News & Insight • Weekly Newsletters

21 January 2022 | William Buckhurst

That Was The Week That Was

MACRO

• The US 2-year treasury yield went back above 1% for the first time since February 2020
• The UK inflation numbers came in at 5.4% annualised, a 30-year high
• Global stock markets had their worst week in over a year

TECH WEEK

Aldi has launched its first ‘grab and go’ till-free supermarket in the UK where advanced cameras track users' behaviour and get billed electronically. This is a direct competition to Amazon Fresh, which has started rolling out across the UK. Meanwhile, Amazon plans to open a fashion store (30k sq ft site near LA) called “Amazon Style” where algorithms will recommend customers on what to try on

COMPANY NEWS

• Toyota expects to miss its annual 9m vehicle production target as it tackles chip shortages
• ASML had very good numbers and forecast sales growth of 20% in 2022
• Microsoft bids for video gaming company Activision Blizzard in an all-cash deal valued at $75bn
• Unilever announced they wouldn’t be increasing their bid for Glaxo’s healthcare unit
• Proctor & Gamble came out with very good numbers showing 6% growth
• Sales at Richemont were up 3% last quarter
• Netflix numbers were disappointing, suggesting they would only sign up another 2.5m subscribers this quarter and the shares were down very sharply

 IN OTHER NEWS

JP Morgan Chase said they would spend around $12bn on technology this year, which analysts estimated to be more than the cumulative investment of all Fintech’s in the world combined

SMALL-CAP NEWS

One of the more successful IPOs at the end of last year was Ashtead Technology, who lease subsea equipment to the oil, gas and renewable sectors – right sector at the right time. They updated the market and beat expectations, saying that they saw strong trading momentum through 2021, with full year revenues now expected to be approximately £55m, up 30% on the prior year. Their house broker upgraded their operating profit forecast by 7% and believe “outperformance provides reassurance in the group’s opportunity to deliver against its growth potential”

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

1956: IPO of Ford Motor Company at $64.50 a share. The company’s stock was entirely owned by Henry Ford and a small group of local investors, but after Ford’s death the family decided to raise funds by going public

1991: The US aerial bombardment against Iraq begins. The US stock market rose 4.6% on the day (at the time, its second largest point gain in history)

RE-OPENING TIMES

Against an inflationary backdrop, raising prices has become a risky strategy for many. In this context, it was noted that Tottenham Hotspur has now hiked ticket prices for the second time this season.  But then, it has been suggested that prices are the only thing on the way up at Spurs!

MARKET DATA

 As at 21^st January 2022. Source: Financial Express

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