Is wage pressure in the US here to stay?
A highlighted by Tavi Costa, the word "strike" recently surged to record levels on Google trends. This surge implies a growing pressure among workers to secure improved compensation deals with their employers. Labor strikes are becoming a regular occurrence in society, reminiscent of their prevalence in the 1970s. The rising cost of living is placing significant pressure on wages to rise. Source: Crescat Capital, Google Trends
The world's best investors
Source: Compounding Quality / Chris Quinn
Anti-obesity drug is the new luxury...Novo is Europe's biggest company
Source: TME, Refinitiv
The largest automakers in the world by market cap
As highlighted by Oktay Kavrak, CFA, the largest US firm is only number 10. There is also an interesting (still relatively unknown) newcomer: VINFAST, a car brand from Vietnam. The stock is up nearly 700% since going public on the Nasdaq and - at least briefly - became the 3rd biggest automaker in the world and at one point was worth more than Boeing, Disney and Goldman Sachs. What is also notable is that VINFAST is not profitable yet. Moreover, the number of cars is still pretty low: 24,000 in 2022 (vs. millions for the more traditional automakers or Tesla). Source Chart: Leverage Shares
Three steps to investing heaven…
Source - Investing for Growth by Terry Smith thru Vishal Khandelwal
China's holdings of US Treasuries just reached its lowest level in 14 years
Now down almost $481B from peak levels. Source: Crescat Capital, Bloomberg
China Uses Another Tool to Aid Yuan in String of Market Support – Bloomberg
China moved to support the yuan by increasing the supply of foreign currency in its local market, part of a multi-pronged effort by Beijing to restore confidence amid sluggish growth. Financial institutions will need to hold just 4% of their foreign-exchange deposits in reserve starting Sept. 15, the People’s Bank of China said Friday, compared to the current level of 6%. The greater availability of overseas currency relative to the yuan effectively boosts the allure of the latter. The so-called FX RRR cut came on the heels of Thursday’s reduction in down payments for mortgages to help the country’s under-pressure residential property market and after policymakers lowered stamp duty for stock trading over the weekend. The combination of supportive measures is a sign that Beijing is growing uncomfortable with increasing pessimism in its financial markets.
Despite surging mortage rates, US home prices are RISING to ALL-TIME-HIGHS
Higher rates are having an INVERSE effect on price. Rather than prices falling with higher rates, they are actually rising. Why is this happening? As explained by The Kobeissi Letter, as rates rise, existing home sales are falling, now down 16.6% at their lowest since 2010. Borrowers are locked-in to sub-3% mortgages and do not want to sell their homes to get a 2.5x higher rate. We need LOWER rates for LOWER prices... Truly a historic occurrence... Source: FRED, The Kobeissi Letter
