New York Times (September 16)
“While other countries have scrambled to meet President Trump’s demands to strike deals for reduced tariffs, China has kept to its own timetable.” The costly price has been a 15% drop in “China’s exports to the United States… so far this year.” China has successfully offset this with surging exports to other countries, but robust exports are “masking weakness in other parts of its economy. A persistent real estate downturn has wrecked [sic] havoc on the economy. Consumers are spending less, while joblessness among young people remains a major problem. China is also dealing with a stubborn deflationary spiral, spurred by overproduction in key industries and price wars.” Still, given its degree of media control, the Chinese government does not appear anxious about negotiating a trade deal with the U.S.
Tags: China, Consumers, Deals, Deflationary spiral, Demands, Downturn, Economy, Exports, Havoc, Joblessness, Overproduction, Price wars, Real estate, Spending, Surging, Tariffs, Trump, U.S., Weakness
Market Watch (May 17)
“President Donald Trump’s move to defuse an ugly trade war with China not only sparked a massive stock-market rally but also drove down the chances of a recession — for now.” Though it’s a welcome sign of relief, numerous obstacles remain. Nobody can rest assured. “Ongoing trade wars have not gone away, for one thing. Trump could change his mind or the U.S. could fail to strike more economic-friendly deals with China, after that 90-day pause, and other countries.” Moreover, the uncertainty has “made households and business hesitant to spend, hire and invest. Confidence has plunged in the past few months, and anxiety is unlikely to fade quickly.” U.S. growth remains likely “to taper off sharply this year.”
Tags: 90-day pause, China, Confidence, Deals, Defuse, Hire, Households, Invest, Obstacles, Recession, Relief, Spend, Stock-market rally, Trade war, Trump, U.S., Ugly, Uncertainty
CNN (November 20)
Major retailer Target is noticing customer behavior that “is causing it to cast doubt on its future sales.” Store traffic “grew by about 2% year-over-year,” but customer “spending per purchase shrunk by 2%.” According to CEO Brian Cornell, customers are “’becoming increasingly resourceful in their shopping behaviors, waiting to buy until (the) last moment of need, focusing on deals and then stocking up when they find them.’”
Tags: CEO, Cornell, Customer behavior, Deals, Resourceful, Retailer, Sales, Shopping, Spending, Stocking up, Store traffic, Target, Waiting
Investment Week (July 25)
“Excluding investment companies and international companies whose London quote was secondary, 1,180 companies were listed on the LSE as of the last day of trading in May 2022, down from 1,349 in May 2019.” During the first half of 2022, “the number of companies floating on the LSE also fell drastically…with just 26 companies debuting, marking a 45% decline compared to the first half of 2021. The UK was not alone. Global IPO activity was poor, with the number of deals falling to 46%.”
San Francisco Chronicle (May 16)
“Pandemic or not, restaurants can’t find rental space.” The real estate landscape is “nearly as heated as pre-pandemic levels.” One would expect “tons of options on the market at reasonable rates, but there are few deals—and competition for what’s available is intense…. Landlords, meanwhile, are hesitant to offer discounts because they’ve lacked income over the pandemic themselves.”
Tags: Competition, Deals, Discounts, Heated, Income, Landlords, Market, Pandemic, Pre-pandemic levels, Real estate, Rental space, Restaurants
Washington Post (September 9)
“It’s true that Trump likes making deals. He’s just not very good at it. In fact, he may be the worst dealmaker ever to occupy the Oval Office. The abrupt disintegration of his accord with the Taliban provides the latest evidence that he’s too impetuous and ignorant to be a successful negotiator…. Trump is a better dealbreaker than dealmaker.”
Tags: Accord, Dealbreaker, Deals, Disintegration, Evidence, Ignorant, Impetuous, Negotiator, Taliban, Trump, Worst
Washington Examiner (December 28)
“Trump is headed for a wake-up call on reality of divided government. That’s not a bad thing…. The early realization that a Democrat-controlled House means more trouble than investigations and subpoenas might galvanize the president to sit down and make deals rather than simply making demands.”
Tags: Deals, Demands, Democrat, Divided government, House, Investigations, Subpoenas, Trump, Wake-up
The Economist (March 31)
“Just six words suffice to sum up President Donald Trump’s approach to trade …make threats, strike deals, declare victory.” But this will not create a victory. “Even if conflict is averted and China gives ground… the result will be a bad one for the world, and for America. That is partly because of Mr Trump’s character. If he thinks he has won one fight, he is likelier to start another. It is also because his policy is founded on wretched economics and dangerous politics.”
Tags: China, Conflict, Dangerous, Deals, Economics, Politics, Threats, Trade, Trump, Victory, Wretched
CNN (November 10)
“Donald Trump’s populist campaign didn’t always square with his past statements. And that makes his agenda as president anybody’s guess.” His fluid positions “could give the businessman an edge in making legislative deals…. Or it could halt action in Washington completely if he finds himself at odds with both Republicans and Democrats.”
Tags: Agenda, Deals, Democrats, Guess, Past, Populist, Positions, Republicans, Trump, U.S., Washington
Bloomberg (October 31)
“Of all of the scary economic data that routinely streams out of Japan, this statistic should terrify you: $800 million.” The “staggeringly small figure” is the total value of completed venture capital deals for Japan in 2015. Representing Japan’s risk-adverse culture, $800 million “explains a great deal about why the world’s third-largest economy continues to struggle, no matter how much cash the central bank pours into it. Too few Japanese are starting new companies.” In comparison, 2015 venture deals totaled “$72 billion in the U.S. and $49 billion in China. Even tiny Israel managed $2.6 billion in deals.”
Tags: Central bank, China, Deals, Economic data, Israel, Japan, Risk adverse, Statistics, U.S., Venture-capital
