The president’s party almost always loses Congressional seats in US midterm elections. Stocks almost always rise after midterm elections (paywall).
Americans are unusually engaged in this year’s midterm elections. So much so that two Texas candidates for senate are trending higher in Google search volume than bitcoin, the ultra-hyped stateless cryptocurrency, and pop music megastar Beyoncé.
Corporate America has peaked.
Boo! It’s been another spooky year for the global economy, and for the movers and shakers who operate within it.
The American economy grew a solid 3.5% in the third quarter. Today’s GDP print is the last big piece of economic news before voters go to the polls on Nov. 6, and coming after the second quarter’s 4.2% growth, it is the second consecutive quarter of strong growth. If voter sentiment does indeed turn on “it’s the economy, stupid,” as strategist James Carville famously put it, Donald Trump and the Republicans should be breathing a little easier.
Deutsche Bank says it’s on track to turn an annual profit for the first time since 2014.
What goes down must come up. In the past few trading sessions, stocks have been digging out of the hole they fell into during last week’s nerve-racking tumble.
Is it that time already?
The US stock market is in the midst of its longest losing streak of Donald Trump’s presidency. Although things are looking up ahead of the open today (Oct. 12), the six-day slide has erased nearly 7% from the stocks in the benchmark S&P 500 index.
Earlier this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) got a little ahead of itself. The world economy’s “broad-based momentum” led the global lending organization to upgrade its forecasts for global growth over the next few years.
Donald Trump often suggests that numbers bend to his will, whether it’s his net worth, poll ratings, or stats about the US economy on his watch. But it’s hard to spin the numbers behind his latest boast, delivered via tweet today:
It can be hard to keep up with things in crypto, so we created a guide to make sense of it all. Private Key is a premium newsletter about cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and everything in between. Starting today (Sept. 5), Quartz will bring you smart, informative, and thought-provoking material from these fast-growing—and sometimes, fast-contracting—markets, delivered to your inbox twice a week.
Traders have an unfortunate habit of incriminating themselves in chat messages when they try to manipulate markets. This week, BNP Paribas was fined $90 million by US regulators for attempting to rig a benchmark for interest-rate derivatives between 2007 and 2012. The French Bank’s fine was the seventh enforcement action related to that particular derivative benchmark in the US.
Some of his business ventures have been more successful than others, but enough of them came good to make him very rich. And yet, even as his power grows, he becomes more prickly by the day. He sees conspiracies around every corner, with shadowy figures amassing to take him down. The media, in particular, treats him incredibly unfairly, he thinks. So much fake news.
Do you ever feel like your life could use a little more color? You’re not alone. In a busy week for corporate earnings—40% of S&P 500 companies published quarterly earnings this week—analysts were loath to leave conversations in black and white.
Whether or not the burgeoning trade war between the US and China—also featuring Europe, Mexico, and Canada—is hurting the “real” economy yet, the business world is worried. Shares in industrial companies and some entire stock markets, have shuddered. Instead of stepping back from the brink, Donald Trump recently threatened to impose tariffs on all of China’s exports to the US.
This week, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos saw his net worth soar above $150 billion, giving him the most billions among all the billionaires on the billionaire lists. Bill Gates, in second place, is worth a modest $94 billion, according to Forbes. Bezos first appeared on Forbes’ list in 1998, with a $1.6 billion fortune.
Deutsche Bank can’t catch a break.
Most trading days are pretty uneventful in the grand scheme of things. But when documenting the uneventful, what a difference 180 years makes.
Cannes, France
Cannes, France
Even the most casual sports fan can’t help but get sucked in by the World Cup. In 2014, 3.2 billion people watched the matches. This year, even more people are expected to tune in to the tournament in Russia. The pull of World Cup is so strong that it has a noticeable effect on financial market activity as traders—like everyone else—turn their attention from work to play.
What is money?
Paris
