Global Overview
China On Track To Recovery
China’s rapid economic recovery is set by an increase of 34.5% in industrial production and 24.5% in retail sales, while services and household consumption are lagging behind. The country’s National Bureau of Statistics has registered a Q1 output rise of 10.3% which is higher than the same period of 2019.
The target for 2021 has been set at 6% by the Chinese government, although forecasts are looking even more optimistic and the economy could be expanding by 8%. It is a strong rebound for China after its GDP shrank for the first time in decades.
$1 Trillion of Uncollected Taxes
IRS has issued a statement pointing to a large number of uncollected taxes. Mostly due to errors, fraud, and lack of resources, the IRS estimates that around $1 Trillion of taxes are unpaid. The report issued by the agency showed around $400 billion in annual losses which demonstrates a huge gap between owed and collected taxes.
Although the IRS has collected more than $3.5 trillion in taxes in 2019, the agency states that one of the reasons for the gap to increase is the growth of cryptocurrencies and foreign-source income.
Capital Markets
Equities
| PX Last | 1W | YTD | |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | |||
| S&P | 4 185.47 | 1.37% | 13.03% |
| NASDAQ | 14 056.89 | 1.13% | 9.07% |
| Europe | |||
| Euro Stoxx 50 | 4 032.99 | 1.36% | 13.52% |
| FTSE 100 | 7 019.53 | 1.50% | 8.65% |
| DAX | 15 459.75 | 1.48% | 12.70% |
Coinbase’s Grand Debut
U.S. based crypto-exchange has made a great entrance into the market with its direct offering and a surge of more than 30% giving Coinbase a whooping valuation just shy of $100 billion. In the first quarter of 2021, the company has reported preliminary earnings of $800 million which is a huge surge comparing to $32 million in the same period of 2020.
As cryptocurrency and digital assets gain mainstream acceptance, Coinbase is following the trend of virtual currency. Fed’s Chairman has expressed concerns that cryptocurrency is a vehicle for speculation and needs to see harsher regulations.
Luxury Resilience to Pandemic
LVMH shares hit a historic high as its sales jump 30% in the first quarter of 2021, compared to the same period of 2020. As luxury brand demonstrates strong resilience to the global crisis, the company’s stock is up 45% since January 2020.
Luxury markets’ bounce back is associated with strong growth of sales figures across the U.S. and Asia, while European markets are still affected by lockdowns.
Private Equity & Venture Capital
IPO that You’ve Probably Missed
As the eyes of investors were pinned to the largest public listing of the year and an incredible performance by the Coinbase, another very important milestone passed unnoticed. TuSimple became the first dedicated autonomous vehicle maker to go public. Raising more than $1.35 billion it has set its capitalisation at $9 billion although the price has not seen a sharp surge.
TuSimple aims to start producing a fully autonomous fleet by 2024 according to CFO Pat Dillon. TuSimple targets self-driving trucks and heavy logistics vehicles at their route can be more predictable, rather than passenger cars.
KKR’s Fundraising Goal
One of the largest and most active private equity funds, KKR is planning to raise up to $110 billion by the end of 2022 for its portfolio of tech companies. KKR’s growth investing strategy since its launch has invested more than $6 billion in enterprise software and around $4 billion in online consumer spaces.
Commodities & Digital Assets
| PX Last | 1 Week | YTD | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brent Crude | 66.77 | 6.07% | 28.90% |
| Gold | 1 774.90 | 1.84% | -6.86% |
| BTC/USD | 57 048.78 | 6.91% | 109.57% |
One More Crypto ETF in Canada
Canadian asset manager Purpose Investments Inc said on Friday that it has been cleared by Canadian securities regulators to launch the first direct custody Ether exchange-traded fund in the world.
The Purpose ETF is designed to provide investors with exposure to the cryptocurrency by investing directly in physically settled Ether tokens, Purpose Investments said. In February, the company launched the world’s first Bitcoin ETF.
