Washington Post (April 1)
“Earth has a long-running fever that shows little signs of easing. The planet has set high temperature records in each of the last nine months, and March is poised to become the 10th. Multiple locations around the world observed unprecedented heat on the month’s final weekend, as if to put an exclamation mark on this exceptional run of warmth.”
Tags: Earth, Exceptional, Fever, Heat, High, March, Planet, Records, Temperature, Unprecedented, Weekend, World
Washington Post (January 19)
“The S&P 500 hit an all-time closing high Friday.” Up over 1% from Thursday, the index closed at 4,839.81, “surpassing the previous closing record set in January of 2022.” Support stems from confidence in an economy that has averted a recession, apparently achieving an elusive soft-landing. Analysts also “point to an AI-driven frenzy on Wall Street that rivals the dot-com boom of the late ’90s, when investors sought to capitalize on the transformative gains brought by the early internet.”
Tags: AI, Analysts, Boom, Capitalize, Dot-com, Economy, Frenzy, Gains, High, Internet, Investors, Recession, Record Confidence, Rivals, S&P 500, Soft landing, Transformative, Wall Street
Institutional Investor (November 27)
“Retail beef prices hit a record in July, as base demand across all grades, from prime to select, remained ‘incredibly good’…. Cattle supplies are tight and are likely to stay that way for the next few years as drought and high input prices will limit herd expansion.”
Tags: Beef prices, Cattle supplies, Demand, Drought, Grades, Herd expansion, High, Input prices, July, Prime, Record, Retail, Select, Tight
Reuters (July 19)
“The TOPIX is up 20% this year and trading near a multi-decade high. Some of the drivers are profound. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is asking companies whose shares trade below book value to disclose plans to enhance their market worth, spurring hopes of share buybacks. And the welcome return of inflation could prompt Japanese companies to invest more and pay higher wages, which would in turn prop up consumer spending.”
Tags: Book value, Buybacks, Drivers, Enhance, High, Inflation, Invest, Japanese companies, Market worth, Shares, Topix, TSE, Wages
BBC (July 5)
“The world’s average temperature reached a new high on Monday 3 July, topping 17 degrees Celsius for the first time.” This marks “the highest in any instrumental record dating back to the end of the 19th century.” Scientists attribute the record high to “El Niño and mankind’s ongoing emissions of carbon dioxide.” With El Niño about to enter its hottest phase, “scientists believe that more records will be shattered as the summer goes on and El Niño gains strength.”
Tags: 17 degrees, CO2, El Niño, Emissions, High, Hottest phase, Record, Scientists, Shattered, Strength, Summer, Temperature
Investment Week (June 29)
“Shop price inflation in the UK accelerated to a near 14-year high in June, powered by a sharp rise in food prices as retailers battle rising supply chain expenses and a decline in consumer spending. Shop prices were up by 3.1% in June, up from 2.8% in May.” This marked “the highest rate of inflation since September 2008” and it was largely “powered by 5.6% growth in food prices.”
Tags: Consumer spending, Expenses, Food prices, High, Inflation, Retailers, Sharp rise, Shop price, Supply chain, UK
Barron’s (May 17)
“The stock market has enjoyed a mini-rally in the past few days, but the latest gains look like an upsurge in the middle of a larger decline.” The “battered” market “seemed to be begging to be bought,” but it “could get knocked right back down.” Valuations “are still arguably too high.”
Tags: High
Investment Week (May 9)
“BP’s latest plan to buy back $2.5bn of stock this quarter has pushed forecasts for FTSE 100 firm buybacks to be on track for a record high in 2022. FTSE 100 firms are now planning £37bn of share buybacks this year, compared to the prior record of £34.9bn in 2018.”
Reuters (March 15)
“China posted a steep jump in daily COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, with new cases more than doubling from a day earlier to hit a two-year high, raising concerns about the rising economic costs of the country’s tough containment measures.” The nation’s “zero tolerance approach is not only becoming more costly, but also suffering diminishing returns against the highly infectious Omicron.”
Tags: China, Containment, COVID-19, Diminishing returns, Doubling, Economic costs, High, Infections, New cases, Omicron, Zero tolerance
Wall Street Journal (February 1)
“Despite record-high case numbers, the U.K. and other governments across Europe responded to Omicron with lighter restrictions than any previous wave of the virus, allowing businesses to remain open.” Moreover, individuals and businesses have “adapted to restrictions, minimizing the effects.” As a result, economic growth in Europe has slowed far less than during previous surges.
Tags: Businesses, Cases, Economic growth, Europe, High, Individuals, Omicron, Open, Record, Restrictions, Slowed, U.K., Virus
