Last Call to exit lai liao...dun miss the boat...

[k1976]

Once-In-Lifetime Wall Street Rally Raises Soft-Landing Stakes​

• Dovish Fed helps markets bounce back from early-August rout
• Data on jobs, manufacturing will test faith of economic bulls

By Lu Wang and Emily Graffeo
August 31, 2024 at 4:37 AM GMT+8
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It began badly. But four weeks on from the worst volatility blowup since the pandemic, August will go down as another grand gesture of confidence by Wall Street in its ability to suss out the future.
Levels of conviction are soaring across assets. In one example, exchange-traded funds tracking government debt, corporate credit and equities have now risen in unison for four straight months. It’s the longest stretch of correlated gains since at least 2007. Up 25% in the past 12 months, the S&P 500 has never climbed this much in the run-up to the first interest-rate cut of an easing cycle, seven decades of data compiled by Ned Davis Research and Bloomberg show.
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[k1976]

Buffett Dumps BofA Stock Again, and Soon He May Trade in Secret​

Warren Buffett
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
By Katherine Doherty
August 31, 2024 at 6:59 AM GMT+8
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Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. won’t have to swiftly disclose its rapid-fire sales of Bank of America Corp. stock too much longer. That is, if he keeps whittling the investment.

A fresh round of disposals disclosed late Friday trimmed the conglomerate’s stake in the bank down to 11.4%. So long as Berkshire holds more than 10%, US rules require it to reveal transactions within a few days. But if the company holds less, it may wait weeks to update the public — typically giving snapshots after every quarter.

 

[k1976]

Hunt for Fed-Pivot Winners Sparks a Rush to Indonesia, Malaysia​

• Stocks have lured biggest monthly inflows in over two years
• Ringgit, rupiah among top-performing EM currencies this month

By John Cheng and Abhishek Vishnoi
August 31, 2024 at 8:00 AM GMT+8
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Global investors are boosting exposure to Indonesia and Malaysia on bets the two markets will benefit more than their developing-nation peers as the Federal Reserve looks set to embark on monetary easing.

Sound fiscal policies and focus on new technology sectors such as electric vehicles and data centers are among factors attracting funds to the two Southeast Asian markets, which have long been overshadowed by bigger rivals India and China. Conviction is growing that their relatively light foreign positioning and reasonable valuations will lure more flows from overseas.

 

[k1976]

Goldman to Cut a Few Hundred Jobs in Coming Weeks in Annual Cull​

Goldman Sachs headquarters in New York.
Photographer: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg
By Sridhar Natarajan
August 31, 2024 at 4:11 AM GMT+8
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Goldman Sachs Group Inc. plans to dismiss a few hundred employees in coming weeks as part of the firm’s annual cull of low-performing staff, according to people familiar with the matter.

The fresh round of firings would bring total cuts in 2024 to about 3% to 4% of the bank’s workforce, with most of those reductions made earlier this year, one of the people said, asking not to be named discussing internal moves.
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[k1976]

China's road to agricultural self-sufficiency: reshaping markets, creating opportunity​

China, a major demand center and driver of global agricultural markets, is actively pursuing an ambitious goal of achieving self-sufficiency in agriculture, but not without disrupting markets.
The plan serves many purposes for China, primarily in achieving food security, supporting domestic production and eliminating reliance on imports.
If realized, reduced to none imports from China, will significantly impact the global balance sheet, not excluding its two largest suppliers of corn and soybeans – the US and Brazil.
"China indeed has a long-term goal to become self-sufficient in agriculture," said Louis Kuijs, Asia-Pacific chief economist at S&P Global Ratings. "It remains to be seen to what extent it will meet this goal. China is traditionally good at achieving certain objectives while less good at achieving other goals."
The US Department of Agriculture projects China's corn production for 2024-25 at 292 million metric tons, up 1.09% year on year, and domestic demand at 313 MMt, up 1.95% year on year.
For soybeans, the USDA projects 2024-25 output at 20.7 MMt, down 0.7% year on year, while domestic demand is seen rising 4.19% year on year to reach 126.8 MMt.
China's corn imports are expected to remain unchanged on the year at 23 MMt, while soybean imports are expected to rise about 1% year on year at 109 MMt, according to USDA projections.

Meanwhile, China's Ministry of Agriculture forecasts 2024-25 imports of corn at 13 MMt and soybeans at 99.6 MMt.
Although China's turning away from imports will push its existing suppliers to look for alternatives or accommodate supplies within the domestic market, the plan faces some serious challenges ahead

 

[k1976]

Why is Xi Jinping building secret commodity stockpiles?​

Vast new holdings of grain, natural gas and oil suggest trouble ahead​

Photograph: Getty Images
Jul 23rd 2024
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Over the past two decades China has devoured enormous amounts of raw materials. Its population has grown bigger and richer, requiring more dairy, grain and meat. Its giant industries have been ravenous for energy and metals. In recent years, though, the economy has suffered from political mismanagement and a property crisis. Chinese officials are adamant that they want to shift away from resource-intensive industries. Logic dictates that the country’s appetite for commodities should be shrinking, and shrinking fast.

 

[zhihau]

This upcoming 9-11 anniversary shall be rather spectacular

 

[k1976]