The Fantasy Day Trader Blog

  • Anaemic US recovery still puts EU in the shade

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    As Brussels bureaucrats digested the latest grim Eurozone data last week the markets signalled their faith in the US recovery’s durability following some unexpected good news.   A drop in the US unemployment rate to 7.5%, a four-year low, has …

  • Biggest-ever trade deal would create bonanza for biotech and US agribusiness

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    Food regulation and agricultural subsidies will likely be the most contentious issues when the US and EU embark on free-trade talks in June. EU President Jose Manuel Barrosso announced the wide-ranging talks in the wake of a State of the …

  • Fantasy Day Trader live on Apple App Store and Google Play

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    A pioneering app which allows you to trade on real financial markets with virtual cash has been approved for download on the Apple App Store and Google Play.   Launched by JAK Enterprises Ltd (JAK) in September on BlackBerry, Fantasy …

  • Social gaming 2.0 arrives and Zynga tries to break America

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    Zynga has applied for a real-money gaming licence from the Nevada Gaming Board of Control amid growing signs that the US government might consider relaxing its strict online gambling laws.   Shares at the developer, whose titles include Farmville and Mafia …

  • As the markets shrug at more stimulus, where now for the global recovery?

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    The markets dipped further this week as the impact of a slew of modestly positive economic data was blunted by the knowledge of challenges ahead.   Amid increasingly fraught attempts to reconcile Greece with its debtors, a 1.3% drop in …

  • China’s miracle loses momentum amid Huawei controversy

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    China’s rise to economic hegemony is inevitable – or so the media narrative runs. But if nothing in economics is ever inevitable, then seasoned China watchers are particularly wary of forecasts about a commercial, legal and political culture which remains …

  • With financial scandals erupting so often, do you really trust other people with your money?

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    The trial of a leading commodity futures broker for embezzlement and mail fraud is just the latest episode in a litany of scandal to erode confidence in those to whom we entrust our money. Russell Wasendorf this week pleaded guilty …

  • Apple and RIM: Playing the long-short game – a year ago Apple was worth $353bn and Rim $17bn.

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    In his book the Black Swan, Nassim Nicholas Taleb argues that our habit of retrospectively explaining unexpected events as if we could have anticipated them is misconceived. Citing the 9/11 atrocities, he says we cannot expect to prepare ourselves for …

  • From the trading pits to mobile devices in less than a decade

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    It could hardly seem a more fascinating time in the markets to launch the first-ever virtual trading game for mobile and tablet. So much seems in flux: the euro see-saws as bailout rumours swirl, poor harvests in the world’s bread …