Its The Economy, Stupid - Economic & Business News From Around The World

[Fwiffo]

Inflation ticks upward to 3.7% for August 2023: Here's how it could affect interest rates

Last month was the second time the year-on-year inflation measure has ticked upward since July after 12 consecutive months of decline.

www.nbcnews.com

"Gasoline prices rose 10.6% compared to July and fuel oil prices jumped 9.1%, according to the federal government. That drove up transportation costs. Both commodities cost less than they did a year ago, however."

Better roll out some of those fuel subsidies.

 

[Fwiffo]

European Central Bank increases interest rate for 10th time in a row - hitting a record high

The Bank's deposit rate has been increased by 0.25 percentage points to 4%. Commentators believe rates have probably now reached a peak - but are likely to remain at the current level for months.

news.sky.com

"For example, many in the eastern bloc are still suffering from inflation rates running into double digits.

At the same time, members such as Belgium and Spain are seeing the pace of price growth running at levels nearer 1%."

Wait till it extends into Turkey and Ukraine.

 

[Fwiffo]

Federal Reserve pauses rate hikes as inflation and economy slow down

It's the second time this year the Fed left the key interest rate unchanged after seeing signs of inflation cooling off following 40-year highs.

www.nbcnews.com

Time to list those properties are trade up.

 

[Fwiffo]

Lego axes plan to make bricks from recycled bottles

The toy giant finds that the new crude oil-free material did not cut carbon emissions.

www.bbc.com

"But on Monday, it said it had found that using the new material didn't reduce carbon emissions. Lego said it remains 'fully committed' to making bricks from sustainable materials."

Just like those eco-bags...

 

[Fwiffo]

Evergrande: Anxious Chinese home buyers reel from crisis

As China's housing crisis grows, so have fears that dreams of home ownership have been bulldozed.

www.bbc.com

And if you thought your country's real estate/housing market was f*cked..

 

[Fwiffo]

Apple CEO Tim Cook Offloads $88 Million Of Shares—His Biggest Selloff In Years

It’s the billionaire’s largest sale of his company’s stock since August 2021.

www.forbes.com

Entitled to my entitlements.

 

[Fwiffo]

US jobs growth much faster than expected

The number of jobs added to the US economy last month was almost double the amount forecast.

www.bbc.com

More rate increases!

 

[Fwiffo]

Opinion: However the Israel-Hamas war ends, there is one big winner: the defence sector

In the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, defence stocks have soared, adding US$23-billion in market value to the sector

www.theglobeandmail.com

"Among the most active earlier this week: Lockheed Martin, which makes the F-35 Lightning II fighter jets used by the Israel military, as well as Sikorsky and Black Hawk helicopters; Northrup Grumman which makes submarines and combat vehicles; Raytheon, General Dynamics and Boeing. Together, shares of these and similar companies in the sector rose by an average of 6.5 per cent. Northrop Grumman led the pack, surging more than 11 per cent."

6.5 percent in one week...

 

[Fwiffo]

Rite Aid bankruptcy means pharmacies will keep dwindling

The third-largest U.S. drugstore chain filed for bankruptcy protection because of a mix of high debts, weak sales, growing competition and an impending lawsuit.

www.nbcnews.com

"All that debt made it harder for Rite Aid to invest in its stores or to expand and branch out into new businesses the way its rivals did. CVS now has more than 1,000 clinics in its stores, and it bought a pharmacy benefits manager and a health insurer over the years. Walgreens and CVS both expanded into some types of primary care, as well.

But Saunders said all three have neglected their stores as they have prioritized the health care parts of their businesses over the retail parts.

'They are not good retailers. None of them,' he said. 'They just haven't really evolved and changed with the times at all.'"

Sounds more like a death sentence.

 

[Fwiffo]

LinkedIn lays off 668 people, about 3% of global workforce

20,000 global workforce for what is really a glorified job board.

 

[belinmad]

LinkedIn lays off 668 people, about 3% of global workforce

20,000 global workforce for what is really a glorified job board.

Totally.

 

[Fwiffo]

Stubborn British inflation holds steady in September as petrol prices rise

Britain’s inflation rate remains the highest of any major advanced economy, and Wednesday’s data keep alive the possibility of another rise in interest rates

www.theglobeandmail.com

6.7%. The interest rate hike magic 8 ball says: It is certain.

Canada's inflation rate slows to 3.8%

3.8%. The interest rate hike magic 8 ball says: Cannot predict now.

 

[Fwiffo]

Powell says inflation is still too high and lower economic growth is likely needed to bring it down

The Federal Reserve chairman spoke on the difficulty of getting inflation down to 2%, saying "the path is likely to be bumpy and take some time."

www.nbcnews.com

3.7%.. stop growing the economy.

 

[Fwiffo]

US economy grows at fastest pace in nearly two years

Higher wages seen in a tight jobs market have helped power consumer spending and the economy in the US.

www.bbc.com

"The economy expanded at an annual rate of 4.9% in the July to September period, according to the government's first estimate.
Analysts expected that the economy would grow by 4.5% in the third quarter of this year. But a strong jobs market meant that consumers were able to ask for bigger pay packets and keep spending on concerts, movies or holidays over the summer.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity in the US, was the main driver behind the rise. The latest figure is a big spike from the 2.1% growth seen in the three months to July."

Another rate increase is coming.

 

[Fwiffo]

Pfizer looks beyond COVID as Paxlovid charge sparks swing to quarterly loss

Pfizer posts a loss of 42 cents per share for the third quarter. It had reported a profit of $1.51 per share in the year-ago quarter

www.theglobeandmail.com

"As announced earlier this month, the company recorded a $5.6 billion one-time charge to account for the U.S. government returning millions of doses of its antiviral treatment Paxlovid, as well as inventory of its vaccine Comirnaty.

A drop in the use of vaccines and products as the pandemic receded has fuelled a 40% drop in Pfizer’s shares this year and could remain a drag going forward, analysts have said. The stock fell about 2% in early trading."

What happens when you're a one trick pony.

 

[Fwiffo]

WeWork: reports say firm is filing for bankruptcy

The firm was once seen as the future of the office, but it has been plagued by problems in recent years.

www.bbc.com

"But the company kept operating, as executives sold off ancillary businesses, cut jobs and cancelled or modified hundreds of leases, trying to stem the firm's losses before it ran out of money. WeWork finally listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021 with a much lower valuation. The Japanese conglomerate SoftBank has pumped tens of billions of dollars into WeWork as it continued to lose money."

I'm going to say opening a space this year on the Wall Street equivalent of Canada was mental when all other offices are struggling with vacancy rates and filling their leased space with white collar workers.

 

[Fwiffo]

Federal Reserve keeps interest rates unchanged for now

The U.S. central bank held interest rates steady for the second straight month as it waits to see if inflation decreases further.

www.nbcnews.com

"Prices for most items haven't come down over that time, but the slower increases have been a relief to some consumers. Wages have been rising faster than inflation lately, which makes it easier for people to afford goods and services."

We don't need a halt in increases. We need deflation...or more money to spend on more expensive goods and services.

 

[Fwiffo]

WeWork, the office-sharing company once valued at $47B, files for bankruptcy protection

The company has suffered one of the most spectacular corporate collapses in recent U.S. history over the past few years.

www.nbcnews.com

Trim non-operational locations. You mean unprofitable no?

 

[Fwiffo]

Supermarket chain ditches self-checkouts and goes back to staffed tills

Booths says moving back to fully staffed tills is a way to maintain its "warm northern welcome". Sometimes called the "Waitrose of the North", the chain will scrap self-checkouts in all but two of its stores.

news.sky.com

That's weird. The first time I came across self checkout was living in London years ago (at the same time I also discovered chip cards).

 

[Fwiffo]

Amazon cuts jobs in its games division as part of broader restructuring

It’s the second cut to the division this year. Amazon also trimmed jobs in its streaming Music unit last week

www.theglobeandmail.com

They had a games division? Seems like they are cutting everywhere except maybe the cloud stuff.

 

[Fwiffo]

Why businesses are pulling billions in profits from China

Foreign businesses are pulling money out of China at a faster rate than they have been putting it in.

www.bbc.com

"The withdrawal of profits does not necessarily indicate that companies are unhappy with China, but rather that their investments here have matured."

Meanwhile if a Chinese person tries to transfer money out of the country........

 

[Fwiffo]

Inflation eased in October as cheaper gas offset overall price increases

Prices across the U.S. rose 3.2% compared with a year earlier, slightly below economists' forecasts.

www.cbsnews.com

Looks like the markets are betting the rate hikes are over.

 

[Fwiffo]

OpenAI employees threaten to quit en masse after former CEO Sam Altman joins Microsoft

Hundred of employees signed a letter calling on the board to step down or risk seeing mass resignations if Altman and former President Greg Brockman were not reinstated.

www.nbcnews.com

"'We are unable to work for or with people that lack competence, judgement and care for our mission and employees. We, the undersigned, may choose to resign from OpenAI and join the newly announced Microsoft subsidiary run by Sam Altman and Greg Brockman.'

As of late Monday morning, more than 700 names appeared on the letter, though NBC News has not confirmed all had chosen to sign it. Many of them had published identical posts on X reading 'OpenAI is nothing without its people.'

OpenAI currently has about 770 employees, the spokesperson said."

So 70 people understand that the board doesn't answer to the employees..

 

[Fwiffo]

Best Buy flags weakening consumer demand heading into holiday shopping season

Best Buy’s revenue fell 8.2% to $9-billion in the U.S. as demand decline worsened across appliances, home theatre, computing and mobile phones

www.theglobeandmail.com

People don't want more made in China and India stuff.

 

[Fwiffo]

Sam Altman: Ousted OpenAI boss to return days after being sacked

The in principle agreement involves a new board being installed, the tech company said.

www.bbc.com

Did he actually join Microsoft for two day's of pay or this was a shakedown?

 

[Fwiffo]

CEO of world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange pleads guilty to money laundering violations

"Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, admitted to engaging in anti-money laundering, unlicensed money transmitting and sanctions violations.

US officials described this as the biggest-ever corporate resolution that includes criminal charges for an executive.

Following a years-long investigation, authorities allege Binance allowed bad actors to freely transact on the platform, enabling everything from child sex abuse and narcotics to terrorist financing for ISIS, Al Qaeda and Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades."

We decided to let these exchanges....really crypto is a commodity....start up without the usual sanctions screening, anti-money laundering, etc. measures that are applied on proper financial institutions?

 

[Fwiffo]

Turkey's central bank raises interest rates to 40%

Turkey has been hit with soaring prices, but its president has only recently allowed rate hikes.

www.bbc.com

40%. What does a 1 year GIC fetch me?

 

[Fwiffo]

Red Lobster's cheap "endless shrimp" offer chewed into its profits

Red Lobster added all-you-can-eat shrimp to its menu. Then it realized how much Americans can eat.

www.cbsnews.com

How much of that salt laden seafood can you eat?