Fortune (July 27)
“Now that trade deals have been clinched with the European Union and Japan, the U.S. looks to focus on China as the world’s two biggest economies prepare for high-stakes talks.” Some think “China will be less willing to cave,” which could send tariffs “back to prohibitively high levels that would effectively cut off trade.” On the other hand, with legal challenges set to commence in August, the “U.S. tariffs could be invalidated.” In fact, many suspect the promised investment from Japan and the EU was pledged with this in mind…and that it will never transpire.
Tags: August, China, Clinched, Economies, EU, High stakes, Invalidated, Investment, Japan, Legal challenges, Pledged, Tariffs, Trade, Trade deals, U.S.
CNN (July 14)
“The Port of Los Angeles rebounded in June for a record-breaking month as importers raced to get cargo into the port before the ‘reciprocal’ tariff pause ended July 9…. President Donald Trump has since pushed that deadline to August 1.” The port, which “gets more goods from China than any other country,” benefitted from a “whipsaw” effect in June and with the tariff postponement is also expecting a flurry of activity in July. However, the National Retail Federation’s port tracker then expects a “fall by double digits through the end of the year.”
Tags: August, Cargo, China, Importers, June, Los Angeles, National Retail Federation, Port, Rebounded, Reciprocal tariff, Record breaking, Trump, Whipsaw
New York Times (September 8)
“Even by August’s typically volatile standards, markets have been especially choppy this month, with some of the biggest intraday stock swings of the year occurring over the past week.” Earlier in the year, corporate profits allayed investor fears, helping to “drive an impressive rally in the S&P 500. But this quarter has been more mixed, as multiple companies warned of declining consumer demand.” We may be approaching “the end of ‘fun-flation.’”
Tags: Allayed, August, Choppy, Consumer demand, Corporate profits, Intraday, Investor fears, Markets, Mixed, Rally, S&P 500, Stock swings, Volatile
Bloomberg (August 11)
“Japanese equities shed $1.1 trillion in value as they kicked off August with a record three-day loss.” Having some of the froth knocked off, however, is providing bullish investors with “a fresh reason to buy what has been one of 2024’s hottest trades.”
Tags: $1.1 trillion, 2024, August, Bullish, Buy, Equities, Froth, Investors, Japan, Loss, Reason, Record, Shed, Value
Bloomberg (September 15)
“China’s economy picked up steam in August as a summer travel boom and a heftier stimulus push boosted consumer spending and factory output, adding to nascent signs of stabilization…. Optimism is slowly building among some investors that Beijing’s recent efforts to boost the economy and financial markets are starting to bear fruit. Even so, it’s early days — and a single month of data isn’t enough to confirm a sustained recovery trajectory.”
Tags: August, China, Consumer spending, Economy, Factory output, Investors, Nascent, Optimism, Stabilization, Stimulus, Travel boom
Financial Times (September 1)
“The US labour market cooled in August, raising hopes that the Federal Reserve is successfully orchestrating a soft landing for the world’s largest economy. Investors hailed a possible Goldilocks scenario in which inflation comes under control without causing a recession, as Friday’s figures revealed an uptick in the unemployment rate, subdued jobs growth and wage rises back at pre-Covid rates.”
Tags: August, Cooled, Fed, Goldilocks scenario, Hopes, Inflation, Investors, Jobs growth, Recession, Soft landing, U.S., Unemployment, Wage rises
Investing.com (July 2)
“Oil prices settled down 1% on Monday as worries about a slowing global economy and possible U.S. interest-rate hikes outweighed supply cuts announced for August by top exporters Saudi Arabia and Russia.”
Tags: August, Down, Exporters, Global economy, Interest rate hikes, Oil prices, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Supply cuts, U.S., Worries. Slowing
Wall Street Journal (September 16)
“Economic activity in China cooled further in August.” Economists had expected a rebound from the troughs of July. Instead, “softness was visible last month in nearly every aspect of the Chinese economy, with industrial output and retail sales data pointing to sluggish demand and low confidence among businesses and consumers.”
Tags: August, China, Confidence, Consumers, Demand, Economy, Industrial output, Retail sales, Sluggish, Softness, Troughs
The Economist (September 20)
“The cost of halting Ebola’s spread is also rising exponentially. In August the World Health Organisation estimated that it would take nine months and cost $490m to contain Ebola. Now it reckons the cost has risen to over $1 billion. The longer the world prevaricates, the harder and costlier it will be to contain this outbreak.”
Tags: August, Containment, Cost, Ebola, Exponentially, Outbreak, Spread, WHO
