Information Letter to the clients of LCG Capital Markets Limited (a.k.a. “FlowBroker”)

LCG Capital Markets Limited (additional trade name “FlowBroker”) is wholly owned by FlowBank SA, a Swiss Regulated entity until June 13, 2024. On that date, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) opened bankruptcy proceedings against FlowBank SA. FINMA appointed Walder Wyss SA, succursale de Genève, 14 rue du Rhône, P.O Box, 1211 Geneva 3 as bankruptcy liquidators (the Liquidators). The place of jurisdiction for the bankruptcy is FlowBank SA head office in Geneva. This has effectively stopped FlowBank SA operations.

LCG Capital Markets Limited maintains funds with accounts at FlowBank SA. Due to significant agreements between LCG Capital Markets Limited and FlowBank SA, the appointment of the Liquidators has currently made it impossible for LCG Capital Markets Limited to carry out its operations.

We draw reference to section 25 of our Terms and Conditions, which provides as follows:

FORCE MAJEURE EVENTS We may, in our reasonable opinion, determine that an emergency or an exceptional market condition exists which may prevent us from performing any or all of our obligations (a Force Majeure Event). Following the occurrence of a Force Majeure Event, we will inform BHS (ourselves) and take reasonable steps to inform you.

Force Majeure Events includes the following events: (i) any act, event or occurrence (including any strike, riot or civil commotion, industrial action, acts and regulations of any governmental or supra national bodies or authorities) that, in our reasonable opinion, prevents us from maintaining an orderly market in one or more of the indices/markets in respect of which we ordinarily accept transactions;

At the time of this writing, LCG Capital Markets Limited has engaged the Liquidators. We will update you as more information becomes available to us. For any additional inquiries, clients can continue to contact Customer Support at Email: customerservices.bhs@lcg.com.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.

Information Letter to the clients of LCG Capital Markets Limited (a.k.a. “FlowBroker”)

We draw reference to section 25 of our Terms and Conditions, which provides as follows:

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.

CFDs and spread bets are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 71% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

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OPEC meeting starts

Today OPEC+ begin a 2-day meeting to decide whether to begin producing an extra 2 million barrels per day of oil, or delay for another 3-6 months.

MARKETS
News
• Asia-Pacific markets are mixed this morning while S&P 500 futures are down half a per cent. India markets are closed for a holiday. Gold is trading near a 5-month low while Bitcoin is back to $18,500;
• Asian macro numbers: China’s official manufacturing PMI for November was at 52.1 (vs. expectations of 51.5). Japan’s retail sales rose 6.4% year-on-year in October;
• Joe Biden will likely require walking boot for several weeks after fracturing foot;
• Black Friday shopping in stores craters 52% during pandemic as e-commerce sales surge 22% to record $9 billion;
• Trump lost appeal of Pennsylvania election case. He said his election challenges probably won’t make it to the Supreme Court;
• Iran’s president accuses Israel of killing nuclear scientist, vows to respond ‘at the proper time’;
• OPEC alliance considers delay to its output hike, but faces a U.S. shale industry ‘itching to drill again’;
• Covid: Fauci says Christmas and New Year’s restrictions in the U.S will be necessary due to holiday coronavirus wave. San Francisco imposes new curbs after surge in Covid cases: new limits on businesses and social gatherings are imposed. Residents will be subject to a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew until Dec. 21;
• UK secures 2 million more doses of Moderna's Covid vaccine and is set to approve Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine within days;
• Tesla will start producing its third generation electric Superchargers in China in 2021, in addition to vehicles it already manufactures there;
• S&P Global nears $44bn deal for IHS Markit.

What Else?
• Price of sell-side analyst meetings almost halved by pandemic: shift to online presentations means fund managers are paying less for investment research;
• Tesla’s S&P debut is set to put $100 Billion in motion: the addition to the S&P 500 of a $555 billion company prone to huge price swings is so daunting that S&P is considering adding
Tesla’s weight over two separate trading days;
• Deutsche Bank’s head of accounting probed over Wirecard: Germany’s audit watchdog investigates Andreas Loetscher for potential misconduct;
• Platinum is attracting renewed interest as a global push for cleaner energy and waning demand for gold promise to lift demand for the metal.

The Week Ahead
• Monday, Nov. 30:
Earnings: Sino Biopharmaceutical, Adient, Gazprom PJSC, Zoom Video Communications;
Macro: China NBS PMI, Spain, Italy and Germany inflation, India GDP, US Chicago PMI, Dallas Fed manufacturing index, US pending home sales, South Korea GDP, Japan jobless rate.
• Tuesday, Dec. 1:
Earnings: Salesforce.com; NetApp, At Home;
Macro: Worldwide release of IHS Markit manufacturing PMI , Caixin/IHS Markit China manufacturing PMI, Germany unemployment rate, Italy GDP, Canada GDP, Euro area inflation, US ISM manufacturing PMI, 12th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministeria.
• Wednesday, Dec. 2:
Earnings: Snowflake; Synopsys; Splunk;
Macro: US Fed Chair Powell’s testimony for House of Rep, Australia GDP, Japan consumer confidence, Germany retail sales, BoE FPC meeting, Euro area jobless rate, US ADP job report, Fed Beige Book, Euro area ECB non-monetary policy meeting.
• Thursday, Dec. 3:
Earnings: Dollar General, Kroger, TD Ameritrade, DocuSign;
Macro: Worldwide release of IHS Markit services PMI, Caixin/IHS Markit China services PMI, Singapore and Hong Kong SAR PMI, Brazil GDP, US jobless claims.
• Friday, Dec. 4:
Macro: IHS Markit Sector PMI for Asia, Europe, Global, Australia retail sales, India monetary policy decision, IHS Markit Construction PMI for Eurozone, Germany, France, Italy and UK, US nonfarm payrolls, jobless rate, earnings, US exports, imports, trade balance, factory orders.

Quote of the day
“Progress is man's ability to complicate simplicity” – Thor Heyerdahl.

WRAP
Markets
Stocks rose on Friday as traders wrapped up a strong week amid decreasing political uncertainty and positive vaccine news. The S&P 500 gained 0.2%, notching a record closing high. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.9% and also closed at an all-time high. The pan-European Euro Stoxx 600 index closed up 0.4% Friday with most sectors and major bourses finishing in the black. Oil prices were mixed on Friday but recorded a fourth straight week of gains ahead of an OPEC+ meeting this week. Gold dropped below $1,800 on optimism for economic recovery.
Macro
Economic numbers were mixed last week. In the U.S, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level in five weeks. The latest monthly numbers on U.S. consumer confidence fell to 96.1 in November—the lowest level since August. On the other hand, Core (excluding defense and aircraft) capital goods orders and U.S New Home Sales both surprised on the upside. In Europe, the preliminary IHS Markit Composite PMI fell to a 6-month low.