Tuesday, 20 August 2024
Tuesday, 20th August 2024 – www.mightymemo.co.uk
Good morning! This is your morning briefing. Here’s what you need to know:
The Mighty Headlines
Economics: Risk of US recession falls
Business: £29 billion bid for 7-Eleven convenience stores
Markets: Price of gold reaches all-time high
Foreign Affairs: China and Philippines clash again
Security and intelligence: US and South Korea begin joint military exercise
Domestic politics: Prime Minister visits Wales and Northern Ireland
The Mighty Stats
FTSE = 8,356.94 (up 0.55 per cent at Monday close)
S&P500 = 5,608.25 (up 0.97 per cent at Monday close)
Nasdaq = 17,876.77 (up 1.39 per cent at Monday close)
Nikkei = 38,062.92 (up 1.8 per cent at Tuesday close)
CAC40 = 7,502.01 (up 0.7 per cent at Monday close)
£1 = $1.30 / €1.17 / ¥191.01
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The Mighty Detail
Economics: The risk of a US recession has fallen according to Goldman Sachs. The investment bank cut the probability of a recession in the next 12 months from 25 per cent to 20 per cent following better than expected retail sales and unemployment benefit claims late last week.
Business: A Canadian company has made an offer of $38 billion (£29.2 billion) for the 7-Eleven convenience store chain. 7-Eleven has 85,000 shops worldwide in 20 countries and has been approached by Alimentation Couche-Tard which is based in Quebec. Alimentation Couche-Tard has around 17,000 shops worldwide.
Markets: The price of gold has reached an all-time high at $2,500 per troy ounce. This means a gold bar is now worth $1 million for the first time in history. The price of gold traditionally increases when interest rates fall.
Foreign Affairs: The Chinese coastguard has accused the Philippine coastguard of deliberately crashing one of its vessels. The Philippine government said that two of its boats were met with unlawful manoeuvres from the Chinese coastguard. The event happened in the disputed South China Sea where the two countries’ air forces also clashed earlier this month.
Security and intelligence: The US and South Korea have started their annual joint military exercises. North Korea stated that the exercises were “provocative war drills for aggression” which justify its own nuclear ambitions.
Domestic politics: The Prime Minister visited Northern Ireland yesterday and is visiting Wales today. In Northern Ireland, the Prime Minister met Chief Constable Jon Boutcher to discuss the recent riots. In Wales, the Prime Minister met the new First Minister Eluned Morgan yesterday and will visit a renewable energy site today.
What’s happening today?
Prime Minister in Wales
Democratic National convention continues
Germany PPI inflation data (July)
Hong Kong CPI inflation data (July)
Eurozone CPI inflation data (July)
Canada CPI inflation data (July)
Japan trade data (July)
Lookahead to tomorrow
UK government borrowing data (July)
US mortgage data (weekly)
South Africa CPI inflation data (July)
Japan Manufacturing data (July)
Japan Services data (July)
South Korea interest rate decision
Weather today
Some cloud, some sun in London. Nice summer temperature. High of 22°C and low of 11°C. Belfast – you’ve got light showers again I’m afraid. Edinburgh – you’ve got light showers as well.
Life coaching quote of the day
“Human beings were given a left foot and a right foot to make a mistake first to the left, then to the right, left again and repeat.” – Buckminster Fuller, inventor and writer
Mighty takeaway: Our failures don’t block our way to success, they are the way to success. In other words, you sometimes need to take the wrong path to find out the path you were always meant to be on.
That’s all for today, everyone. Have a splendid 20th August 2024.
Adios!
The Mighty Memo team