Investment Week (September 12)
“Over the summer, the FTSE 100, S&P 500, Nasdaq and Japan’s main equity indices enjoyed record highs. Usually, you would think that this was great news…. But, instead, investors are pouring out of funds, as the background noise ratchets up ever higher.” Investor confidence has tumbled “across all global markets, with the biggest hit coming in North America.”
Tags: Confidence, Equity indices, FTSE 100, Funds, Global markets, Investors, Japan, Nasdaq, Noise, North America, S&P 500, Tumbled
Washington Post (July 24)
With import tariffs capped at 15%, Japanese autos look set to “benefit more than their rivals” due to the recently concluded U.S./Japan trade agreement while cars manufactured in their American plants may be able to escape tariffs completely. In contrast, many U.S. automakers have supply chains that “cross multiple borders, particularly in North America, where goods from Mexico and Canada are subject to 25 percent tariffs.” This may leave domestic automakers at a disadvantage. “Vehicles assembled in Mexico,” like the Chevrolet Equinox and the Ford Maverick, are expected to pass on “the highest costs to consumers.”
Tags: 15%, 25%, Assembled, Automakers, Autos, Benefit, Canada, Cars, Chevrolet, Costs, Ford, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/07/23/automakers-tariff-japan/ Japan, Import tariffs, Mexico, Multiple borders, North America, Rivals, Supply chains, Trade agreement, U.S., Vehicles
Washington Post (October 2)
“The United States just witnessed its most extreme October heat.” On Tuesday, temperatures hit 117 degrees (47 °C) in Palm Springs, tying the October record for North America. “More than 200 warm weather records were set on Tuesday alone in the western United States on the heels of around 2,500 records set in the final third of September between the Southwest and Upper Midwest.”
Tags: 47 °C, Extreme, Heat, North America, October, Palm Springs, Record, September, Southwest, Temperatures, U.S., Upper Midwest, Weather
Investments and Pensions Europe (May 18)
“We’re now about half way through peak voting season in Europe and North America, which tends to take place between April and June.” Companies are fielding both a high volume and range of proposals. “At Amazon alone, there are 18 shareholder proposals going to vote in 2023, ranging from requests for human rights audits on its technology, through to disclosure around animal welfare issues.”
Tags: Amazon, Animal welfare, Disclosure, Europe, Human rights audits, North America, Peak, Range, Shareholder proposals, Technology, Volume, Voting season
The Times of India (October 30)
“The developed world’s depletion of global atmospheric commons has led to extreme climatic events across the planet. Climate change is already upon us due to industrialisation in Europe and North America in the past, and in China more recently. Countries that have contributed the least towards historical global emissions — countries that are still developing and poor — are left to fend for themselves. Global poverty has underwritten the riches of the developed world.” India cannot “be expected to pay for climate sins of the West.”
Tags: China, Climate change, Depletion, Developed, Developing, Emissions, Europe, Extreme climatic events, Global atmospheric commons, India, Industrialisation, North America, Poor, Riches
Reuters (October 30)
“Climate change will put three times more people at risk of coastal flooding by 2050 than previously thought… with swathes of Asia and cities in North America and Europe all vulnerable to rising seas.” According to the latest study, “300 million people are now living on land that is likely to flood at least once a year on average by mid-century… even if governments manage to make sharp cuts in emissions.”
Tags: Asia, Climate change, Coastal flooding, Emissions, Europe, Flood, North America, Vulnerable
CNBC (April 27)
“So is it really the end of the American car on its home turf? From the way Detroit’s major executives are talking, it would seem so. Ford said Wednesday it will only offer two new cars in North America over the coming years…. GM is moving along the same lines.”
Fortune (January 23)
China’s investment in financial technology (fintech) has surged ahead of North America’s, accounting for “more than half of all fintech investments globally in the first nine months of last year…. Specifically in terms of venture capital, the country more than doubled its worldwide share of the investment category, rising to 46% of the global total versus just 19% the same period in 2015.” In contrast, the U.S. dropped from 56% to 41%.
Tags: China, Fintech, Investment, North America, U.S., Venture-capital
Financial Times (August 11)
Fears are growing of a meltdown in the aluminum market as Chinese output soars and, much like the oil market, supply outstrips demand. “China now accounts for more than half of global supply, up from 18 per cent in 2003 thanks to cheap power and the world’s most efficiently built smelters. Established producers from North America to Russia and the Middle East—facing the lowest prices since the financial crisis, reduced margins and profits—are anxious but do not want to cut capacity for fear of losing market share.”
Tags: Aluminum, Capacity, China, Fears, Margins, Market share, Meltdown, Middle East, North America, Oil, Output, Profits, Russia, Smelters
Institutional Investor (April 27)
“For decades Washington politicians have evoked the dream of a North American energy alliance that would deliver Mexico’s abundant hydrocarbons to factories and motor vehicles in the U.S.” Today’s reality “is confounding expectations. It’s the booming U.S. energy sector that is powering Mexican factories and cars.”
Tags: Cars, Energy alliance, Factories, Hydrocarbons, Mexico, North America, Politicians, U.S., Washington
