Daily Brief – Germany

Germany

The victory for Chancellor Merz in the weekend Election was popular with the market and the EUR duly strengthened. This was more of a gut reaction than a reasoned response as while the result chimed with the EU political weather, any logical reasoning will lead to the conclusion that the formation of a working coalition in Germany will be much more tortuous than straightforward. 

EUR/USD 1.0496.

Apple

Maybe not surprising given its ownership and headquarters in Silicon Valley, California but as at 2022 almost 75% of Apple employees were white or Asian. More surprisingly 66% of its employees were men. Apple claims that much of its success stems from its adherence to their Diversity, Equality and Inclusion initiatives – despite the statistical evidence in these numbers that points to them being far from effective. Most of us Apple fans would beg to disagree and point rather to the company’s market leading technology and the quality of its products. Anyway, in the current zeitgeist Apple shareholders are on the cusp of voting against the DEI emphasis which suggests that they too share these thoughts.

GBP/USD 1.2645.

Bank of England

A less than insightful guide to how to interpret signals from the Bank of England Monetary policy Committee published yesterday by one of the market talking heads who will remain nameless. It contains such gems as members of the MPC can change their minds, hawks can become doves, areas of focus e.g. wage claims can change in emphasis etc etc. While there is and has always been a desire to parse and interpret every utterance from Central Banks it remains a less than perfect art rather than a predictable science.

EUR/GBP 0.8293.

TikTok

A sign of our times with the news that a small beauty business in Wales has shuttered its shop with its owner claiming that she can make more by selling her wares on TikTok in an hour than she can make in a day in the shop. Selling skills doubtless have a lot to do with it as does the fact that Laura Mallows has other attributes which pull in the punters on line and help her sell her body scrubs and beauty products.

GBP/ZAR 23.24.

Where Do You Go To My Lovely?

This day back in 1969 this classic from Peter Sarstedt started four weeks at Number One. Fans of the song who have poured hours into analysing it have concluded that Peter Sarstedt was writing about Sophia Loren. PS denied that and claims that it was about an entirely different girl that he fell in love with who met an untimely and early end in a Vienna hotel fire.  Either way it’s a great song and one that deserves its evergreen status.

You talk like Marlene Dietrich
And you dance like Zizi Jeanmaire
Your clothes are all made by Balmain
And there’s diamonds and pearls in your hair, yes, there are
You live in a fancy apartment
Off the Boulevard St. Michel
Where you keep your Rolling Stones records
And a friend of Sacha Distel, yes, you do
But where do you go to, my lovely
When you’re alone in your bed?
Tell me the thoughts that surround you
I want to look inside your head, yes, I do
I’ve seen all your qualifications
You got from the Sorbonne
And the painting you stole from Picasso
Your loveliness goes on and on, yes, it does
When you go on your summer vacation
You go to Juan-les-Pins
With your carefully designed topless swimsuit
You get an even suntan on your back, and on your legs
And when the snow falls you’re found in St. Moritz
With the others of the jet set
And you sip your Napoleon brandy
But you never get your lips wet, no, you don’t
But where do you go to, my lovely
When you’re alone in your bed?
Won’t you tell me the thoughts that surround you?
I want to look inside your head, yes, I do
Your name it is heard in high places
You know the Aga Khan
He sent you a race horse for Christmas
And you keep it just for fun, for a laugh, ha-ha-ha
They say that when you get married
It’ll be to a millionaire
But they don’t realize where you came from
And I wonder if they really care, or give a damn

Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder

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