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Contents Click on the links below to get to the stuff you really really want. USA – Investors waiting for direction; Oil prices up on OPEC news (#USA) UK – Pound down, oil and mineral prices up, FTSE up; House builders and supermarkets down (#UK) Continental Europe – Oil and banks up, chemicals led down by Linde (#Europe) Elsewhere – Lack of direction left stocks mixed (#Elsewhere) WTF – Stephen Colbert on T**** (#WTF) Links (#Useful) Numbers (#Numbers) Ts & Cs (#Ts+Cs)
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USA
The stock market in the US yesterday was a bit like one of those saloons in a western movie when a stranger walks in – everything stops. The stranger was more financial stimulus and everyone was waiting to see if he’d make it to the bar. In plainer language, House Speaker and Democrat, Nancy Pelosi, (“nasty” according to Donald Trump) her Senate equivalent, Chuck Schumer, (“bad” according to Donald Trump) want to kick off stimulus talks asap. I can’t see much happening before the Georgia run-offs which will decide whether the Democrats or Republicans control the Senate.
In the meantime, oil prices rose sharply after news emerged that OPEC (led by Saudi Arabia) and Russia (and a few others) were making progress with talks over cutting production. Currently supply is outstripping demand, hence the sustained low prices of oil that we’ve seen. Demand might pick up when the economy cranks up again later in the year but, for now, the supply levels are dictating prices.
The rise in oil prices pushed oil producers up and that tipped the S&P 500 into a small positive overall move on the day of 0.2%. The demand for and prices of bonds inched down, but not by much.
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UK
The approval of vaccines failed to give UK stocks a shot in the clich é yesterday. But the value of the pound fell, and that combined with rising oil prices to lift the FTSE 100 by a solid 1.2%. As you know and love, BP and Shell account for around 15% of the blue-chip index, so their 4.7% rises had a lot to do with the index’s rise on the day.
Miners were also up as folk anticipated a rise in industrial production, but house builders and supermarkets were down. House builders pulled back on Tuesday’s gains which were driven by Brexit hopes, while supermarkets were talking about paying back the business rates relief that they’d received during the lockdown.
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Continental Europe
The stasis was more apparent across the continent where oil majors and banks rose but chemical giant, Linde, fell after investment house Fidelity sold a big chunk of shares in the company. The Euro Stoxx 50 and German DAX closed the day 0.1% and 0.5% lower respectively.
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Elsewhere
Stocks across the Asia Pacific region are trying to work out which direction they should be heading this morning. Will there be a US stimulus package? How soon will the vaccines been rolled out? That left Chinese stocks a touch lower while Australian, Korean and Taiwanese stocks are on the up.
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WTF (What’s The Fact?)
Stephen Colbert on T****
If you get the chance, catch up on Stephen Colbert, host of “A late show”, and his musings on what’s gone on during the day. Currently, and unsurprisingly, this is dominated by the president’s latest rants.
The president has been accusing various states of “a massive dump”. No, not one of Trump’s post-cheeseburger egestions. Rather, this refers to the addition to the count of mail-in votes that pushed the election in Biden’s favour.
During a 46-minute rant, Trump claimed that ballot papers in Arizona had been stolen from post boxes and hidden “under a rock”.
This was Stephen Colbert’s response: “Hidden under a rock? In Arizona? In the desert? Did a fast bird going ‘meep meep’ do this?”
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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’re unable to recognise the devil’s ear wax when you see it, then you’re on your own.
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