Wednesday, 9 October 2024
The Mighty Headlines
Economics: China puts provisional tariffs on EU brandy
Business: US states sue TikTok over children’s mental health
Markets: Oil falls while technology shares rise
Foreign Affairs: Pakistan’s former PM charged with attempted murder
Security and intelligence: MI5 warns of Russian spy plots
Domestic politics: James Cleverly leads Conservative leadership election
The Mighty Stats
FTSE = 8,190.61 (down 1.36 per cent at Tuesday close)
S&P500 = 5,751.13 (up 0.97 per cent at Tuesday close)
Nasdaq = 18,182.92 (up 1.45 per cent at Tuesday close)
CAC40 = 7,521.32 (down 0.72 per cent at Tuesday close)
£1 = $1.31 / €1.19
US: Trump / Harris = 47.2 / 49.2 per cent
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The Mighty Detail
Economics: China is putting provisional tariffs on EU brandy of up to 39 per cent. This comes after the EU agreed earlier this year to levy tariffs of up to 35 per cent on Chinese electric vehicles. Both China and the EU accuse each other of unfairly subsiding or pricing their goods.
Business: More than a dozen US states are suing TikTok, claiming that the platform is addictive and harming children’s mental health. Cari Fais, acting director of New Jersey’s Division of Consumer Affairs said, “The ugly truth is that TikTok misrepresents its platform as being safe for young users when, in reality, it is designed to turn a generation of children into social media addicts for TikTok’s profit.” TikTok has not yet responded to these comments.
Markets: Oil prices fell by more than 4 per cent yesterday as investors saw the threat of an immediate retaliatory strike by Israel on Iran diminishing. Technology shares also increased in value with Nvidia up 4 per cent and Tesla and Microsoft up 1 per cent.
Foreign Affairs: Pakistan’s former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, has been charged with attempted murder. Khan, who is currently in prison, has been accused of inciting the violence that led to the death of a policeman during protests in Islamabad at the weekend.
Security and intelligence: The head of MI5, Ken McCallum, has warned of the threat that the Russian security services (GRU) pose to the UK. He said the GRU had carried out arson and sabotage in the UK with “increasing recklessness” and that MI5’s state-threat investigations had increased by 48 per cent in the last year. He also added that MI5 has acted on 20 Iranian-backed plots since 2022.
Domestic politics: James Cleverly has taken the lead in the latest round of the Conservative Party leadership election. Cleverly, a former UK Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary, secured 39 votes from MPs. Robert Jenrick received 31 votes and Kemi Badenoch received 30 votes. Tom Tugendhat, a former Security Minister, was knocked out.
The Mighty Calendar
What’s happening today?
South Korea public holiday
General Election in Mozambique
Prime Minister’s Questions in UK Parliament
Renters’ Rights Bill Debate (Second Reading) in UK Parliament
Conservative MPs vote in fourth round of Party leadership election
Germany trade data (August)
Mexico and Brazil CPI inflation data (September)
Japan PPI inflation data (September)
Lookahead to tomorrow
President Biden travels to Germany
French budget announced
Transport Questions in UK Parliament
General Debate on Sport in UK Parliament
Boris Johnson’s memoirs are published
Italy industrial production data (August)
United States CPI inflation data (September)
South Korea interest data decision
The Mighty Finale
🌤️Weather today
Light cloud in London. Small chance of rain. High of 17oC and low of 10oC. Patchy rain in Belfast and Edinburgh.
✏️Life coaching quote of the day
“It’s time to start living the life you imagined.” – Henry James, author
Mighty takeaway: Why put off the life you want to lead? You won’t get a second chance at life. Take one action every day that will help you to achieve your goals.
That’s all for today. 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