Markets Relaxed About Lockdown Extension

The FTSE 100 shrugged off worries about the lockdown extension, and has risen by 35 points this morning. 

The extension has already been priced in, what matters now is no reversal or a return to start/stop restrictions.

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Metro Bank Reduces Interest Rates From "Pathetic" To "Insulting"

Metro Bank reduces its in interest rates from "pathetic" to "insulting".

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The G7's Two Pillars of Idiocy

G7 finance ministers meet in London today.

One item on the agenda that has excited Biden is the concept of a global minimum corporation tax, to try to stop global corporations "offshoring" their profits.

In order to achieve this alleged halcyon dream, the G7 are considering a two "pillars" approach to confront the issue. 

The first is to reform the way taxes are calculated, using sales figures in each country to attempt to calculate a "fairer" apportionment of tax revenues around the world. 

The second pillar is to ensure countries stop competing in a race to the bottom on tax rates. A global minimum corporate tax rate: if everyone commits not to cut rates below a certain level that makes it far harder for companies to avoid taxes. 

Here's why these pillars are bollocks:

1 Sales are not profits, corporation tax is not a tax on turnover. 

2 Countries have the sovereign right to set their own rates of taxation, to allow a global body to set the rate undermines sovereignty and will end in tears.

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House Prices Rise 10.9%

UK house prices have risen by 10.9% in the year to May, the highest level in seven years, according to the Nationwide.

The average house price has risen to £242,832, up £23,930 over the past twelve months.

Nationwide are of the view that buyers are in a "race for space" as they seek larger homes and properties with gardens.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist said:

"The market has seen a complete turnaround over the past twelve months

But activity surged towards the end of last year and into 2021, reaching a record high of 183,000 in March.

It is shifting housing preferences which is continuing to drive activity, with people reassessing their needs in the wake of the pandemic.

The majority of people are looking to move to less urban areas." 

The rise in prices will underpin the UK's economic recovery, with growth now forecast by the OECD to be 7.2%.

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Proportion of Workforce Furloughed Falls To 8%

Proportion of workforce on furlough sinks to 8% - the lowest since the pandemic hit via @ONS

— Kate Ferguson (@kateferguson4) May 27, 2021

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HSBC Nixes Crypto Desk

HSBC’s CEO Noel Quinn has said that the bank has no plans to launch a cryptocurrency trading desk or offer the digital coins as an investment to customers.

Noel Quinn told Reuters: 

“Given the volatility we are not into Bitcoin as an asset class, if our clients want to be there then of course they are, but we are not promoting it as an asset class within our wealth management business,”

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WeWork Posts $2BN Quarterly Loss

Office-sharing startup WeWork has posted results reminiscent of the heady days of the dotcom bubble, proudly stepping up to the plate with a $2.06bn (£1.45bn) quarterly loss after being hit hard by Covid-19.

The announcement comes as WeWork prepares for its stock market debut.

The company's first attempt to go public collapsed in 2019 over concerns about its business model and co-founder Adam Neumann's leadership style.

Since Mr Neumann's exit the company has gone through a major shakeup that has seen major job cuts and businesses sold off.

The business felt the impact of the pandemic particularly hard as social distancing rules drove a surge in people working from home and concerns about infections saw workers avoiding shared office spaces.

WeWork, which is backed by Japanese tech giant SoftBank, said its first-quarter revenue almost halved from a year ago to $598m.

The BBC reports that its occupancy rate edged up to 50% in the most recent quarter, compared to 47% in the previous three months.

The company also said it expects the change in working habits to increase demand for the kind of short-term leases it offers.

In March, WeWork said it would finally see its shares start trading on the stock market, through the purchase by the publicly traded BowX Acquisition Corp.

BowX is a so-called special purpose acquisition company, a shell firm that uses proceeds from a public listing to buy a private firm.

The firm is led by the owner of the NBA's Sacramento Kings and affiliated with basketball legend Shaquille O'Neill.

The deal valued WeWork at $9bn - roughly a fifth of the its estimated worth in 2019, before its earlier flotation effort spectacularly imploded.

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Great British Railways Launched - Trainline Tanks

 

The government have announced that a new state-owned body, Great British Railways (GBR), will set timetables and prices, sell tickets in England and manage rail infrastructure.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps admitted the current system was "too complicated" and "fragmented".

He also promised GBR would be more accountable for delays and disruption.

Private operators will still be contracted to run most trains and the most of the planned reforms will not start coming in until 2023.

Under the reforms:

• All tickets will be sold by GBR in the future, ending the system where passengers must buy them from multiple companies online and in stations
• There will be a "significant rollout" of more pay as you go, contactless and digital ticketing on smartphones
• And from next month flexible season tickets will be available for some people who commute two or three times a week.

The flexible season tickets will offer savings on certain routes for people who do not travel to work every day, reflecting the expected changes to commuting patterns after the pandemic.

They are due to go on sale on 21 June for use seven days later, and will allow passengers to travel on any eight days in a 28-day period.

GBR will replace the current track operator, Network Rail, but it probably will not be launched until 2023.

The government says the new system will look more like Transport for London, with multiple operators under one brand, offering greater accountability.

Unsurprisingly shares in Trainline tanked by 25% this morning!

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Inflation Rises To 1.5%

UK inflation rose from 0.7% in March to 1.5% in April.

The sharp increase largely reflected a jump in prices from low levels a year ago at the start of the pandemic, the Office for National Statistics said.

Higher oil prices also pushed up petrol prices, it added.

Gas and electricity prices rose sharply after the default tariff cap was increased compared with a cut a year earlier.

Liz Martins, senior economist at HSBC, said that it looked like UK inflation would go above the Bank of England's 2% target, although this was "not too much of a worry for the Bank".

"Their view is that they need to keep inflation sustainably around 2% two to three years out from now, so the short term overshoot won't worry them too much, if it does prove temporary - and that's where opinions really seem to diverge."

It is likely that any inflation will ease off, and there will be no need to increase rates for a couple of years.

 

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China Gives Bitcoin a Slap

Bitcoin plunges below $40,000 after China crackdown ...
China has warned financial firms to stop servicing cryptocurrencies ... https://t.co/9FWtp7SSuR

— John Ashcroft (@jkaonline) May 19, 2021

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JP Morgan Enters Junk Credit Card Market

JP MORGAN PLANS ISSUE CREDIT CARDS TO PEOPLE W/ NO CREDIT SCORES - WSJ

— First Squawk (@FirstSquawk) May 13, 2021

 

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FTSE Falls 2%

The FTSE fell below the 7,000 threshold this morning, by over 2%, as a result of inflation fears in the USA and China.

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Bank of England - Steady as She Goes

Bank of England leaves monetary policy unchanged

— Michael Hewson 🇬🇧 (@mhewson_CMC) May 6, 2021

BoE f'casts pic.twitter.com/ZSWKaHqETG

— Michael Brown (@MrMBrown) May 6, 2021

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EU Pulls Plug on China Investment Deal

🇪🇺 🇨🇳 *#EU SUSPENDS EFFORTS TO RATIFY #CHINA INVESTMENT DEAL: AFP - BBG

— Christophe Barraud🛢 (@C_Barraud) May 4, 2021

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UK's Net Worth Grew by £0.4 Trillion in 2020

Extraordinary stat from @ONS - despite the pandemic, the UK's net worth grew by £0.4 trillion in 2020. That's because household wealth grew by £0.9 trillion. Country ever more divided into the have houses, and the have nots...

— Robert Colvile (@rcolvile) April 29, 2021

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