Day: 30 November 2023

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Euro zone inflation drops to 2.4%, well below expectations – bringing early Christmas cheer

Cheers

Annual inflation in the euro zone sank to 2.4% in November 2023 from 2.9% in October 2023, data showed Thursday 30th November 2023.

Core inflation was also below expectations at 3.6%.

The European Central Bank has stressed that it is too early to declare victory in the 20-member euro zone bloc, as they monitor potential pressures from wage increases and energy markets.

Headline inflation has now fallen significantly from the peak levels of 10.6% in October 2022.

Target of 2% and is well within reach.

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China factory activity shrinks

China factory output

China’s factory activity contracted for a second month in a row in November 2023.

Non-manufacturing activity hit yet another new low this year, signalling that the world’s second-largest economy was still not out of the woods and may require more policy support.

The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index unexpectedly dropped slightly lower to 49.4 in November 2023 from 49.5 in October 2023, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics released Thursday 30th November 2023.

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Robinhood, the stock trading app to launch in UK

Robinhood app

Online investments app Robinhood said Thursday 30th November 2023 that it’s set to launch its platform in the U.K. in early 2024, marking the company’s third attempt at cracking international expansion.

Features on offer by the firm include the ability to choose from 6,000 U.S. stocks including Tesla, Amazon and Apple, and 24-hour trading five days a week. However, Robinhood will not offer U.K. stocks to begin with but will look to add them as it brings more products into the platform later. The U.K. version won’t include options and other derivatives at launch, either.

FCA warned of ‘gamification’

The FCA has previously warned about ‘gamification’ of investments, something the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is also worried about. Companies are obligated to respect consumer standards set out by the regulator.

Regulators are concerned brokerage apps like Robinhood and eToro, which engage retail investors with stimulating features like colourful graphics, push notifications, and a game-like interface, may encourage excessive trading that harms investors but is profitable for the market-makers.

Safeguards

Customer cash will be held in segregated accounts protected by U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Commission insurance, Robinhood said, rather than the U.K. Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Robinhood users will be able to make a 5% annual yield on cash held in their accounts.

This will be the third attempt by Robinhood to launch in the UK.

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Elon Musk and his ‘X’-rated comment

Tweet!

It has been a turbulent time at Twitter since Musk’s acquisition and the subsequent renaming of the company to X.

X is a subsidiary of X Holdings Corp., which is owned by Elon Musk. X has faced several issues and controversies since its inception, such as advertiser boycott, declining user base, staff layoffs, and more recently accusations of antisemitism and even more recently of a profane outburst levelled against X advertisers.

What a mess

Elon Musk launches attack on X advertisers in a profanity-laced outburst.

Musk has slammed advertisers that have left X, warning they will kill the social media platform. At an event in New York, he accused companies that have joined an advertising boycott of the site formerly known as Twitter of trying to blackmail him.

Musk tells X (Twitter) advertisers to go ‘f**k yourselves,’ but admits it will die without them: Despite this, Musk refused to accept responsibility for the impact of his statements on X’s ability to do business. 

Instead, the billionaire insisted that if X (Twitter) went under, the blame would be entirely on the advertisers who fled as opposed to his decisions as its owner which more likely pushed them away.

His message to advertisers leaving X of: ‘Go f**k yourself’ – didn’t help matters as he admits responding to anti-Semitic post on X was one of the most foolish things he’s done on the platform.

Elon Musk is reported to have said on Wednesday 29th November 2023 that he regretted his November 15th tweet allegedly endorsing an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.

Is the death knell of X and of a $44 billion investment?

Musk should be a force for good in the world – could that still happen?