Market Munch đ„ | July 24 2022
Russia ignores their noble plan to reduce global hunger, COVID-esque trauma comes back, and FTX goes shopping for more distressed crypto companies.
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1 - Russia forgets about their noble plan to reduce hunger. đ
Yesterday, Russia and Ukraine signed a deal.
In short - theyâd agree to stop fighting so that a few ships could swoop in, pick up Ukrainian grain, and leave. They did this to avert acute global hunger - since Ukraine takes care of about 12% of the worldâs grain needs.
24 hours later, four missiles made their way into one of Ukraineâs largest grain-exporting cities.
Two were shot down by air defence systems, but the other two made their way and managed to get a hit. Video of the aftermath is here.
Looks like a lot of people are going to be going hungry if Russia keeps this up. â ïž
2 - Monkeypox is now an âinternational health emergencyâđ
Headline says it all.
The last time a disease was given this designation, it forced us all into our homes, made us slap on masks before going outside, and got us to buy liters upon liters of sanitizer.
Yep. Thatâs COVID.
So far, about 16,000 cases of monkeypox have been detected across the world.
The WHO says that overall global risk from monkeypox remains low, except Europe, where itâs apparently âhighâ.
I know a lot of people who arenât gonna be pleased if we have another lockdown⊠đ·
3 - FTXâs shopping spree is still on đ
FTX made an offer to buy Voyager Digital - a crypto group that went bankrupt earlier this year, froze assets, and banned withdrawals on their customersâ accounts.
It comes as a lifeline for Voyagerâs clients - as they have a possibility of getting liquidity back to their under accounts post-acquisition.
Voyager said in court that they were owed about $1.1bn, half of which was to come from now-bankrupt hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.
Since Voyager themselves couldnât meet customer demands - as they wanted to withdraw money that had been loaned out - they froze client withdrawals.
4 - Australia considering giving out IDs to itâs 69m sheep đ
Australia will âramp up their biosecurityâ as an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease threatens to infect a part of the economy worth $55bn.
Foot-and-mouth is the most feared livestock disease - and quite a few farmers are feeling the heat.
One farmer described it as being the âbiggest wake-up callâ, and that he âcouldnât remember a threat biggerâ.
The disease causes blisters around the gums of animals with hooves. If it spreads, it will prove dangerous for Australiaâs agriculture-heavy industries. (Direct effect on wool, dairy, etc)
Expected impact of an outbreak will be about A$80bn - or US$55bn.
Baa baa black sheep, have you any government issued identification on you?đ§”
5 - Europeâs gas pipeline gets turned on again - but officials arenât happy. đ€
To say that the gas pipeline that connects Russia and Europe is important is an understatement.
40% of European gas needs were serviced through this pipeline last year.
A week or so after Russia took it offline, they got it back running again - however energy officials in the EU are concerned.
Most people reckon that Russiaâs going to be duplicitous with it, and use their very apparent leverage to blackmail the rest of Europe.
The ballâs in Europeâs court, but Mr. Putin owns the entire stadium. đŹ
Aaaand thatâs a wrap.
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