In today\u2019s Steady\nInvestor, we look at key factors that we believe are currently impacting the\nmarket and what could be next for the markets such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chilling Relations\nBetween the U.S. and China \u2013 <\/strong>Tension between the U.S. and China has been on\nthe rise, and escalations took place this week when China voted to impose\nnational security laws on Hong Kong. The United States is yet to decide on a\nformal response, but all signs point to revoking Hong Kong\u2019s \u201cspecial status\u201d as\na trading partner. The move would amount to the United States no longer\nrecognizing Hong Kong as a self-governing, autonomous region of China \u2013 a move\nthat is likely to infuriate Beijing. This escalation comes as China is supposed <\/em>to be fulfilling purchase\nobligations associated with the trade deal, and also as the U.S. steps up allegations\nagainst China for covering-up the pandemic. Chilling relations between the U.S.\nand China have some worried about a new cold war, which could be an\nextraordinarily costly outcome. China\u2019s companies are massive customers for\nU.S. sophisticated technology, and supply chains are overwhelmingly dependent\non Chinese factories and workers. Decoupling the two economies could mean\nhigher costs for consumers and a hit to earnings for the U.S.\u2019s largest\ncorporations. This is coming at a time when China\u2019s economic recovery could help\njump-start the global economy. A private gauge of China\u2019s services sector\nactivity showed a sharp rebound in May, as domestic demand returned and as government\nstimulus took hold.1<\/sup> <\/p>\n\n\n\n __________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n Assessing the World Economy and the Investment Landscape<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The world economy is not out of the woods from this pandemic\nand the global economy is not likely to surge back to pre-crisis levels anytime\nsoon. But the recovery is likely to take hold more quickly in some pockets of\nthe economy versus others, and we will try to identify these pockets of\nrelative strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this report, we will also take a look at what countries\nand regions around the world are doing to restart the economy, while also\nhighlighting several factors that are producing 2020 optimism right now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have $500,000 or more to invest and want to learn\nmore, click on the link below to get your free report today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Click Here to Download Our Just-Released June Market Strategy Report<\/a>2<\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n __________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n First Economic\nRecession in 28 Years \u2013 <\/strong>The developed world\u2019s longest ongoing economic\nexpansion may be coming to an end. For 28 years, Australia has never experienced a recession<\/em>, defined as two\nconsecutive quarters of economic contraction. But the longest streak may be in\njeopardy. Earlier in 2020, some readers may recall the bush fires that ravaged\nAustralia, which current estimates show may have resulted in a Q1 contraction\nof -0.3%. Second-quarter estimates for GDP contraction are almost certain to be\nlower, given the hit to consumer spending and services activity felt across the\nworld as a result of the pandemic.3 <\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Food Prices Move\nHigher as Supply Bottlenecks Continue \u2013 <\/strong>The United States has been feeling\nthe pinch of a national meat-supply crunch, driven by supply-demand imbalances\nand supply chain issues tied to the coronavirus outbreak. Even as meatpacking\nplants reopen and some grocery stores implement limits on meat buying, prices\nfor meat have been pushing higher over the last several weeks. At the retail\nlevel, beef prices went up +21.7% and pork prices rose +17.7% year-over-year\nfor the week ending May 23, with chicken also jumping +10.5%. Production has\nbeen an issue \u2013 the U.S. food industry is going into the summer months with\nproduction 7% lower than it was at the same time last year, and with\nrestaurants coming back online across the country, supply is likely to remain\ntight for the weeks ahead.4 <\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Inside the World Economy and Investment Landscape<\/strong>: The\nworld is still in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the global economy is\nnot likely to surge back to pre-crisis levels anytime soon. Many investors are\nwondering what the recovery could look like across the globe. In our view, the\nrecovery is likely to take hold more quickly in some pockets of the economy\nversus others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In our June Market Strategy Report5<\/sup>, we take a\nlook at what countries and regions around the world are doing to restart the\neconomy and we try to identify these pockets of relative strength, while also\nhighlighting several factors that are producing 2020 optimism right now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have $500,000 or more to invest and want to learn\nmore, click on the link below to get your free report today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Food supply bottlenecks raise prices, China problems grow, Australia’s 28-year expansion may be over <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[71,73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-private-client-group","category-steady-investors-week"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8679"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10596,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8679\/revisions\/10596"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}