Mar 15, 2024

I recently came across news about the first-ever US-Philippines investment and trade mission, which highlighted sectors such as semiconductors and critical minerals. The mission showcased ongoing efforts to act on a growing geoeconomic imperative within the alliance amid the focus on the geopolitics in the South China Sea. In other news, there has been a rebound in inflation trends in the US, with consumer prices rising even more in February than they did in January on a seasonally-adjusted basis. Additionally, a guide to the 2024 housing markets has been released, providing insights on the current conditions and future prospects for buyers and sellers. SocGen has stated that investors should not worry about frothy markets until S&P 500 hits 6,250, suggesting a positive outlook for the markets.

I also came across news about Sen. Josh Hawley’s strong criticism of TikTok, citing concerns about its data collection practices and the potential risk to U.S. national security. President Biden is expected to express concerns over Nippon Steel’s planned acquisition of Pittsburgh’s U.S. Steel, ahead of an upcoming White House visit by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Additionally, there were several venture capital deals, private equity deals, and public offerings, indicating ongoing activity in the financial markets.

Furthermore, I came across news about a private equity professional, Rashid, who was accused of improperly seeking reimbursement for personal expenses, raising questions about why the SEC only sued him for improperly billing fake expenses, when there were potentially much larger improperly billed real expenses by Apollo. Former US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is targeting a purchase of TikTok from its Chinese parent company, and Nigeria is pressing Binance for information on its top users, after blaming the crypto exchange for crashing the local currency. Lastly, there is ongoing controversy surrounding CEOs mad about short sellers, concerns about women not getting top jobs at Goldman Sachs, and the Fed reporting that Basis Trade is “significantly” smaller than estimated. These are just some of the recent developments in the financial world.

Stay Well!