Author Archives: Darren Marchal

A Tale Of Two Drones

As drone technology continues to advance, we’re seeing companies come up with increasingly inventive creations. Some are lifesaving; others are more bizarre. Let’s deal with the most productive innovation first… Call 911 for Your Ambulance Drone You know the deal in a medical emergency… The paramedics are quickly summoned to the scene… but just as…

The Ruble Rebounds

Is the Panic Low In? Below is a daily chart of the Russian ruble. When we recently wrote about the currency’s collapse (see “The Russian Rubble”) we noted: “It is a good bet that the ruble is by now egregiously undervalued, even in light of the oil price decline and economic sanctions” We also opined…

Asian Stocks, Crude Up

Asian stocks rose Thursday, extending a global surge in equities as the regional index headed for its steepest two-day advance in 13 months. Crude oil pared a fourth weekly decline, while the euro traded near a two-year low and wheat fell. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index jumped 1.7 percent by 11:44 a.m. in Tokyo, after a 0.7…

The Santa Rally Underpins The Dollar

For many investors, today marks the end of the year, but it is ending on a favorable note. The combination of the FOMC meeting and the SNB adoption of negative interest rates underscored the dollar and equity bullish divergence theme.  It struck us that too many people were doing all kinds of mental and verbal gymnastics…

Curis Reports Dosing Of First Patient In Phase 1 Trial Of CUDC-90

Curis, Inc. (Nasdaq:CRIS), a drug development company seeking to develop next generation targeted small molecule drug candidates for cancer treatment, today announced that the first patient has been treated in a Phase I clinical study of CUDC-907 in patients with relapsed or refractory lymphoma or multiple myeloma. CUDC-907 is an orally-administered first-in-class small molecule drug…

Billion Dollar Babies Programme For Indian Product Startups

The new program by TiE Silicon Valley aims to help scale Indian startups globally to reach $1 billion in value. Photo Credit: Shutterstock, Adorable newborn wearing a hat, bow-tie and glasses and holding a one hundred dollar bill TiE Silicon Valley, the Silicon Valley chapter of  The Indus Entrepreneurs, announced its Billion Dollar Babies initiative, a new…

Gold Edges Higher But Faces Headwinds

Gold prices ended Thursday’s session up 0.75%, or $8.88, to settle at $1198.03 an ounce. The XAU/USD pair tested the $1212 level but encountered resistance and dropped back below $1203 once again. The Fed’s pledge to “be patient in beginning to normalize the stance of monetary policy” has resulted in a positive sentiment but it also…

Santa Claus And The Fiduciary Standard

At this time of the year, when Santa Claus is making his list of who has been naughty and nice, optimists rub their hands in glee, anticipating a stocking full of goodies. Pessimistic believers resign themselves to something worse. In pension land, if you embrace fiduciary change, the incoming head of the U.S. Senate Finance…