Oil supplies risk failing to meet global demands next year, even though current high prices and slowing economies point to a shrinking market, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said last week in its first forecast for 2023. This year’s 1.8-million barrel-a-day growth in demand comes from developed economies, the agency said, but rising demand among...
Category: TRENDS ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC FRONT
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STOCKS DIVE ON RATE HIKES
The sudden spate of interest rate increases last week by central banks in Europe and the U.S. has sent stock prices tumbling in one of their worst performances since the COVID War began. The Bank of England (BoE), the Swiss National Bank, and the National Bank of Hungary all lifted rates last week the day...
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CENTRAL BANKS IN EUROPE HIKE RATES, DOLLAR SINKS
On 16 June, several central banks in Europe suddenly raised interest rates, some without warning, after the U.S. Federal Reserve hiked its key rate the day before by three-quarters of a point. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) raised its interest rate from -0.75 percent to -0.25, the bank’s first rate increase since 2007. Most analysts...
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SPOTLIGHT: BIGS GET BIGGER
WALTON WILL BUY DENVER BRONCOS FOR $4.6 BILLION Walmart heir Rob Walton is leading a group that has agreed to pay $4.6 billion to buy the Denver Broncos football franchise, a record sum paid for a U.S. sports team, the Financial Times reported. The purchasers include Rob’s daughter Carrie Penner and her husband Greg Penner,...
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SPOTLIGHT: THE RETURN OF CHINA
CHINA’S EXPORT ECONOMY REBOUNDS China’s exports surged 16.9 percent in May, year over year, almost four times the 3.9-percent expansion booked in April, the country’s General Administration of Customs reported. The figure stunned analysts, who had held a median expectation of 8 percent, The Wall Street Journal noted. The surge likely was the result of...
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SPOTLIGHT: INFLATION
MAY INFLATION SETS ANOTHER 40-YEAR RECORD The U.S. annual inflation rate in May edged up to 8.6 percent from 8.5 in April, squelching some analysts’ predictions that inflation had peaked. The pace of rising prices was the greatest since December 1981. Grocery prices climbed 11.9 percent year over year last month, their largest annual gain...
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DANGER AHEAD: CREDIT SUISSE CUTS PROFIT OUTLOOK A THIRD TIME
On 8 June, Credit Suisse warned that it expects to post a loss for this quarter, as its investment banking division delivered weak results due to market volatility sparked by the Ukraine war, the end of COVID-era government stimulus programs, and central banks tightening monetary policies. In January, the company said it would report a...
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TURKEY ADOPTS NEW MEASURE TO RESCUE THE LIRA
The Turkish government has announced a new “revenue-indexed” savings bond in an attempt to salvage the value of the lira, its failing national currency. (See “Turkey’s Economy Weakens Further Under Erdogan’s Policy” in this issue.) Officials have given few details about the new bond, other than to say that it will offer a guaranteed minimum...
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TURKEY’S ECONOMY WEAKENS FURTHER UNDER ERDOGAN’S POLICY
For more than a year, Turkey’s banks have spent billions of dollars and other foreign currencies to buy lira and shore up the value of its weakening currency. However, that strategy seems to have run out of power as the lira continues to lose value, The Wall Street Journal reported. On 13 June, the lira...
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RUPEE CRASHES, INDIAN STOCKS FALL AS INVESTORS FLEE RISK
On 13 June, India’s rupee fell to a record low 78.285 against the dollar and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex stock index dropped 2.7 percent as investors dumped riskier holdings on the chance that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this week more than the half-point that has been expected, Bloomberg reported. Investors...