Thursday, 3 October 2024
The Mighty Headlines
Economics: Eurozone unemployment remains stable
Business: French and US firms invest $10 billion to extract oil in Suriname
Markets: JD Sports shares fall despite growing sales
Foreign Affairs: Iranian President visits Qatar
Security and intelligence: CIA recruits more informants in China, North Korea and Iran
Domestic politics: UK PM visits Brussels and calls for strengthened cooperation
The Mighty Stats
FTSE = 8,290.86 (up 0.17 per cent at Wednesday close)
S&P500 = 5,709.54 (up 0.014 per cent at Wednesday close)
Nasdaq = 17,925.12 (up 0.082 per cent at Wednesday close)
CAC40 = 7,577.59 (up 0.046 per cent at Wednesday close)
£1 = $1.33 / €1.20
US: Trump / Harris = 47.3 / 49.3 per cent
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The Mighty Detail
Economics: Eurozone unemployment figures have remained stable at 6.4 per cent in June, July and August. The latest statistics show that unemployment was highest in Spain (11 per cent), Greece (9.5 per cent) and Sweden (8.4 per cent). It was lowest in the Czech Republic (2.6 per cent)
Business: French company Total and US firm APA Corporation are to invest $10 billion to extract oil off the cost of Suriname. Oil is expected to be extracted from 2028 onwards in an area that could provide around 700 million barrels of oil.
Markets: Shares in JD Sport fell by over 6 per cent yesterday. This is despite the company reporting growth of 0.7 per cent in the first half of the year and completing the acquisition of Hibbett, a sports retailer in the United States. There is concern that JD Sport’s US expansion is too reliant on the sale of Nike goods. Nike revenue fell by 10 per cent in the three months to August and the company has recently fired its CEO.
Foreign Affairs: Iran’s President, Masoud Pezeshkian, arrived in Qatar yesterday to meet the Emir of Qatar and attend the Asian Cooperation Dialogue Summit. Pezeshkian said the aim of the visit was to strengthen ties with Qatar and shore up support to prevent “Israeli crimes”. Qatar has previously tried to broker a ceasefire in Gaza but this was unsuccessful.
Security and intelligence: The CIA is launching a new campaign to recruit informants in China, Iran and North Korea. The online campaign, which features instructions on how to securely contact the agency, appeared on X, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, LinkedIn and the Dark Web yesterday. The CIA said it had already conducted a similar and successful campaign in Russia.
Domestic politics: The UK Prime Minister met European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, in Brussels yesterday. The Prime Minister called for “strengthened cooperation” with the EU and named the “economy, energy, security and resilience” as priority topics for further discussion.
The Mighty Calendar
What’s happening today?
o G7 Interior Ministers meeting in Mirabella Eclano, Italy (ends Friday)
o South Korea and China public holidays
o Switzerland CPI inflation data (September)
o France, Spain, Germany, Italy, UK services data (September)
o United States unemployment data (weekly)
o Eurozone PPI inflation data (August)
Lookahead to tomorrow
o China public holiday
o French President hosts Francophonie Summit at Villers-Cotterêts (ends Saturday)
o South Korea retail sales data (August)
o Spain and France industrial production data (August)
o UK construction data (September)
The Mighty Finale
🌤️Weather today
Mostly sunny and dry in London. High of 16oc and low of 8oC. Sunny and dry all day in Belfast and Edinburgh. Nice weather all round! Hooray!
✏️Life coaching quote of the day
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot, author
Mighty takeaway: You have one life and only one chance at living. Don’t put off your dreams. Start them today and live them every day.
That’s about it for today’s edition. Thank you so much for reading to the end! If you like what you read or don’t like it at all, let us know. And do pass this newsletter on to someone who might find it useful.
Adios!
The Mighty Memo team