SCA Posts Steady 1Q Results and Sees Early Signs of Improving Construction Market

Swedish consumer goods company Svenska Cellulosa reported first-quarter results that largely tracked our longerterm expectations. SCA’s hygiene operations (personal care and tissue) were once again steady performers while the forest product division lagged as a result of still-weak European demand for paper and solid-wood products. After reviewing the results, we are maintaining our fair value estimate of SEK 136 per share and our no-moat rating. … Continue reading SCA Posts Steady 1Q Results and Sees Early Signs of Improving Construction Market

Bitcoins: A Look at What the Digital Currency has Achieved

It may be cliché, but perhaps no single word sums up bitcoin quite as well as “disruptive”. Computer scientists have been trying to create secure and sustainable digital cash since the earliest days of the Internet, and until Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper introducing bitcoin was published in 2008, their efforts were in vain.

While the public may still be polarized by the digital currency, most people who take the time to learn about bitcoin and the block chain come to realize the significance of a decentralized, trustless network and the impacts it could potentially have in many areas of everyday life.

The use cases of such a technology are only beginning to be explored, but the bitcoin protocol has already proven to be a game-changer, allowing its users to do things that had previously been thought impractical or even impossible.

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Previous forays into online-based currencies have resulted in failures like e-Gold or centralized currencies often found in gaming communities, but bitcoin is the first digital-only currency that is completely decentralized to gain significant traction. There are many implications of this, but one key value of a decentralized digital currency is that anyone can create a bitcoin wallet to hold their money, without needing to rely on a bank’s approval or their government’s issued currency.

It’s no secret that money transfer services like Western Union and Moneygram are flawed. These companies often take days to transfer money across the globe, and they charge a hefty service fee for their work. Bitcoin, on the other hand, allows anybody with Internet access to send any amount of money anywhere in the world. The notion of smart contracts—contracts that can be digitally created and verified—has been around for years, but is now being approached in a whole new light in the face of bitcoin.

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Bitcoin Report: Seeing Bitcoin as a Gold Replacement

Given that the design of bitcoin’s peer-to-peer system was partly inspired by gold, it’s not a surprise that many bitcoin enthusiasts are also fans of the precious metal. Both gold and bitcoin are scarce commodities used as stores of value by those who might be distrustful of fiat currencies.

The bitcoin community has long been interested in courting gold users – Ripple, for example, recently introduced gold trading to its platform. Even so, gold enthusiasts have not always been bitcoin champions. Some even go so far as to vocally oppose bitcoin as an investment vehicle.

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It’s important to establish why bitcoin users believe the digital currency could take the place of gold in the global market. One of the main reasons is because some see bitcoin as an investment without the common pain points associated with gold. In addition, significant investment capital pouring into the bitcoin market could make it more valuable than gold. The high-water mark for those who share this value belief took place on 29th November, when the price of bitcoin on then-operational Mt Gox exchange reached a high of $1,242, trading two cents above gold’s $1,241.98 at the time.

That price similarity was short lived, however. Soon after the start of 2014, bitcoin’s price fell due to uncertainty in the Chinese market – along with the collapse of Mt Gox. Despite a brief correlation in price, high volatility is the reason some still think that most gold bugs don’t believe in bitcoin as an investment.

Gold prices fluctuate too, but not as much as bitcoin has this year. BTC has seen an over 62% drop in 2014 after hitting a high of $951.39 in early January down to $360.84 in April.

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Trading Conditions in Europe Remain Soft in TNT’s First Quarter

TNT Express’ first-quarter consolidated revenue fell 4.5% from the same period last year (down 4% excluding foreign exchange). The decline was partly the result of softer Asia Pacific business, including sluggish export activity to Europe. Price competition and a continued mix shift to loweryielding shipments in Europe also contributed. Excluding foreign exchange, revenue was down 1% in the core Europe, Middle East, and Africa region, … Continue reading Trading Conditions in Europe Remain Soft in TNT’s First Quarter

Bitcoin Breaking News: Bitcoins Used For Bowl Game Sponsorship

BitPay executive chairman Tony Gallippi announced today that his company paid for its upcoming college football bowl game sponsorship in bitcoin. The surprise news came at a press conference held by BitPay and the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce to promote the upcoming Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl.

There, Gallippi revealed that BitPay paid ESPN Events, a subsidiary of the popular US sports network ESPN, in bitcoin in order to secure the sponsorship, a company spokesperson confirmed. Notably, Tampa Bay Business Journal has estimated that its full contract with the broadcaster is estimated at roughly $1.5m over the course of three years.

The event was held at the St. Petersburg Museum, which has announced that it will accept bitcoin as part of BitPay’s wider promotion for December’s main event, joining a list of merchants that includes Ferg’s Sports Bar and Grill, Green Bench Brewery Co and Hotel Zamora.

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In addition to Gallippi, BitPay CEO Stephen Pair and BitPay executive director of the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl Brett Dulaney were also in attendance. The Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl will be held on 26th December.

The news is the latest update on BitPay and its work to promote bitcoin through the major televised sporting event. Announced on 18th June, the promotion was widely covered by the mainstream media, including The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated and the editorial arm of ESPN.

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Saenz Steps Down as Santander CEO

On Monday, Banco Santander SAN announced that Alfredo Saenz has resigned as CEO ahead of a decision by Spanish regulators that would have effectively decided whether his criminal conviction should disallow him from working in banking. Until recently, Spain’s rules had prevented anyone with a criminal conviction from holding a senior position in banking. Saenz was convicted in 2009 of making false criminal acquisitions against … Continue reading Saenz Steps Down as Santander CEO