POST-ELECTION BOND RALLY INCREASES NEGATIVE-YIELDING DEBT. The settlement of the U.S. election sparked a rally in the bond market, raising the global total of bonds carrying negative interest rates to a record $17.05 trillion, the Financial Times reported. During the economic shutdown, governments and corporations issued a flurry of new bonds, including many in European...
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ARMENIA APPEALS TO RUSSIA IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashninian appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to provide security assistance while fighting continues over Nagorno-Karabakh, which would be seen as a major development in the conflict and could result in a showdown with Turkey. The Associated Press reported last Saturday that the Kremlin was yet to respond to Pashninian’s request....
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GLOBAL ECONOMIC TRENDS
AUTOMATION THREATENS JOBS AS NEW SHUTDOWNS TAKE HOLD. With politicians closing – again – sectors of their states’ and nations’ economies to blunt the latest surge in COVID cases, companies are rushing the adoption of automating technologies that will let them maintain production without human workers, according to a new study by the World Economic...
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GLOBAL ECONOMIC TRENDS
BILLIONAIRES GAINED WEALTH DURING THE ECONOMIC SHUTDOWN, During the pandemic, the wealth of the world’s billionaires grew by 13 percent to reach $10.2 trillion, topping $10 trillion for the first time, according to a study by UBS and accounting firm PwC. The previous record was $8.9 trillion at the end of 2019. Between 7 April...
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CAUCASUS WAR: THE DEADLY FUTURE
Top world powers issued a joint statement last week condemning “in the strongest terms” the recent escalation in southern Caucasus (located on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia) that has led to mounting casualties for Armenia and Azerbaijan. The U.S., France, and Russia have called for a ceasefire after a recent breakout of...
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U.S. MARKETS FRONT
On the market front, the Dow, after being up 237 points, closed basically flat today, while the S&P 500 closed up 0.5 percent and the NASDAQ gained 1.2 percent on the news that big dealmakers are making more deals and hopes of a corona virus vaccine hitting the market soon. Today’s headline story from CNBC...
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WAR ESCALATES FOR LIBYAN OIL
As we’ve been reporting for many months, the ongoing civil war in Libya is fueled by foreign powers seeking control of the country’s huge oil reserves. The drumbeat of war is getting louder around the vicinity of Sirte, considered a gateway to one of Libya’s main oil ports. The U.N.-sanctioned government in Tripoli has sent...
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GLOBAL ECONOMIC TRENDS
GERMAN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION BEGINS TO STIR. Several sectors of Germany’s industrial economy are beginning to boost production, according to a survey by the ifo Institute. The institute’s production indicator, based on the outlook of manufacturing executives, rose from a feeble collective 4.4 points in June to 14.7 in July. Among the most optimistic sectors: Germany’s...
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ASIA
Japan’s Economy in Recession. Japan’s economy, the world’s third largest, has seen two consecutive quarters of contraction and is now in its first recession since 2015. The economy shrank by 7.3 percent in 2019’s final quarter and again by 3.4 percent in the first three months of this year, with exports down 6 percent. The...
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ASIA
Turkey Gambles Interest Rate Cuts Against Currency Stability Turkey’s central bank has cut its key interest rate for the eighth time in less than a year. The 1-percentage point cut was twice as deep as analysts expected and puts the new rate at 8.75 percent. The cut supports president Recip Erdoğan’s strategy of using cheap...