And here's a representative of "smart money"
This odious character, and associates, shovelled millions into firing up Leave, and profited billions from the ensuing turmoil.
Now he seeks to make more billions by the collapse of Brexit.
"Odey homes in on UK assets ahead of key Brexit vote
Investors say scrapping EU exit would trigger ‘monster’ rally in stocks and sterling"
"A top hedge fund manager says he is losing faith in the chances of the UK leaving the EU, leaving sterling well placed for a rare but rapid rally.
Crispin Odey, founder of Odey Asset Management and a big financial backer of the campaign to leave the union, had been betting against the pound throughout last year, in the expectation that leaving the bloc would hit the UK economy hard. But in the past two weeks he closed those short positions, and is now neutral on the currency, he told the Financial Times.
He has also been buying some UK stocks including Dixons, the high street retailer. “Markets have already decided essentially that Brexit isn’t going to happen,” he said. “The pound should rally; it’s very oversold.”
Investors’ enthusiasm to pounce on news suggesting the exit from the UK may be softened, delayed, or even scrapped, is clear. On Friday the pound jumped as much as 0.6 per cent to a high of $1.2850 on reports the Cabinet was planning to delay Brexit and after foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said voting down Theresa May’s deal to exit the EU could scupper Brexit altogether.
Next week, the prime minister’s plan for Brexit will be presented to parliament for approval. Mr Odey is among those who believe it will not pass. Given that three-quarters of MPs voted to stay in the EU in the 2016 referendum, “it’s easy to see . . . that you’re going to get a Remain result”, he said. “I haven’t given up the Brexit dream. But I don’t think the pound will crash down to $1.05,” he added. Sterling “has got a positive bias to it”.
After spending most of 2018 heading south against the dollar and the euro, sterling has rebounded against the greenback and is roughly flat against the single currency since mid-December.
Defeats in the House of Commons for the government have revealed what appears to be a majority of MPs against a no-deal Brexit and limited the government’s options. Other market participants agree that any shift to a soft Brexit would kick the pound much higher, particularly given the weight of bets against it that have persisted for the past two years.
It would be a “monster” rally, said Gregory Perdon, co-chief investment officer at private bank Arbuthnot Latham.
Mr Odey, whose Odey European fund gained 53 per cent last year as one of the world’s best-performing hedge funds after losing 21.7 per cent the previous year, said Mrs May’s Brexit proposal was “completely out”.
A so-called Norway Plus option, in which Britain would become part of the European Free Trade Association, is “not bad” but “a long way short” of a full Brexit, he added.
Most hedge funds have been reluctant to place bets one way or another on sterling for some time, believing that the political turmoil was too hard to decipher and that the eventual move in the pound could just as easily be lower or higher. However, in recent months some have started to venture in by buying call options — the right to buy at a set price — which lets them profit from a rebound whilst limiting their losses.
Banks’ analysts are also turning positive on the pound because they believe the prospect of a no-deal is too ugly for lawmakers to stomach. BNP Paribas, for instance, said it was “time to go long”. “We expect the pound to strengthen if a consensus builds for a second EU referendum ‒ as we see as likely to be the case ‒ as markets adjust to an increased probability of no Brexit and a reduced probability of a ‘no deal’,” said Parisha Saimbi at the French bank. Sterling would rise to around $1.36 in that scenario, she predicted — a pick-up of nearly 10 cents. Kit Juckes at Société Générale goes further, suggesting that if it breaks $1.35 it could reach as high as $1.45. Its average between 2010 and 2015 was, after all, $1.58, he said. “Not an easy spot trade” he said, given the problems in picking timing, but potentially one to play through options."
https://www.ft.com/content/cc491f18-15bc-11e9-a581-4ff78404524e
Do you know who the people are that will actually be better off as a result of Brexit? I do. It isn't the common citizens of the country. Not even the richest 10%
