This article only represents the author's own views.
When it comes to stock brokers, the usual wisdom says that “As go the markets, so go the brokers.” But other powers have been working behind the scenes lately for Futu Holdings Ltd. (FUTU.US), whose profits nearly doubled in last year’s fourth quarter, even as the U.S. and Hong Kong stock markets at the core of its business were hardly star performers during that time.
In this case, Futu, which boasts a large customer base in Hong Kong and is expanding into other mar-kets, might well want to say, “Thank you, Jerome Powell,” tipping its hat to the current U.S. Federal Re-serve chairman.