Wednesday 19 March 2025
The Mighty Headlines
Economics: US Federal Reserve interest rate decision today
Business: Google to acquire tech start-up for $32 billion
Markets: Investors turning away from US stocks towards European stocks
Foreign Affairs: Germany passes new law for defence and infrastructure
Security and intelligence: Poland and Baltic states to leave weapons treaty
Domestic politics: UK Government’s £5 billion reduction to benefits
The Mighty Stats
FTSE = 8,705.23 (up 0.29%)
S&P 500 = 5,614.66 (down 1.07%)
Nasdaq = 17,504.12 (down 1.71%)
CAC40 = 8,114.57 (up 0.5%)
£1 = $1.30 / €1.19
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Ukraine update: President Trump spoke to President Putin about Ukraine yesterday. President Putin agreed to a partial ceasefire on energy infrastructure but also demanded that the US stop military aid to Ukraine and that Ukraine stop “forced mobilisation” of troops to effectively stymie Ukraine’s military activities.
The Mighty Detail
Economics: The US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision is due later today at around 6.30pm GMT. The Fed is expected to keep current rates the same, which stand at 4.25 per cent to 4.5 per cent. The Fed’s interest rate is not a single figure but is expressed as a range.
Business: Google has agreed to pay $32 billion in cash to buy Wiz, a cloud security company. It will be Google’s largest ever acquisition as it attempts to catch up with competitors such as Microsoft and Amazon in cloud infrastructure. Wiz was founded in 2020.
Markets: A survey of fund managers shows that investors are turning away from US stocks and moving towards European stocks. According to the Bank of America Fund Manager Survey, investors reduced their exposure to US stocks to their lowest level since June 2023 and increased their exposure to European stocks to their highest level since the middle of 2021.
Foreign Affairs: Germany has passed historic legislation to exempt borrowing for defence and infrastructure from its strict debt rules. The bill passed with 513 votes in favour – far above the 489 votes required. Soon-to-be Chancellor Friedrich Merz said it was “nothing less than the first major step towards a new European defence community.”
Security and intelligence: Poland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have announced that they plan to leave an international treaty banning anti-personnel landmines. In a joint statement, they said that the flexibility and freedom to use new weapons systems to bolster NATO’s Eastern flank was “paramount”. Separately, Lithuania left the Convention on Cluster Munitions earlier this month.
Domestic politics: The UK Government has announced a £5 billion reduction to benefits by 2030 to create a “pro-work system”. The welfare bill is still expected to rise, however, from £65 billion this year to over £100 billion by 2029.
The Mighty Calendar
What’s happening today?
Prime Minister’s Questions in the UK Parliament
Matt Hancock appears at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry
US Federal Reserve interest rate decision
Eurozone CPI inflation data (February)
Company results from: Tencent
Lookahead to tomorrow
European Council summit for EU leaders, Brussels
Western military chiefs meet in London to discuss Ukraine peacekeeping
Prince of Wales begins two-day visit to Estonia
International Olympic Committee chooses new President
Bank of England interest rate decision
Environment Questions in UK Parliament
UK average earnings data (January)
UK unemployment rate (January)
US jobless claims (weekly)
Japan CPI inflation data (February)
Company results from: RWE, Nike, FedEx, Prudential
The Mighty Finale
🌤️Weather today
Another sunny day for most of England and for Belfast and Edinburgh too. High of 16C and low of 7C in London.
✏️Life coaching quote of the day
“Your attention is the most valuable property you can ever possess.” – Dan Sullivan, life coach
Mighty takeaway: Are you spending your time and focusing your attention on things that are meaningful to you?
That’s it for this Wednesday morning. Do join us again tomorrow!
Bye for now!
The Mighty Memo team