Market to European Central Bank: Size of QE matters!

"Earnings and economic reports all take a back seat to the European Central Bank in the holiday-shortened trading week ahead."

Investors are looking to the ECB to on Thursday announce a program of government bond purchases, or quantitative easing.

"The only thing that is important next week is the ECB meeting," Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott, said.

"The ECB is going to be the biggest driver next week, what they decide to do as far as rates and their QE should have a big impact on global markets,"

The markets are expecting a very impressive QE, a la United States, a la Japan.

Some investors may be playing both sides, and by that I mean playing for a big move. If they do come down with a big package, global markets will rally strongly, if they don't do much of anything, you could see markets fall apart," said Paul Nolte, senior vice president, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management..

Read more: "There's a huge amount of anticipation, and a lot of volatility around this ECB decision on Thursday. It'll be a combination of what they say they're going to do, and their intentions after that,"

$9 million Ferrari, $374,000 pickup boost car auctions

"Sales and prices at the classic car auctions in Scottsdale, Arizona, have gotten off to a fast start, suggesting the car market remains strong despite the instability in global financial markets."

The Scottsdale sales, part of a multiday car-a-palooza that attracts thousands of fans and wealthy collectors, are expected to top $285 million this year, according to Hagerty, a collectible car insurance company.

Much of the attention is on muscle cars, which have been slow to recover from the recession but have surged in price over the past year.

But all makes of American cars and European racers have been selling at strong prices.

At Barrett-Jackson, a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro COPO 427 sold for $330,000, which was above its estimate.

RM Auctions sold a 1966 Shelby Cobra 427 for $990,000—right at its low estimate. A 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 LS6 Convertible, which had a starting estimate of $225,000, sold for $225,500 with commission.

Read more: There were also some more surprising successes, especially in trucks.

#CVotreArgent, 16/01: Comment préparer sa retraite ?

"C'estVotreArgent", avec Marc Fiorentino, BFM Business

Au sommaire:
Comment préparer sa retraite ?


Invités:
- Dominique de Noronha, directrice de la rédaction d'Investissement Conseils,
- Virginie Fancellu, associée chez Maximis Retraite,
- Hugues Magron, directeur conseil secteur Assurance et Protection Sociale chez Deloitte

ont livré quelques conseils pour bien préparer une retraite.

- C'est votre argent (part.1), du 16 janvier, présenté par Marc Fiorentino, sur BFM Business.
- C'est votre argent (part.2), du 16 janvier, présenté par Marc Fiorentino, sur BFM Business.

#CVotreArgent, 16/01 - On rejoue la semaine et On achète ou on vend: La Slovaquie / Laurent-Perrier

"C'estVotreArgent", avec Marc Fiorentino, BFM Business

Au sommaire:
- On rejoue la semaine avec le projet de loi Macron, la chute des prix du pétrole, la baisse de l'euro, le krach boursier en Suisse et les difficultés des brokers suite au mouvement violent de la parité EUR/CHF.

- On achète ou on vend: la Slovaquie et la valeur Laurent-Perrier.

Invités:
- Laure Closier, journaliste à BFM Business,
- Igor de Maack, gérant de DNCA Finance,
- Alain Pitous, directeur général adjoint de Talence Gestion,
- Benaouda Abdeddaïm, éditorialiste économique à BFM Business.


C'est votre argent, du 16 janvier, présenté par Marc Fiorentino, sur BFM Business.

Bitcoin Will Fix Remittances With Or Without The Western Unions Of The World

"In the late 90s, as personal computers and the Internet were increasingly finding their way into American homes, there were those who either didn’t recognize the disruptive power or potential they would have, or they felt threatened by their emergence" 

We saw this again in the early 2000s, as companies like PayPal emerged and forever changed our willingness to pay people over the Internet; including paying complete strangers.

As PayPal quickly became ubiquitous and was changing the payments industry and commerce, most of the big banks and credit card associations stood pat and instead chose to fire off public lasers at PayPal, citing security, protections and regulatory hurdles as reasons PayPal would falter and was a risky proposition.

Unfortunately for them, what they should have been doing during that time was innovating and improving customers’ lives; doing so could have very likely eliminated the need for a PayPal to even exist.

Read more: Western Union, which discontinued the use of telegrams in 2006, has fired several shots in recent weeks aimed squarely at bitcoin specifically and digital currency generally.

Google Is In Talks With Softcard, The Mobile Payments Company

"Apple has Apple Pay, and now it looks like Google may be fattening up its own wallet. According to people familiar with the situation, the search giant and maker of Android is interested in buying Softcard, the mobile payments company formerly known as Isis."

The price may be under $100 million, according to our sources.

That is either a huge bargain or a testament to Softcard’s difficulties as an enterprise: sources tell us that AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile (the three carriers that started Isis in 2010) have collectively invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the joint venture.

Softcard earlier this month laid off about 60 employees and has been in a consolidation phase.

The company would not comment on the M&A rumors or how much has been invested in the operation but provided a comment about the layoffs.

Read more: “Softcard is taking steps to reduce costs and strengthen its business. This includes simplifying the company’s organizational structure and consolidating all operations into its Dallas and New York offices, which involves layoffs across the company,”

Google Glass Never Really Had A Fighting Chance

"When Google announced it was ending the Glass Explorer program yesterday and handing over the reins to Nest’s Tony Fadell, it seemed to exit with more of a whimper than a scream." 

Let’s face it, from its earliest days, people loved to hate Glass. In fact, from the moment Google announced Glass, people reacted harshly to the new technology.

They simply hated the idea of nerds with computers on their faces who could take photos or videos surreptitiously. A new word, Glassholes, entered the popular lexicon to describe folks who wore Glass.

It didn’t seem to matter that we were in the public eye with smartphones all around us taking video and pictures. The idea of a wearable optical device seemed to rub folks the wrong way.

And Google encouraged a sense of elitism by creating the Glass Explorer program, an exclusive club where for the price of $1500, if you were chosen, you could own your very own Glass.

Read more: The Explorer program was really a stroke of marketing genius.