>>> Schoolboy investor : he made the whole thing up

Schoolboy investor who led the world to believe he made $72m now says he made the whole thing up - but magazine claims to have seen proof he's worth at least $10million

* Mohammed Islam, 17, came clean while surrounded by his new friends--a crisis team of PR pros and attorneys
* A firestorm of criticism has since been aimed at New York Magazine for printing a story that appeared to back up the $72m claim
* NYmag reporter Jessica Pressler hit back Monday claiming they indeed saw documents 'confirming the eight figures' Islam was rumored to have

The New York City high schooler who gained overnight fame after he told a reporter he'd made $72 million trading stocks on his lunch break now says he's made it all up.

Mohammed Islam, 17, has now hired a pricey crisis PR firm and battle-tested attorneys to help him spread the word.

He was surrounded by his new entourage when he came clean to the New York Observer about his little fib-turned-major international news story on Monday.

He now claims to have no clue where New York Magazine came up with the huge figure.

Meanwhile, the reporter whose story made Islam an internet star insists she was shown bank statements that show he's worth eight figures, which would mean at least $10 million.

Islam, president of prestigious Stuyvesant High School's investment club, now claims it was really all just simulated money he made using an online trading program.

The Queens teen told the Observer that not only was the $72 million totally false, but he's never made any money in the stock market at all.

'[I led her to believe] I had made even more than $72 million on the simulated trades,' he told the Observer.

A firestorm of criticism was unleashed in the wake of Islam's retraction on New York Magazine and the original article's author Jessica Pressler.

Detractors say the writer failed to do appropriate fact checking for her article.

The Observer's Ken Kurson writes:

'Even if this working-class kid had somehow started with $100,000 as a high school freshman on day one at Stuy High, he’d have needed to average a compounded annualized return of something like 796% over the three years since. C’mon, man.'

Helaine Olen of the Pacific Standard took to Twitter, as many did Monday, to demand that Pressler come up with some answers to how she and her publication managed to pass off the seeming impossibility as fact.

'OK. Here goes ... did he show statements? I have a 15 yr old so I want to believe,' Olen tweeted.

Pressler responded to the criticism through Twitter on Monday morning.

'We saw a bank statement confirming the eight figures, & I'm comfortable with what's in the piece,' she wrote.

In the wake of the controversy New York Magazine felt compelled to add an editor's note to qualify their now contentious article.

'Our story portrays the $72 million figure as a rumor; the initial headline has been changed to more clearly reflect the fact that we did not know the exact figure he has made in trades. However, Mohammed provided bank statements that showed he is worth eight figures, and he confirmed on the record that he’s worth eight figures.'

So, as the Observer and everyone else wants to know: where did Pressler come up with the $72 million figure?

In Islam's own words, 'The number’s a rumor.'

Indeed, Pressler does not state the $72 million figure as fact in her original article.

Regardless, NYmag.com has since changed the original headline so as not to reflect that number.

(DB) Commodities 1Q 15 Update : Special FX required

* Currency to provide an important tailwind
The strengthening of the US dollar in 2014 has clearly been a headwind to
mining equities' performance. We think the flipside of this - weaker producer
currencies - will provide a tailwind to miners' cost control and free cash flows
in 2015. Adding this to increased cash flow post-cost saving and capex cutting
programmes, stabilising earnings from less volatile commodity prices, plus
strong balance sheets, we reiterate our view that the sector offers value, at
0.72x Price to NPV on average, In the longer-term, we think the mining stocks
can perform in a US dollar strengthening cycle, as they have done in previous
cycles, driven by cost and capex cutting success.
* Industrial metals displaying resilience – prefer base over bulks and precious
We think that the majority of base metals prices have displayed resilience in
the face of ongoing US dollar strength, with our thesis of lower price volatility
playing out. The bulks have been weaker, led by coal, then iron ore and now
oil. In 2015, we expect aluminium and zinc to be the outperformers of the
Industrial metals. For Bulk commodities, prices have fallen below the marginal
cost of production. However, producer cost containment has delayed the
necessary quantum of supply cuts needed for a price recovery. The
appearance of contango in the Brent forward curve is a clear example of the
rapid deterioration in physical fundamentals in the oil market. In terms of
precious metals, the gold outlook remains clouded by our assessment that US
real yields, the US dollar and the S&P500 will all post further advances heading
in 2015. However, we still view physical fundamentals in the PGM complex as
becoming healthier.
* Mixed earnings outcomes: increasing Al and Zn 2015 forecasts, cutting bulks
Our earnings estimates for the diversified miners come down 20-40% in both
2015 and 2016 as we factor in our lower bulk commodity price forecasts.
There is a small offset from assuming a weaker AUD and ZAR. Our forecasts
for Boliden, Norsk Hydro and Nyrstar benefit from increased base metals price
forecasts plus weaker SEK and NOK assumptions. Our estimates for a weaker
Russian Rouble benefits 2015-16 earnings for the Russian gold miners.
* We upgrade BOL and NHY from Hold to Buy; downgrade GLEN to Hold
As a result of the changes from our commodity price assumptions, we have
upgraded both Boliden and Norsk Hydro from Hold to Buy recommendations
and we have downgraded Glencore from Buy to Hold.

DailyMail : New York schoolboy 'made $72million trading stocks on his lunch brea


New York schoolboy 'made $72million trading stocks on his lunch breaks' - and now takes his friends out to dine on $400 caviar, drives a BMW and has definitely made his immigrant parents proud

* Mohammed Islam, 17, started dabbling in penny stocks at the age of nine
* He trades stocks on lunch breaks at New York's Stuyvesant High School
* Has made 8-figures trading - rumored to be as much as $72million
* Has bought BMW and Manhattan apartment
* He cites his inspiration as billionaire hedge-funder Paul Tudor Jones, 60
* Mohammed's parents are immigrants from Bengal region of South Asia
* Student hopes to start hedge fund next year and make $1bn with friends
* On his Instagram profile, he has written: 'More money, less problems'
He has not yet reached his 18th birthday.

But Mohammed Islam, from Queens, New York, has already made a fortune estimated at as much as $72million - from trading stocks on his lunch breaks at school, according to New York magazine's Monday issue.

The 17-year-old, who started dabbling in penny stocks at the tender age of nine, spends most of his breaks at Stuyvesant High School trading oil and gold futures, and small to mid-cap equities.

Outside of school, he often takes his friends out to dine at Morimoto on 10th Avenue, where they feast on $400 caviar, expensive dishes and freshly-squeezed apple juice.

During an interview for the magazine's 10th annual 'Reasons to Love New York issue', Mohammed refused to disclose his exact net worth, but he admitted it was in 'the high eight figures' and provided bank and financial paperwork to back that up.

The successful teenager revealed he had used his incredible wealth to purchase a BMW - which he does not yet have a license to drive - and rent a Manhattan apartment.

However, his parents, who are immigrants from the Bengal region of South Asia, will not yet allow him to move out of their family home in Queens, according to the New York Post.

Mohammed has also taken to social media to show off his well-funded, lavish lifestyle - regularly posting videos of him partying, playing poker and dancing with numerous women on Instagram.

His hard-earned cash has certainly been beneficial to his parents. 'My dad doesn't work now and I tend to help out with things, and futures gives me that incentive,' said the student.

But despite its advantages, Mr and Mrs Islam are not overly keen on their son's interest in trading.

'My dad doesn't like [finance] that much,' Mohammed, who has written the phrase, 'More money, less problems', on his Instagram profile, said in an ISSUU interview.

'He says he is ok with me trading, but my mom is skeptical about the market. But they see it as, if I am good at it, then why not?'

A year after he started experimenting with penny stocks, Mohammed was introduced to further financial markets by his cousin. He has since developed a 'life-long passion' for trading.

'What makes the world go round? Money,' he said. 'If money is not flowing, if businesses don’t keep going, there’s no innovation, no products, no investments, no growth, no jobs.'

On his LinkedIn profile, the student said he rose to success while trading stocks during his lunch breaks because he 'followed the market, hunted for opportunities and used everything from fundamental analysis to technical analysis and price action to speculate in the markets'.

After having high returns in penny stocks, he moved on to small-mid cap equities, then derivatives, before feeling out the futures market and specializing in oil and gold, he said.

He added he has now developed 'a passion for understanding the markets and a passion for making money', and trades 'mainly based on volatility and volume'.

During his interview with New York magazine's, Mohammed revealed his biggest inspiration in the finance world has been Paul Tudor Jones.

Jones, 60, the billionaire founder of Tudor Investment Corporation, a private asset management firm and hedge fund, ranks as the 108th-richest American, according to Forbes.

Mohammed said that while he had been 'paralyzed' by his losses when he first started trading, he quickly learned from Connecticut-based Jones's ability to get back into the game again and again.

'I had been paralyzed by my loss,' he said. 'But [Jones] was able to go back to it, even after losing thousands of dollars over and over.'

Speaking to Business Insider, he added: 'Jones’s personality and technique are what make him so successful and I aspire to become even one per cent of the man he is.

'He went through obstacles, yet still came out on top'
It’s not just about the money. We want to create a brotherhood
Mohammed Islam

And despite his massive fortune, Mohammed has no plans to give up trading just yet.

The teenager said he and his trader friends hope to start a hedge fund in June - when he is old enough to get his broker-dealer license - and intend to make a billion dollars by next year.

This, of course, will all be done while attending college.

'It’s not just about the money,' said Mohammed, whose ultimate goal is to pave a path in the financial industry that will enable him to become a reputable hedge fund manager.

'We want to create a brotherhood. Like, all of us who are connected, who are in something together, who have influence.'

>>> DG -2.7% FGR -0.7% ABE -1% EN -0.6% on French Minister headlines

France Energy Min Royal: Highway concession may be cancelled; wants freeze in toll road tariffs 
- Highway companies might be asked to contribute €1.0B to help fund infrastructure
- Contribution might come as new tax
- Highway concession might be eith fully or partially cancelled along with renogotiations of existing concessions
{

En France, la plus grande partie du réseau autoroutier (environ 7 850 km) est concédée à des sociétés à capitaux privés ou publics.

Depuis plusieurs années, l'État se désengage progressivement de ces sociétés au moment où les autoroutes deviennent rentables :

} for an update on who owns what

(BFW) Euronext Launches Single-Stock Dividend Futures

BN 12/16 07:51 *EURONEXT LAUNCHES SINGLE STOCK DIVIDEND FUTURES
Euronext Launches Single-Stock Dividend Futures
2014-12-16 07:55:30.913 GMT


By David Whitehouse
(Bloomberg) -- The new derivatives will start with CAC 40
members in 1Q and will be extended to the most liquid stocks in
Amsterdam, Brussels and Lisbon, Euronext says in a statement.

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