Category Archive: 5) Global Macro
Macro: Banking: Senior Loan Officer’s Survey and Lending
Banks continue to tighten lending standards across all sectors. This has eased a bit from the July survey. Banks continue to widen spreads across all sectors. The percentage of banks widening spreads has also eased a tad.
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Weekly Market Pulse: Monetary Policy Is Hard
So, is that it? Have rates peaked? Is the long bear market finally over?
The market decided last week that interest rates have peaked for this cycle. And if rates have peaked then all the assets that have been pressured over the last two years can finally come up for air. Since October 18, 2021, over two years ago, investors have had few places to hide. Of the major asset classes we follow closely, only two – gold and commodities – were higher by...
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Macro: Employment Report
Wall street cheered the fact that we added fewer jobs (150,000) than expected (179,000) in October. This was a welcome relief after the hot September number that was revised down from 336,000 to 279,000.
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Macro: Challenger Job Cuts — Improvement throughout the year
We had a bad 1st quarter relative to historic averages for job cuts. But the situation has gotten better throughout the year. In the 3rd quarter of 2023 less people are losing their job relative to the average 3rd quarter going back to 1989.
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Macro: Factory Orders — revision
This was a slight downward revision. Nothing to cheer and really nothing to write home about.
September Durable Goods were revised down .1% MoM in Sept and .05% MoM in Aug.
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What happens to your brain as you age
As the most complex organ in your body, your brain changes radically throughout your life. Starting from before birth and continuing even after you've died. This is what happens to your brain as you age.
00:00 - What happens to your brain when you age?
00:32 - In the womb
01:03 - Childhood
03:19 - Teenage years
04:48 - Early adulthood
05:27 - Middle age
07:04 - Later life
07:36 - Death
Sign up to The Economist’s daily newsletter:...
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What is Hizbullah?
Hizbullah has been shooting rockets across the Israel-Lebanon border. If it intervenes in the Israel-Hamas conflict, it could lead to serious escalation.
00:00 - The origins of Hizbullah
01:06 - Its political rise
02:00 - How big a threat is it?
Sign up to The Economist’s daily newsletter: https://econ.st/3QAawvI
Why has Israel’s ground invasion been delayed?: https://econ.st/3tFIlFi
The firepower of Iran-backed militias:...
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Is Israel breaking the rules of war?
The Economist’s defence editor Shashank Joshi spoke to legal experts to find out whether Israel’s response to Hamas’s terrorist attack is lawful.
00:00 - Is Israel breaking the rules of war?
00:59 - Blockade
01:32 - Bombardment
Sign up to The Economist’s daily newsletter: https://econ.st/3QAawvI
Is Israel acting within the laws of war?: https://econ.st/3tzVBv7
Joe Biden steers a risky course after a Gaza hospital blast: https://econ.st/3ty6RIl...
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Are artificial wombs the future?
Scientists are hoping to build the world’s first clinically approved artificial womb. The purpose is to save the lives of more premature babies.
00:00 The dangers of premature birth
01:49 How to build an artificial womb
04:17 How does it work?
05:54 When will artificial wombs be rolled out?
Sign up to The Economist’s weekly science newsletter: https://econ.st/46wOpyv
Read our full quarterly report on fertility: https://econ.st/3S1LZnj
Watch...
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Can Netanyahu’s leadership survive the war?
Many Israelis blame Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for failing to stop Hamas’ terrorist attack. Can his leadership survive the war and its fallout?
00:28 - What will the war do to Netanyahu?
00:52 - Government’s absence
01:20 - Protests
01:52 - Positive changes
Sign up to The Economist’s daily newsletters: https://econ.st/3QAawvI
Read about how Hamas’ atrocities and Israel’s retaliation will change both sides forever: https://econ.st/3Qq13tL...
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How powerful is Hamas?
On October 7th Hamas fighters launched a surprise attack on Israel and slaughtered more than 1,300 people, mostly civilians. What is Hamas and how powerful is it?
00:00 - What is Hamas?
00:55 - Hamas’s control of Gaza
01:18 - Growth of Hamas military capacity
01:32 - The latest attack on Israel
Sign up to The Economist’s daily newsletter: https://econ.st/3QAawvI
Hamas’s attack was the bloodiest in Israel’s history: https://econ.st/3ts3qD3
A...
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Macro: Sep CPI stuck at 3.7% YOY
The most anticipated release of the week came in … “Unchanged” or sticky stuck from the August at 3.7% yoy. But it’s worth mentioning as we will discuss below that this is up from June CPI which was 3.09% yoy. Core CPI which excludes food and energy because of their volatility sits at 4.13% yoy down from 4.39% last month.
Let’s look under the hood a bit because headlines will mention “sticky” CPI and there are some reasons that CPI will indeed...
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Who is polluting the ocean with plastic?
Plastic pollution is destroying ocean life and coastal livelihoods. With small island states suffering most, what do they reveal about how to solve this global problem?
00:00 The plastic problem
00:43 What challenges do small islands face?
02:48 Where is the plastic coming from?
07:47 How are small islands combating plastic pollution?
11:13 How is plastic waste managed? / Where does plastic end up?
12:30 Future solutions
14:31 The global plastic...
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Israel and the Palestinians: a century of conflict
A brutal attack on Israel by Hamas has spectacularly reignited the long-running conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. We look back over a century of hostilities.
00:00 - Israel is at war
00:19 - What was the Balfour Declaration?
00:36 - The British Mandate
01:12 - Establishment of the State of Israel
02:04 - West Bank and Gaza since 1967
Sign up to The Economist’s daily newsletter: https://econ.st/3QAawvI
After its brutal attack, Hamas...
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How different languages are accommodating non-binary people
In a world where over a third of all languages use gender-specific grammar, non-binary people are looking for innovative solutions.
00:09 - Being gender-neutral in English
00:17 - The problem posed by grammatical gender
00:43 - Innovative solutions
Read Johnson, The Economist’s language column: https://econ.st/3rwxcpF
Find out why you have an accent in a foreign language: https://econ.st/48skXLr
Watch our film on how to sound like a local when...
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Longevity: can ageing be reversed?
Ageing has always been inevitable but fasting, epigenetic reprogramming and parabiosis are just some of the scientific techniques that seem to help people stay young. Might the Peter Pan dream become real?
00:00 - Can science turn back the clock?
01:01 - Centenarians
02:51 - What is ageing?
04:51 - Dietary restriction
06:00 - Roundworms
07:55 - Epigenetics
09:43 - Blood and guts
11:40 - Senolytics
12:38 - Metformin
13:51 - Anti-ageing treatments...
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Inside Ukraine’s DIY drone revolution
In garages, bedrooms and workshops across Ukraine a small army of amateur enthusiasts has emerged to build and adapt drones capable of taking the fight to the Russians. We explain how the war created this cottage industry, and what motivates the people behind it.
00:00 - Ukraine’s drone war
00:47 - The army of volunteers
03:03 - Ukrainian drone success
Sign up to The Economist’s daily newsletter: https://econ.st/3QAawvI
An interview with the...
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Why the baby business is booming
The business of surrogacy is growing fast, as fertility rates fall and demand from gay parents rises. This global trade has a dark underbelly, and needs policing.
00:51 America: putting a price on family
05:32 What’s driving demand?
07:52 How did surrogacy become a global trade?
11:30 Surrogacy’s dark underbelly
16:49 How can surrogacy be better regulated?
21:10 What’s in the child’s best interest?
Sign up to The Economist’s daily newsletter:...
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Kenneth Cukier explains why your data is “meaningless” on its own #Data #AI #podcast
We are launching a new subscription for podcasts. To hear more from “Money Talks” and access the whole range of our podcasts, including exclusive episodes and series, become a subscriber to Economist Podcasts+
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