News & Insight • Weekly Newsletters

09 June 2023 | William Buckhurst | Charlie Todd

That Was The Week That Was

MACRO

• Despite headline employment numbers that continue to surprise on the upside, one bit of data came out this week that showed that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits surged to the highest level in more than one and a half years
• China's exports shrank much faster than expected in May while imports extended declines with a grim outlook for global demand, especially from developed markets, raising doubts about the post-Covid economic recovery in China
• Boris Johnson resigns as an MP, followed by some of his biggest supporters leading to several by-elections putting pressure on the Prime Minister who fell short of an Atlantic trade agreement with President Biden. The UK will have access to some “green-funding” however
• Japan’s GDP was revised sharply higher this week, it grew 2.7% in the first quarter on robust spending

COMPANY NEWS

• UK oil and gas producers rose as the UK government announced a price floor to the windfall tax in an effort to bolster energy security while supporting investment in the North Sea
• Inditex, the owner of Zara, reported a 54% rise in net profits last quarter thanks to strong sales of summer clothes. It is now the fourth most valuable clothing retailer in the world, behind luxury fashion group LVMH, Nike and Dior
• Croda, the UK chemicals business announced a profit warning alluding to customers de-stocking
• Rumours started circling that the private owners of Travelodge have put the budget hotel group up for sale
• Amazon closed down on the week following reports that it was set to launch an advertising supported version of Prime Video. It was also reported that Amazon is talking with companies including Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount about adding ad-based tiers of their streaming services through the Prime Video channels

SMALL CAP NEWS

Thoroughbreds at the Gate. In a nod to the Barbarians of KKR fame from the legendary financial book, there was some M&A movement in the gambling sector with several heavy hitters coming together to take a stake in 888, a company which owns the William Hill shops in the UK. FS Gaming now holds a 6.5% stake and is backed by former chairmen and CEOs of the gambling industry such as Kenny Alexander. Place your bets please!

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

1963: JFK signs into law The Equal Pay Act, which aimed to abolish arbitrary wage differentials based on sex

1999: DrKoop.com IPOs at $9 per share.  Former US Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop founded the website during the height of the dot-com bubble, and a partnership with AOL soon had the stock trading at an all-time high of $45.75 per share. But it never made any money and was bankrupt by December 2001

IN OTHER NEWS

An extraordinary shank in the world of golf with the PGA Tour agreeing to merge with their arch enemy LIV Golf plus the DP Tour. After months of squabbling between the leading mens’ tours, plus in-fighting between rival players, not to mention the acres of column inches, a deal was struck. They have agreed to combine their commercial operations and rights into a new yet to be named for-profit company, of which PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan will be chief executive and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) which backs LIV, will be chairman

MARKET DATA

 As at 9^th June 2023. Source: FactSet

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