The next focusIR Investor Webinar takes places on 14th May with guest speakers from Blue Whale Growth Fund, Taseko Mines, Kavango Resources and CQS Natural Resources fund. Please register here.
Wasn't it 'symbiotic' , THG provide fulfilment and ecom hosting in return for ad space, something like that.
Market has gone back into rate cut mode again:
'U.S. stocks rose Monday, with Wall Street looking to build on the previous session’s strong gains, after new jobs data revived hopes of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates. '
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/05/stock-futures-inch-higher-sunday-after-weaker-than-expected-jobs-report-left-investors-looking-up-live-updates.html
Non farm payroll Friday, that was a doozy, no one expected such a drop given feds recent comments.
Could be the catalyst across the pond for rate cuts, who knows but UK/EU are very much on track to meet their targets.
BONDS
10-year Treasury yield dives below 4.5% as unemployment rate rises to 3.9%
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/03/us-treasury-yields-ahead-of-april-jobs-report.html
Does CNBC read this forum [LOL]
Fed and ECB divergence on rate cuts
The prospect of the European Central Bank diverging from the Federal Reserve on interest rate cuts is likely to be “particularly negative” for the 20-nation euro zone, according to one economist.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/03/european-central-bank-rate-cut-would-be-a-mistake-economist-says.html
Global hedge funds chase Hong Kong stocks rally, UBS says
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Global hedge funds that use an equities long-short strategy are growing increasingly bullish on China, evidenced by the heavy pick-up in their purchases of Hong Kong-listed shares, UBS Group said in a note.
Hong Kong's stock markets, which closely mirror China's struggling performance, have recovered since March as Beijing rolled out economic support measures. The Hang Seng Index rose more than 7% in April, marking its best monthly gain since January 2023 and outperforming most major markets.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/global-hedge-funds-chase-hong-024837696.html
Not sure if Corteva breaks out the biologicals reporting as this maybe helpful, overall the market has responded positively touching year high today.
'On Crop Protection, as anticipated, we faced headwinds as the industry continues to work through residual inventory imbalances in key regions and farmers are shifting to just-in-time purchasing.
We are expecting growth in the second half of 2024 driven by our differentiated portfolio, leading biologicals products and cost actions.'
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/corteva-reports-first-quarter-2024-211000725.html
Some weeks ago I made a comment on divergence between UK and US markets, Dow at the time was nudging 40k, FTSE at 8k - roll forward a few weeks and that dynamic has changed slightly with a gap of around 2000 point emerging.
If Europe and UK start dropping rates we could see an unwinding the dominant position held by US markets, in addition FTSE trackers may have a greater impact given the bullish phase currently enjoyed by UK markets.
Folks wonder who is doing the selling, my own view its the numerous tracker type index funds which base their economic model around interest rates and consumer spending.
I've watched the below fund reduce almost daily on their 'consumer' category from 12.46% to 12.03%, it doesn't sound like much but this fund value sits at around $100b, also multiple this by a factor of 20 or so for the other funds.
https://www.ishares.com/uk/professional/en/products/244049/ishares-core-msci-eafe-etf
We may however see the balance change even with US rates staying high for longer, a reduction in EU/UK rates should have some impact along with the much delayed FTSE listing.
Whilst sticky inflation remains this could signal the top, also set against UK/EU rates likely to drop within next couple of months.
If there is little to no more bad news due out of the Fed, trackers, index funds may adjust their economic model accordingly.
Powell pretty much rules out a hike and stocks like it
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/01/fed-meeting-today-live-updates-on-may-fed-rate-decision.html
Pressure is now firmly in favour of bio control market.
IBMA And Copa-Cogeca call on EC to speed up the procedures for placing bio-products on the market
https://news.agropages.com/News/NewsDetail---50026.htm
Europe has to set aside the pesticides row and turn toward sustainable agricultural solutions
https://news.agropages.com/News/NewsDetail---50003.htm
Alex makes some valid points, I find it hard to fault Matts post having watched the whole Dark Trace episode unfold.
Its also drawn a response from Neil Shah, Head of Tech, Primary Markets, London Stock Exchange which again, can only be a good thing, the more eyeballs on this subject the more chance of change.
One area that I do disagree on is the percentage of shorts or the role they play in the share price decline.
Posters venting is well.. just that, it stops when markets are closed because there is a break from the mental stress of a red share price.
The upside to all of this is yet more pressure on current actions, one would hope the FCA are not that far off publishing final recommendations.
L’Occitane Chairman Launches Buyout at €6 Billion Valuation
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-29/billionaire-launches-l-occitane-buyout-at-6-4-billion-valuation
Share are trading at a five year high even before this latest approach.
AMVACs GreenSolutions as the division mentioned in the press release, video gives a good overview including fermentation facilities and various manufacturing plants, or to put it another way - everything you need to scale Plant healthcare's extensive portfolio.
https://www.amvac.com/greensolutions
'THG can implement is to move its listing on the LSE from the standard list to the premium index. THG currently has very few passive indexed holders and most UK active fund managers do not have to consider an investment in THG as it is not in their performance benchmark of the premium index.
We hope that this change of index happens in 2024 either naturally through the FCA changes or that THG is proactive and makes the change of listing itself.'
L’Occitane’s billionaire owner to take firm private in $1.8 billion deal
PUBLISHED MON, APR 29 202411:34 AM EDT
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/29/loccitanes-billionaire-owner-to-take-firm-private-in-1point8-billion-deal.html
ELEMIS partnered with THG Ingenuity in 2020 to expand its DTC operations to new markets, launching 16 new sites across Europe and APAC in just 10 months.
https://www.thgingenuity.com/resources/case-studies/delivering-international-dtc-expansion-ingenuity-commerce-x-elemis