News & Insight • Weekly Newsletters

13 May 2022 | William Buckhurst

That Was The Week That Was

MACRO

• US CPI came in at 8.3% on the year, lower than last month but ahead of expectations and, more worryingly, the core inflation number was higher
• US ten-year bond yields came rattling back to well below 3% as fears of a recession increase
• US Consumer Confidence falls to an 11 year low

COMPANY NEWS

• Toyota achieved record profits last year but issued cautious guidance for next year highlighting soaring costs of materials and supply chain issues
• Sony plans to buy back $1.54bn of shares as they announced that operating profit more than doubled thanks in large part to its PlayStation Division
• Compass released very good numbers guiding to 30% organic growth and full year margins were up, they are really benefiting from the new hybrid working model
• Disney saw much better streaming subs and the parks business continues to perform well

SMALL CAP NEWS

On the back of a mid-season tour by Newcastle United to meet their new owners in January, it looks like Wizz Air are trying to get in on the act. Wizz has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Saudi Arabian government to explore airline market developments in the Kingdom. The Kingdom launched a strategic vision to triple passenger traffic by 2030. This will entail potential investment and operating models to benefit and add to the Saudi Arabian aviation ecosystem, boosting its tourism industry and significantly increasing its connectivity. Howay!

PROPERTY NEWS

Two major mergers (both 53%:47%) in the property sector with Shaftesbury and Capco in London’s West End and LXI REIT and Secure Income REIT announcing tie ups. Both had been rumoured over the last year or so and look sensible – giving both entities' scale and therefore potential cheaper financing

VERMEER PODCAST – The Art of Investment

Paul Dixey talks all things cellular agriculture with the man at the forefront of the drive here in London, Anthony Chow, Co-Founder of Agronomics. His investment vehicle invests in companies that focus on environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional meat, dairy, fish, seafood, leather, cotton, and chocolate!

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

1915: German submarines sink the Lusitania, the same ship that had brought $7m in gold to help restore the US financial system in 1907. The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 4.5% on the day and would decline 9% over the next four days

1996: Berkshire Hathaway announces new “class B” shares which will be offered at $1,110 per share (compared to the class A shares which were then around $34,000 per share). The class B shares would split 50-1 in 2010

IN OTHER NEWS

A terrible week for the crypto investor was highlighted by TerraUSD, a stable coin that’s designed to match the price of a dollar, losing its ‘peg’ resulting in Luna, a coin linked to Terra crashing 99%

MARKET DATA

 As at 13^th May 2022. Source: Financial Express

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