“The pound headed for its worst run of losses in almost three years after U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson raised the stakes over a no-deal Brexit, issuing an ultimatum to the European Union that he won’t start divorce talks unless the withdrawal agreement is re-opened [which the EU has already said is a non-starter].”
“German consumer morale worsened for the third month in a row heading into August as a global economic downturn, trade disputes and Brexit uncertainty fuel worker fears of losing their jobs and their income, a survey showed on Tuesday…
“…the continued drop in consumer confidence signals that a slump in Germany’s export-dependent manufacturing is now creeping into other sectors of the economy.”
https://www.euronews.com/2019/07/30/german-consumer-morale-drops-as-recession-fears-spread-gfk-says
“Deutsche Bank, once a superstar in Europe, is now a disaster… Deutsche Bank’s struggles have also been amplified by something the 149-year-old lender never imagined, mostly because it had never happened before in modern history: negative interest rates.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/29/business/deutsche-bank-ecb-negative-rates/index.html
“When ArcelorMittal temporarily laid off around 1,400 Italian workers at its Taranto plant last month, it was just the latest sign that the eurozone’s economic weakness was feeding into the labour market in the bloc’s third-largest economy.”
https://www.ft.com/content/3ffa9a7c-a717-11e9-984c-fac8325aaa04
“U.S. companies are on pace to break another record for share repurchases in 2019, using a combination of cash and debt to push the total to close to $1 trillion.
“For the first time since the financial crisis, companies have given back more to shareholders than they are making in cash net of capital expenditures and interest payments, or free cash flow, according to Goldman Sachs calculations.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/29/buybacks-companies-increasingly-using-debt-to-repurchase-stocks.html
“According to the Federal Reserve, the number of $100 bills in circulation has roughly doubled since the global financial crisis, despite the rise of cashless options…
“One reason for the sharp surge in demand could be geopolitical instability, the IMF said, as a thirst for cash from other countries tends to increase during unsettled times.”
https://www.ft.com/content/a8de3894-afa7-11e9-8030-530adfa879c2
“A $25 billion stimulus package unveiled by Mexico on Monday should have an immediate impact, Finance Minister Arturo Herrera said, as Latin America’s second-largest economy teeters on the brink of a recession.
“The package comes just days before Mexico’s national statistics agency publishes second-quarter growth figures and amid an discussion over whether the economy has slipped into recession.”
“Factory activity in China is expected to have contracted for the third month in a row in July, a Reuters poll showed, underlining the intensifying strains on the world’s second-biggest economy from a protracted trade war with the United States…
“Another month of weak manufacturing activity is likely to fuel expectations for Beijing to add to a flurry of support measures put in place over the past year.”
“Vehicle sales in China slumped for the twelfth consecutive month in June, with unit sales of passenger cars and commercial vehicles declining by 9.6% in the month, and 12.4% for the first six months of the year…
“China’s deleveraging program has tightened credit for prospective auto buyers, and a slowing economy has hurt consumer sentiment, which is important for sales of big ticket items like autos. China’s economy slowed to 6.2% in the second quarter, its lowest quarterly growth rate in 27 years.”
“With no let-up apparent in global and regional trade tensions, Singapore’s business community has slashed its expectations for the near-term economic outlook.
““Because we are hugely export-dependent, because of the slowing down in the economy, because of tension, because of loss of business confidence — we need to adjust” growth expectations, Ho Meng Kit, chief executive officer of the Singapore Business Federation, said Monday…”
“Japanese subprime loan and savings banks have now secured nearly a 25 percent market share in Korea’s secondary loan business.
“This raises concerns over possible financial difficulties among Korea’s low-income bracket looking for a quick loan if Tokyo expands its economic retaliation into the financial sector.”
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/biz/2019/07/488_273059.html
“[Japan’s] Factory output suffered its second-largest drop in the last five years in June as trade tensions and a slowdown in the global economy dragged exports lower for a seventh straight month.”
“…while the [Australian stock] market may finally have recovered from the dark days of the 2008 crisis, when almost every day seemed to bring a fresh threat of corporate collapse, its new peak comes amid growing concerns about whether Australia can maintain its record run of 28 years without an economic recession.”
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