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Chipmaker AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) has unveiled a range of innovative AI solutions spanning from data centers to personal computers. The AMD Instinct MI300 Series features data center AI accelerators, while the ROCm 6 open software stack introduces new features supporting Large Language Models (LLMs). Additionally, the Ryzen 8040 Series processors come equipped with Ryzen AI capabilities.
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The DailyAlts Playbook” The Return of Coronavirus, New Ponzi Schemes, and the State of Tesla Shorts.
The U.S. markets are deep in the red Thursday as markets address the ongoing coronavirus crisis in China. The Dow shed 222 points on news that the death toll in China increased to 170. The number of confirmed cases of the virus has topped 7,700. It was just two days ago that the markets shrugged off warnings and bounced back from its Monday downturn. But now economic woes are kicking in. The Shanghai index was off 2.7%, Hong Kong stocks slumped 2.6%, and the Nikkei shed 1.7%. Oil also continues to fall as analysts slash economic growth outlooks across the globe.
Artificial Intelligence: Microsoft’s $40 Million Healthcare AI Program
Microsoft announced Wednesday its AI for Health, a new $40 million, five-year program that will use artificial intelligence to solve the world’s toughest challenges in health.
“Through AI for Health, Microsoft will work to ensure that nonprofits, academia, and research organizations have access to the latest technology, resources, and technical experts to help implement AI to accelerate research, generate insights and improve access to care,” the company said in a statement.
Digital Assets: Insurance Market Evolving in Step With Growth of Cryptos
Insurance coverage for digital assets is gradually adapting to the rapid changes and growth in crypto assets, says a presentation by Marsh JLT Speciality, a global leader in risk management and insurance broking . However, 2020 will be the test year for digital assets’ insurance.
ESG: Is Biodiversity is the New Climate Change?
Biodiversity is now in the same league as climate change from an ESG perspective. AXA Investment Managers, BNP Paribas Asset Management, and Sycomore Asset Management want investors to focus on biodiversity preservation.
Hedge Funds: Citadel, Marshall Wace Take Aim at Airline Stocks
British Airways announced plans to suspend flights to mainland China this week. The coronavirus continues to deter commercial travel among tourists and business people. We’ve now seen hedge funds take direct aim at the stocks of major airline companies that service the Asian markets.
Liquid Alternatives: The Goldman Sachs “Stealth” ETF
Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs filed to set up a non-transparent ETF that would not disclose its investments daily. The fund would, therefore, be different from run-of-the-mill ETFs which are required to publish details of their holdings every day in the interests of transparency.
Venture Capital: The Kobe in “Bryant Stibel & Co”
Kobe Bryant was a legendary basketball player and star. Until his untimely death in a helicopter crash on Sunday, it was not commonly known that he was also a successful businessman who ran a venture capital firm.
Bryant Stibel & Co, the VC firm Kobe founded in 2013 with Jeff Stibel, is said to hold more than $2 billion in assets.
The DailyAlts Playbook: Fed Futures, Woodford Haircuts, a Terrible HBO Spinoff Idea, Joe Biden’s Awful Voter Pitch, and the Best Acquisition Case for Apple.
Today, the DailyAlts Playbook talks Fed Futures, Woodford Haircuts, a Terrible HBO Spinoff Idea, Joe Biden’s Awful Voter Pitch, and the Best Acquisition Case for Apple.
FinTech: Founding Member Standard Chartered Boosts Investment in Contour, the Blockchain Trade Platform
Standard Chartered invests an undisclosed amount in Contour.
Contour is a global trade finance platform that runs on R3’s Corda blockchain. It specializes in digitally creating, exchanging, approving, and issuing Letters of Credit (LCs). Last week, Contour announced the success of a series of live pilot tests in 14 countries and a global trial with over 50 banks and corporates.
Private Equity: Steve Pagliuca Rebuts Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders
Steve Pagliuca, the co-chairman of Bain Capital, refuted claims made by Democratic frontrunners about the role of private equity. During the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Pagliuca touted the role of Bain in job creation. The co-chairman said that firms purchased by Bain have grown revenue two times faster than the S&P 500 companies.
ESG: State Street Will Turn Screws on ESG Laggards
State Street Global Advisors will vote against companies that lag behind on ESG standards. The company stands as one of the largest shareholders in public companies due to its stance as a global index fund provider. The firm will lean on its “responsibility factor” a system that measures the performance of companies on ESG metrics.
Hedge Fund: Martin Shkreli Faces New Charges in Drug Pricing Scheme
Martin Shkreli now faces new charges over the alleged price inflation of the drug Daraprim. The infamous “Pharma Bro” and his hedge fund bought the rights to the drug that treats malaria and foodborne illnesses.
Liquid Alternatives: 5G-Themed, “The First 5G ETF” (NYSE: FIVG) Rakes in $200 Million
The First 5G ETF (NYSE: FIVG), from the Defiance stable, mopped up AUM of over $200 million in less than 12 months.
FIVG, a thematic ETF focused on investing around the theme of 5G connectivity, has met with an enthusiastic response from investors.
Venture Capital: CurrencyCloud Gets $80 Million From Top Notch Investors Including Visa
CurrencyCloud Gets $80 Million From Top Notch Investors Including Visa. London-based startup CurrencyCloud builds remittance APIs for money transfer businesses.
It’s software you are never likely to see. It works in the background when you make a money transfer across borders. CurrencyCloud builds these APIs (as the software is called), and more than 350 companies were using it as at end-2019.
Digital Assets: Will Bitcoin be the New Gold Standard Backing ‘Fiat’ CBDCs?
The Gold Standard, which Nixon junked in 1971, might come back in a new avatar: Bitcoin
According to Hans Hauge, a crypto asset investment analyst at Ikigai Fund, bitcoin and not gold, is the most suitable asset to back the oncoming rush of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) from various countries.
Artificial Intelligence: Coronavirus! This AI Startup Warned of the Outbreak on December 31
Toronto-based BlueDot, which uses big data and AI, red-flagged the coronavirus outbreak in December. BlueDot’s AI-driven health monitoring platform analyzes billions of data points. Its process works something like this: It pores over global news reports, airline data, and animal disease outbreaks using natural language processing and machine learning techniques. The outputs from the platform are scanned by epidemiologists who sound the alert if they spot an outbreak.
Artificial Intelligence: AI-enabled Monitors Detect Secret Energy Guzzlers In Your Home
AI-enabled Monitors Detect Secret Energy Guzzlers In Your Home. A study of Wisconsin households by Alliant Energy finds that most homes could save as much as $300 annually by unplugging the so-called “phantom” energy guzzlers.
Act Analytics Launches New ESG Portfolio Analytics Platform
Act Analytics announced the launch of a new Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) portfolio analytics platform. The new platform allows RIAs to compare, contrast, and construct customized ESG portfolios. The new Act Analytics technology combines analytics and more than 200 ESG factors. It allows RIAs to “x-ray” securities, funds and portfolios to assess for ESG levels. They can also construct custom, values-based portfolios for clients.
Digital Assets: Covantis, a Blockchain-based Agri-business Platform, Ties With ConsenSys
Covantis is a blockchain-focused project backed by multinational agri-business companies Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland Company, Bunge and Louis Dreyfus Company. Launched in 2018, the project aims to digitize the firms’ global shipping transactions using distributed ledger technology (DLT) and AI.
Covantis and Consensys will set up the blockchain-powered platform. The founding firms have also announced covantis.io, the new website for the project. The platform will launch this year and will initially focus on digitizing grain and oilseed post-trade execution.
Bank Technology: The Driver of M&A Over the Next 10 Years?
Will 2020 be the year that we see the tipping point in bank technology? Attendees at the Bank Director Magazine Conference in Phoenix think so. The sentiment is that banks in 2030 will look a lot different than they do today. Bankers who fail to embrace new technology will be left behind in the modern world of banking. Technology has changed almost every industry, but for some reason, there are still some bank executives and Boardmembers who think their industry will be different. They will not be.
Bank Director Magazine Conference: Fintech, Cybersecurity and Other Worries for 2020
Tim Melvin is attending the conference in Phoenix this week. At the top of the list is competition form fintech firms and big tech companies. Millennials are more focused on technology than one-on-one discussions in a branch. They have emerged as the target market for fintech companies and big tech companies like Amazon (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL). It is a top concern that fintech will disrupt commercial banking in the same way it did to consumer banking in recent years.
Alternative Investments: Pensions Could be Holding $61 Trillion of Assets Globally By 2025
Pensions Could be Holding $61 Trillion of Assets Globally By 2025. A report from the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry said that pension funds are “facing a crisis of unprecedented proportions” due to rising life expectancies in many countries. As a result, pension funds have been forced to diversify across geographies and different asset classes in a bid to push up returns.
Hedge Funds: Coffey’s Kirkoswald Asset Management To Stop Accepting New Cash
Effective end-March, global macro hedge fund manager Greg Coffey will not accept new money into his two-year-old portfolio.
Greg Coffey’s Kirkoswald Asset Management, which last year earned 28%, and trades in global equities, bonds, and currencies, will stop accepting new investments in a bid to protect returns.
Digital Assets: Tether Gold is a New Gold-backed Crypto-Asset
Tether announced the launch of the Tether Gold (XAU₮), a digital token that is backed by collateral of physical gold (XAU). These tokens can be held in a Tether wallet and reside as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain and as a TRC20 token on the TRON blockchain, according to a Tether announcement.
One token represents ownership of one troy fine ounce of physical gold, currently worth approximately $1,581.