Investment Week (September 12)
“Annual growth in employees’ average total pay, including bonuses, was 8.5%; which was boosted by the NHS and Civil Service one-off payments made in June and July. Due to the strong momentum in wage growth, the Bank of England is expected to push ahead with a 25 basis point interest rate rise at its Monetary Policy Committee meeting later this month.”
Tags: Annual growth, BOE, Bonuses, Civil Service, Employees, Interest rate, Momentum, MPC, NHS, Rise, Strong, Total pay, Wage growth
New York Times (March 31)
“For the first time in American history, a grand jury has indicted a former president of the United States.” Former President Trump “spent years… ignoring democratic and legal norms and precedents, trying to bend the Justice Department and the judiciary to his whims and behaving as if rules didn’t apply to him.” His indictment shows the rules do apply and, with it, these “institutions have proved to be strong enough to hold him accountable for that harm.”
Tags: Accountable, Democratic, Grand jury, History, Indicted, Institutions, Judiciary, Justice Department, Legal norms, Precedents, President, Rules, Strong, Trump, U.S., Whims
Reuters (March 1)
“Strong investor inflows into bond markets this year mean traders and bankers are confident the European Central Bank will have a smooth start to unwinding its huge bond holdings, but the long term impact of its ‘quantitative tightening’ is a big unknown.”
Tags: Bankers, Bond markets, Confident, ECB, Holdings, Impact, Inflows, Investor, Long term, Quantitative tightening, Smooth, Strong, Traders, Unknown, Unwinding
Oilprice.com (January 22)
“Since China doesn’t report crude oil inventories, it’s all guesswork as to just how much crude the country has stashed over the past year.” Rising inventory levels “could mean that China’s imports may not be as strong as anticipated. But it could also mean that refiners are preparing for a surge in demand” in the post-Covid restriction era. “There is one certainty in the oil markets – the economic growth in China has been and will continue to be a key factor in global oil demand, capable of moving oil prices in either direction.”
Tags: China, Covid, Crude oil, Demand, Economic growth, Guesswork, Imports, Inventories, Prices, Refiners, Strong, Surge
WARC (January Issue)
“E-commerce is expected to account for one-third (33%) of sales among chain retailers worldwide this year, rising from 23% in the pre-pandemic year of 2019.” The growth is forecast to continue, “with e-commerce to take an almost two-fifths (39%) share of sales in 2026. This comes amid strong online growth and stable or declining physical store sales worldwide.”
Tags: Chain retailers, E-commerce, Growth, Online, Physical store, Pre-pandemic, Rising, Sales, Strong
Wall Street Journal (July 7)
“Germany’s economic slowdown, though no doubt bad for Europe in the short term, could be helpful over a longer period by easing a rift between the region’s economically stronger north and weaker south over pro-growth policies.”
Globe and Mail (October 23)
“It has been a difficult, sad week.” Two shootings shook the Canadian calm, but not the Canadian spirit. “Canada isn’t going anywhere. Nothing about what makes us, us, is ‘over.’ We have had a bad week. There is much loss to mourn. But we are still here. We are still standing. The True North remains, strong and free.”
