WANTED: AUGUST LIFELINE FOR TOURISM August conjures up images of beaches and sunshine but it may not bring much respite to travel and tourism stocks. Battered by lockdowns, tourism has lagged a broader market recovery, with airline, hotel and leisure shares 20%-50% lower [...]
LIRA LOW August can be a tricky time for markets. It was the month Russia defaulted (1998), China devalued the yuan (2015) and BNP Paribas kicked off subprime meltdown by freezing three of its funds (2007). Plenty could go wrong this August as [...]
TALE OF TWO CURRENCIES The euro suddenly looks unstoppable, hitting 21-month highs above $1.16 after the European Union set aside differences and agreed a COVID-19 recovery fund. This signal of solidarity, combined with monetary and budget stimulus, could propel the currency to $1.20, [...]
EUROPE INC We knew Q2 earnings would be dire but the hope was a) they might turn out to be better than feared and b) companies could offer guidance on the outlook. So while expectations are for European Q2 earnings to slump 50%-plus, [...]
EUROPE: FINAL COUNTDOWN Southern European bonds and the euro have rallied hard in the two months since France and Germany mooted a 750 billion-euro ($848 billion) post-COVID-19 recovery fund. On July 17-18, European leaders meet to hammer out details. But differences remain on [...]
THE SECOND HALF After finishing the first half of 2020 on a high, bulls have charged into the remaining six months on promising news of a vaccine and data showing 4.8 million U.S. jobs created in June, after 2.7 million in [...]
HALF TIME World stocks have been on a rollercoaster ride in the first half of 2020. Having slumped 35% from Feb. 20 to March 23, they are now within 10% of February's record highs thanks to lashings of fiscal stimulus, interest rates slashed [...]
'RUSSELL RECON' After one of the most severe equity market selloffs in decades comes the June 26 "Russell Recon", the once-a-year re-jig of FTSE Russells's U.S. index range, tracked by over $9 trillion in assets. Bank of America analysts predict big changes this year, [...]
ROBIN HOOD AND THE MERRY TRADERS "Rise and rise again until lambs become lions," runs an oft-quoted line from the 2010 film 'Robin Hood'. The motto is being taken seriously by all those merry men and maidens chasing shares in little-known [...]
CROUCHING TIGER Have HSBC and Standard Chartered "chosen profits over human rights" in backing China's national security law for Hong Kong, as some suggest? Or does it reflect the tightrope businesses must navigate between Hong Kong's protesters and Beijing? U.S. special treatment for [...]
