After several weeks and months of complacency, the markets finally reacted to all the various issues and concerns around the world. This has been the worst week in global markets in a while. It appears the Feds rate-hike and subsequent increase in yields has been the straw that has broken the camel’s back.
The situation has not been helped with further growing tensions between China and the US. The US Secretary of the Treasury this week has accused China of currency manipulation.
The stand-off between the EU and Italy has continued this week, with the EU saying it will not bail-out Italy out should the need arise. Both the markets and Italian government seem to be ignoring the EU’s current stance but this could change.
On the Geopolitical scene, Saudi Arabia is dealing with the fallout from the alleged killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. It is alleged that the journalist was killed by a hit squad inside the country’s consulate in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia has branded these claims as “lies”
To add to all this uncertainty, the earnings season has started. Several industrial companies such as PPG have issued profit-warnings due to the global macro environment. It is rumoured that Ford is having to look at large numbers of redundancies. This is thought to be a result of President Trump new tariffs.
Banks JPM and Citi have been reporting reasonable results, but all numbers have come with cautionary comments about future uncertainty.
Next week more companies are delivering their report which will gauge the current sentiment of business in the current market environment.
U.S.-China Tensions Break Out in Beijing via WSJ
China September exports surge, creating record surplus with U.S. despite tariffs from Reuters
Alternative China PMI Gauge Says Business `Has Never Been Worse’ by Bloomberg
A Greek tragedy: how the EU is destroying a country by The Spectator
Fed Officials See Strong Economy Justifying Interest Rate Rises by WSJ
IMF chief defends rate hikes after Trump slams ‘crazy’ Fed from AFP
Trade Tensions Take a Toll on Germany’s Economy via WSJ
Brazil is set to elect a fascist as president, and business is on board by NewStateman
Saudi Journalist’s Disappearance Sends Chill Through Foreign Investors, Firms from WSJ
ECB concerns grow over EU banks’ Turkey exposure as lira slides via FT
Facebook, are you kidding? By Techcrunch
Apple plans to give away original content for free to device owners as part of new digital TV strategy from CNBC
Netflix Isn’t Invincible by Above Avalon
Amazon patents Alexa tech to tell if you’re sick, depressed and sell you meds from ArsTechnica
Amazon Developing ‘Picking’ Robots for Warehouses via The Information
Ford Prepares for Mass Layoffs After Losing $1 Billion to Trump’s Trade Tariffs, Report Says by Fortune
Tencent Music postpones IPO as market turmoil hits by FT
Nationwide Class Action Lawsuit Targets Dupont, Chemours, 3M and Other Makers of PFAS Chemicals via The Intercept
Strong US bank earnings help power Wall Street rebound from FT
Italian Builders Add $118 Billion Worry to Banks’ Problems from Bloomberg
A Billionaire’s Sears Fiasco Is Finally Nearing Its End by Bloomberg
China’s Auto Sales Face First Annual Decline in Decades via WSJ
Commodities Posted Lone Gain Last Week For Major Asset Classes by The Capital Spectator
Checking in on Bond Market Losses by A Wealth Of Common Sense
Extremes in Bond Market Sentiment from Topdown Charts
Surging Yields Raise Threat of Tipping Point for Stocks by WSJ
10 & 30-Year Yields Surge, Yield Curve “Steepens,” Stocks Drop, as Fed Talks Up Rate Hikes in 2019 from Wolf Street
U-G-L-Y by Irrelevant Investor
Parsing Yesterday’s Stock Market Slide by The Capital Spectator
Why The Best Predictor of Future Stock Market Returns is Useless by Of Dollars and Data
Hedge Funds Retreat as Markets Advance via WSJ
BlackRock and Its CEO Are Making A Private Equity Bet by WSJ
Short-sellers are good for markets via The Economist
ETFs begin to reshape bond trading by FT
Iran’s Oil Exports May Be More Resilient Than Headlines Suggest via Bourse and Bazaar
Medical cannabis ‘will be available on prescription within a month’ from Metro
Harvard, Stanford, MIT Endowments Invest in Crypto Funds by the Information
Ripple (XRP) Is Down Almost 20% In Seven Days — Here’s Why via Forbes
Bill Clinton keynote speaker at Ripple blockchain event from Asia Times
Bitmain Expands Mining Operations via The Information
Ex-Donald Trump adviser Gary Cohn joins blockchain start-up via FT
Research / Interesting Reads
The Battle for the Home from Stratechery
10 years later: How the housing market has changed since the crash by Washington Post
The US is hastening its own decline in AI, says a top Chinese investor via MIT Technology Review
About six-in-ten Americans support marijuana legalization from Pew Research Center
The Walt Disney Of Retail: Meet The Billionaire Building The Malls Of The Future by Forbes
After 10 million miles, Waymo’s cars are on another level via Cnet
The Pentagon’s Push to Program Soldiers’ Brains from The Atlantic
Hackers expose frailty of robots by FT
More on the International Travel “Trump Slump” via Econbrowser
The College Dropouts Who Rode Credit Cards Into The Billion-Dollar Starup Club from WSJ
Here’s what the spread of misinformation on Twitter looks like by Poynter
The banana is dying. The race is on to reinvent it before it’s too late from Wired
