Markets took a small turn. According to Yahoo Finance, the S&P500 was down -0.71%, Dow Jones -0.02%, and the NASDAQ -1.56% on a weekly basis. Similarly, EURO STOXX 600 is down by -0.49%, and the AEX by -0.86%.
Chip producers may yet face another crisis on their supply side of production. Some European countries including the Netherlands are taking action on imposing a ban on PFAS. These are industrial chemicals, also known as “forever chemicals” which are widely used in the production of batteries, cars, some medical equipment and of course semiconductors. Following the news, top executives from semiconductor firms warned that the ban on these chemicals would cause global disruption, outgrowing the positive societal benefits achieved with the ban.
We may have to watch out for another chip shortage if the EU decides to pull through with the new ban.
According to the most recent reports from the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, the job market remains strong in the US. In response, the chair of the Federal Reserve, Powell, has warned that the central bank may have to raise the interest rates more than what the investors expect, given months of positive data on the jobless reports.
Despite the strong outlook on labor, the massive job cuts from large cap firms are still paving their way. This time news is from the entertainment giant Disney, which earlier this week announced a job cut of 7000 current employees.
Given the environment in Silicon Valley, Apple has been praised a lot for their good recruitment management during the pandemic relative to other tech giants who later than sooner realized excessive hiring was not a sustainable way to spend their cash.
Going east, Saudi Arabia is set to launch their very own electric car industry. With the introduction of Saudi Vision 2030, Riyadh’s domestic future action plan aims for a diversified economy that reduces the economic dependence on crude oil. Prince Bin Salman launched this program in 2016 and aimed to diversify the Saudi economy, watching the world slowly abandon oil. This is exactly what they are doing with the launch of a new electric car industry. The kingdom aims towards a whopping production of 500.000 cars per year starting 2030. Surely, we will continue seeing the market for electric cars get more and more competitive in the coming years.
Flow Traders Investment Competition Update
This week, Negotium Novum is still leading the competition with a M2 of 11.22%. This is much better than Malkiel Investments, who dropped down 13 places. Maybe they should use their knowledge instead of the coincidence of horse racing during investing. Floryn Traders had a better week, they raised 10 places and are in the left colum now.
