All posts tagged: dollar

Six Dollar Marble Sculpture Could Earn Millions to Scottish Town

Six Dollar Marble Sculpture Could Earn Millions to Scottish Town

Published by skeptic

Invergordon, a small town in central Scotland, could see its coffers filled following a decision by county committee to sell a marble bust made by the French artist Edmé Bouchardon in 1728 that, a quarter of a century ago, was propping open the door of a storage shed. The bust, which was bought for roughly $6.31 in 1930, could fetch more than $3 million through a private sale brokered by Sotheby’s, which appraised the sculpture at the request of the local government last year.  While the sculpture was originally purchased for display, a series of mysterious events led to it be placed in a storage shed “with other discarded council paraphernalia.” Former Invergordon community councilor Maxine Smith, who now serves on the broader governmental body the Highland council, told the Guardian last October that she found the bust while digging around the shed for a set of ceremonial robes that had gone missing. Related Articles “I found the robes…” she said “and also a wee white marble sculpture thing holding open the door. It could have been binned quite …

How “romance fraud” became a multi-billion dollar cybercrime

How “romance fraud” became a multi-billion dollar cybercrime

Published by skeptic

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people Notice: JavaScript is required for this content. “I met him in person. [He] looked like his pictures. Really charming. Really opening up to me. So we had a coffee. He was talking about his job. He was the CEO of a big diamond company. On the first day I met him, we travelled on this private jet. I fell quickly and I fell hard…” Those who have watched the Netflix documentary ‘The Tinder Swindler’ know that the ending of this love story does not quite match the romantic beginnings. The speaker is Cecilie Fjellhøy, the Norwegian woman at the centre of the scandal where her Tinder date boyfriend conned her out of £200,000. Fjellhøy spoke to Anna Bruce-Lockhart on this episode of Radio Davos, detailing how she fell for and exposed the lies of her scammer and is now helping other victims of similar scams through her NGO LoveSaid. Sean Doyle, from the World Economic Forum’s Centre for …

Euro slumps, dollar index edges higher after PMI data

Euro slumps, dollar index edges higher after PMI data

Published by Sam

NEW YORK :The euro dropped against the dollar on Monday as business activity reports for the euro zone economy disappointed, briefly extending declines after U.S. data showed activity there held steady, and ahead of a flurry of Federal Reserve speakers this week. The soft euro zone data supported expectations for more interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank this year, with markets currently pricing in a roughly 77 per cent chance for a cut of at least 25 basis points (bps) at the central bank’s October meeting. A survey compiled by S&P Global showed euro zone business activity sharply contracted this month as the bloc’s dominant services industry flat-lined, while a downturn in manufacturing accelerated. The contractions appeared broad-based, with Germany’s decline deepening, while France returned to contraction following August’s boost from the Olympic Games. In contrast, U.S. business activity was steady in September, but average prices charged for goods and services rose at the fastest pace in six months, possibly pointing to an acceleration in inflation in coming months. The data comes after …

FTX reports a shocking billion dollar surplus after bankruptcy

FTX reports a shocking billion dollar surplus after bankruptcy

Published by skeptic

Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has accumulated billions of dollars more than necessary to cover the losses incurred during its collapse in November 2022. FTX CEO John Ray voiced his astonishment at the milestone in a commentary to Bloomberg, indicating the exchange’s ability to fully reimburse its over 2 million customers. With the upcoming sale of its assets, FTX is expected to have approximately $16.3 billion in cash, surpassing its $11 billion debt to customers and other non-governmental creditors. Ray said: In any bankruptcy, this is just an unbelievable result. While bankruptcy victims will receive full payments with interest, court documents suggest that equity holders are unlikely to receive any residual amounts. Depending on the type of claim, some creditors could potentially recover up to 142% of their owed amounts. Still, most customers may receive 118% of their account balances at the time of the bankruptcy filing. FTX’s restructuring advisers suggested setting up a fund to compensate certain creditors, using funds that would have otherwise been collected by regulatory bodies. The timeline for this initiative is …

Princess Catharina-Amalia to receive government money after refusing million dollar allowance

Princess Catharina-Amalia to receive government money after refusing $2 million dollar allowance

Published by skeptic

Princess Catharina-Amalia revealed on Tuesday that she will now be accepting government reimbursement for her expenses as the heir to the throne. According to the Netherlands Times, the future Queen has been entitled to claim up to 1,509,000 euros for expenses and 322,000 euros in salary since 2021 when she turned 18 in December of that year. © GettyThe princess will begin accepting money from the government However, before coming of age, she revealed she would not be accepting the payments unless the costs relating to her role increased.  Earlier this week, the princess sent a handwritten letter to Prime Minister Mark Rutte explaining her change of heart.  © Patrick van KatwijkThe 20-year-old is the heir to the Dutch throne It read: “With the passage of time and after surprising circumstances, it is now foreseeable that I will have to take into account personnel and material expenses with a view to an independent and autonomous fulfillment of my position, including administrative staff, and reservations for a living and working accommodation.”  The publication also reported that …

Dollar regains momentum as yen struggles

Dollar regains momentum as yen struggles

Published by Sam

SINGAPORE : The dollar was back on the front foot on Wednesday, making modest gains after earlier losses from renewed bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts this year, while the yen eased towards the 155 per dollar level and kept intervention risks from Tokyo high. The offshore yuan further retreated from a more than three-month high hit last week, helped by hopes of further policy stimulus from Beijing to shore up its economy. It last stood at 7.2247 per dollar. The yen was last little changed at 154.75 per dollar, edging away from its peak of 151.86 hit last week on the back of suspected intervention from Japanese authorities to prop up the sliding currency. Analysts have said that any intervention from Tokyo would only serve as a temporary respite for the yen, given stark interest rate differentials between the U.S. and Japan remain. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Wednesday the central bank will scrutinise the impact of yen moves on inflation in guiding monetary policy, while the country’s Finance Minister Shunichi …

Eight arrested in multi-million dollar retail theft operation

Eight arrested in multi-million dollar retail theft operation

Published by skeptic

Eight people were arrested on suspicion of organized retail theft after authorities discovered several million dollars worth of stolen medicines, cosmetics and other merchandise at multiple Los Angeles locations, sheriff officials said. The retail goods were stolen by crews of organized shoplifters at stores in California, Arizona and Nevada, according to detectives. The stolen items were then taken to various locations in L.A. County where they were sold to various “fence” operations, officials said. Authorities investigating retail theft refer to people who buy stolen goods and then resell them for a profit as “fences.” The sheriff’s department said they had also recovered a stolen firearm and a large sum of cash, according to a release sent late Friday. The suspects, who were not named, are being held on $60,000 bail each. Early Thursday morning, sheriff detectives performed raids at a dozen locations in Los Angeles thought to be involved in the crime ring, according to KCAL CBS. At a small South L.A. market, they found boxes of stolen Motrin, Theraflu and other goods stacked floor …

Biden’s Dollar Weaponization – Growing Backlash Could Kill The Economy

Biden’s Dollar Weaponization – Growing Backlash Could Kill The Economy

Published by skeptic

Authored by Peter Reagan for Birch Gold Group, President Biden’s decision to participate in the Ukraine-Russia conflict back in February 2022 has taken a new and dangerous turn this year. The U.S. dollar could suffer dramatically as a result. Before we explore that new development, we’re going to start by quickly summarizing some of the events that led the United States to this point. Let’s begin… In the February 28th, 2022 issue of Matt Levine’s Money Stuff column for Bloomberg, Levine wrote about the sanctions placed on Russia: the U.S., the European Union, the U.K., Switzerland, Singapore and other countries announced harsh sanctions against Russia for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. There are a lot of these sanctions – banning Russian flights through European airspace, limiting Russian banks’ access to the SWIFT interbank messaging system, etc. – but the most drastic might be U.S., U.K. and EU bans on any transactions with the Russian central bank. The bulk of Russia’s foreign reserves are held in the form of securities, deposits at other central banks and deposits at foreign commercial banks. A ban on transactions …

Japan’s yen jumps vs dollar amid specter of BOJ intervention

Japan’s yen jumps vs dollar amid specter of BOJ intervention

Published by Sam

NEW YORK/TOKYO : The yen jumped against the dollar late on Wednesday, with traders on high alert for signs of intervention by Japanese monetary authorities to boost a currency languishing near 34-year lows. The dollar fell sharply to 153 yen from about 157.55 yen for reasons that were not immediately clear, after the U.S. stock market closed and the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting ended hours earlier. The dollar was last at 154.85 yen. The yen had rallied on Monday, with money market data suggesting Japan’s finance ministry had spent around $35 billion to prop up the currency that day. Official intervention data for the period will be announced at the end of May. Traders have been on watch for weeks for possible intervention by Japanese officials, as even a historic exit from negative rates has failed to lift the currency. When contacted by Reuters, Japan’s vice finance minister for international affairs, Masato Kanda, who oversees currency policy, said he had nothing to say about whether Japan had intervened in the market. Two days ago, …

Best Dollar Flight Club deal: 86% off lifetime membership

Best Dollar Flight Club deal: 86% off lifetime membership

Published by skeptic

TL;DR: A lifetime Dollar Flight Club membership (Premium Plus+ Plan) is on sale for £55.91, saving you 86% on list price. From going on incognito mode to setting price alerts to booking months in advance, there are a plethora of tips doled out by folks in the name of cheaper airfare. But the truth is scoring deals on flights is much harder now than it used to be, with most purported tricks falling short of delivering substantial savings. Rather than dedicating endless hours to hunting down budget fares, let Dollar Flight Club take the reins. It’s a price deal alert service that works 24/7 to find you the best deals, and for a limited time, you can score a Premium Plus subscription for 86% off. The Premium Plus plan stands as the best tier among Dollar Flight Club’s subscription options. Subscribers get served an array of deals across domestic and international routes, including economy, first class, and business class options, letting you pick from a wider selection of flights and choose one that fits your …