News & Insight • Weekly Newsletters

10 June 2022 | William Buckhurst

That Was The Week That Was

MACRO

• The US CPI inflation number came in at 8.6%, higher than expected, and bond yields rose sharply
• The ECB made it clear that they will stop asset purchases and gradually move out of their negative interest policy with a series of rate hikes starting in July
• Italian and Greek bond yields hit two-year highs

COMPANY NEWS

• In a positive update GlaxoSmithKline (now called GSK) took the lead in the drug industry’s race for the first vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
• On the back of selling one of its subsidiaries, Ergotron, the office furniture company, for $650m Melrose announced a £500m buy back boosting the share price almost instantly
• Trafigura, one of the world’s largest commodity traders, reported record profits as volatility and disruption in commodity markets, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, boosted earnings

SMALL CAP NEWS

A bruising week for ITM Power after announcing a trading update with no new surprises having already acknowledged a delay in a contract into the next financial year. Although everything else seems to be on track and a spare parts facility opening in Germany (with some German Government subsidy) the market reacted badly (shares down 18%) to the increased head count cost and the cash burn. With £364m of net cash on deposit the company is financially stable, and we look forward to seeing the pipeline turn into revenues over the coming years

A WEEK IN TECH

In an attempt to increase the US's share of the global semi-conductor business (currently c.12%) and improve the perceived security risks of Taiwan's domination in this sector, a new non-profit VC, America's Frontier Fund, has been discretely started by Eric Schmidt - former CEO of Google and Peter Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal. Given the makeup of the Board and other advisers, critics are already flagging significant conflicts of interest

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

1968: The S&P 500 index closes above 100 for the first time. Only 12 years later, in 1980, did the index permanently close above 100

2000: A Federal Judge orders Microsoft to be broken up for violating anti-trust laws (they would eventually repeal and win) 

IN OTHER NEWS

New Zealand has unveiled a plan to tax sheep and cattle burps in a bid to tackle one of the country's biggest sources of greenhouse gases. It would make it the first nation to charge farmers for the methane emissions from the animals they keep

MARKET DATA

 As at 10^th June 2022. Source: Financial Express

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