Finance

Why did the markets move? Most investors, analysts and even financial journalists will look, first and foremost, for news. Perhaps the jobs data were published, a firm announced it was being acquired or a central banker gave a sombre speech. Yet a small, dedicated cult of “chartists” or “technical analysts” believes that the movement of stocks, bonds and currencies can be divined by the making and interpreting of charts.Their methods are many, varied and wackily named. A “death cross” is when a short-term moving average of an asset’s price falls below a long-term moving average. “Fibonacci retracement levels” rely on the idea that an asset climbing in price will fall back before rising again. Such backsliding is supposed to stop at levels based on Fibonacci numbers, like a 61.8% drop. The “ichimoku cloud”, loved by Japanese traders, sees the construction of a cloud by—bear with this—shading the area between two averages of high and low prices over the past week, month or two months. A price above the cloud is auspicious; one below it is ominous. A true chartist needs only such information and “does not even care to know what business or industry a company is in, as long as he or she can study its chart”, as Burton Malkiel, an economist at Princeton and author of “A Random Walk Down Wall Street”, has noted. These methods, though patently mad, have attracted attention lately because of how the s&p 500, the leading index of American stocks, has wiggled around. After slumping to a low of 3,637 on June 17th the index began to climb. On August 16th it peaked at an intraday high of around 4,325, a whisker away from its 200-day moving average of 4,326—a supposedly critical technical level. An asset that has fallen in price but is rising is supposed to meet “resistance” at such levels. To chartists it is concerning when an asset fails to “break through” a resistance barrier—it is an indication of a bear-market rally, rather than a true bull market. And so, this time, it appears to have been: stocks have slumped by around 8% since August 16th.Plenty of mainstream investors use some version of trend-following. Factor investing, for which Eugene Fama and Kenneth French won a Nobel prize, is used by successful quantitative funds, like aqr Capital Management. It breaks down returns into component factors like “size” (small companies earn better returns than bigger ones) or “quality” (low-debt, stable businesses earn better returns than riskier ones). Another such factor is momentum: stocks that are rising tend to keep rising. Still, their approach is a little more sophisticated than looking at a price chart. aqr’s algorithms tend to combine factors like momentum with others. They might buy, say, a small or high-quality firm whose share price has recently risen.It is nevertheless possible to understand the chartists’ obsession with levels and trends. There is no real difference between a euro being worth $1.0001 or $0.9999, but these “big figures” in foreign-exchange markets assume importance. This is in part symbolic and in part practical: clients tend to place orders near round numbers and derivatives tend to be sold with round “strike prices”. That means it will take a lot more activity for the euro to fall from $1.0001 to $0.9999 than for it to fall from $1.0487 to $1.0485. When placing orders, investors try to figure out where others are placing theirs. That can help them place a stop-loss order, to close a trade that moves against them, at a sensible level. If enough investors look at technical levels to inform their behaviour, then they begin to matter. Perhaps the real value of technical analysis is what its use tells you about market conditions. No one bothers with the chartists’ pretty drawings when the economy is good, profits are high and stocks are moving smoothly higher—nor, indeed, in the depths of a frantic bear market, when prices will plunge through any and all levels technical analysts are wont to draw. Much as people who are feeling restless about the direction of their lives are more prone to become interested in astrology, investors who are uneasy about the direction of the markets will reach for the easy reassurance of an eye-catching diagram. That some are laying the blame for the end of the summer rally on a technical tripwire suggests they have little idea what is really going on. Perhaps Buttonwood should derive a technical indicator of her own: the more regularly chartist analysis lands in her inbox, the clearer it is that no one has any clue as to why the markets are moving.Read more from Buttonwood, our columnist on financial markets:Investors are optimistic about equities. They have no alternative (Aug 18th)Reminiscences of a financial columnist (Jul 30th)The Fed put morphs into a Fed call (Jul 23rd)For more expert analysis of the biggest stories in economics, business and markets, sign up to Money Talks, our weekly newsletter. More

Europe’s energy war is heating up. The eu is preparing to boycott most Russian oil, starting from December. Russia, for its part, is curbing gas supply to Europe: on August 31st it halted flows through its biggest pipeline, citing maintenance. The confrontation has caused an energy crunch. Wholesale gas prices are nine times what they were last year; power prices, which are linked to gas, the marginal generation fuel, have soared.The crisis threatens to boil over in the winter, when huge bills could hit firms and people. Accordingly, European governments are staging defensive manoeuvres. Bruegel, a think-tank in Brussels, reckons they have allocated €280bn ($300bn) to cushioning the shock over the past year. Shielding tactics vary in kind, calibre and cost. Many countries are softening the wholesale-price pass-through by slashing taxes. Thirteen have dropped duties on fuel, ranging from a rebate of 5p (six cents) a litre in Britain to six times that in France. Many have also cut vat, including France, the Netherlands and Poland. Some cuts, meant to be temporary, have already been extended. Spain’s suspension of a 7% tax on power generators, due to end last year, will run to 2023.Customer subsidies are another popular tool. Greece will cover 94% of power-price rises faced by households in September, a measure that is expected to cost the taxpayer nearly €2bn. Norway is footing 90% of power bills above 700NkR ($70, about half the current price) per megawatt hour until March 2023.Another type of subsidy is limits on retail-price increases, or even price caps, with governments typically paying energy firms the difference from market rates. France is restricting an increase in regulated electricity prices to 4% and forcing edf, a state-owned energy firm, to sell more power to rivals. Romania is capping gas and electricity bills up to certain consumption levels. In another twist, Portugal and Spain are financing part of power plants’ fuel costs.Price-curbing measures can make a difference. Portugal’s government reckons that, since April, its cap has kept prices 17% lower than they would have been. The problem is that they provide bad incentives. Hungary’s fuel-price cap, for instance, has caused such a surge in demand that the government narrowed the scope for eligibility in July.Hence the popularity of a second tactic: universal cash transfers. German workers who pay income tax are set to receive a one-off allowance of €300, with families getting a bonus of €100 per child. Increasingly, however, governments are making such policies more targeted. More than 8m British households on benefits will receive £650, on top of a universal £400 handout. Denmark, Italy and others have also reserved transfers for the worst affected.All of this will cost governments dearly. The European Commission is keen to help, and not just by allowing member states to flout eu competition rules. It is working on limiting the price of electricity by “decoupling” it from the cost of gas—extending, in effect, the subsidy scheme pioneered by Portugal and Spain to the whole bloc. How this mega-shield would be funded remains unclear, however. Do not expect Europe to march in unison soon. For more expert analysis of the biggest stories in economics, business and markets, sign up to Money Talks, our weekly newsletter. More

At some point in September a team of American inspectors will touch down on Chinese soil in the hope of doing something miraculous: freely inspecting the internal auditing paperwork of Chinese firms listed on American exchanges. The agreement to do so, announced on August 26th, has been a decade in the making, and could prevent the delisting of some $940bn in Chinese shares that trade in New York. Success, however, is still far from guaranteed. Since 2011 the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (pcaob), an auditing governance body, has demanded that accounting firms auditing New York-listed Chinese companies open the companies’ books for inspection. These reviews were made all the more urgent by repeated instances of fraud by Chinese firms. Yet the Chinese government had pushed back, at times declaring such paperwork “state secrets” and threatening criminal charges against anyone who reveals them.A law passed in America in 2020, the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, gave auditors three years to comply before their Chinese clients were forcibly delisted. When in March the Securities and Exchange Commission, America’s market watchdog, published a list of firms slated for delisting, it caused the sharpest fall in American-traded Chinese stocks in more than a decade. In mid-August fears of impending financial turmoil grew when five Chinese state-owned companies voluntarily delisted from American exchanges. For their part, regulators in Beijing had sent a cold message to investors in America. A crackdown on Didi Global, a Chinese ride-hailing firm, just days after it listed in New York implied that the Chinese government cared little about the reputation of companies listed on foreign markets. All this means the deal between the pcaob and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (csrc) comes as a welcome surprise. It seems to show that leaders in Beijing still see some value in financial links with America—defying predictions of an imminent financial decoupling between the world’s two largest economies. Signing the deal may have been the easy part, however. Lawyers working on cross-border regulatory arrangements note that carrying it out will be fraught with risks. The statements released by the pcaob and the csrc are contradictory in places. The Americans note that they will not need to go through Chinese authorities to access documents. There can be “no loopholes and no exceptions”, their statement says. The Chinese say all arrangements will be done through the csrc. A single disagreement on access could end up derailing the entire deal.Given the Chinese government’s sensitivity around data, the inspections could be awkward. The pcaob can examine documents not just from the current year, but from a few years back. While the most recent audit documents may have been prepared without the data disclosures that China considers a national-security risk, documents requested from previous years may still contain sensitive information, notes Travis Lundy of Smartkarma, a research firm.That might help explain why, even though the deal has been signed, the market is so far pricing in only a 50% chance of eventual success, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs, a bank. Agreements between China and America have a poor record when it comes to implementation. Analysts at Bernstein, a broker, reminded investors of another high-profile pact meant to patch up relations: “Remember the Trump phase one trade deal?” That agreement failed miserably. ■For more expert analysis of the biggest stories in economics, business and markets, sign up to Money Talks, our weekly newsletter. More

The inside of one of Five Below’s existing locations.
Five Below

Check out the companies making headlines after hours.
Pure Storage — The tech stock jumped 7% after the data storage developer surpassed profit and revenue expectations. Pure Storage also issued strong third-quarter and full-year revenue guidance.

Okta — Shares dropped 10% despite the identity management company posting a beat on the top and bottom lines in its second-quarter results. Okta’s third-quarter and full-year revenue guidance was also in line with expectations.
Nutanix — The cloud computing stock surged 21% after Nutanix exceeded expectations in its quarterly results and issued strong revenue guidance.
MongoDB — Shares declined 8% after the document database company forecasted a wider-than-expected loss in its third-quarter guidance. Otherwise, MongoDB posted a profit and revenue beat in its most recent quarter.
Five Below — Shares rose 4.4% despite the discount retailer missing earnings and revenue expectations in its most recent quarterly results. Five Below also issued weak guidance for the third quarter and the full year.
Disney — The stock advanced 1.5% after a Wall Street Journal report, citing people familiar with the matter, said the Walt Disney Company is exploring a membership program similar to Amazon Prime. The perks would encourage customers to spend more on streaming, resorts and merchandise, the report said.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Every single warning light is flashing red. Russia’s war on Ukraine, an uneven recovery from the covid-19 pandemic and a drought across much of the continent have conspired to create a severe energy crunch, high inflation, low growth—and enormous uncertainty about Europe’s economic future. Governments are rushing to try to help the most vulnerable. And amid the nervous confusion, there is broad agreement on one thing: a recession is coming.Quite how bad the downturn will be depends on how the energy shock plays out, and how policymakers respond to it. This week energy prices reached once-unimaginable heights: more than €290 ($340) per megawatt hour (mwh) for benchmark gas to be delivered in the fourth quarter of the year (the usual pre-pandemic price was around €30); and more than €1,200 per mwh for daytime electricity for the same quarter in Germany (up from around €60). Because gas is the marginal fuel in most European electricity markets, it sets the price for power more broadly.The European economy entered the crisis in a reasonably strong position. The labour market is still relatively healthy, with unemployment at 6.6%—meaning, by Europe’s mediocre standards, it is close to full employment. Wage growth will probably pick up in the coming months, as long-term contracts are renegotiated. Consumer confidence fell at the beginning of the war, but consumption didn’t slump. Inflation expectations have subsided somewhat. Yet things will look considerably gloomier in a few months for three reasons. First, industry is under pressure. In the spring, leaders of Europe’s largest manufacturers argued that cutting off Russian gas supplies too swiftly would bring economic crisis to the continent. Despite high prices, industrial production has so far remained strong. “Part of the reason is that firms are still working off the backlog of orders from the past,” says Michael Hüther from the German Economic Institute, a think-tank. But these backlogs will not last for ever, and some crucial forward-looking indicators are grim. “New orders minus inventories—that is, the demands on firms that keep them busy—have fallen off a cliff,” says Robin Brooks at the Institute of International Finance, which represents banks and institutional investors. The decline reflects a weakening global, and in particular Chinese, economy. As Mr Brooks notes, such a drop can mark a turning-point in the economic cycle.The worst-affected industries will probably be east of the Rhine. Recent surveys of industrial leaders in Germany and Austria point towards contraction. Germany’s unhealthy reliance on Chinese buyers risks dragging down demand for goods across the Teutonic supply chain. Italian industry appears to be in free fall. Poland and the Czech Republic, both sitting outside the euro zone, are vulnerable, too. The exception is Hungary, where manufacturing is expanding at a healthy pace, thanks to battery investment, the electric-vehicles boom and long-term energy contracts (although some of them will soon come to an end).The second reason for gloom is that consumer spending on services will struggle to hold up the continent’s economy. Buoyed by a strong season in France and the south of Europe, as holidaymakers made exuberant use of their pandemic savings, tourism added to growth over the summer. But sentiment is declining as consumers tighten their belts in preparation for a long, cold winter. Services are likely to stagnate over the coming months, with real estate and transport facing particularly severe difficulties, according to s&p Global’s purchasing managers’ index.Last, Europe will almost certainly see the energy shock coincide with rising interest rates. Having underestimated price increases along with many other of the world’s central banks, the ecb is now determined to bring annual inflation back to its target of 2%, from the alarming 9.1% recorded in August. Isabel Schnabel, a member of the central bank’s executive board, argued in favour of inflicting more pain on the economy to see the job through at the Federal Reserve’s recent annual gathering of central bankers and economists in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Economists therefore expect the ecb to try to buttress its inflation-fighting credentials with a substantial interest-rate rise in its next policy meeting on September 8th, possibly lifting rates by three-quarters of a percentage point. In expectation, yields on European short- and longer-term bonds have increased in the past month. Despite this, the euro has continued to slump, dropping to parity with the dollar for the first time in two decades. That reflects a deteriorating outlook for Europe’s economy and the decision of global investors to turn elsewhere in response. It is becoming yet another worry for the continent’s policymakers, as a weaker currency fuels inflation through dearer imports, hitting real incomes and thus consumption. All of this suggests that the European economy is certain to enter a recession, led by Germany, Italy and central and eastern Europe. Analysts at JPMorgan Chase, a bank, expect annualised growth rates of -2% for the euro area overall in the fourth quarter of this year, -2.5% for France and Germany and -3% for Italy. Italy’s troubles and high debts could potentially trigger jitters in Europe’s bond markets. European politicians have so far spent a lot of time thinking about how to respond to surging energy prices. They will soon have a broader crisis on their hands. ■ More

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.
Bed Bath & Beyond — Shares of the beleaguered retailer tumbled 21.3% after it outlined a strategic plan that only confirmed investor fears that the company will struggle to turn around its business. Bed Bath also filed to sell an undisclosed amount of stock in the future.

Express — Express shares plunged 20.8% after the company reported quarterly revenue of $464.4 million, compared to StreetAccount estimates of $479.6 million. The apparel retailer, which also cut its full-year guidance, cited challenging macroeconomic conditions.
Rocket Lab USA — Shares surged 7.2% after Cowen upgraded the company to outperform from market perform, saying that the shares have more than 50% upside. According to Cowen, Rocket Lab is the leader in the space launch market.
Snap — The social media company saw its shares rise 8.7% after it announced a restructuring plan that includes a 20% cut in its staff and a new chief operating officer. The changes come after Snap reported disappointing second-quarter earnings and said it would not provide guidance for its current quarter.
LSB Industries — Shares of U.S. nitrogen company LSB Industries gained 3.3% after UBS initiated coverage with a buy rating and a price target suggesting 30% upside. The company is set to benefit from the record spreads between low-cost U.S. natural gas and high-cost natural gas in Europe and Asia, according to UBS.
PayPal Holdings — PayPal shares advanced 1.8% after Bank of America upgraded the stock to a buy from neutral and hiked its price target on the payments firm. The bank said it expects activist Elliott Management to push for more cost-cutting at PayPal, which could boost earnings going forward.

Seagate Technology Holdings — Shares of the data storage company slid 3.5% after Seagate cut its revenue guidance for the current quarter. The company said it expects revenue for the quarter ending Sept. 30 to be in a range of $2.0 billion to $2.2 billion, down from a range of $2.35 billion to $2.65 billion. The company cited weaker economic trends in parts of Asia.
CrowdStrike Holdings — The stock dropped 5.5% despite the cybersecurity firm reporting a beat on quarterly profit and revenue expectations, as well as issuing an upbeat forecast.
HP Inc. — Shares of the PC maker dropped 7.7% after the company reported a revenue miss amid a slowdown in spending on electronics. HP’s quarterly earnings matched analysts’ estimates, according to Refinitiv.
Chewy — Shares of the pets products retailer slid 8.2% after it issued weak current-quarter revenue guidance. Chewy reported a profit beat in its most recent quarter, but its revenue fell short of expectations. The company expects rising inflation will dent spending on pet products purchases.
PVH — The stock declined 10.5% after the owner of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein apparel brands cut its full-year outlook. At the same time, PVH said it’s reducing its global office workforce by 10%.
Baxter International — Shares climbed 1.7% after the health care company said its latest syringe infusion therapy was cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
— CNBC’s Yun Li, Tanaya Macheel, Jesse Pound, Carmen Reinicke, Samantha Subin and Michelle Fox Theobald contributed reporting.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Identity crime and attempted fraud jumped by 36% in 2021 relative to 2020, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center.
Theft linked to government benefits like unemployment and to social media accounts were among the most prevalent identity scams.
Here are some ways consumers can protect themselves from identity crimes.

d3sign | Moment | Getty Images

Pandemic spurred jump in identity theft

Since the beginning of 2020, consumers have lost about $886 million in fraud specifically linked to Covid-19, as criminals have leveraged the pandemic to steal from online shoppers and in other forums, according to FTC data through Aug. 30.
Scams involving government benefits like unemployment assistance also surged during the pandemic, for example. In such instances, criminals used consumers’ personal data — much of it stolen in past data breaches — to file for unemployment benefits in others’ names.

“That was a huge driver of a lot of the fraud” last year, according to Eva Velasquez, chief executive of the ITRC.

Because unemployment benefits are taxable, victims often discover the fraud during tax season and must take steps to rectify their standing with the IRS — as well as prevent future impacts like damaged credit or having financial accounts opened in their name.
“The explosion of identity crimes within government benefits and government services platforms has decreased in 2022, but it is nowhere near pre-pandemic levels,” Velasquez said. “We’re definitely seeing a much higher baseline in that area.”
Identity theft linked to social media accounts also surged in 2021, with the number of reported incidents jumping 1,044% relative to 2020, according to the ITRC.
These scams generally involve thieves taking over a social media account — using stolen credentials — and leverage the user’s followers to perpetuate additional fraud, Velasquez said.
For example, a scammer may post about a fake charity on an Instagram user’s account, providing an air of legitimacy and trust; followers may then donate to this fake charity or somehow divulge personal information that leads criminals to hack their account, too, Velasquez explained.
“It’s like this wildfire that started and all these sparks keep igniting new wildfires,” she said.

3 tips for consumers to protect themselves

Here are some tips for consumers to protect themselves from identity-related scams, according to Velasquez.

Go to the source. Don’t engage if you receive an urgent- or official-seeming e-mail, text message or a direct message on social media but didn’t initiate contact — especially if they ask for any account credentials, a Social Security number or financial account information. “That’s a huge red flag,” Velasquez said. “I don’t care if they said it’s the IRS, your friend, the Department of Homeland Security or your utility provider.” Log into that organization’s app or website, call their official phone number or contact the entity in any other way you would typically do so in order to verify they are indeed the ones reaching out to you.

Enable multi-factor authentication. Multi-factor authentication, also called two-step verification, offers an additional layer of account security in the event a fraudster has obtained your login or other credentials. After a successful login, the user will be prompted for a second identity verification such as a six-digit code that’s texted to the cell phone number on file. However, it’s not enough to merely opt into two-step authentication — account holders also shouldn’t share their one-time passwords with anybody. Scammers can successfully obtain those codes — and then break into users’ accounts — by pretending to be someone you know.

Choose a complex password. Consumers can prevent account hacking by using a complex and unique login password. It may sound simple, but individuals clearly don’t follow the advice: 123456 is the most common password leaked on the dark web. Choose a password that’s 12 characters or longer, and don’t use the same one twice; use a password manager or write down passwords. For those who fear losing that piece of paper: This approach isn’t nearly as risky as re-using simple passwords for all accounts, Velasquez said.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Klarna reported a pre-tax loss of nearly 6.2 billion Swedish krona in the first half of 2022, up from 1.8 billion krona in the same period a year ago.
The firm, which allows users to spread the cost of purchases over interest-free installments, saw a jump in operating expenses and defaults.
The company’s ballooning losses highlight the price of its rapid expansion in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The logo of Swedish payment provider Klarna.
Thomas Trutschel | Photothek | Getty Images

Klarna on Wednesday reported a dramatic jump in losses in the first half, adding to a deluge of negative news for the “buy now, pay later” pioneer.
The Swedish payments firm generated revenues of 9.1 billion Swedish krona ($950 million) in the period spanning January to the end of June 2022. That was up 24% from a year ago.

But the company also racked up hefty losses. Klarna’s pre-tax loss soared more than threefold year-on-year to nearly 6.2 billion krona. In the first half of 2021, Klarna lost around 1.8 billion Swedish krona.
The company, which allows users to spread the cost of purchases over interest-free installments, saw a jump in operating expenses and defaults. Operating expenses before credit losses came in at 10.8 billion Swedish krona, up from 6.3 billion krona year-over-year, driven by administrative costs related to its rapid international expansion in countries like the U.S. Credit losses, meanwhile, rose more than 50% to 2.9 billion Swedish krona.
Klarna had previously been profitable for most of its existence — that is up until 2019, when the firm dipped into the red for the first time after a hike in investments aimed at growing the business globally.
The company’s ballooning losses highlight the price of its rapid expansion after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Klarna has entered 11 new markets since the start of 2020, and took a number of costly gambits to extend its foothold in the U.S. and Britain.
In the U.S., Klarna has spent heavily on marketing and user acquisition in an effort to chip away at Affirm, its main rival stateside. In the U.K., meanwhile, the firm acquired PriceRunner, a price comparison site, in April. It has also engaged in a charm offensive with British politicians and regulators ahead of incoming regulations.

More recently, Klarna has been forced to cut back. In May, the company slashed about 10% of its global workforce in a swift round of job cuts. The company subsequently raised raised funds at a $6.7 billion valuation — an 85% drop from its previous valuation — in an $800 million investment deal that defined the capitulation from high-growth tech firms as investors grew wary of a possible recession.
The sharp discount reflected grim sentiment among investors in fintech in both the public and private markets, with publicly-listed fintech Affirm having lost about three quarters of its market value since the start of 2022.
“We’ve had to make some tough decisions, ensuring we have the right people, in the right place, focused on business priorities that will accelerate us back to profitability while supporting consumers and retailers through a more difficult economic period,” said Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO and co-founder of Klarna.
“We needed to take immediate and pre-emptive action, which I think was misunderstood at the time, but now sadly we have seen many other companies follow suit.”
Klarna said it plans to tighten its approach to lending, particularly with new customers, to factor in the worsening cost-of-living situation. However, Siemiatkowski said, “You won’t see the impact of this on our financials in this report yet.”
“We have a very agile balance sheet, especially in comparison to traditional banks due to the short-term nature of our products, but even for Klarna it takes a little while for the impact of decisions to flow through.”
Fintech companies are cutting expenses and delaying listing plans amid a worsening macroeconomic backdrop. Meanwhile, consumer-oriented services are losing their appeal among investors while so-called “business-to-business” fintechs attract the limelight.
Klarna says it is now used by over 150 million people, while the company counts 450,000 merchants on its network. Klarna mainly generates income from retailers, not users, taking a small slice of each transaction processed through its platform.
“Ultimately they’ve proven there can be a profitable business there but have doubled down on growing in the U.S. market which is expensive,” Simon Taylor, head of strategy at fintech startup Sardine.ai, told CNBC.
“Market share there will be meaningful for long-term revenue. But it takes time and the funding taps aren’t what they used to be.”
But the company faces stiff competition, with titans in the realms of both tech and finance seeking to capitalize on growth in the buy now, pay later industry. Apple is set to launch its own BNPL product, Apple Pay Later, this fall, which will allow users to split the cost of their purchases over four equal monthly payments.
Meanwhile, proposals are afoot to bring the BNPL market under regulatory supervision. In the U.K., the government has announced plans to enforce tighter affordability checks and a crackdown on misleading advertisements. Stateside, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau opened a market-monitoring probe into BNPL companies.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More