—— Carlisle acquires LIC self-storage property; Volkswagen plans to build 6 major European factories; Merck Sigan launches in-depth acquisition talks; Bridgewater hedge fund half-yearly returns 32%; Samsung’s soaring revenue drives technology stocks; Allow early issuance of next year’s bonds..

1. Carlisle acquires LIC self-storage property

Private equity giant Carlyle Group bought a self-storage facility in Long Island City for $80 million on Tuesday from developer Criterion.

The facility is located at 31-08 Northern Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, New York.

Criterion bought the property for $40 million in 2015, when it was a taxi service headquarters and a car repair shop, but Criterion built it into its current state after securing a $28 million bridge building loan. Self-storage warehouse.

In the past two years, the value of logistics and storage properties has skyrocketed, but now it has pulled back.

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2. Volkswagen plans to build 6 major European factories

Volkswagen announced on Thursday that it will spend $20 billion to build its first battery factory in Salzgitter, Germany.

The plant is one of six battery factories Volkswagen plans to build in Europe.

Volkswagen has partnered with Powerco, which expects to invest more than €20 billion in five of Volkswagen’s factories by 2030 and create around 20,000 jobs in Europe.

Volkswagen and other established car companies are now ramping up their electrification efforts and trying to catch up to Tesla’s achievements in electric vehicles.

More companies realize to break through the bottleneck of electric car batteries

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3. Merck Sigan in deep acquisition talks

Merck & Co. is in advanced talks with Seagen over a takeover.

Although the talks are now in an advanced stage, there is still the possibility of being delayed or failing because Siegan has demanded that the purchase price exceed $200 per share, according to people familiar with the matter.

Merck & Co. hopes to close the deal by the end of the month. Shares of Siegan closed 14% higher at about $37 billion on the acquisition news.

Merck’s investors hope the company can develop the early-stage cancer drug Keytruda as soon as possible, because the drug will face huge competition after 2028, and Merck also hopes to acquire other companies to obtain new drugs.

Merck mainly expands its new drug product line through independent research and development and acquisitions

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4. Bridgewater hedge fund returns 32% in half a year

Bridgewater’s flagship hedge fund returned 32% in the first half of the year, it was revealed.

The firm, founded by Ray Dalio, informed investors that its Pure Alpha II fund climbed 4.8% in June, helping its annualized return since 1991 rise to 11.4%.

Macro money is booming as central banks raise interest rates to fight inflation fueled by soaring energy prices, with Bridgewater making a profit on 65% of trades in interest rates, stocks, commodities and more.

Bridgewater hedge funds fell 12.6% in 2020, and many institutional investors chose to withdraw

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5. Samsung’s revenue surge boosts tech stocks

Samsung’s latest quarterly report released today showed that the company’s sales surged 21%. The news also sparked a roughly $30 billion rally in the tech sector of the stock market.

Samsung Electronics’ much higher-than-expected revenue growth greatly eased investors’ concerns about the market.

Asia’s top four chipmakers collectively gained about $30 billion in the morning as a surge in Samsung sales boosted investor confidence.

However, this huge rally is likely to be short-lived, and the market, valued at about $550 billion, is likely to continue to decline this year, and the long-term remains uncertain.

Rising Samsung revenue means the retail sector still has potential for continued recovery, boosting investor confidence

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6. U.S. mortgage rates fall by a record

Freddie Mac said the average rate on a 30-year home mortgage fell to 5.3% this week from an average of 5.7% last week, the biggest drop since 2008.

The current sharp rise in home prices has begun to cool the housing market in parts of the United States, and the inventory of properties is increasing.

On the other hand, sellers have also begun to cut prices in some areas, and home buyers have also received a small relief in line with the decline in lending rates.

Housing transactions are no longer as hot as they were during the pandemic, and mortgage rates lose demand-side support

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7. China’s Ministry of Finance allows early issuance of next year’s bonds

China’s Ministry of Finance plans to allow local governments to issue early fiscal 2023 debt in the second half of this year, totaling $220 billion.

This is also the first time China has sold bonds for the fiscal year before the beginning of the year. The amount of debt issued will be deducted from the debt limit for fiscal 2023.

The debt is mainly used to pay for building infrastructure, aimed at boosting the Chinese economy. President Xi Jinping wants the Chinese economy to get back on track and maintain an annual growth rate of 5.5 percent.

Early issuance of bonds by local governments can speed up infrastructure construction and economic recovery

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The content of this article comes from various financial news media such as The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Bloomberg.