The threat of a US tariff on Mexico’s tomato exports of 17% has been lifted. In the 1980s every US citizen consumed 5.5KG of tomatoes annually; that has now increased to 10KG. So a big deal for US consumers and a very big deal for Mexican tomato growers. Caramba!
This is the name given to securities backed not only with mortgages but with the guarantee of the issuer and as such are considered low risk. Berlin Hyp have issued a EUR 1Billion security yielding minus 0.59% which is the lowest rate yet and another tale in the negative interest rate saga that we have been describing in the past few weeks. So not such a stretch to being paid to borrow money to finance property and definitely expect cheaper mortgage rate offers in the next few months.
Following the piece on Texas, we have been asked to write about California which was claimed by Spain in the 1600s and named after an Amazon queen in a land named Califia from a novel . With no irrigation it was not a great place to live and work but things started changing when a revolution transferred ownership to Mexico in 1821 and then big time with the discovery of gold in 1849. Suddenly California became a sought after territory and was taken over by the USA following their victory in the American Mexican War in 1848 and was duly irrigated and settled. From a population in the 1820s of less than 20,000 California grew to 400,000 in the 1840s and today…nearly 40 million. California is now the 5th largest world economy with a $3 trillion gross state product larger than the UK but smaller than Germany.
Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder
US Interest Rates Nothing much new over the weekend other than while sifting thought the tea leaves from last week, we found that not one but two members of the FOMC, the rate setting and policy making committee of the Federal Reserve, advocated US interest rates staying higher for longer to crush inflation. Within their […]
GBP While the Bank of England’s decision to pause on raising rates by the narrowest of margins with voting 5-4, that resulted in GBP being sold sharply which reflects the market’s view that while inflation at 6.7% looked better than expected yesterday, the effect of higher oil prices and petrol and diesel at the pumps […]
A revised 2024 The Dollar opens stronger this morning following the Federal Reserve’s decision last night. The decision confirmed interest rates were to stay on hold following this meeting. As we have highlighted following previous decisions, the forward guidance offered by the Chair Jay Powell was once again underwhelming. However, the Dollar’s bid this morning […]