Reuters (February 4)
“Japan’s exports of agricultural, forestry and fishery products rose 3.7% to a record high in 2024, despite China’s ban on seafood imports following Tokyo Electric Power’s discharge from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.” These exports reached 1.507 trillion yen ($9.7 billion) last year, up nearly from 1.5 trillion yen from 2023. “Exports to China plunged 29.1% to 168.1 billion yen in 2024, but exports to the United States rose 17.8% to 242.9 billion yen, making the U.S. Japan’s top export destination for the first time in 20 years.”
Tags: 2024, 3.7%, Agricultural, Ban, China, Exports, Fishery, Forestry, Fukushima, Imports, Japan, Record high, Seafood, Tepco, U.S.
Washington Post (July 4)
“Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index closed Thursday at a fresh record high of 40,913.65, pushing past its most recent record close set in March on heavy buying of automaker and technology shares…. Both foreign and domestic investors have piled into the Japanese market in recent months even as the economy has slowed.” The weak yen is “part of the attraction…. But changes to investment regulations have also lured many Japanese investors into the equity market.”
Tags: Automaker, Domestic, Economy, Foreign, Heavy buying, Investors, Japan, Market, Nikkei 225, Record high, Shares, Technology, Weak yen
Investment Week (June 22)
“UK inflation has hit another 40 year high of 9.1% in May, up from 9% in April. The slight increase from already record high inflation rate came largely from rising food and non-alcoholic beverage prices,” while gas and diesel prices rose to “the highest on record.” The “top financial priority” for 58% of UK adults is now “day to day costs, like paying bills and for food.”
Washington Post (May 27)
“More Americans are expected to travel for the Memorial Day weekend than last year despite record-high gasoline prices, costlier airfares, higher hotel rates and a wave of covid infections — the result of pent-up demand outstripping health concerns and escalating prices.”
Tags: Airfares, Covid infections, Escalating prices, Gasoline, Health concerns, Hotel rates, Memorial Day, Pent-up demand, Record high, Travel, U.S.
Miami Herald (June 12)
“Floridians flattened the COVID curve. Then, amid upbeat talk, the numbers began to rise.” On Friday, Florida announced “a new daily record high of 1,902 additional cases of COVID-19 — surpassing the previous high of confirmed cases by 204, which was reported just a day earlier.”
Tags: Confirmed cases, COVID-19, Curve, Flattened, Record high, Upbeat
Deutsche Welle (July 24)
“A record high temperature in Germany is forecast to stand for only a day as Europe’s second summer heat wave bites. Ships have been stranded, rail travelers urged to delay trips and tigers fed chicken ice blocks.” With much of Europe, Germany is sweltering in the record heat wave.
Tags: Delay Sweltering, Europe, Germany, Heat wave, Rail, Record high, Ships, Temperature
Institutional Investor (February 14)
“Record-high fundraising has resulted in some growing pains and new challenges for private market managers.” In 2017, “fund managers raised a record sum of nearly $750 billion. Much of this fundraising was driven by so-called mega funds, or funds larger than $5 billion,” which more than doubled their take over 2016. According to McKinsey & Co., the largest firms are now increasingly challenged by where to deploy capital, rather than how to raise it. Maintaining “the persistency of firm performance” is also growing more challenging “as the biggest firms get bigger.”
Tags: Capital, Challenges, Fundraising, McKinsey, Mega funds, Performance, Record high