Thursday, 22 August 2024
Thursday, 22nd August 2024 – www.mightymemo.co.uk – 2 minutes, 47 second read time
Good morning! It’s Thursday already. Can you believe it? Here’s what you need to know today:
The Mighty Headlines
💰Economics: China responds to EU tariffs with investigation into EU dairy subsidies
🏢Business: Post Office pays £250 million to law firms
📈Markets: Euro reaches one-year high against the dollar
🌍Foreign Affairs: Nicaraguan government cracks down on 1,500 organisations
🕵️Security and intelligence: Biden’s nuclear conflict strategy refocused on China
🏠Domestic politics: Government announces measures to support UK border security
The Mighty Stats
FTSE = 8,283.43 (up 0.12 per cent at Wednesday close)
S&P500 = 5,620.85 (up 0.42 per cent at Wednesday close)
Nasdaq = 17,918.99 (up 0.57 per cent at Wednesday close)
Nikkei = 38,211.01 (up 0.68 per cent at Thursday close)
CAC40 = 7,524.72 (up 0.52 per cent at Wednesday close)
£1 = $1.31 / €1.17 / ¥190.26
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The Mighty Detail
💰Economics: China has launched an investigation into EU subsidies on dairy exports. This comes after the EU launched an investigation into Chinese subsidies on electric vehicle exports and proposed tariffs of up to 36.3 per cent on the Chinese-made vehicles.
🏢Business: The Post Office has paid just over £250 million in legal fees relating to the Horizon IT scandal. The fees date between September 2014 and March 2024. In comparison, £261 million has been paid in financial redress to 2,800 victims of the scandal as of last month.
📈Markets: The euro has reached a one-year high against the dollar. It is continuing to rise ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole Symposium and expected interest rate cuts. The euro was trading at $1.1143 on Wednesday.
🌍Foreign Affairs: On Monday, the Nicaraguan government banned 1,500 organisations from operating in the country. This includes the Nicaraguan Red Cross, churches, private universities and sports clubs. Over 5,000 groups have been banned since anti-government protests in 2018.
🕵️Security and intelligence: President Biden approved a new US nuclear strategy in March. The classified strategy focuses on a possible nuclear confrontation with China along with Russia and North Korea. The strategy was not made public until yesterday and suggests that China’s nuclear weapons could rival the size and variety of the US and Russia’s in the next decade.
🏠Domestic politics: The Government has announced new border security measures. These include deploying up to 100 new intelligence and investigations officers to disrupt people smugglers; increasing detention capacity; and redeploying staff to increase the removal of failed asylum seekers. The aim is to increase removals to their highest level since 2018.
The Mighty Calendar
✏️ What’s happening today?
Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole Symposium begins
US Democratic National Convention ends
Norway GDP data (Q2 2024)
Mexico GDP data (Q2 2024)
Eurozone consumer confidence data (August)
Japan CPI inflation data (July)
📆 Lookahead to tomorrow
US Federal Reserve Chair speaks at Jackson Hole
Bank of England Governor speaks at Jackson Hole
Singapore CPI inflation data (July)
Spain consumer confidence data (July)
Canada retail sales data (July)
The Mighty Finale
🌤️Weather today
The weather’s turning. Drizzle and a fresh breeze in London. High of 20°C and low of 16°C. Belfast, you’re in luck today – you’re dry with only light cloud. Edinburgh, you’ve done even better – you’re dry and sunny from mid-morning.
😎Life coaching quote of the day
“When you do the things you need to do when you need to do them, the day will come when you can do the things you want to do, when you want to do them.” – Zig Ziglar, writer and motivational speaker
Mighty takeaway: Some things might be difficult for you to do. You may not feel like doing them. But by applying yourself, doing those tasks and committing yourself, you’ll be rewarded in the end.
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