NEW YORK, Dec 22 (Reuters) – This year’s steep decline in U.S. equities is juicing the returns of short sellers, who are on track for their first yearly gain since 2018 thanks in part to bets against shares of Tesla (TSLA.O), Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and other megacap growth stocks that have led markets higher for years.
Short sellers – investors who bet on declines in a company’s share price – are sitting on $303.7 billion in realized and unrealized gains, a fourfold increase compared with 2018, their last profitable year, data from analytics firm S3 Partners showed. That works out to a 31.2% return on total average short interest of $973.6 billion throughout the year, according to S3 Partners.
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Rouble Tumbles To Near Eight-Month Low Vs Dollar
MOSCOW, Dec 22 (Reuters) – The rouble slumped to its weakest since late April past 72 against the dollar on Thursday as fears over the impact of sanctions on Russian oil and gas took the currency’s losses this month to more than 15%.
By 0740 GMT, the rouble was down 1.8% against the dollar at 72.25 , earlier hitting 72.3075, its weakest mark since April 29.
It also lost 1.6% to trade at 76.82 versus the euro , also a near eight-month low, and shed 2% against the yuan to a near seven-month low of 10.28 .
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Banker Bonuses Go From Boom To Bust In Jarring Reversal
NEW YORK/LONDON, Dec 22 (Reuters) – Bankers in New York and London are bracing for year-end bonuses that recruiters estimate are 30% to 50% lower, while some may receive none at all as dealmaking sputters and economic gloom sets takes hold.
Financiers face disappointment when their compensation awards land in the first quarter, and thousands more of their colleagues could be laid off after hundreds were let go this year, according to recruiters and compensation experts.
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Analysis: Euro Zone Governments Must Court Private Buyers For Mountain Of Debt
Dec 22 (Reuters) – Euro zone governments will have to charm private buyers to step in and buy 400 billion euros of additional debt next year, which will keep the bloc’s battered bond markets under pressure as the European Central Bank further unwinds its support.
The ECB, effectively a guaranteed debt buyer since it launched quantitative easing (QE) in 2015, even hoovering up all the new bonds governments sold from at least 2019 to 2021, will start offloading its holdings.
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Oil Rises On Tight U.S. Stocks As Winter Blast Hits
Dec 22 (Reuters) – Oil prices climbed for a fourth straight day on Thursday with U.S. crude, heating oil and jet fuel stocks growing tighter just as a wintry blast hits the United States and travel is set to soar for its holiday season.
Brent crude futures gained 13 cents, or 0.16%, to $82.33 at 0713 GMT, extending gains of around 2.7% from the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 17 cents, or 0.22%, to $78.46 a barrel.
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