Thursday, 19 December 2024
*Look out for a special festive edition of the Mighty Memo tomorrow!*
The Mighty Headlines
Economics: US Federal Reserve cuts interest rates
Business: US Supreme Court to hear TikTok ban appeal on the 10th January
Markets: Nissan shares rise by over 23 per cent after Honda merger news
Foreign Affairs: France’s top court upholds Nicolas Sarkozy’s corruption verdict
Security and intelligence: US Senate authorises $895 billion of military spending
Domestic politics: English councils receive £700 million of funding mostly for NICs rise
The Mighty Stats
FTSE = 8,199.11 (up 0.048 per cent at Wednesday close)
S&P500 = 5,872.16 (down by 2.95 per cent at Wednesday close)
Nasdaq = 19,392.69 (down by 3.56 per cent at Wednesday close)
CAC40 = 7,384.62 (up 0.26 per cent at Wednesday close)
£1 = $1.27 / €1.21
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The Mighty Detail
Economics: The US Federal Reserve has cut interest rates to between 4.25 per cent and 4.5 per cent – back to the rate of December 2022. The US Federal Reserve gives a range rather than a single figure. Chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell said that the Fed may now be more cautious about future adjustments.
Business: The US Supreme Court will hear an appeal against a law that would ban TikTok. A law passed earlier this year requires TikTok to separate itself from ByteDance, its China-based parent company, by the 19th January or it will be banned. The US Government sees the Chinese connection as a threat to national security. The Supreme Court hearing will take place on the 10th January.
Markets: Shares in Nissan rose by 23.7 per cent yesterday – their best performance in a day since at least 1985 when comparable records began. This follows news of a possible merger between Nissan and Honda as mentioned in the Mighty Memo yesterday. Shares in Honda meanwhile fell by 3 per cent.
Foreign Affairs: France’s highest court has upheld a verdict of corruption and influence peddling against France’s former President, Nicolas Sarkozy. The decision by the Cour de Cassation means that Sarkozy will be required to wear an electronic tag for a year. Sarkozy says he plans to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
Security and intelligence: The US Senate has passed legislation that increases military spending to $895 billion. This means that defence spending is increasing by 1 per cent overall. The legislation also provides a 14.5 per cent pay increase for junior armed forces personnel, establishes a fund that could be used to send military equipment to Taiwan and extends restrictions on the US military buying products from China.
Domestic politics: The UK Government has announced that local councils in England are set to receive an additional £700 million next year. This comes on top of an additional £1.3 billion announced at the Budget. Of the £700 million, however, £515 million will be used to pay for the national insurance increases announced at the Budget.
The Mighty Calendar
What’s happening today?
o European Council summit, Brussels (Ukraine’s President Zelensky to attend)
o President Putin’s annual press conference
o Sir Keir Starmer appears before the Liaison Committee in UK Parliament
o Defra Questions in UK Parliament
o Bank of England interest rate decision
o UK, Italy, Germany, France car registrations data (November)
o US GDP data (Q3 2024)
o US unemployment data (weekly)
o Japan CPI inflation data (November)
o Korea PPI inflation data (November)
o New Zealand trade data (November)
o Company results from: FedEx, Blackberry
Lookahead to tomorrow
o UK Christmas Number One song announced
o UK, Canada retail sales data (November)
o UK Government budget deficit data (November)
o Germany, France, Italy PPI inflation data (November)
o Eurozone consumer confidence data (December)
o United States personal spending data (November)
The Mighty Finale
🌤️Weather today
Generally dry in England. High of 8oC and low of 2oC. Patchy rain in Belfast. Bright sunshine again in Edinburgh!
✏️Life coaching quote of the day
“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” – Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor and philosopher.
Mighty takeaway: You give an interpretation to the events in your life. Any concerns and worries come from that interpretation. But you can change that interpretation.
That’s it for this Thursday. See you tomorrow!
Bye for now!
The Mighty Memo team