Benoit Coeure, a member of the European Central Bank (ECB) Executive Board, believes the renminbi will eventually become a major international currency. He also warns about the bitcoin bubble, reminding that the bitcoin is not a currency but a speculative investment.
A recent report by Citi attempts to contrast global utilities valuations and highlight key investment opportunities. Summarizing, Asian and LatAm utilities, while growing fastest at 14-16%, trade at dividend yields of 3.5% and 5.3% reflecting risks. Japanese, US and European have dividend yields of 2.4%, 3.5% and 5.5% consistent with their growth profiles of 7%, 6% and 2.7%, respectively.
A recent report by Eurostat revealed that SMEs in Europe generate half of intra-European trade. These companies provide up to 249 jobs each and drive the economy.
The construction materials’ sector is one of the few where EPS growth is accelerating between 2017 and 2018. But to be fair, there has not been much positive news for the construction materials/cement sector this year. Valuations don’t scream out “an attractive buy” in the short-term.
Red Eléctrica de España (REE) plans to put into service in 2025 the underwater electricity link with France. This new electricity interconnection will allow the exchange capacity between Spain and France to increase to 5.000 MW compared with the current 2.800 MW.
In a surprisingly statesman-like manner, Carles Puigdemont performed a balancing act in respecting the referendum result, safeguarding his support from the independence movement, and avoiding total escalation with Spain.
A three-party “Jamaica” coalition in Germany may not be so bad for Europe as observers fear. The real benefit for Europe would be German domestic policy. After four years of stasis under the grand coalition, the “Jamaica” parties could transform the German economy
Utilities in Europe have made a sudden stock market comeback since late July, after performing well in May, underpinned by strong Q1 earnings and some speculation about possible further consolidation in the industry. Q2 results have also been solid and fuelled earnings upgrades.
Making judgements on “whether a market is expensive or cheap,” using aggregates of prices and earnings, is a very risky simplification. To begin with, there are companies which don’t make money or even lose it, and quite a lot of it. Responsible, professional investors don’t buy stock markets indices, they buy shares. They don’t invest “top-down” but rather “bottom-up”.
Investors realise that the political risk in France has decreased substantially and are less concerned about what might happen on the political front in Italy and Germany. Now it’s time to look at companies’ fundamentals once again and continue to focus on the ECB’s decisions over the coming months.