Can we afford to be more optimistic about the future? The next seven days will start off more positively for global geopolitics with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s visit to South Korea and Japan.
He will travel from Seoul to Tokyo on Monday to strengthen the ties of the transatlantic security alliance with its key partners in Asia. Meetings, following Japan and Korea joining for the first time in NATO summits in Europe, demonstrating the alliance’s support for these countries in the face of security challenges posed by China and North Korea.
The war in ukraine will be high on the agenda, with Tokyo and Seoul likely to confirm the supply of more non-lethal equipment to Kiev.
On the other hand, this week will also offer reminders of the ongoing and very real challenge posed by populists and nationalists. India celebrates Martyrs’ Day on Monday on the 75th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s murder. As writer Ramachandra Guha notes in FT Weekend EssayThe anti-colonial revolutionary reverence waned as Hindu nationalism rose.
In the United States, the shadow of former president Donald Trump will reappear when his adviser, Peter Navarro, will be put on trial on Monday for his conduct. non-compliance with subpoenas from the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
In the UK it is different strike week, starting Monday with driving instructors at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency. The most important day of action will come on Wednesday when teachers, train drivers and university lecturers lay down their arms while union organization TUC celebrates Strike Rights Day to fight a controversial government bill to limit industrial action to essential services.
Economic data
Rate-setting schedules were in line once again for the monetary policy committees of the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.
The ECB is expected to stick with the huge increase in interest rates while the Fed slows down, has signaled that it will end its speed up 0.75 percentage points in December.
The Bank of England is expected to rise 0.5 percentage points on the back of persistently high inflation, strong wage growth and the unexpected resilience of the UK economy.
Companies
We’re in the thick of earnings season and this week is Big Tech’s climax with quarterly numbers from Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, Meta and Spotify. It’s a serious time for the sector, especially given the admission that they’ve been massively hiring during this time. zoom year of the pandemic.
Apple will be notable as it is expected to break its 14-quarter growth streak during its lucrative December period due to a shortage of high-end iPhones. A Covid-19 outbreak in November at the Zhengzhou factory (known to locals as iPhone city) was to blame, causing handset shortages somewhere between 5 million and 5 million. 10 million pieces.
At around $1,000 one-time, this could cause a $10 billion disparity and is not good news for Apple due to it. hand-held war with Google. Revenue for this quarter of 2021 is under $124 billion; slightly lower forecast for 2022 but the net profit impact could be larger.
Read the calendar last week here.
