Market Watch (January 29)
“Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is giving investors another six weeks to envision a future where interest rates start to climb and its balance sheet dramatically shrinks. Expect a lot of swings in markets until then.”
Tags: Balance sheet, Climb, Envision, Federal Reserve, Future, Interest rates, Investors, Markets, Powell, Shrinks, Swing
Reuters (January 28)
“A growing number of Chinese construction and decoration companies are writing off assets or issuing profit warnings as debt woes at China Evergrande Group and other property developers debilitate their suppliers.” Despite government measures “to ease developers’ liquidity stress and support the cooling economy, recent data suggests the problem will get worse.”
Tags: Assets, China, Companies, Construction, Debt, Evergrande, Government, Liquidity, Profit warnings, Property developers, Suppliers, Woes
Financial Times (January 28)
“Oaktree Capital is risking a showdown with Beijing over control of one of ailing property developer Evergrande’s most-prized projects in mainland China.” Seizing “the Venice development could have a profound effect on the wider restructuring of Evergrande, the property developer that has scrambled to reassure its creditors since its finances started to unravel last year.”
Tags: Ailing, Beijing, China, Control, Creditors, Evergrande, Oaktree Capital, Property developer, Restructuring, Risking, Showdown, Venice development
Washington Post (January 26)
“Thousands of Americans who jumped into crypto investing over the past two years in hopes of a rocket ride to instant wealth now face a similar reckoning: Prices for cryptocurrencies… have cratered since reaching all-time highs in early November, wiping out an astonishing $1.35 trillion in value globally, nearly half of the total market.”
Tags: Cratered, Crypto investing, Cryptocurrencies, Instant wealth, Market, Prices, Reckoning, Rocket ride, U.S., Value
San Francisco Chronicle (January 25)
“The start of the new year brought a familiar wave of distress for many Bay Area parents: Omicron infections were accelerating; preschools and child care centers were shutting their doors; adults saw their work regimens upended, their children cloistered and irritable.” But there is now a new worry. It’s hitting children harder. “The pervasive threat of omicron to children too young to be vaccinated has added a layer of anguish.”
Tags: Accelerating, Adults, Anguish, Children, Distress, Familiar, Infections, Omicron, Parents, Preschools, Threat, Upended, Vaccinated, Wave, Work
New York Times (January 25)
“So far, 2022 is off to a rocky start for the stock market. Yesterday, after an initial plunge in which stocks dropped as much as 4 percent — the biggest one-day drop in nearly a year — the market rallied and ended the day with a slight gain.” There was no particularly market-moving news, but “the foundations supporting the market during the pandemic are looking less stable.”
Tags: 2022, Foundations, Gain, News, Pandemic, Plunge, Rallied, Rocky start, Stock market, Support
Wall Street Journal (January 24)
“The financial industry has spotted an opportunity to make money by helping people feel good about themselves. Despite claims to the contrary, these investments don’t do much to make the world a better place…. The explosion of ESG investing… is mostly—but not completely—a waste of time.”
Tags: Better place, Claims, ESG investing, Feel good, Financial industry, Investments, Money, Opportunity, Waste, World
Reuters (January 24)
Hong Kong’s “status as a global financial hub” is being threatened by its “zero COVID” policy and draconian immigration protocols. With no signs the government will ease restrictions, “more expats are thinking of leaving, and global banks, asset managers and corporate law firms are facing up to many of their staff exiting after annual bonuses are paid out in the first three months of the year.”
Tags: Asset managers, Banks, Draconian, Expats, Financial hub, Hong Kong, Immigration, Restrictions, Staff, Threatened, Zero COVID
The Guardian (January 23)
Vladimir Putin “fits the rogue male profile to a T – unscrupulous, vicious, cunning, and ever ready to trample on other people and countries.” That, not strategy, is the key to understanding his desire to invade Ukraine. “The world has been here before, many times. One screwed-up little man must not be allowed to start a war no one wants.”
Tags: Cunning, Invade, Putin, Rogue male, Trample. Strategy, Ukraine, Understanding, Unscrupulous, Vicious, War
Washington Post (January 20)
“Expansive, flat and abundant, the rooftops of big-box stores in the United States could produce enough solar energy to meet half their electricity needs…. Walmart leads the way in rooftop solar potential, followed by Target and Home Depot.”
Tags: Home Depot
