Friday, June 24, 2016

Brexit live: David Cameron resigns after EU referendum result


Trump hails Brexit vote a 'great thing'

Updated
The Plaid Cymru leader, Leanne Wood, has called it a “dark and uncertain morning.”
She said: “People in Wales and elsewhere in the UK have voted to leave the European Union – their will must be respected.
Leanne Wood
Leanne Wood.
“The top priority now must be to secure political and economic stability for Wales and the rest of the United Kingdom.
“With Scotland voting to remain and a second independence referendum now on the cards, it is clear that the UK cannot continue in its current form. Wales, its economy and its communities will soon be at the full mercy of the Westminster elite and robust action must be taken to mitigate the impact of this.
“All the promises made by the eave campaign, with regards to safeguarding grants and financial support for Wales and our NHS must now be fully honoured, not only up to 2020 under current EU programmes, but beyond that into the future.
“Plaid Cymru will work to ensure that every penny and every key power that is handed down directly from Brussels comes to Wales.
“On this dark and uncertain morning for our country, people can rest assured that Plaid Cymru is united, confident and focused on getting the best for Wales. We are determined to do everything we can in order to empower our national institution and protect our communities.”
Updated
The EU referendum turnout represents the the single highest UK-wide election turnout of the past two decades.
The final turnout was 72.2%, higher than any general referendum since 1997 but lower than that recorded in the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 when turnout reached 84.6%.
Below is a selection of voter turnout in selected general elections and the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.
Voter turnout
Here’s the video of Mark Carney’s statement this morning.

Updated

Mark Carney makes Bank of England statement on Brexit

The £100bn parasite bankers: City sharks work through the night to make a killing on the result of the referendum

  • Hedge funds commissioned private exit polls to steal a march on the official declaration
  • Armed with the advance information – and a £100billion war chest – their traders went on an all-night 'feeding frenzy'
  • They are thought to have put huge bets on currencies and other markets
  • Bank chiefs laid on sushi, pizzas and bunk-beds to keep their traders fresh
  • MPs said the public would be disgusted by the casino-style wagers 

Shameless bankers were last night gambling billions of pounds on the EU referendum.
Hedge funds had commissioned private exit polls to steal a march on the official declaration.
Armed with the advance information – and a £100billion war chest – their traders went on an all-night 'feeding frenzy'.
They are thought to have placed huge bets on currencies and other markets, hoping to clean up by the time stock exchanges opened today.
MPs said the public – up to 40million of whom voted – would be disgusted by the casino-style wagers on the nation's future.
Voters queued in torrential rain and waded through deep water to have their say on Europe.
Investors could gamble almost £100billion on the outcome of the knife-edge poll, according to Barclays

Tonight, Nigel Farage appeared to concede defeat, saying Remain had 'edged it'. As a YouGov poll of 5,000 voters showed a 52:48 victory for In:
- An operation to 'Save Dave' was launched by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove to stop the Prime Minister being ousted by Eurosceptic MPs;
- Official figures revealed the population rocketed by half a million last year, largely fuelled by mass immigration;
- Calls were made for Britain's top civil servant to be hauled before Parliament for presiding over a 'pro-EU propaganda machine'.
Bank chiefs laid on sushi, pizzas and bunk-beds to keep their traders fresh throughout the night, with the reward of Champagne breakfasts. One analyst said it promised to be the biggest night of many traders' careers.
Investors could gamble almost £100billion on the outcome of the knife-edge poll, according to Barclays.
John Mann (pictured), a Labour member of the Commons Treasury committee, said: ‘Here we go again. This shows the difference between all of us and the false world these City traders and bankers live in – gambling with other people’s money'
John Mann (pictured), a Labour member of the Commons Treasury committee, said: 'Here we go again. This shows the difference between all of us and the false world these City traders and bankers live in – gambling with other people's money'
Chris Leslie, Labour's former shadow chancellor, said: 'There is something very parasitical about trying to gamble on the back of the fate of the nation. While I am not surprised the City is watching this vote closely, it does leave you with a slightly bitter taste.
'My main concern is that markets are stable and ordinary people's savings and pensions are not put on the line in some grand gamble.'
John Mann, a Labour member of the Commons Treasury committee, said: 'Here we go again. This shows the difference between all of us and the false world these City traders and bankers live in – gambling with other people's money.
'Bankers have hit the living standards and jobs of people across the country. They set an appalling example to everyone. It can't get any lower than this. The country will come together and unite in anger.' Unlike at general elections, broadcasters did not commission exit polls because of fears over their accuracy. That has allowed banks to do their own polling and gain crucial trading information.
Foreign currency dealers will have been able to exploit their advantage through the night because their markets stay open 24 hours.
Economists have told Bloomberg the pound will either sink to its lowest level in more than three decades, in the event of Brexit, or climb to the highest level this year if the public votes to remain.
Knowing the likely result in advance will enable traders to buy low and sell high.
And while the London Stock Exchange was closed, traders could prepare to bet on shares going down when it reopened today – the practice known as short-selling.
As well as causing global financial meltdowns with their reckless behaviour, greedy bankers have rigged the crucial Libor interest rate market and have been caught in a string of mis-selling scandals.
Barclays said around £95billion is waiting to be invested by clients. Much of this will be from pension and hedge funds, which have been waiting until the results of the referendum became clearer before placing their bets. Banks can also gamble their own money.
One of the biggest 'short' gamblers could be US asset management firm BlackRock, which employs Chancellor George Osborne's former chief of staff Rupert Harrison.
Data from the Financial Conduct Authority showed 134 asset managers worldwide had 427 'short positions' on firms they believed would fall in value. BlackRock was by far the biggest, with 51 of these.
Last night City workers could barely contain their excitement. One described the referendum as 'an incredible opportunity to make money', while a stockbroker said there would be 'Champagne breakfasts all round' for relieved pro-Brussels bankers if Britain voted to remain in the EU.

Barclays said around £95bn is waiting to be invested by clients. Much of this will be from pension and hedge funds, which have been waiting until the results of the referendum became clearer before placing their bets
Barclays said around £95bn is waiting to be invested by clients. Much of this will be from pension and hedge funds, which have been waiting until the results of the referendum became clearer before placing their bets

Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and US giants such as JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup were among those calling in senior traders and workers to 'pull all-nighters'.
Market analyst Tony Cross, of Trustnet Direct, said currency and market traders were getting set for 'the biggest night of their careers', adding that if Britain did vote for Brexit then they could be camped at their desks for days.
Crispin Odey, the founder of Odey Asset Management who made much of his estimated £900million fortune from predicting the financial crisis, is among those to have seen private polling of voters. He is one of the most high profile Brexiteers in the City.
With Remain ahead in opinion polls, investors have piled into sterling.

Opinion: Political dysfunction is the new normal, as Brexit and NoBillNoBreak show

A group of lawmakers gathered on the floor of the House of Representatives in a symbolic and futile effort to promote policy that was unlikely to be effective even if enacted.
No, I’m not talking about gun control, but the Republican effort to overturn the White House fiduciary rule.
As Democrats were gathering in protest of a lack of a vote on gun measures, the Republican-led chamber did take a stand on whether to overturn a rule that would apply fiduciary standards to those promoting retirement advice. They came up well short of the two-thirds majority needed to overturn President Barack Obama’s veto.
Oh, yes, the Democrats were busy with their own futile effort overnight.


Democrats' Maintain Sit-In Over Gun Control
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives continued their sit-in past 5 a.m. Thursday, chanting "No bill, no break," and singing, "We Shall Overcome." Photo: AP.
One could argue that maybe the best place to start on gun control, to build consensus and to actually reduce violence, is not with a secret list — without judicial review — that would prohibit firearm purchases. In fact, the no-fly list on which the Democrats’ measure is based has already ensnared the very leader of Thursday’s movement, Rep. John Lewis.
This comes as Brits heads to the polls on whether to leave the European Union. Except, if they choose to leave, leaders of the Brexit movement have said they want to pursue some sort of free-trade arrangement with the EU — meaning, in essence, joining right back up with the same group it left under similar rules.
Also read: U.S. stocks rally as investors bet on ‘remain’ win
Regardless of how they vote, Brits are due for a visit from Donald Trump, who is going to a region with even dimmer view of the Republican nominee than the dismal polls he has at home. Trump has succeeded in ripping apart the Republican Party, for immigration policies that not only can’t be enacted but which poison any chance to build a winning coalition.
But there’s a bigger story here. What Trump’s popularity and Britain’s desire to leave the EU and congressional displays of symbolic politics have in common is a backdrop of global trade.
Also read: Brexit is one act in the larger drama of alienation, powerlessness, stagnation
It was inevitable that trade would lift the fortunes of the vastly underpriced labor of China and India, to the detriment of the workers of the West who are struggling to hold onto their way of living. Those struggles are seen in the U.S. and Europe. Fresh data released Thursday show that median annual household incomes, when adjusted for inflation, are below where they were in 2000.

U.K. Heads to Polls in EU Referendum
Voters headed to the polls on Thursday to vote on whether the country should stay in or leave the European Union. The outcome will have wide-ranging consequences in politics, the economy and financial markets, and potentially affect trade and immigration.
The popularity of Trump and Brexit also are associated with reflexive racism and hostility to immigration that peaks at times of economic malaise.
That economic backdrop, seen in hollowed-out towns throughout the country, is what propelled tea-party Republicans into power in the first place just ahead of a redistricting that makes them nearly impossible to unseat. And for congressional Democrats, why not practice symbolic politics if substantive ones aren’t on offer in any event?
In the early hours of Thursday, it looks like Britain will vote to remain in the EU, and that stocks will rise in relief. And while that’s sensible enough, it’s only a matter of time before the next crisis roils financial markets.
The global economy demands it.

Pound tumbles to more than 30-year low as U.K. heads toward Brexit


Sterling stomped lower after jumping to 2016 high


By 
Markets Reporter
Reuters
Workers carry ballots after polling stations closed in the referendum on the European Union in Glasgow, Scotland.

The British pound was shoved to its lowest since 1985 against the dollar Friday, thrown on a major roller-coaster ride as it appeared the U.K. was headed toward breaking up with the European Union.
Sterling GBPUSD, -7.5366%  was trading at $1.3466, a 9.5% slide from $1.4871 late Thursday in New York as Brexit referendum results from counting areas across the U.K. rolled in.
Broadcasters BBC and ITV in the early hours of Friday morning forecast that the “leave” campaign won the referendum, putting the U.K. on track to sever its ties with the bloc it’s been a member of since 1973.
Late Thursday, the pound soared to a fresh 2016 high of $1.5022 after the last opinion polls and first local results pointed to a victory for the “stay” campaign.
FactSet
Pound slumps after Sunderland results.
However, the U.K. currency quickly gave up those gains after the result from Sunderland in north-east England overwhelmingly pointed in favor of a Brexit. 61.3% of voters in the area voted in favor of “leave,” better than expected by most U.K. commentators. A result above 60% was seen as a strong showing for the “out” side.
Read: 5 steps the European Union must take regardless of Brexit vote
“To put tonight’s volatility in perspective, sterling’s plunge on that Sunderland count was bigger than Black Wednesday’s 4.1% drop. Markets are incredibly nervous now and it’s definitely tin hats time. If ‘leave’ wins there will be carnage for cable,” said Joe Rundle, head of trading at ETX Capital, in a note.
Against the euro, the pound GBPUSD, -7.5366%  was slammed to €1.2305 from €1.3065 late Thursday in New York.
The euro EURUSD, -2.4156%  was fetching $1.1012, compared with $1.1354.
As investors sought safety, the dollar USDJPY, -3.18%  bought ¥101.12, down from ¥105.85. It earlier fell to about ¥100 for the first time since 2013.

Carnage as U.K., Europe stocks sell off at the open on Brexit

An illuminated EU referendum sign in Manchester Town Hall on Thursday.
Reuters

It’s official — the U.K. has voted to leave the European Union. There’s a sense of shock after opinion polls suggested voters would reject a Brexit.
Stock markets in London and Europe sold off sharply at the open, with British bank shares taking a particular hit. The pound is on a downward trajectory.
British Prime Minister David Cameron announced he will step down Friday morning, saying the negotiations for withdrawal from the EU should be carried out by a new leader. His replacement is expected to be selected by October.
“The will of the people to leave the EU must be respected,” British Prime Minister David Cameron said in a statement Friday. “We must now prepare for a negotiation with the European Union.”
Stoxx Europe 600 falling off a cliff after U.K. votes to Brexit. Faces worst day since 1987http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-face-worst-day-since-1987-as-uk-votes-to-ditch-the-eu-2016-06-24?mod=MW_story_latest_news