Market Data
| At Friday’s Close | Weekly Change | |
| Dow Jones | 30,218 | +1.2% |
| S&P 500 | 3,699 | +1.8% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 12,464 | +2.0% |
| FTSE 100 | 6,550 | +2.9% |
| Euro Stoxx 600 | 394 | +0.4% |
| Gold | $1,842/Troy oz | +2.9% |
| WTI Crude | $46.1/Barrel | +1.7% |
Headlines (Politics, General News)
- The UK was the first Western country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine. BioNTech and Pfizer’s vaccine will be distributed as early as next week. 10 million doses will be delivered before the end of the year.
- Formal assessments by the European Medicines Agency of Moderna, BioNTech and Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccines have been rescheduled. This potentially delays its distribution in Europe until next year.
- Joe Biden has indicated a preference for pragmatic centre-left economic policymakers. He announced that Janet Yellen will be Treasury secretary. Neera Tanden, a former senior aide to Hillary Clinton, will be the budget director.
Economy and Central Banks
- Australia’s economy grew 3.3% in Q3, exiting its first economic recession in nearly thirty years.
- Spain’s new budget will raise taxes, increase social service spending by 10% and spend all of its €140bn from the EU recovery fund. It is also introducing a digital service tax which is expected to earn €1bn in revenue.
- Turkey saw a 13% inflation in November. Brazil released its Q3 growth data and is forecasted to have grown at a record of 9%.
Finance and Markets
- 10 Year U.S Treasury Note yields are up 21 bps from a month ago to 0.97%.
- Pershing Square Holdings, an investment trust tracking Bill Ackman’s hedge fund, is to be added to the FTSE 100 on December 18. $11 billion Pershing rose 58% last year and is 63% up YTD. It made $2.6 billion on insurance against corporate defaults it bought in late February and then invested the profits into stocks just as their turnaround was beginning.
- UBS Chairman Axel Weber predicted that London will remain Europe’s financial capital. He attributed this to regulatory division amongst other European financial centres and more talent being available in London.
- Andrea Enria, president of the ECB’s supervisory board, warned that Europe’s banks are insufficiently prepared for a rise in loan defaults as a result of coronavirus.
- Credit Suisse announced that Antonio Horta-Osorio, outgoing CEO of Lloyds Bank, will be the next Chairman of the investment bank. It also announced that it faced up to $680 million in losses from a U.S civil lawsuit due to mortgage-backed securities issued in 2007.
Tech
- On Monday, Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $19,857, increasing this year’s surge to over 170%. This rally comes just days after the cryptocurrency crashed 12.5% in 24 hours. Bitcoin remains highly volatile with a daily moving average of 2.7% compared with Gold which is 0.9%.
- Airbnb has set the price range for their IPO between $44-$50 per share, selling 55 million shares which will be listed on the NASDAQ as ABNB before Christmas. Airbnb aims for a valuation between $25-$30 billion.
- The Spanish Government announced plans to invest €4.3 billion on 5G technology and extend broadband coverage by 2025. The Spanish government projects that companies will invest around €24 billion on 5G technology in the country by 2025.
Companies
- Debenhams is on course to be liquidated in 2021 putting more than 12,000 employees out of work. 10,000 Arcadia worker pensions will face reductions following the group’s collapse.
- Ryanair passenger numbers in November were still 82% down pre-virus levels.
The Sweeney Club 