Despite returning to healthy profits in the second quarter, major oil companies have scaled back spending to increase production. ExxonMobil reported second-quarter profits of $4.7 billion after losing $1.1 billion during the same period in 2020; Chevron profited by $3.1 billion against a loss of $8.3 billion a year earlier. French oil giant TotalEnergies [sic]...
Tag: aug 3 2021
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EUROPE’S ECONOMY GREW FAST: WILL IT SLOW DOWN?
The Eurozone’s economy grew at 2 percent in this year’s second quarter after contracting in the first, outpacing both China and the U.S. and passing the 1.5 percent forecast by economists Reuters had polled. The U.S. GDP edged up 1.6 percent for the period, China’s 1.3 percent, the countries reported earlier. Lockdowns were lifted, vaccination...
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THE GLOBAL ECONOMY IS ALL ABOUT INFLATION NOW
Central banks around the world insist that today’s galloping inflation will slow to a walk as suppliers and transportation fleets smooth out disruptions created by the economic crisis. However, those “transitory” price hikes are reshaping the global economy right now. Germany’s July inflation rate of 3.1 percent was the highest since 2006, the Federal Statistics...
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FATTENING UP: FAST FOOD SALES SURGE
McDonald’s sold $5.9 billion worth of fast food in the second quarter, 57 percent more than 2020’s second quarter, the company reported. Sales beat analysts’ forecast of $5.6 billion for the period. Same-store sales for the quarter were 7 percent higher than in 2019’s Q2, with gains in U.S. business leading the increase. Revenue increased...
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SQUARE BUYS AFTERPAY FOR $29 BILLION
Square, the card-swiping payment system co-founded by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, has agreed to buy Australia’s Afterpay for $29 billion in stock in a deal set to close in 2022’s first quarter, CNBC reported. Buying Afterpay expands Square’s presence in the growing “installment loan” payment realm popular with younger consumers. Many Millennials and young adults...
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THE GOBBLE UP GAME: CBRE GETS BIGGER
CBRE, the world’s largest real estate services firm, has agreed to pay $1.3 billion in cash for 60-percent ownership of London-based Turner & Townsend Holdings, one of the world’s largest firms that manages major construction projects. The buy comes as developers prepare for a wave of infrastructure spending on roads, water and sewer system repairs...
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CITIZENS TO BUY INVESTORS BANCORP FOR $3.5 BILLION
Citizens Financial Group, the 15th largest U.S. bank by assets, according to bank services firm MX, will buy Investors Bancorp for $3.5 billion in cash and stock, The Wall Street Journal reported. Investors Bancorp operates about 150 locations in New York and New Jersey. The sale will give Citizens a sizable footprint in lucrative markets...
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COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE CRISIS?
It was a big story in The Wall Street Journal last week. Happy days are here again was the drift of the lengthy article. It began by noting that sales of commercial real estate have bounced back to pre-2020 levels, notching $144.7 billion in this year’s second quarter, according to data firm Real Capital Analytics. ...
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BIG BANKS: WE LOVE THE RICH
Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley loaned more than $600 billion to their wealthiest clients in this year’s second quarter, 17.5 percent more than a year earlier, the Financial Times reported. These loans now encompass 22.5 percent of the banks’ total loan portfolios, compared to 16.3 percent in mid-2017, according to the...
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CONSUMER SPENDING GAINED IN JUNE
Consumers spent 1 percent more in June, year over year, including 1.2 percent more on services and 0.5 percent more for goods, the U.S. commerce department reported. Household spending contracted 0.1 percent in May; consumers had satisfied their need for merchandise by then and began redirecting dollars to services, according to The Wall Street Journal. ...