David Fuller and Eoin Treacy's Comment of the Day
Category - General

    Colin Huang Adds $4.5 Billion in Wealth as PDD Shares Surge

    This article from Bloomberg may be of interest.

    PDD in recent years has used promotions to grab market share from more established Chinese rivals including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and JD.com Inc. In an attempt to replicate that success abroad, it created Temu, which was introduced with much fanfare during this year’s Super Bowl.

    Since it launched last year, Temu has exploded into one of the top US apps, targeting cash-strapped Americans with cheap unbranded products shipped directly from Guangzhou, China. In just seven months, the app has been downloaded 50 million times.

    The roll-out hasn’t been without hiccups. Temu is burning through money and squeezing its suppliers in a bid to take on Amazon.com Inc. It’s also involved in lawsuits with rival Shein over antitrust matters.

    Read entire article

    Russia Agrees on Further OPEC+ Oil-Export Cuts, Novak Says

    This article from Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:

    Russia has agreed with its OPEC+ partners on further cuts to its crude exports, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told President Vladimir Putin.

    “We have agreed, but we’ll announce main parameters next week,” Novak said at a televised government meeting with Putin.  

    Russia has pledged to curb its crude exports by 500,000 barrels a day in August, then taper the curbs to 300,000 barrels a day next month. On Wednesday, Novak said that Russia was discussing extending the September export reduction into October, according to media reports.

    Read entire article

    Email of the day on positive innovations

    Today you wrote about the heat in the Sahara Dessert. Watergen is an Israeli company that converts air into drinking water. Its products are sold in the USA, Latin America, India, Vietnam, Uzbekistan and on the African continent. Let's share some positive news on break the monopoly of pessimistic news in the various media.  

    Read entire article

    Eoin's personal portfolio: crypto and commodity positions re-initiated Augast 30th

    What's Driving the Coups Across Sub-Saharan Africa?

    This article from Bloomberg may be of interest. Here is a section:

    3. Why has West Africa been so prone to coups?
    The events in Niger followed two coups each in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso and another in nearby Guinea. The leader of Sudan in the eastern Sahel was overthrown in 2021, the same year Chad’s military replaced its late president with his son, an army general. All these takeovers have been rooted in economic malaise and weak governance that have fed frustration among civilians and — in West Africa in particular — the spread of extremist violence. However, despite claims by the new strongmen that they are tackling insecurity, the number of people killed in the Sahel region surged in the first half of the year.  

    Read entire article

    Cocoa Prices Surge on Poor Crop, Limited West Africa Sales

    This article from Bloomberg may be of interest. Here it is in full:

    Cocoa futures rallied in New York and London amid signs of weak forward sales from producing countries in West Africa that have been slammed by deteriorating crops. 

    Even as heavy rains that wrought havoc on cocoa farms across West Africa have finally subsided, crop development continues to be very poor. Reports of swollen-shoot disease in top grower Ivory Coast and a shortage of fertilizers in the second-largest producer, Ghana, are among key concerns.

    “Trees have not recovered as expected,” said Marex co-head of agriculture Jonathan​ Parkman, noting more research is needed to understand why the trees haven’t recovered better after the end of the rains.

    Forward sales are also getting hit by confusion over new European deforestation regulations, Parkman said. Some sellers are afraid of getting hit with penalties if they can’t prove their beans come from a deforestation-free area. 

    Read entire article

    Stuck in neutral: A call for partnership working on river quality and water quantity

    This article from Local.gov.uk may be of interest. Here is a section:

    Around 20,000 new homes a year have been put on hold as a result legal protections to clean and protect our precious water ways. This report explores the challenges that councils and other stakeholders are facing and sets out recommendations for action.

    Read entire article