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Contents Click on the links below to get to the stuff you really really want. USA – Investors continue to push stocks up despite rising global virus cases; Trump appears to be quietly telling companies they can trade with WeChat (#USA) UK – EU blames UK for stalled Brexit talks; Manufacturing sector still struggling; Retail sales up sharply; Government debt is colossal (#UK) Continental Europe – Banks and exporters led stock price declines (#Europe) Elsewhere – Asia Pacific stocks up on easing US-China tensions (#Elsewhere) WTF – And just like that (#WTF) Links (#Useful) Numbers (#Numbers) Ts & Cs (#Ts+Cs)
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USA
The virus has now taken 800,000 deaths from 23 million confirmed cases. While the toll seems to be easing in the US, concerns are rising in Europe and some parts of Asia.
Meanwhile, Trump appears to be telling some companies on the quiet, that they can continue to trade with Chinese messaging app company, WeChat.
Still no sign of that stimulus package though, but pressure is building on both sides to agree a deal. If anything, there might be more pressure on the Democrats as the president is in more of a position to blame them for not approving what he has proposed.
In the meantime, US investors continued to be hopeful that the stimulus package would come through and that it would be a matter of time before a vaccine were to be found (though there’s no guarantee of that). So up went stocks even more to leave the S&P 500 0.3% up on the day.
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UK
The EU was making clear its disapproval of what it sees as the UK’s intransigence over Brexit talks. That created a general pall over sentiment and helped to bring the FTSE 100 down by 0.2% on the day, though the FTSE 250 managed to post a 0.5% gain.
Perhaps more directly relevant, though, were the economic data that came in. The manufacturing sector continues to struggle but at a slightly less bad level according to the Confederation of British Industry. Nevertheless, the CBI’s economic spokesperson emphasised the need for more government support.
Meanwhile, retail sales have returned to pre-pandemic levels. The other side of that coin is the level of government debt which has exceeded £2 trillion, the equivalent of the entire UK’s annual economic turnover. This is going to create long-lasting challenges for government budgets as the interest payments on all that debt will eat into government budgets for hospitals and bullets.
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Continental Europe
Most stocks across continental Europe were down with both the Euro Stoxx 50 and the German DAX falling by around 0.4% on Friday. Banks and exporters led declines as the general outlook remained under fairly intense pressure.
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Elsewhere
A different story is developing this morning. Stocks are up across much of the Asia Pacific region there seem to be signs that the Chinese and Americans might be hating each other slightly less this week. There are also hopes that a vaccine might be in the offing fairly soon, but that rumour comes and goes every other day.
Still, national benchmark stock indices are up by between 0.8% on the Chinese mainland and 1.6% in Hong Kong. Rises in Japan and Australia are less pronounced as folk there might be less directly affected by an easing of Sino-US tensions.
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WTF (What’s The Fact?)
And just like that
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Links
Investopedia (www.investopedia.com/dictionary/) – Loads of free explanations of financial terms including some helpful videos. Not 100% accurate, but a good starting point Guffipedia (ig.ft.com/sites/guffipedia/) – Lucy Kellaway of the FT has collected some painful examples of corporate people disappearing up their own analogies Guardian (www.theguardian.com) – Free to access website with a couple of decent columnists (e.g. Nils Pratley and Larry Elliott) Times of India (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) – Why use five words when 37 will do? Daily Mail (www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/07/the-war-on-stupid-people/485618) – Click it. I dare you.
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———————————————————— IMPORTANT This is my opinion. Yes I read a lot and share what I’ve read with you, but this content remains my opinion. It’s NOT advice. If you take my advice – don’t take my advice. Any decisions you make about investments, your hairstyle or whether or not to eat marzipan are entirely at your own behest. If you are too stupid to recognise the devil’s ear wax when you see it, then you’re on your own.
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