Friday, 7 February 2025
The Mighty Headlines
Economics: Bank of England cuts interest rates and UK GDP growth rate
Business: AstraZeneca reports $14.9 billion revenue for Q4 2024
Markets: Ford shares fall by over 7 per cent
Foreign Affairs: Greenland calls for independence vote
Security and intelligence: CIA sends unclassified list of employees to the White House
Domestic politics: UK Government summons Russian ambassador
The Mighty Stats
FTSE = 8,727.28 (up 1.21 per cent)
S&P500 = 6,083.57 (up 0.36 per cent)
Nasdaq = 19,791.99 (up 0.51 per cent)
CAC40 = 8,007.62 (up 1.47 per cent)
£1 = $1.24 / €1.20
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The Mighty Detail
Economics: The Bank of England cut interest rates to 4.5 per cent yesterday. At the same time, it halved its forecast for UK economic growth in 2025 from 1.5 per cent to 0.75 per cent.
Business: AstraZeneca has reported revenue of $14.9 billion for Q4 2024. This is an increase of 24 per cent on the previous quarter. For 2024 overall, the pharmaceutical giant reported revenue of $54.1 billion, an increase of 18 per cent over a year.
Markets: Shares in Ford fell by over 7 per cent yesterday as the company forecasts a difficult 2025. In 2024, Ford reported adjusted earnings of $10.2 billion. In 2025, it forecasts adjusted earnings of between $7 billion and $8.5 billion.
Foreign Affairs: Greenland’s ruling Slumut party has said that it plans to hold an independence vote after the General Election on the 11th March. A spokeswoman for the party said that Greenland needed to be independent from Denmark in order to officially participate in negotiations on its future. All political parties in Greenland’s Parliament oppose becoming a part of the United States as proposed by President Trump.
Security and intelligence: In a potential security breach, the CIA has sent the White House an unclassified email which lists all its employees who have been with the agency for less than two years. The email was sent in order to comply with a Presidential Executive Order trying to reduce the number of federal workers.
Domestic politics: The UK Government summoned the Russian Ambassador to the UK Foreign Office yesterday following a spying row. Moscow expelled a British diplomat in November whom it accused of spying. The UK Government has now expelled a Russian diplomat.
The Mighty Calendar
What’s happening today?
UK house price data (January)
Germany, France trade data (December)
Canada unemployment data (January)
Critics Choice film and television awards, Santa Monica, California
Lookahead to the weekend
Saturday
China CPI inflation data (January)
Invictus Games begin, Canada
Rugby Six Nations, Wales vs Italy and England vs France
Sunday
General Elections in Liechtenstein, Kosovo and Ecuador
German election debate with Olaf Scholz and Friedrich Merz
Rugby Six Nations, Scotland vs Ireland
NFL Super Bowl (American football final), New Orleans, United States
Tennis Qatar Open begins, Doha, Qatar
Hong Kong marathon
The Mighty Finale
🌤️Weather today
Sunny in most parts of England apart from the southeast where rain abounds. High of 5C and low of 3C. Sunny spells in Belfast and Edinburgh.
✏️Life coaching quote of the day
“Don't waste effort on a thing that ends in a petty triumph unless you are happy with a life of petty success.” – John D. Rockefeller, oil tycoon
Mighty takeaway: Don’t limit the size of your dreams and ambitions.
That’s about it for today’s edition and for this week. See you next week.
Adios!
The Mighty Memo team