Thursday, 6 February 2025
The Mighty Headlines
Economics: US trade deficit increases by 25 per cent in December
Business: Tesla sales fell by nearly 60 per cent in Germany last month
Markets: Google shares fall by nearly 7 per cent as sales are missed
Foreign Affairs: Rwandan-backed fighters take more territory in the Congo
Security and intelligence: Ukraine calls for its own nuclear weapons
Domestic politics: UK sets out new rules on nuclear power plants today
The Mighty Stats
FTSE = 8,623.29 (up 0.61 per cent)
S&P500 = 6,061.48 (up 0.39 per cent)
Nasdaq = 19,692.33 (up 0.19 per cent)
CAC40 = 7,891.68 (down 0.19 per cent)
£1 = $1.25 / €1.20
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The Mighty Detail
Economics: New data shows that the US's trade deficit increased significantly in the month before Donald Trump took office. America's trade deficit increased by nearly 25 percent in December to $98.4 billion. The US's trade gap for 2024 overall stood at $918.4 billion.
Business: The sale of Tesla vehicles fell by nearly 60 per cent in Germany in January. This compares with a 53.5 per cent increase in the sale of all battery electric vehicles in the country last month. It follows Tesla CEO Elon Musk's recent public interventions in German politics.
Markets: Shares in Google's parent company, Alphabet, fell by nearly 7 per cent during trading yesterday. The tech company missed sales estimates for its cloud services and for the company overall.
Foreign Affairs: Rwandan-backed rebel fighters have taken another city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, further increasing concerns about regional instability. After seizing the city of Goma last month, and then declaring a ceasefire on Monday, the M23 rebel group have now taken the city of Nyabibwe.
Security and intelligence: Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has said that his country will need to have nuclear weapons if there is a delay in Ukraine joining NATO. Ukraine previously had nuclear weapons when it was a member of the USSR.
Domestic politics: The UK Government is set to relax the rules on where small nuclear power plants can be built. A consultation on the matter was launched by the previous Conservative Government and the current UK Government is due to make a formal announcement today. Only eight sites in the UK are currently zoned to allow nuclear power plants.
The Mighty Calendar
What’s happening today?
New Zealand public holiday (national day)
Environment Questions in UK Parliament
Bank of England interest rate decision
Eurozone retail sales data (December)
Eurozone construction data (January)
US unemployment data (weekly)
Company results: Amazon, AstraZeneca, ArcelorMittal, Société Générale, Nippon Steel
Lookahead to tomorrow
UK house price data (January)
Germany, France trade data (December)
Canada unemployment data (January)
Critics Choice film and television awards, Santa Monica, California
The Mighty Finale
🌤️Weather today
Sunny again for most of England. High of 9C and low of 3C in London. Sunny in Belfast and Edinburgh too.
✏️Life coaching quote of the day
"If you find something very difficult to achieve yourself, don't imagine that it is impossible – for anything possible and proper for another person can also be achieved as easily by you.” – Marcus Aurelius, Ancient Roman emperor and philosopher
Mighty takeaway: If someone else has done it before you, it is possible to do it.
That’s about it for today’s edition.
Adios!
The Mighty Memo team