Syz the moment

According to a FT article, thousands of businesses and households are waiting to connect to the Dutch grid, forcing network operators to ration power in an early indicator of what other European countries are likely to suffer as the speed of electrification increases. More than 11,900 businesses are waiting for electricity network connections, according to Netbeheer Nederland, the association of Dutch grid operators. On top of that are public buildings such as hospitals and fire stations as well as thousands of new houses. Dutch officials and companies said lengthy waits for connections were holding up economic growth and could force businesses to rethink their investment plans. Despite efforts to invest in new cables and substations, new connections in some areas of the country will only become available in the mid-2030s, according to network operators. Although the bottlenecks in the Netherlands are particularly acute, analysts say it is a harbinger of what is likely to occur in other EU countries, as the speed of electrification increases to meet the bloc’s ambitious decarbonisation targets.

“Europe has gone from 90 per cent US GDP to 65 per cent over 10 or 15 years. That’s not good,” Dimon said at an event in Dublin organised by the Irish foreign ministry. “You’re losing.” The comments from Dimon, one of the most influential voices in global finance, underscore the challenges facing the EU as it battles to invigorate its economy. Mario Draghi, the continent’s former top central banker, last year demanded a new industrial strategy for Europe with annual investment of €800bn to maintain competitiveness with the US and China. “We’ve got this huge strong market and our companies are big and successful, have huge kinds of scale that are global. You have that, but less and less,” Dimon said. It is an even blunter message from Dimon than he made in his most recent annual shareholder meeting in April, where he said “Europe has some serious issues to fix”, and urged European nations to “significantly reform their economies so they can grow”. Source: FT

Indeed, many countries - above all China - are pegged to the dollar. That supercharges the rise in Euro vs USD (white), taking Euro to stratospheric levels in trade-weighted terms (orange). Is inflation coming for the Euro zone... Source: Bloomberg, Robin Brooks

Source: Markets & Mayhem on X

Source: @MikeZaccardi on X

In contrast, European investors made only modest shifts. Source: HolgerZ

1) Poland $EPOL: +54.5% 2) Greece $GREK: +52.2% 3) Austria $EWO: +42.6% Source: Charlie Bilello

Source: Mike Zaccardi, CFA, CMT, MBA