Bloomberg (August 24)
“China’s economy is being strained by US tariffs and a deep-rooted property crisis, yet stocks are extending their bull run — a disconnect that’s stirring doubts on the rally’s staying power. In just the past month, onshore stocks have added almost a trillion dollars to their market value, the Shanghai Composite Index has hit a decade-high and the CSI 300 Index has taken its advance from this year’s low to more than 20%. That’s when nearly every recent economic indicator — from consumption trends, home prices to inflation — has brought red flags for investors.”
Tags: Bull run, China, Consumption trends, CSI 300, Disconnect, Doubts, Economic indicator, Economy, Home prices, Inflation, Investors, Market value, Property crisis, Rally, Red flags, Shanghai, Staying power, Stocks, US tariffs
Barron’s (July 31)
“The Federal Reserve’s key inflation gauge,” which excludes food and energy “ran just slightly above expectations in June, raising additional doubts about how quickly the bank will be able to lower interest rates.” Rising 0.3% month on month and 2.8% year on year, the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index surpassed consensus expectations. This week, Fed officials indicated the need before lowering rates for “more evidence that inflation is sustainably moving toward the bank’s 2% target,” but the PCE’s “stronger-than-expected result” appears to show the opposite.
Tags: 2% target, Consensus, Doubts, Energy, Evidence, Expectations, Fed, Food, Inflation, Inflation gauge, Interest rates, June, PCE
The Guardian (June 9)
“Apple researchers have found ‘fundamental limitations’ in cutting-edge artificial intelligence models, in a paper raising doubts about the technology industry’s race to develop ever more powerful systems.” The researchers “found that standard AI models outperformed LRMs in low-complexity tasks, while both types of model suffered ‘complete collapse’ with high-complexity tasks.”
Tags: Apple, Complete collapse, Complexity, Cutting edge, Doubts, Fundamental limitations, LRMs, Race, Researchers, Standard AI models Outperformed, Tasks, Technology
Bloomberg (April 5)
“The plunge in oil prices over the past two days following the twin shocks of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the surprise boost in production from OPEC+ has altered the global energy landscape with stunning speed.” The market is frantically “tossing aside expectations for 2025” as Brent crude “tumbled 13% through Thursday and Friday to just over $66 a barrel, casting new doubts on Trump’s quest to aggressively boost US fossil fuel output and achieve ‘energy dominance.’”
Tags: $66, 2025, Altered, Brent, Doubts, Energy landscape, Expectations, Fossil fuel, Market, Oil prices, OPEC, Output, Plunge, Production, Stunning, Surprise, Trump’s tariffs, Tumbled, Twin shocks, U.S.
Investment Week (November 11)
UK retail investors are left struggling “to fully embrace the Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) and… questioning their practical meaning.” A survey of 30 private investors found “many expressed doubts about the need for sustainability labels in the first place, as they claimed they would consider responsible investments regardless of whether funds had adopted an SDR label.” The consensus was that “having one of the four labels adds ‘very little value’ if any to the products in question, as they would prefer a focus on the ‘tangible facts and figures.’”
Tags: Doubts, Funds, Need, Responsible investments, Retail investors, SDR label, Struggling, Sustainability Disclosure Requirements, Tangible facts, UK
The Guardian (August 13)
Ukraine’s attack on Russia has boosted momentum and may undercut “Putin’s strongman image,” possibly “prompting doubts among the elite” or “encouraging squabbling over who is to blame for this embarrassment.” Ultimately, however, “the final judgment on Kyiv’s bet” remains to be seen. “Taking the enemy by surprise is a short-term win. But the consequences of this bold gamble are still playing out.”
Tags: Attack, Blame, Consequences, Doubts, Embarrassment, Momentum, Putin, Russia, Short-term win, Strongman, Surprise, Ukraine, Undercut
New York Times (December 4)
The temperature is rising at COP28 as “climate concerns boil over.” Sultan Ahmed al Jaber lit the fuse with “contentious comments” that expressed “skepticism about the world’s ability to halt a rise in global temperatures by reducing the use of hydrocarbons.” Since the oil executive and Emirati politician is “presiding over the COP28 climate summit,” the remarks are “casting fresh doubts over the U.A.E.’s commitment to addressing the climate crisis.”
Tags: Al Jaber, Climate summit, Concerns, Contentious, COP28, Crisis, Doubts, Hydrocarbons, Oil, Politician, Rise, Skepticism, Sultan, Temperatures, U.A.E
Reuters (June 7)
After beating expectations in Q1, “China’s exports shrank much faster than expected in May while imports extended declines with a grim outlook for global demand, especially from developed markets, raising doubts about the fragile economic recovery.”
Tags: Beating, China, Declines, Developed markets, Doubts, Expectations, Exports, Fragile, Global demand, Grim outlook, Imports, May, Q1
American Banker (March 20)
“After bank merger-and-acquisition activity slowed substantially in 2022, it could reach a standstill following the failures of Silicon Valley Bank in California and Signature Bank in New York.” Their “sudden demise… injected hefty doses of uncertainty into the financial system and raised doubts about the veracity of regulatory oversight.” Because they missed vulnerabilities, “bank supervisors are likely to further ramp up reviews of banks’ potential weaknesses,” which is likely to “extend to bank M&A.”
Tags: 2022, Bank, California, Doubts, Financial system, M&A, New York, Regulatory oversight, Signature Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, Standstill, Sudden, Uncertainty, Veracity
WARC (June 2)
“Sponsors that made a relatively sound bet on one of the major global sporting events could not have foreseen the pandemic. Now, with the games an increasingly controversial topic, sponsors are navigating negative public opinion.” As they “worry about the risks of sponsoring an event opposed by a majority of the country” and focus on avoiding negative exposure, some Olympic sponsors have given up on recouping their investments.
Tags: Controversial, Doubts, Exposure, Foreseen, Negative, Olympics, Pandemic, Public opinion, Risks, Sponsors, Sporting events, Worry
