Morning Brief – Germany : Slowcession.

Germany : Slowcession.

The Germans have form when it comes to coining words and phrases to capture whatever is current at the time. In 2023 it is “slowcession” which is the no-man’s land between slow growth in the economy and a recession. Germany is currently laboring under annualised 6.2% inflation versus 5.3% across the Eurozone. June’s inflation figure is released tomorrow and that together with today’s industrial production figure will reflect not only the health or otherwise of Germany’s very largest companies but also the all important Mittelstand or the network of smaller businesses that make up the beating heart of the German economy. Not only all important indicators for the largest economy in Europe, but for the EU as a whole.

EUR/USD 1.1015.

Tequila Sunset

As devotees of the tequila spirit know, it is made from agave. Following the agave spot price as we have been, it is worth noting a few facts: first off between 2012 and 2022 the price of 1 kg of agave went from MXN 2.7 to more than MXN30. Demand for tequila rocketed by 20% between 2018 and 2021-presumably all that lockdown drinking. It takes 7kg of agave to make 1 litre of tequila. Post lockdown the price of agave has fallen back dramatically and now stands at MXN16 for 1 kg as drinkers have tapered their consumption and the growth in the market is now towards the high end which Jose Cuervo the largest producer of tequila will doubtless be focusing on. Maybe just maybe with agave lower, the price of a bottle of the finest tequila may get cheaper in the next few months.

USD/MXN 17.08.

Only in America

In search of a different holiday experience to say Benidorm? Buy a ticket to Florida USA and get down to the Everglades. 30 minutes training and $25 and you can enter the 2023 Python Challenge which will allow you the chance to kill limitless pythons and enter the competition which started on Friday. Burmese Pythons were introduced to Floridians in the last 50 years by the exotic pet industry and subsequently were released into the wild where they multiplied. So far 17000 have been captured and killed with little effect on the python population. Larger pythons of which there are plenty have been measured at over 19 feet or 6 metres. Worth listening carefully during that 30 mins training session…

GBP/USD 1.2750.

X

How to publicize one’s latest business from the maestro of self publicity Elon Musk: announce that the rumoured cage fight between Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and himself will be live streamed on X. The beauty of this ploy is that apart from vague claims that he is in training to fight MZ, there is no date and therefore no danger that ultra fit MZ will inflict any damage on the paunchy Tesla and X supremo who, we should not forget, is also the richest man in the world.

Material Girl

When Madonna referred to her home town Bay City, Michigan USA this day in 1987, it could all have gone so well. However on NBC-TV’s Today Show the Pop Queen referred to Bay City as “a smelly little town” which unsurprisingly lost her fans in her home town-not that she would have cared that much.
 
Some boys kiss me
Some boys hug me
I think they’re ok
If they don’t give me proper credit
I just walk away

They can beg and they can plead
But they can’t see the light (that’s right)
‘Cause the boy with the cold hard cash
Is always Mister Right

‘Cause we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl
You know that we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl

Some boys romance
Some boys slow dance
That’s all right with me
If they can’t raise my interest then I
Have to let them be

Some boys try and some boys lie but
I don’t let them play (no way)
Only boys who save their pennies
Make my rainy day

‘Cause we’re living in a material world
And I am a material girl
You know that we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl
Living in a material world
And I am a material girl
You know that we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl

Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder

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