Wall Street Journal (January 29)
A “deflation doom loop” is “trapping China’s economy.” Despite the nation’s “extraordinary leaps in cutting-edge technology, from artificial intelligence to robotics,” China’s “relentless pursuit of growth through manufacturing has also created a lopsided economy, with much of it stuck in a deflationary spiral. China’s GDP deflator, a broad price gauge, has been negative since 2023, a sign of inadequate demand at home.”
Tags: 2023, AI, China, Deflationary spiral, Doom loop, Economy, GDP deflator, Growth, Lopsided, Manufacturing, Negative, Robotics, Technology
Bloomberg (July 25)
“The world’s oceans experienced a staggering amount of warming in 2023, as vast marine heat waves affected 96% of their surface, breaking records for intensity, longevity and scale…. That could mark a turning point in the way the oceans behave, potentially signaling a tipping point after which average sea temperatures will be reset higher and some ecosystems may not recover.”
Tags: 2023, 96, Ecosystems, Intensity, Longevity, Marine heat waves, Oceans, Records, Scale, Sea temperatures, Staggering, Surface, Tipping point, Warming, World
Wall Street Journal (May 23)
“Treasury auctions are like the plumbing of a toilet: You only pay attention when something goes wrong. A weak auction drove a market selloff on Wednesday for the first time since late 2023. There are good reasons to be concerned about overspill.” Investors are “demanding a higher yield for the risks—and it is a bad sign.”
Tags: 2023, Bad sign, Concerned, Demanding, Higher yield, Market selloff, Overspill, Plumbing, Risks, Treasury auctions, Weak
Washington Post (February 21)
“By the end of 2023, some 43 percent of global electricity generation was powered by solar, wind and other renewable sources — up dramatically since the turn of the 21st century, when these sources accounted for only 18 percent. Yet the distance to 100 percent remains daunting.”
Tags: 100, 18, 2023, 43%, Daunting, Electricity, Generation, Global, Power, Renewable sources, Solar, Wind
Barron’s (January 3)
“Of all the fearless forecasts put out there for the new year, one conspicuously missing from those lists is probably the easiest one: The United States of America will lose its last remaining triple-A credit rating.” Standard & Poor’s was the first to lower its rating on U.S. government debt in 2011. In 2023, “Fitch Ratings followed suit.” That November, Moody’s Investors Service “lowered its outlook to negative.” It seems inevitable, especially given Trump’s desire for tax cuts, that Moody’s will eventually lower its Aaa rating as well. “Given the lack of serious measures, so far, to slow the government debt growth, the U.S.A. doesn’t merit a triple-A rating.”
Tags: 2011, 2023, Credit rating, Fearless, Fitch, Forecasts, Government debt, Inevitable, Lower, Merit, Moody's, Negative, Outlook, Rating, S&P, Tax cuts, Triple-A, Trump, U.S.
Washington Post (December 6)
“Global temperatures remain at near-record levels. After 2023 ended up the warmest year in human history by far, 2024 is almost certain to be even warmer. Now, some scientists say this could indicate fundamental changes are happening to the global climate that are raising temperatures faster than anticipated.”
Tags: 2023, 2024, Faster, Fundamental changes, Global, Global climate, Human history, Record levels, Temperatures, Warmest
Trader’s Magazine (December 2)
“Assets of the top 100 asset owners globally have returned to growth in 2023 after a fall of 8.7% in 2022.” Achieving a brisk 12.3% increase in 2023, “the world’s largest 100 asset owners (the ‘AO100’) now hold a record US$26.3 trillion.” Chief among them is the “Government Pension Investment Fund of Japan…with an AUM of US$1.59 trillion.” The top three also includes the two largest sovereign wealth funds. Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management in second place with AUM of US$1.55 trillion while China Investment Corporation is now third globally with US$1.24 trillion.”
Tags: 12.3%, 2023, Assets, AUM, China, Government Pension Investment Fund, Growth, Japan, Norway, Record, Top 100, US$26.3 trillion
Fortune (November 17)
“For investors who’ve enjoyed the S&P 500 Index’s more than 50% jump since the start of 2023, the best hope for keeping the market rolling into 2025 and beyond may be Trump’s fear of doing anything to damage a rally.” Many of Trump’s campaign promises weren’t exactly “investor-friendly,” with some considered market anathema. Still, “Wall Street doesn’t believe Trump will tolerate a declining stock market, even if it’s caused by one of his own proposals.”
Tags: 2023, 2025, 50% jump, Anathema, Campaign promises, Damage, Fear, Hope, Investors, Rally, S&P 500, Stock market, Trump, Wall Street
South China Morning Post (June 28)
“Facing major obstacles in developed countries, many Chinese car manufacturers have already pivoted to emerging markets such as Latin America. In 2023, Chinese cars accounted for 19.5 per cent of all car sales in Mexico, compared with only 6.4 per cent in 2019.”
Tags: 19.5%, 2019, 2023, 6.4%, Car manufacturers, Chinese, Developed countries, Emerging markets, Latin America, Mexico, Obstacles, Pivot, Sales
New York Times (May 27)
“The United States, Europe and other wealthy nations are trying frantically to catch up” to China which, according to the IEA, “accounted for 85 percent of all clean-energy manufacturing investment in the world” in 2022. These nations are now “spending huge amounts on subsidizing homegrown companies while also seeking to block competing Chinese products.” They seem to be making “modest inroads” with China’s share of investment falling to 75% in 2023.
Tags: 2022, 2023, Catch up, China, Clean-energy, Competing, Europe, Homegrown, IEA, Inroads, Manufacturing investment, Subsidizing, U.S., Wealthy nations
