Wall Street Journal (February 16)
“Fresh figures on jobs and prices drove the economy’s surprising vigor this year, joining rising household incomes, consumer resilience and other data that have persuaded investors the Federal Reserve’s battle against inflation is likely to be a longer one than they hoped.” In January, U.S. hiring rose while “unemployment fell to a 53-year low.”
Tags: Consumer resilience, Economy, Fed, Hiring, Household incomes, Inflation, Investors, January, Jobs, Prices, Rising, Surprising, U.S., Vigor
Oilprice.com (January 22)
“Since China doesn’t report crude oil inventories, it’s all guesswork as to just how much crude the country has stashed over the past year.” Rising inventory levels “could mean that China’s imports may not be as strong as anticipated. But it could also mean that refiners are preparing for a surge in demand” in the post-Covid restriction era. “There is one certainty in the oil markets – the economic growth in China has been and will continue to be a key factor in global oil demand, capable of moving oil prices in either direction.”
Tags: China, Covid, Crude oil, Demand, Economic growth, Guesswork, Imports, Inventories, Prices, Refiners, Strong, Surge
Financial Times (January 21)
“In a country where companies have resisted raising pay and the workforce has refrained from aggressive salary demands for most of the past three decades, Fast Retailing’s move is a watershed for the government and the Bank of Japan’s battle to lift the economy out of deflation.” Should the approach gain momentum, “the ramifications could be far-reaching,” potentially leading to “a virtuous cycle of rising wages, consumption and prices” that “would allow Japan to finally move away from the negative interest rates and ultra-loose monetary policies.”
Tags: BOJ, Consumption, Deflation, Demands, Economy, Fast Retailing, Interest rates, Japan, Prices, Raising pay, Rising wages, Salary, Ultra-loose, Virtuous cycle, Watershed, Workforce
Financial Post (January 13)
“The peculiar clemency of Europe’s winter weather this year is proving a game changer for the region’s prevailing economic and investment trends. A halving in natural gas prices over the past month alone reflects one of the mildest winters on record in the region and takes significant sting out of the Russian gas shock that followed Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year.”
Tags: Clemency, Economic, Europe, Game changer, Halving, Invasion, Investment, Mildest, Natural gas, Prices, Russia, Weather, Winter, Winters
Oilprice.com (January 9)
“The last month has been a month of celebration in the European Union. Gas demand is down because of the unusually warm weather. As a result, prices are down, and the crisis, according to analysts, appears to be averted.” Nevertheless, “these prices are not going to go much lower for the very simple reason that LNG could never be as cheap as pipeline gas.”
Tags: Analysts, Averted, Celebration, Cheap, Crisis, Demand, Down, EU, Gas, LNG, Prices, Warm weather
Reuters (December 9)
“Wherever you think inflation is coming from, it’s not China – not yet at least…. China said its factory-gate prices showed an annual fall for a second month in a row last month – the latest in stream of numbers revealing the impact of the government’s draconian COVID curbs, now being gradually lifted.”
Tags: China, COVID curbs, Draconian, Factory-gate, Fall, Government, Impact, Inflation, Prices
The Economist (August 20)
The Bank of Japan expects “prices will rise by 2.3% in the current fiscal year. That would be the first time prices outstrip the bank’s 2% target since it was introduced in 2013, excluding the impact of sales-tax hikes. The covid-19 pandemic and commodity shocks from the war in Ukraine seem to have done what years of loose monetary policy could not.”
Tags: 2.3%, 2013, BOJ, Commodity, COVID-19, Pandemic, Prices, Rise, Sales-tax hikes, Shocks, Target, Ukraine, War
CNN (July 26)
Is the U.S. “heading for a recession” or “already in one”? Since “it already feels like a recession, such fine distinctions may not matter. “Soaring prices… make it tougher to pay for everyday expenses and monthly bills. The stock market has tanked this year. Home sales have started to slip. Consumer confidence is low.” One mid-July poll found that 65% of US voters already “think we’re in a recession.”
Tags: 65%, Bills, Consumer confidence, Expenses, Home sales, Prices, Recession, Soaring, Stock market, U.S.
The Street (July 22)
“The cryptocurrency market has lost $2 trillion in value since hitting an all-time high of $3 trillion in early November, according to data firm CoinGecko. Prices for bitcoin, the king of cryptocurrencies, are down more than two-thirds since hitting an all-time high of $69,044.77 on November 10.”
Tags: $2 trillion, $3 trillion, Bitcoin, CoinGecko, Cryptocurrency, Lost, Market, November, Prices, Value
Reuters (June 24)
“A scramble for lithium” is creating “new risks for electric-car makers. Breathtaking prices are prompting the industry to find new ways to secure the crucial battery ingredient,” often through “direct contracts with miners and refiners” with “options to buy 100% or more of a project’s planned production capacity.” Although “vertical integration is tempting when times are tough,” it can leave buyers overstretched and “dealmaking under duress makes miscalculations more likely.”
Tags: Battery, Breathtaking, Buyers, Capacity, Dealmaking, Duress, EVs, Lithium, Miners, Overstretched, Prices, Production, Refiners, Risks, Scramble, Vertical integration
