Portugal might bring back enhanced tax incentives, just for Golden Visa investors.
A 20% flat tax on local income. 0% on foreign income. Basically NHR 1.0… but gated behind a Golden Visa. If this passes, will demand explode? Source: Alessandro Palombo, Forbes
ECB lowered interest rates for the 8th time in a year after inflation dipped <2% and the economy suffered repeated blows from US tariffs.
ECB cut the deposit rate by 25bps to 2% and reiterated that it’s not pre-committing to a particular path. ECB balance sheet shrank to €6.3tn. Note that ECB deposit rate has fallen below the German inflation rate for the first time since September 2023. Source: HolgerZ, Bloomberg
European markets have outperformed the US this year.
Poland, the Czech Republic, and Austria have grown their market capitalization by 44%, 36%, and 33%, respectively. Next are Hungary, Spain, Luxembourg, Greece, and Germany. The US has been flat. Source: Global Markets Investor
Breaking news:
Karol Nawrocki has won Poland’s presidential election, the country’s electoral commission said, after a tight run-off vote against pro-EU rival Rafał Trzaskowski Source: FT
Europe stocks stage world-beating rally as trade war backfires.
8 of the world's 10 best-performing stock markets are in Europe this year, w/Germany's Dax rallying >30% in Dollar terms: Peripheral markets such as Slovenia, Poland, Greece, and Hungary also performing well. Source: HolgerZ, Bloomberg
The German-US trade balance surplus keeps increasing...
In Germany, anticipation is building for the upcoming meeting between Chancellor Friedrich Merz and US President Donald Trump. The two leaders will meet at the White House on June 5 to discuss key issues including the war in Ukraine, the Middle East, and trade policy. Over the past 12 months, Germany has posted a trade surplus of >€70bn with the US, equal to 1.7% of its GDP... Source: HolgerZ, Bloomberg
Hermès just surpassed LVMH to become the world's largest luxury company.
"We're about craft, we're not machines" Source: Finchat
German job market is deteriorating:
The number of unemployed people in Germany hit 2.96 MILLION in May, the highest in at least 10 YEARS. This is even higher than at the 2020 CRISIS peak. The unemployment rate sits at 6.3%, the second-highest in 10 years. Source: Global Markets Investor
