The US President-elect's rhetoric suggests he wants to move back to Obama-era policies on Cuba, but Joe Biden will need to tread very carefully if he wants to do so while still giving the Democrats a chance of winning back Florida in 2024. Latinos now account for 17% of Florida’s registered voters, up from 12% when Obama won the state for the first time in 2008. And Cuban-Americans, who turned out for Trump in huge numbers, account for nearly one-third of those. Get the full story →

Despite the retreat, Bitcoin has more than doubled this year and hit as high as US$19,510 until recently. For those concerned that very loose monetary and fiscal policy is going to lead, ultimately, to much higher inflation and the erosion of the fiat value of money, Gold and – much more controversially – Bitcoin have offered alternatives to equities, bonds, cash, and real estate. For more on the big factors driving market performance this month, see our November strategy monthly. Get the full story →

The country has approached US private equity firms like Blackstone and Carlyle among others, according to reports. This looks set to test investor appetite and follows closely on the sweeping structural reforms passed last month. We said at that time that Indonesia perhaps merits a revisit and a venture into Indonesia stocks could also provide a welcome increase in available trading liquidity for FEM and FM funds. Get the full story →

The Chinese government had formally congratulated Biden on November 13, but not Xi himself. This leaves Russian President Putin among the few world leaders who have not yet acknowledged Biden’s win, even as Donald trump continues to challenge the results. When it comes to China and Russia, however, we maintain that Biden’s policies may not change much from Trump’s, and tensions may persist. Russia has already criticised Biden for saying that Russia is the biggest threat to US security. On China, the US may lean less on unilateral or ad hoc tariffs under Biden. Get the full story →

Companies that break new EU rules aimed at curbing their power could be fined, ordered to change their practices or break up their business in Europe, according to Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner for Internal Market. This adds to tech companies already under regulatory pressure in the continent. Meanwhile the French government has sent out notices to big tech companies to pay its digital service tax, which will hit companies like Facebook and Amazon, as planned in December – the tax had been suspended earlier this year while negotiations were underway at the OECD for an overhaul of international tax rules. With such Big Tech crackdown underway, we take a quick tour of the main pinch points. Get the full story →