Wall Street Journal (October 26)
“The U.S. economy keeps on growing, and in the third quarter it positively boomed. This is good news by any measure, though it’s striking how few economists think it can keep going. Let’s hope they keep being wrong.”
Investment Week (October 11)
“European and US IPO activity has shown ‘signs of thawing’ throughout 2023, as the number of issuances slowly rise,” though hesitance is expected to remain until economic stabilization more fully materializes. The same data from PwC’s latest IPO Watch revealed “mainland China continued to dominate IPO numbers throughout last quarter, accounting for almost 35% of global IPO issuance and raising $11.7bn, followed by the US ($9.3bn) and India ($2.3bn).”
Tags: 2023, China, Dominate, Economic stabilization, Europe, India, IPO, IPO Watch, Issuances, PwC, Thawing, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (October 9)
“Investors worried about the recent pullback in stocks are counting on the coming earnings season to give them something to get excited about. For much of 2023, U.S. stocks roared higher despite lackluster corporate profits. But an accelerating selloff in bonds has pushed longer-term yields near their highest levels in more than a decade, denting enthusiasm for stocks.”
Tags: 2023, Bonds, Earnings season, Investors, Lackluster, Profits, Pullback, Selloff, Stocks, U.S., Worried, Yields
Financial Times (September 28)
“Another tediously pointless, economically debilitating and teeth-gratingly stupid US government shutdown is looming. Goldman Sachs now reckons that there is now a 90 per cent chance it starts this Sunday.”
Tags: 90%, Debilitating, Goldman Sachs, Government, Looming, Pointless, Shutdown, Stupid, Sunday, U.S.
South China Morning Post (September 26)
“Foreign investors are returning to Japan’s property market in their droves, attracted by the weak yen and an economic recovery fuelled by the buoyant logistics and hospitality sectors, according to a new report.” Singapore investors are leading the charge with property investments totaling “nearly US$3 billion spent from January to September, eclipsing the around US$2.5 billion from the US, and some US$1 billion from Canada.” Japan’s “mild inflation and favourable financing costs” are also adding to the attraction.
Tags: $3 billion, Canada, Economic recovery, Financing, Foreign investors, Hospitality, Inflation, Japan, Logistics, Property market, Singapore, U.S., Weak yen
Wall Street Journal (September 24)
“America’s billionaires love Japanese stocks. Why don’t the Japanese?” Despite enthusiasm from overseas, “there are few signs its estimated 125 million residents share in the excitement. Burned by dismal returns since the bursting of Japan’s asset bubble in the late 1980s and early 1990s, generations of families here have stashed most of their money in low-yielding savings accounts rather than trying to increase their wealth through the stock market.”
Tags: 1980s, 1990s, Asset bubble, Billionaires, Dismal returns, Enthusiasm, Excitement, Japan, Low-yielding, Money, Overseas, Residents, Savings accounts, Stashed, Stock market, Stocks, U.S.
Washington Post (September 21)
“The number of previously occupied homes sold in the United States dropped by 21 percent over the past year…. That’s on top of an 18 percent annual decline the year before, indicating the housing market has continued to slow down amid rising interest rates. Meanwhile, prices continued to rise, with the median sales price climbing 3.9 percent from a year ago to reach $407,100.”
Tags: $407, 100, Decline, Homes, Housing market, Rising interest rates, Sales price, Slow, Sold, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (September 20)
“China’s economic and technological strength dwarfs that of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Since 1885 the U.S. has never faced a competitor or group of competitors with a gross domestic product greater than 40% of our own. China’s economy is likely at least 75% of ours. It also has a larger navy (even more so in its home waters) and a shipbuilding capability that far exceeds ours.”
Tags: 1885, China, Cold war, Competitor, Economic, GDP, Navy, Soviet Union, Strength, Technological, U.S.
Washington Post (September 12)
“After decades of relying on the U.S. security umbrella, many European policymakers are aware that an investment in Ukraine’s security is a down payment on their own. Their efforts are accelerating, but not fast enough to negate the potentially catastrophic fallout of a U.S. withdrawal.”
Tags: Accelerating, Catastrophic, Europe, Fallout, Investment, Policymakers, Relying, Security, Security umbrella, U.S., U.S. withdrawal, Ukraine
Investment & Pensions Europe (September Edition)
“Continental Europe appears to have largely escaped the trend known in the US as the ‘Great Retirement Boom’, where an economically comfortable cohort of 50 to 64-year-olds has retreated from work in the post-COVID period.” In contrast, labour market participation in the EU is increasing among the over-55s and “the EU expects the proportion of economically active over-55s to continue increasing, reaching around 72% by 2040.”
Tags: 2040, Cohort, Comfortable, Economically active, EU, Europe, Great Retirement Boom, Labour market participation, Over-55s, Post-Covid, Trend, U.S., Work
