“Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly.” And financial institutions, evidently, gotta manipulate, to their own advantage, the markets in which they trade, apparently unencumbered by ethics and undeterred by fines (when caught!) in the millions of dollars (but actually amounting to little more than a slap on the wrist), and probationary agreements which they frequently...
Category: TRENDS ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC FRONT
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ECB TO KEEP MONEY JUNKIES HIGH
The European Central Bank (ECB) will continue its €4.6-trillion bond-buying economic stimulus programs well into 2023, according to 75 percent of 32 economists polled by the Financial Times. The remainder of those polled expected the bank to curb stimulus programs this year, in part because the ECB already has said net new purchases in its...
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SPOTLIGHT: THE RISE OF CHINA
CHINA’S EQUITY VALUE GREW TO $12.7 TRILLION IN 2021 China’s stock markets held $12.7 trillion at the end of 2021, ranking it as the world’s second-largest equities market. Domestically-listed stocks added about 20 percent in value, or about $2.1 trillion, through the year, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, mirroring the 23-percent rise in the...
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SPOTLIGHT: INFLATION
UKRAINE FEAR: EUROPEANS, U.K. HIT WITH NEW RECORD HIGH GAS PRICES Europeans may be looking at the extended weather forecast more closely than usual in hopes of a mild winter because gas prices have hit a new record high last week as uncertainty over Russia’s intention with Ukraine looms large. The Wall Street Journal reported that...
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SPOTLIGHT: BIGS GETTING BIGGER
PFIZER BUYS ARENA PHARMACEUTICAL FOR $6.7 BILLION Flush with billions in cash from the success of its COVID vaccine, Pfizer Inc. has agreed to pay $6.7 billion to buy drug maker Arena Pharmaceuticals, which specializes in medications for inflammatory bowel conditions. Pfizer will pay $100 a share for Arena, more than twice the company’s 10...
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CHINA CUTS KEY INTEREST RATE
On 20 December, the People’s Bank of China reduced its one-year prime lending rate by 0.5 percent to 3.8 percent. The rate is the one at which commercial banks lend to their most credit-worthy customers and benchmarks rates for other loans, CNN Business noted. The cut is an attempt to reinvigorate a slowing economy slammed...
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GERMANY SLIDING TOWARD RECESSION
Germany’s economy will contract by 0.5 percent this quarter, compared to the third, and either stall or shrink further in 2022’s first three months, according to Germany’s Ifo Institute for Economic Research. An economy is officially in recession when it shrinks for two successive quarters. “Ongoing supply bottlenecks and the fourth wave of the coronavirus...
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TURKEY’S MARKETS CRASH, CURRENCY CRISIS
On Monday, 20 December, the value of Turkey’s lira slid to 18 against the dollar, down 13 percent after plunging 5 percent Friday. The currency cratered after the country’s central bank cut interest rates on 16 December, the fourth cut in as many months as inflation continued to rage at more than 21 percent, although...
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CHINA’S ECONOMY SLOWS IN NOVEMBER
China’s economy slackened in November, thanks to a lagging consumer economy and the persistence of the COVID virus. The property market, which makes up almost a third of China’s GDP, stumbled with the failure of major developers Evergrande Group and Kaisa Group to be able to pay their debts, resulting in both corporations being declared...
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EUROPE’S CENTRAL BANKS DIVERGE ON STIMULUS POLICY
Europe’s central banks have taken different stances on interest rate increases since the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated on 15 December that it probably will begin raising rates next spring and probably will boost them three times in 2022. The next day, the Bank of England moved its base rate from 0.1 percent to 0.25 (see...