Fortune (September 18)
“Any prominent investor comparing China with Japan prior to its lost decades of stagnation ought to be alarming.” It’s even more alarming when it’s Ray Dalio, the founder of massive hedge fund, Bridgewater. Long known as China bull, he now “fears the property crisis in China has left local governments unable to service their debt by extracting equity through land sales” and that China’s economy now “faces problems as severe as Japan in 1990.”
Tags: Alarming, Bridgewater, China, Dalio, Debt, Economy, Equity, Founder, Hedge-fund, Investor, Japan, Local governments, Property crisis, Severe, Stagnation
Wall Street Journal (September 18)
“The Federal Reserve’s rate cut Wednesday sounded the all-clear for overseas central banks that are also concerned about their domestic economic growth.” Some major central banks like the BoE and ECB, already beat the Fed in cutting rates, but “there are a number of others, including in India, South Korea and South Africa, that have held back. And the Fed’s move could encourage them to take the plunge.”
Tags: All-clear, BOE, Central banks, ECB, Economic growth, Encourage, Fed, India, Overseas, Plunge, Rate cut, South Africa, South Korea
BBC (September 17)
“Nine out of 10 new cars sold in Norway are electric vehicles” and the country “now has more electric cars on its roads than petrol-driven vehicles.” Ironically, the money from being one of the world’s largest oil exporters is making this possible, with things like “free parking for EVs,” no city tolls, and “numerous free chargers in every Norwegian town and city, with 2,000 of them in Oslo alone,” largely underwritten by petrodollars.
Tags: Cars, City tolls, EVs, Free chargers, Free parking, Norway, Oil exporter, Oslo, Petrodollars, Petrol
OilPrice.com (September 17)
“U.S. power-generating companies are announcing plans for the highest volume of new natural gas-fired capacity in years as the AI boom is driving demand for electricity…. The increase in gas-fired generation jeopardizes the current U.S. emissions and ‘clean grid’ goals.”
Tags: AI boom, Capacity, Clean grid, Demand, Electricity, Emissions, Generation, Highest, Jeopardizes, New. Natural gas-fired, Power-generating, U.S.
The Economist (September 18)
“The Federal Reserve’s decision to lower interest rates by half a percentage point, announced on September 18th, is momentous for two reasons. As the first cut by America’s central bank since it lifted rates to quell inflation, it marks the start of a monetary-easing cycle. It also represents a bet by the Fed that inflation will soon be yesterday’s problem and that action is needed to support the labour market.”
Tags: Action, Fed, Inflation, Interest rates, Labour market, Momentous, Monetary-easing cycle, U.S.
Investment Week (September 17)
“Fund managers and analysts have remained adamant that artificial intelligence is the core investment case driving the growth of the Magnificent Seven and other tech giants, but cracks have begun to show in their faith that this growth has stable longevity.”
Tags: Adamant, AI, Analysts, Core investment case, Cracks, Fund managers, Growth, Magnificent Seven, Stable, Tech giants
New York Times (September 16)
“The issue that still dominates the presidential contest is the economy, which is driving a lot of the discourse.” It appears that “Kamala Harris may be gaining ground on the economy” while other signs suggest a change in outlook. The most recent University of Michigan sentiment survey shows “U.S. consumers increasingly feel better about prices and other economic matters.”
Tags: Discourse, Dominates, Economy, Harris, Outlook, Presidential contest, Prices, Sentiment, Survey, U.S. consumers, University of Michigan
Reuters (September 13)
“U.S. consumer sentiment improved in September amid subsiding inflation, though Americans remained cautious ahead of the November presidential election,” according to the University of Michigan. Preliminary readings show “consumer sentiment came in at 69.0 this month, compared to a final reading of 67.9 in August” while expectations for one-year inflation “fell for the fourth straight month to 2.7%,” marking “the lowest reading since December 2020.”
Tags: Cautious, Consumer sentiment, Election, Expectations, Inflation, September, Subsiding, U.S., University of Michigan
Washington Post (September 13)
The White House may not immediately “move to block Nippon Steel’s bid to acquire U.S. Steel amid mounting concerns over the political and economic consequences of nixing the deal.” In recent weeks, “investors, Pennsylvania Democrats and some members of the steelworkers’ union warned that the deal’s collapse could spark an economic calamity for Pennsylvania’s beleaguered steel belt.” Optimism again appears to be growing that the deal might go through with shares of U.S. Steel rising “by more than 12 percent over the past two days of trading.”
Tags: Block, Calamity, Concerns, Consequences, Economic, Investors, Nippon Steel, Nixing, Optimism, Pennsylvania, Political, Shares, Steelworkers’ union, U.S. Steel, White House
Wall Street Journal (September 12)
“Investors and policymakers alike are eager for big-bank mergers in the European Union. U.S. banks, which have the benefit of scale and cheaper funding, rule the roost when it comes to dealmaking even in Europe, with France’s BNP Paribas as the only universal bank that comes close to posing a challenge.” With the possible merger of UniCredit and Commerzbank, “technocrats in Brussels might finally get their wish for bigger European banks. But Wall Street still shouldn’t expect any real competition to emerge from this.”
Tags: Big-bank mergers, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, Dealmaking, EU, Funding, Investors, Policymakers, Scale, Technocrats, U.S. banks, UniCredit, Wall Street
