pressure from the broader economic environment. Thill & Co. estimate that 90% of the software industry will show “decelerating growth” this year. However, Thill said…

nadla The electric vehicle sector has started off 2023 with some fits and starts amid a rewiring of priorities in the market. Morgan Stanley Adam Jonas warned dramatically earlier in the week that as electric vehicles moved from a state of acute undersupply to potential oversupply, investors must discount rising risk of negative earnings revisions for FY23. That dynamic hits an industry with high relative valuations and costs still high (debt, supply chain, commodities). Over the last week, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) cut prices in China on the Model Y and Model 3 for the second time in less than three months…

Nikada Futu Holdings (NASDAQ:FUTU), an online brokerage operating in China, finished the holiday-shortened week ending Jan. 6 as the biggest loser among financial stocks (with market cap over $2B), cratering 30%, after Bank America downgraded the stock on the basis that Chinese authorities said they will rectify its “illegal” business activities. China’s statement on Dec. 30 caused FUTU to decline the most in the financial sector in the last week of 2022. Subprime auto lender Credit Acceptance (NASDAQ:CACC) took second place, falling 15.5%, after both New York’s attorney general and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued the company over allegedly…

Trots1905 The consumer staples sector comes off a year of strong performance with the S&P 500 Index trailing both the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA:XLP) and Invesco Dynamic Food & Beverage ETF (PBJ) by a wide margin as investors took a more defensive positioning. Looking at 2023, some investors are pushing back on valuations which have been stretched out beyond historic norms. Mizuho Securities said it agrees with the caution over staples in general, but also regards EPS risks as largely limited given strong pricing power and moderating inflation. “This may keep the group range-bound (and poised for…

Sovereign identity has been a hot topic in blockchain and cryptocurrency, especially with the rise of the creator economy. Currently, there are two types of digital identities. The first is federated and centralized, whereby data is in the control of the service provider, while the second is self-sovereign digital identity. The later is often cited as a human right that can reclaim agency using blockchain technology, but what frameworks exist that aid in governing it?On this episode of NFT Steez, co-hosts Ray Salmond and Alyssa Exposito meet with Marjorie Hernandez, the co-founder of Lukso and The Dematerialized, to discuss the…

Week Ahead January 9-14th:MON: Swiss Unemployment (Dec), German Industrial Output (Nov), EZ Sentix (Jan), Unemployment (Nov), Chinese Exports/Imports (Dec)TUE: EIA STEO; Norwegian CPI (Dec), US NFIB (Dec), Chinese M2 & New Yuan Loans (Dec)WED: Australian CPI (Nov)THU: Australian Trade Balance (Nov), US CPI (Dec), IJC (w/e 2nd Jan)FRI: ECB TLTRO Repayment Amount Publication; UK GDP (Nov), Swedish CPIF (Dec), EZ Trade Balance (Nov), Industrial Production (Nov), US University of Michigan Prelim. (Jan), German Wholesale Price Index (Dec), Canadian Housing Starts (Dec)Note: Previews are listed in day-orderChinese CPI (Thu): There are currently no expectations for the December Chinese inflation data release.…