“It’s the economy, stupid.” And now, thanks to the Ukraine War and the long series of sanctions and embargoes imposed on Russia by the US and NATO, market players are betting that for the first time since the market madness during the financial crisis in 2009, inflation will rise faster in Europe than the United...
Tag: may 3 2022
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SPOTLIGHT ON CHINA’S TROUBLES
CHINA’S ECONOMIC OUTLOOK DIMS China’s manufacturing and service economies both showed marked slowdowns in April. The country’s official purchasing managers index (PMI) in manufacturing slipped from 49.5 in March to 47.4 in April, its lowest mark since February 2020, due in significant part to widespread, severe lockdowns to halt the spread of the COVID virus...
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SPOTLIGHT ON INFLATION
KEY U.S. INFLATION GAUGE NOTCHES 40-YEAR RECORD The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, sped along this year through March at 6.6 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported. Food and energy costs were particularly inflated, due in large measure to the Ukraine war and Western sanctions....
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MAERSK: SHIPPING VOLUME DOWN, PROFITS UP
AP Moller-Maersk, the world’s second-largest ocean shipping company, has raised its profit forecast for 2022 by 25 percent—from $24 billion to $30 billion—despite foreseeing stagnating container shipping volume this year, or even a 1-percent decline. Due to an “exceptional market situation,” Maersk saw first-quarter freight rates soar by 71 percent, year over year, while container...
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CHIP SHORTAGE WILL LAST INTO 2024, INTEL CEO SAYS
The shortage of computer chips that chip-maker Intel had expected to end next year now will extend into 2024 as manufacturers scramble to add equipment and boost production, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger told The Wall Street Journal. “We have seen that equipment shortages are really impeding the ability of the industry to ramp supply at...
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RUSSIA CUTS INTEREST RATE, MAKES BOND PAYMENT IN DOLLARS
On 29 April, Russia’s central bank trimmed its key interest rate for the second time during that month, dropping it from 17 percent to 14 percent. The bank had doubled its rate to 20 percent to defend the ruble after Russia attacked Ukraine and Western countries froze half the bank’s foreign exchange assets. The bank...
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EUROPE MUST ACT NOW TO SECURE METALS, REPORT WARNS
To fulfill its announced plan to shift to carbon-neutral energy by 2050, Europe will need 35 times more lithium, up to 26 times more rare earth metals, twice as much nickel, and 35 percent more copper than it uses today, a new study warned. Russia is a major exporter of minerals. After Russia attacked Ukraine,...
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RUSSIA ENDS GAS EXPORTS TO POLAND, BULGARIA. GERMANY AND ITALY ARE NEXT
Last week, state-controlled Gazprom, Russia’s largest natural gas company, cut off deliveries to Bulgaria and Poland because the two countries failed to pay for the gas in rubles, Russia’s national currency. Russia had previously warned that “unfriendly” nations would be required to pay for their gas supplies in rubles, which Ursula von der Leyen, president...
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TOP TREND 2022: SELF-SUFFICIENT ECONOMIES: MORE COUNTRIES LINING UP
Together, Russia and Ukraine ship a disproportionate share of the world’s barley, corn, wheat, vegetable oils. Russia also is a key supplier of nickel, pig iron, and fossil fuels. Those exports have now slowed to a trickle and, in some cases, ceased entirely. Ukraine has cut exports of cattle, oats, sunflower oil, and wheat to...
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TOP 2022 TREND, DRAGFLATION: GLOBAL ECONOMIC GROWTH SLOWS
During this year’s first quarter, the U.S. economy shrank 1.4 percent and the European Union’s economy grew 0.2 percent compared to 0.3 percent in 2021’s final three months. (See related story in this issue.) Spain’s GDP expanded 0.3 percent, a fraction of the 2.2 percent it saw in last year’s fourth quarter. In France, the...