Geldzug: WILL COVID-19 CRIPPLE THE 4 BANKS?

18 June 2020

Bank profits have been falling since 2015, but the latest half-year was particularly dismal. Loan growth was weak even before COVID-19 arrived on the scene, and the banks were already paying hefty remediation charges for their crimes against their clients. Are the COVID-19 loan impairment charges going to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back… [read more]

Geldzug: HOTWIRING THE CHINESE ECONOMY

9 June 2020

The Chinese economy has stalled. The manufacturing PMI for May was an anaemic 50.6, a touch worse than April’s 50.8. The PMI is a dispersion index, which means that figures above 50.0 indicate expansion, and figures below 50.0 indicate contraction. So manufacturing growth is only just in positive territory. Trivium’s National Business Indicator tells the same story. In the first week of June it had reached 87.8%, compared to 85.3% a month earlier. In particular, new export orders remain very weak as the rest of the world struggles with COVID-19… [read more]