—— U.S. fund stock investment ratio plummeted; U.S. average oil prices fell below $4.5; 44% of U.S. adults favored states where abortion is legal; Apple announced a reduction in hiring and budgeting; Toys “R” Us opens at Macy’s.
1. U.S. fund stock investment ratio plummets
This month, the proportion of equities in the portfolios of 259 funds surveyed fell to its lowest level since October 2008, while cash was a proportion of total assets under management (AUM), reached the highest level in the past 21 years at 6.1%, according to the latest Bank of America survey released today.
According to statistics, 259 funds collectively manage $722 billion.
Investor pessimism has reached “appalling” levels, said Michael Hartnett, Chief Investment Strategy Officer at Bank of America. 79% of fund managers surveyed believe that U.S. corporate earnings will continue to deteriorate in the future, so they are bearish on stocks.
As recession and Fed hikes, many funds opt to cash out, waiting and watching the market
Source: Financial Times – Investors cut equity allocations to the lowest level since the Lehman collapse
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2. U.S. oil prices fell below $4.5
A few months ago, global gasoline prices rose and caused inflation to climb rapidly.
Recently, under the active response of US President Biden, US gasoline prices have begun to decline steadily.
The current national average gasoline price in the United States is $4.495, a decline that has continued for 35 days and is expected to decline further in the future.
This week, Biden, who just wrapped up a visit to Saudi Arabia, said oil supplies would increase further.
Controlling oil prices is one of the most important measures to ease inflation
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3. 44% U.S. adults prefer states where abortion is legal
The latest survey results show that 44% of adults say the bill banning abortion has affected them physically and mentally.
At the same time, they believe they would prefer to relocate to a state where abortion is possible if they can keep their current jobs or pay.
But relocating has also become very difficult for people due to rising inflation, with moving costs up 9% from a year ago, and prices will continue to rise in the summer.
Many businesses say they are willing to reimburse employees for traveling to legal states for abortions
Source: Bloomberg – Nearly Half of Working Adults Say They’re Open to Relocating to the Abortion-Friendly States
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4. Apple announces hiring and budgeting cuts
Apple Inc. plans to reduce spending and hiring in individual divisions over the next year in response to a potential recession, according to people familiar with the matter.
It is reported that within the 2023 fiscal year, Apple will reduce the budget of the research and development department.
However, Apple will still launch a new generation of products in 2023 on time, which may include new categories such as virtual reality glasses.
Apple’s stock price fell 2% on Monday after the announcement that it was slowing hiring, and led to a decline in the stock price of technology companies as a whole.
Previously, Microsoft, Tesla, and Meta have announced layoffs, and technology companies such as Amazon and Snap have also announced reductions in hiring.
Apple has never announced mass layoffs since its inception
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5. China-EU cooperation to tackle the food crisis
Recently, the EU and China have reached an agreement to cooperate to deal with the crisis of food and fertilizer supply.
The core point of this cooperation is to prevent the interruption of the supply chain. The two parties will also strive to make the supply information of key raw materials and products more transparent, so as to facilitate discussions and exchanges and deeper cooperation.
Relations between the two sides fell to a low point in April last year, but the two sides chose to cooperate again when the EU faced an economic recession caused by shortages of energy imports and goods.
The two sides plan to build a smoother supply chain network and make raw material production data more transparent
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6. UK heat hits record high
The UK Met Office reported that the temperature in the UK reached 40.2°C on Tuesday, setting a record for the highest temperature in the UK.
The extreme heat has had a huge impact on the UK’s transport system, with a large number of trips canceled.
Extreme heat brought infrastructure to a standstill. Rail services across England were also drastically reduced on Tuesday, with lines north of London being canceled altogether.
Britain’s transport system could take decades to adapt to such extreme heat, the UK’s transport secretary said.
The last high-temperature record in the UK was 38.7°C in Cambridge
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7. Toys “R” Us opens at Macy’s
Toys-R-Us will open stores in every Macy’s in the U.S. starting in mid-October, Toys-R-Us announced at a press conference on Monday.
The stores will feature a toy experience area, as well as Toys R Us’ mascot, the giraffe, for people to take photos.
Toys R Us was founded in 1948, but filed for bankruptcy in 2017, forcing more than 900 stores to close.
Fortunately, during the epidemic, toy sales exploded, and Toys R Us decided to make a comeback.
Previously, Toys “R” Us operated as an independent department store, which can save a lot of rent and capital expenditure after moving into Macy’s
Source: Commercial Observer – Macy’s to Resurrect Toys ‘R’ Us Back to All its Brick-and-Mortar Stores
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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.