In today’s briefing:
- Southeast Asia Plantations: El Niño’s Back, with a Vengeance?
- Ohayo Japan| Global Rate Hikes; SPX Rise Despite Powell; NUGGET: Daikin(6367)- Global Best in Class
- FX Watch: The Scandinavian FX Massacre
- Polestar Forms Venture With Xingji Meizu to Build Auto Operating System
- Mat-Chem Notes For the Week Ended June 16, 2023
- China Clears 89 More New Video Games in June
- April Mattress Imports Slump After Bounce in March; Industry Remains in Doldrums
Southeast Asia Plantations: El Niño’s Back, with a Vengeance?
- The NOAA has confirmed that the world is at the start of an El Niño, which means less rainfall in Southeast Asia and pressure on oil palm yields.
- Early signs point to a severe event, which would cause a significant edible oil deficit in 2024. Ongoing drought in the U.S. is a budding wild card, affecting soybeans.
- The report projects a 40% YoY higher average crude palm oil price in 2024. Given depressed consensus expectations and undemanding valuation, the risk-reward is bullish on a 6-12 month horizon.
Ohayo Japan| Global Rate Hikes; SPX Rise Despite Powell; NUGGET: Daikin(6367)- Global Best in Class
- OVERSEAS. Hawish Powell wraps up testimony; Global Rate Hikes – from UK to Norway; SPX +0.4% gains despite rise in Yields; Confirmed- Titanic Sub Crew confirmed dead
- JAPAN. NKY Futs +0.5% vs Cash; USDJPY weaknes to 143 handle amid rise in US yields; Foreigners continue to buy Japan; Corp Governance loss as Cosmo(5021) approve Poison Pill
- NUGGET. Daikin(6367)- A Global Best in Class and winner – but waiting for a pull back to jump in.
FX Watch: The Scandinavian FX Massacre
- Danish Consumers stronger than its neighbors due mortgage structures and lower inflation rates
- Norges Bank selling too many NOK’s in the market compared to its income from dividends and oil & gas
- Sweden’s high beta industry suffering under inflation and rates shock
Polestar Forms Venture With Xingji Meizu to Build Auto Operating System
- Swedish electric vehicle maker Polestar Automotive Holding UK PLC said Monday it is entering into a strategic agreement to set up a joint venture with Chinese smartphone and consumer electronics company Xingji Meizu Group to build an operating system for Polestar cars sold in China.
- The joint venture will develop Xingji Meizu’s Flyme Auto system into a new operating system that can support in-car apps, streaming services and intelligent vehicle software, Polestar said in a statement.
- Polestar will own 49% of the joint venture, with the remaining 51% controlled by Xingji Meizu. Both Polestar and Xingji Meizu are owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. Ltd.
Mat-Chem Notes For the Week Ended June 16, 2023
- WTR-CMI last week. As the markets continue to recover from the 2022 doldrums, both the S&P 500 and the Russell 2000 posted weekly gains of 3.1% and 0.5%, respectively.
- Our WTR-CMI index of 30 chemicals and materials technology stocks appreciated 1.4% over the last week.
- YTD, our index is up 8.1%, above the Russell 2000’s 7.3% appreciation, but below the large-cap S&P 500’s 15.3% recovery.
China Clears 89 More New Video Games in June
- Chinese regulators approved 89 new video games in June, the largest batch this year, bringing the number of new approvals in the first half to 521 and topping the total for all of last year.
- NetEase, China’s second-largest gaming company, received a license for Where Winds Meet, an interactive open world action-adventure game, for mobile and personal computers.
- Tencent Holdings Ltd., the world’s largest gaming company, was absent from the list after it received several approvals earlier this year.
April Mattress Imports Slump After Bounce in March; Industry Remains in Doldrums
- This note addresses the April 2023 mattress import data posted on the Department of Commerce (DoC), US International Trade Commission DataWeb at https://dataweb.usitc.gov.
- We track imports for three specific 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Systems (HTS-10) that define adult mattresses.
- The DoC normally posts detailed HTS import units and customs values on its website ~70 days after the month-end of the month being reported.
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