Click here to view this email in your browser (mmmmaven.com/daily-market-update-dmu/)
Sign Up Here (mmmmaven.com/dmu-sign-up/) for Free to the DMU Email me to provide feedback
Contents Click on the links below to get to the stuff you really really want. USA – Stocks slide on jobs data and lack of stimulus package progress (#USA) UK – Brexit talks stalled, economic data disappointing, stocks and bond yields fall (#UK) Continental Europe – Stocks down on vaccine delay and general global news; Citi talks up 2021; ECB adds more stimulus (#Europe) Elsewhere – Yen up on demand for havens; Chinese stocks down on renewed tensions with US (#Elsewhere) WTF – Building a comparison (#WTF) Links (#Useful) Numbers (#Numbers) Ts & Cs (#Ts+Cs)
————————————————————
USA
Politicians in the US progress towards an agreement on a substantial financial support and stimulus package continued to be painfully slow. The deadline for agreement is 18 December, after which not much can be done as the transition process between administrations takes precedence.
The latest round of jobs data also disappointed, leaving the pattern of rising technology and sandwich delivery stocks while much of the rest slowly fell. The S&P 500 closed 0.1% lower.
Back to Contents (#Contents)
————————————————————
UK
Brexit talks have stalled and the deadline has been extended to Sunday. As the prospects of a no-deal outcome loom larger, the shock to UK trade continued to undermine investor confidence. That sent the value of the pound further down, providing another short-term lift to export-focused companies that dominate the FTSE 100. The blue-chip index closed 0.5% higher yesterday.
The more domestically focused FTSE 250 provided a more realistic reflection of the situation by falling 0.6% on the day. This was accompanied by further disappointing macro-economic data. The UK economy just about managed to grow during October. With lockdown restrictions unlikely to disappear any time soon, that paucity of positivity is set to continue.
The most likely distraction for investors at the moment is news that the Americans might come up with a stimulus package. Until then, the worries have been spelt out in domestic bond markets where the demand for and prices of benchmark 10-year Gilts (UK government bonds) have shot up over recent days as investors look for somewhere relatively “safe” to place their dosh. The 10-Gilt yield has slumped from more than 0.35% in early December to 0.20% at the time of writing.
Back to Contents (#Contents)
————————————————————
Continental Europe
With nothing positive coming in, stock prices were sliding downwards on the continent yesterday. The Euro Stoxx 50 and German DAX both dropped by around 0.3%. News of delays in the production of vaccines from GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi didn’t help the mood.
However, Citi Group was more upbeat. Folk at the massive US banking group were suggesting that European stocks are set for a 4% rise in 2021, making buying when prices have fallen a more attractive prospect. While few will doubt the growth potential, the question is when will the rises start to manifest themselves and how much damage will be done in the meantime?
While we wait for that, news that there would be more financial stimulus helped; the European Central Bank announced that it was ratcheting up its bond-buying programme which injects new cash into the financial system in a bid to make lending cheap and easily available (while also endeavouring to push inflation up from its unhelpfully low levels).
Back to Contents (#Contents)
————————————————————
Elsewhere
With folk getting more nervous, the demand for perceive “haven” assets, such as the Japanese yen, increased. With money returning to Japan, assets there were given a bit of a lift. Chinese stocks did not fare so well. The CSI 300 is trading 1.0% lower at the time of writing as tensions with the US flared up again.
Back to Contents (#Contents)
————————————————————
WTF (What’s The Fact?)
Building a comparison
The Doyen of Delphi sent this post to me in which an analyst has decided to place a growth chart of Tesla’s share price alongside the Burj Khalifa:
Duly inspired, I have come up with a couple of buildings that could represent something or someone. You can add your own chart.
If you’re wondering, it’s a newspaper headquarters in China.
Back to Contents (#Contents)
————————————————————
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.
Back to Contents (#Contents)
———————————————————— 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.
————————————————————
============================================================ Copyright © 2020 Chris Hurst, All rights reserved.
Want to change how you receive these emails? You can ** update your preferences (funnymoney.us4.list-manage.com/profile?u=09a51282c76deb2dc44653051&id=dcc3fa0043&e=f68b7163ab) or ** unsubscribe from this list (funnymoney.us4.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=09a51282c76deb2dc44653051&id=dcc3fa0043&e=f68b7163ab&c=fd4bbc1fbd) .