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1 Feb 2024

Greece is the third country in Europe, after italy and spain, to see energy security affected by Houthi attacks to tankers in the Red Sea.

At least 3 Qatari LNG cargoes have been cancelled over the last days, impacting the Greek prospects of becoming a gas hub in europe. Source: Francesco Sassi

1 Feb 2024

This isn't a crypto or a meme stock. It's New York Community Bank $NYCB, which acquired failed Signature Bank assets last year, has fallen over over 40% today.

The price of shares in New York Community Bancorp - the regional bank that purchased deposits from Signature Bank last year - crashed today, below SVB crisis lows, after reporting a surprise loss for the fourth quarter and a cut to its dividend. As Bloomberg reports, the bank lowered its quarterly payout to shareholders to 5 cents. Analysts had predicted the dividend would remain at 17 cents. A worsening credit outlook contributed to the unexpected loss, as the company boosted its loan-loss provision more than expected. Source: www.zerohedge.com

1 Feb 2024

FED: DON'T SEE CUTS UNTIL MORE CONFIDENT INFLATION NEARING 2%

In a nutshell · The FOMC voted unanimously to leave benchmark rate unchanged - as expected - in target range of 5.25%-5.5% for fourth straight meeting while making significant changes to statement · However, the statement was very much more hawkish than expected, as The Fed pushed back aggressively against the dovish market stance. Market reaction: -> The 10-year Treasury yield fell more than 7 basis points to 3.98%. The yield on the 2-year Treasury was last down about 8 basis points at 4.27% -> US equity indices are retreating. Gold is paring gains, dollar is recovering. -> Odds of a March Fed rate cut plummet from 47% to 31% after the Fed interest rate decision. Our take: The U.S. economy enters 2024 from a position of strength. For instance, the S&P PMI came in higher than expected last week. Q4 GDP growth in the U.S. came in at 3.3% annualized, well above expectations of 2.0% growth. And while disinflation is firmly in place, the inflation rate remains above the central bank target. There is thus no reason for the Fed to rush. Nevertheless, we still believe they will have to cut rates at some point for the following reasons: 1/ Keeping rates too high for too long can have long-lasting effects on US economic growth 2/ Keeping rates steady while inflation is coming down imply rising real rates. Keeping positive real rates for too long at a time when Uncle Sam is facing $33T debt and surging interest rates payments is unsustainable

1 Feb 2024

German inflation slows to 2.9% in January from 3.7% in December, lowest level since June 2021

Core CPI slows to 3.4% in January from 3.5% in December, lowest level June 2022. Energy in deflation, hashtag#energy prices dropped -2.8% YoY, while Food CPI slowed to 3.8% from 4.5% in December. Source: HolgerZ, Bloomberg

1 Feb 2024

In France, 3 out of the 4 favorite political leaders are from the far right...

1) Marine Le Pen (RN) 40%; 3) Jordan Bardella (RN) 37%; and 4) Marion Marechal Le Pen (Reconquête) 29%. Source: Le Figaro Verian - EPOKA / February poll

1 Feb 2024

US Treasury confirms spending on debt interest now larger than entire Defense Budget.... and will soon surpass entire Social Security budget.

Source: www.zerohedge.com

1 Feb 2024

The weight of the 10 largest sp500 stocks is now 33.1% of the total $SPX, the highest level in almost 5 decades.

Source: Barchart

1 Feb 2024

In 2004, Priceline $BKNG acquired Booking.com for $100 million.

Over the last 12 months, http://Booking.com generated ~$20 billion in revenue! Source: Finchat

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