Reuters (July 14)
“After staring parity against the dollar in the face for days, the euro finally broke the key level.” The immediate cause was surging U.S. inflation, which strengthens “the case for a supersized 100 bps rate hike by the Federal Reserve” should it choose to follow the Bank of Canada, which “paved the way” with “the first 100-basis-point rate increase among the world’s advanced economies in the current policy-tightening cycle.”
Tags: 100 bps, Advanced economies, Bank of Canada, Dollar, euro, Fed, Inflation, Parity, Policy-tightening cycle, Rate hike, Surging, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (July 13)
“U.S. consumer inflation accelerated to 9.1% in June, a pace not seen in more than four decades, adding pressure on the Federal Reserve to act more aggressively to slow rapid price increases throughout the economy.” But there are also reasons to think inflation will be coming down as “investor expectations of slowing economic growth world-wide have led to a decline in commodity prices,” consumer spending is shifting, and excess inventory has retailers warning “of the need to discount goods, especially apparel and home goods.”
Tags: 9.1%, Aggressively, Commodity prices, Consumer spending, Discount, Economy, Excess inventory, Expectations, Fed, Growth, Inflation, Investor, June, Price increases, Retailers, Slowing, U.S.
Foreign Affairs (July 11)
“Today, globalization has stalled, and the new vogue for stockpiling strategic commodities and “friend-shoring” supplies will be inflationary. Add in the aging of populations and the possibility that young workers will insist on a flexible approach to work, and the Fed may have to run tighter policy than in the past quarter of a century.”
Tags: Aging, Commodities, Flexible, Friend-shoring, Globalization, Inflationary, Populations, Stalled, Stockpiling, Strategic, Supplies, Work, Young workers
Forbes (July 11)
“Bitcoin bulls beware: Wall Street expects the cryptocurrency’s crash to get a whole lot worse. The token is more likely to tumble to $10,000, cutting its value roughly in half, than it is to rally back to $30,000,” according to survey of 950 investors. This “lopsided prediction underscores how bearish investors have become. The crypto industry has been rocked by troubled lenders, collapsed currencies, and an end to the easy money policies of the pandemic that fueled a speculative frenzy in financial markets.”
Tags: Bearish, Bitcoin, Bulls, Crash, Cryptocurrency, Currencies, Easy money, Financial markets, Investors, Lenders, Pandemic, Prediction, Rally, Speculative frenzy, Survey, Troubled, Wall Street
Mansion Global (July 11)
“The market has cooled since June, when the Federal Reserve raised interest rates 0.75% to help curb inflation.” Housing inventory is rising, “finally giving buyers some options and negotiability with sellers.” As a result, “nearly 15% of home contracts in the U.S. were canceled in June,” which had approximately 60,000 cancellations. That’s up 12.7% over May and 11.2% year on year.
Tags: Buyers, Contracts, Cooled, Fed, Housing inventory, Inflation, Interest rates, June, Market, Negotiability, Options, Sellers, U.S.
GCaptain (July 11)
“The hurdles African countries face in transitioning to gas or green energy mean millions of people are burning dirtier fuels such as charcoal instead, breathing in deadly fumes and generating more emissions. The IEA estimates that the number of people in sub-Saharan Africa without access to clean cooking fuel will grow by 6% a year from 2020 to 2030.”
Tags: Access, Africa, Breathing, Burning, Charcoal, Clean, Cooking fuel, Deadly fumes, Dirtier, Emissions, Gas, Green energy, Hurdles, IEA, Transitioning
New York Times (July 9)
“Japan’s longest-serving prime minister became perhaps the most transformational politician in the country’s post-World War II history,” even though he “never achieved his goal of revising Japan’s Constitution to transform his country into what the Japanese call a ‘normal nation,’ able to employ its military to back up its national interests like any other.”
Tags: Abe, Constitution, History, Japan, Longest-serving, Military, National interests, Normal nation, Politician, Prime minister, Revising, Transformational
Washington Post (July 8)
“The death of Shinzo Abe is a loss to the U.S. and its allies.” The former Prime Minister’s “assassination was a brutal and completely unforeseen end to a life of public service to the people of Japan. The shock of his death will not dissipate quickly. He was a visionary leader, someone who believed his country was capable of taking a central, and responsible, role in international affairs. His loss will be deeply felt in part because he had more contributions to make.”
Tags: Abe, Allies, Assassination, Brutal, Capable, Contributions, Death, International affairs, Japan, Loss, Public service, Responsible, Shock, U.S., Visionary leader
Wall Street Journal (July 8)
“Big cities can’t get workers back to the office.” More than two years since Covid-19 first struck, “less than half the number of prepandemic office workers are returning to business districts consistently.” Despite numerous carrots and the occasional stick, “occupancy is especially low in cities like New York, where workers are the engine of local economies.”
Tags: Big cities, Business districts, Carrots, COVID-19, New York, Occupancy, Office, Prepandemic, Stick, Workers
The Guardian (July 7)
“When this nightmare is over – and it is over for Boris Johnson, but not yet for the rest of us – the Conservative party owes this country a grovelling apology. It should hang its head in shame for foisting on us a man so wholly unfit for office that he had to be dragged from it kicking and screaming and threatening to burn everything to the ground.”
Tags: Apology, Conservative, Dragged, Johnson, Kicking, Nightmare, Screaming, Shame, Threatening, Unfit
