12 hours after Abe was assassinated, the market’s reaction; smart electric vehicles cannot end with mobile phones

Original link: https://www.latepost.com/news/dj_detail?id=1219

12 hours after Abe’s assassination, the market’s reaction

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot at around 11:30 a.m. local time in Nara City on July 8. Local media said he was shot in the left chest and neck, and his lungs stopped working on the way to the hospital. He was pronounced dead around 5 p.m. local time.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on the 8th that China was shocked by the sudden incident. “Former Prime Minister Abe once contributed to the improvement and development of Sino-Japanese relations. We express our condolences and condolences to the family of former Prime Minister Abe.”

After the news of Abe’s assassination was announced, the yen appreciated rapidly. One was the instinct of capital hedging, and the other was that the market doubted whether the Bank of Japan would still adhere to the ultra-easy monetary policy. Because Shinzo Abe is a strong supporter of this policy.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index sank to 0.1 percent from 1.4 percent after the Abe shooting, as investors worried about a shift in monetary policy sold stocks. The market’s reaction is very similar to when Abe announced his resignation in August 2020, but the level of panic was not as great as that at the time.

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Analysts at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank explained that Shinzo Abe is famous overseas and foreign investors have a positive attitude towards him, “If the government’s policies (including its stance of easing monetary policy) are affected, it may have a negative impact on the market. Because It’s clear he’s manipulating the situation behind the scenes in many ways.”

Tomoichiro Kubota, senior market analyst at Matsui Securities in Japan, feels that the Bank of Japan has lost its loose policy ally and the policy may change. “This may have an impact on the medium and long term. The market will see a sharp appreciation of the yen and a fall in stock prices.”

Shinzo Abe was elected Prime Minister of Japan twice in 2006 and 2012, and was re-elected in 2014 and 2017. Resigned in August 2020.

He is Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, and his repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine caused dissatisfaction among Asian neighbors including China and South Korea. But he also pushed Japan to join ASEAN and initiated the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in which China, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand participated. The agreement surpassed the EU free trade area to become the world’s largest free trade economic system.

After coming to power in 2012, in order to get Japan out of the status quo of a long-term economic downturn, Shinzo Abe implemented a bold monetary policy, a flexible fiscal policy, and a growth strategy to stimulate private investment – namely “Abenomics”.

Koo Chaoming, Chief Economist of Nomura Securities Research Institute, gave mixed results to “Abenomics”, believing that in the context of the balance sheet recession, the Japanese government wrongly focused on monetary policy (Japan once had negative interest rates) ), rather than fiscal policy (Gu believed Japan should have fiscal stimulus, but the government raised the consumption tax), but the “structural reform” led to a rapid increase in the number of overseas tourists, making a huge contribution to the Japanese economy. (Gong Fangyi)

Smart electric vehicles can’t face the end of the mobile phone

One of the roles of the head of a new electric vehicle company seems to be to make the industry and his products talk.

The experience of successfully starting a business or leading a project before gives people confidence. Smartphones have grown into the largest single product in the field of consumer electronics, and the mobile Internet has accompanied them, bringing unprecedented opportunities to batches of people and generating huge returns.

Compared with fuel vehicles, electric vehicles have a simpler structure and China’s accumulated advantages in the middle and upper reaches of the industrial chain lower the entry barrier. High gas prices and fast-growing electric vehicle sales figures stimulate the practitioners like adrenaline, and thus foresee some development trends of electric vehicles.

On July 7, Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei Smart Car Solutions BU, talked about several points at the China Automotive Blue Book Forum:

1. Today’s smart cars are very similar to the smartphone industry ten years ago, with a similarity of more than 90%, with few differences. Depots will also be reshuffled like the mobile phone brands at that time. The strong automakers in the past may also be in the new era. will disappear.

2. If it weren’t for the US’s intervention and suppression of us, the world’s major mobile phone manufacturers might be Huawei and Apple.

3. Buying a gasoline car today is like buying a feature phone in the age of smartphones.

4. China’s auto industry must eliminate fuel vehicles as soon as possible, and must enter at least an electrified (stage).

Three months ago, Yu Chengdong gave an example of the similarities between electric vehicles and smartphones in brand building in a program:

1. The requirements for brands are high-end, branded, fashionable and youthful.

2. In terms of design language, adhere to the extreme, simple and pure design language.

3. Mobile phones and cars have many things in common. They are both consumer goods brands, with three elements: experience, quality, and brand.

We’re used to hearing the saying “a car is a smartphone and four wheels”. Toyota President Akio Toyoda used a similar metaphor back in 2011.

Similar competitive landscape, different competitive environment, industry interpretation path may be completely different.

Mobile phones are becoming bigger and stronger in an almost completely free market competition environment. Not so with cars. Nearly a quarter of new cars sold in China in the first five months of this year were electric vehicles, according to the China Automobile Association. The penetration rate of electric vehicles in the Nordic countries is even more exaggerated: 90% in Norway and more than 50% in Sweden – all regions with extreme restrictions on oil vehicles and incentives for trams.

China has extended the subsidy period for new energy vehicles, and recently introduced policies to encourage car purchases are mostly related to electric vehicles. According to the statistics of Sinolink Securities, in 2021, the proportion of new electric vehicles with limited licenses, limited licenses, non-licensed licenses and non-restricted licenses in China will be 27.44%, 13.20%, and 11.38%, respectively. 19.88%. The policy impact is still significant.

The industrial chains of smartphones and automobiles are very long, and the division of labor is global.

The rise of Huawei mobile phones came in an era when free market theory prevailed and the global division of labor was still strong. Apple brought ecological ideas, European and Asian companies joined forces to create chips with amazing computing power, and Google lowered the threshold for hardware manufacturers to compete with Apple.

Europe, unaware that smartphones would revolutionize so much, allowed Nokia and Ericsson to retreat from the visible to the invisible. In order to reduce production costs for manufacturers, and for regions to develop the economy and people’s livelihood, ideological differences can be put aside for the time being.

The same is true of cars most of the time. Globalization is the lifeblood of the automotive industry, and its supply chain may be the most complex and sophisticated business on the planet. Only 59.5 percent of Dodge’s top-selling Ram 1500 model, a traditional American car brand, is made in the United States when it comes to parts origin. Americans who want to buy the most “Made in America” ​​car may have to buy a Japanese Honda Accord.

China dominates the battery and more upstream industries, one of the core components of smart electric vehicles. However, European, American and Japanese companies dominate power devices, European and American companies lead control chips, American, Japanese and Korean companies dominate memory chips, and overseas giants control analog chips.

To talk about the similarities in the development of consumer electronics and electric vehicles, it must not be missed that the most profitable companies in these two industries are very dependent on Chinese manufacturing. But what if globalization ends?

The modern auto industry is the best story of globalization and the best stage for trade protectionism.

China’s modern automobile industry started with cooperation. SAIC began to assemble German Volkswagen in 1983. A year later, BAIC and the United States jointly established Beijing Jeep. After another year, GAC and France’s Peugeot reached a cooperation. South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group, one of the world’s top ten car companies, and Japan’s Toyota and Honda all started with import restrictions and trade protection.

In 1996, when SAIC Volkswagen could produce 200,000 Pousins ​​a year, the United States was launching a trade war with Japan, where its troops were stationed, and 13 luxury cars exported from Japan to the United States were subject to 100% tariffs, including Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Almost all high-end lines from Mitsubishi, Lexus and Infiniti. At that time, 60% of new cars in the United States came from Japan.

Trade strikes and protections focus on the auto industry, not only because of its economic clout, but also because it is one of the symbols of the industry. During World War II, General Motors, Ford, and other automakers were listed by the Roosevelt administration as key pillars in making America the “Arsenal of Democracy.” The US Treasury injected $49.5 billion to rescue GM during the 2008 financial crisis.

The path from co-opetition to confrontation may be repeated.

In March of this year, Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management company, bluntly said that globalization is no longer sustainable. In fact, some trends already exist. We see the “global division of labor” being decomposed by “supply chain localization”, and the new inter-regional trade framework is dismantling the meaning of the WTO. The Nikkei said that the Just in Time production model centered on cost-cutting has turned into a Just in Case for preventive measures.

Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill invented the “BRICS” in 2001, which is regarded as one of the symbols of globalization. Akio Fujii, chairman of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun commentary, asked him what title he used to rewrite the report.

“Globalization is not over, but its appearance has changed.” (Gong Fangyi)

The Cyberspace Administration of the People’s Republic of China issued the “Measures for Security Assessment of Data Exports”

On July 7, the Cyberspace Administration of China announced the “Measures for Security Assessment of Data Exports”, which clearly stipulates that companies with millions of users or other companies in suitable situations need to apply for security assessment before data export, and stipulates the conditions and procedures for assessment. The measures will take effect from September 1, 2022.

Compared with the draft published on October 29 last year, the main changes are as follows (red fonts are used for modified parts, and blue fonts are used for new content):

• Narrow the company’s scope:

Original:

Article 4… (4) accumulatively provide more than 100,000 personal information or sensitive personal information of more than 10,000 people abroad; data processors who have provided the personal information of 100,000 people or sensitive personal information of 10,000 people to overseas Personal information;

change:

Article 4… (3) Data processors who have provided personal information of 100,000 people or sensitive personal information of 10,000 people abroad since January 1 of the previous year have provided personal information abroad;

• Modify the description of the data risk link and add the definition of risk-related behavior:

Original:

Article 5… (5) Risks of leakage, damage, tampering, abuse, etc. after data exit and re-transfer, whether the channels for individuals to safeguard their personal information rights and interests are unobstructed, etc.;

change:

Article 5…(4) The risk of data being tampered with, destroyed, leaked, lost, transferred, or illegally obtained or used during or after the data exits the country, and whether the channels for safeguarding personal information rights and interests are unobstructed, etc.;

• Added the statute of limitations for provincial cybersecurity and informatization departments to “check the completeness of application materials” and “submit to the national cybersecurity and informatization department”:

Article 7 The provincial network information department shall complete the completeness check within 5 working days from the date of receipt of the application materials. If the application materials are complete, submit the application materials to the national network information department; if the application materials are incomplete, they should be returned to the data processor and notified of the materials that need to be supplemented at one time…

• Added legal liability for submitting false materials:

Article 11: The data processor is responsible for the authenticity of the submitted materials, and if it deliberately submits false materials, it will be dealt with according to the evaluation failure, and the corresponding legal responsibility will be investigated according to law.

• Modify the description of the time limit for the completion of security assessment work under certain circumstances, delete “generally no more than 60 working days”, and add “notify the data processor of the expected extension of time”:

Original:

Article 11 The national cybersecurity and informatization department shall complete the data export security assessment within 45 working days from the date of issuing the written acceptance notice; if the situation is complicated or supplementary materials are required, it may be appropriately extended, but generally no more than 60 work hours day.

change:

Article 12 The national network information department shall complete the data export security assessment within 45 working days from the date of issuing a written acceptance notice to the data processor; if the situation is complicated or materials need to be supplemented or corrected, it may be appropriately extended and notified of data processing the expected extended time.

• Add re-evaluation process:

Article 13 If the data processor has any objection to the evaluation results, it may apply to the national network information department for re-evaluation within 15 working days of receiving the evaluation results, and the re-evaluation result is the final conclusion.

• Added clarification on “important data”:

Article 19 The term “important data” as mentioned in these Measures refers to data that may endanger national security, economic operation, social stability, public health and safety, etc. once it is tampered with, destroyed, leaked, or illegally obtained or used.

The main points and changes have not been mentioned one by one. Please read the original “Measures for Security Assessment of Data Exports” and “Measures for Security Assessment of Data Exports (Draft for Comment)” by the Cyberspace Administration of China. (Lin Guangying)

17 departments including the Ministry of Commerce issued notices to local governments on measures to promote automobile consumption

• According to the announcement on the website of the Ministry of Commerce on July 7, 17 departments including the Ministry of Commerce have issued notices to provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government on several measures to invigorate automobile circulation and expand automobile consumption. The support directions include:
• Purchase of new energy vehicles: study and extend the policy of tax reduction and exemption for purchase of new energy vehicles, support going to the countryside, break the local protection of the market, and speed up the construction of charging facilities;
• Activating the used car market: cancel unreasonable restrictions on used car distribution, promote the commercialization and circulation of used cars, and comprehensively cancel the policy of restricting the movement of used cars;
• Automobile renewal consumption: Encourage localities to use economic or technical means to promote the withdrawal of old vehicles and improve the recycling system of scrapped motor vehicles;
• Auto financial services: Encourage increased auto consumer credit support under the premise of compliance and risk control, and encourage auto companies, dealers and financial leasing companies to cooperate;
• Other support aspects include: optimizing the use environment of automobiles and promoting the healthy development of parallel import of automobiles (parallel import means that traders directly purchase from overseas and introduce domestic sales without authorization from brand manufacturers. , pick up the car quickly) and so on.

• Since the second quarter of this year, executives have repeatedly mentioned encouraging auto consumption. On April 13, when the National Standing Committee proposed policies to promote consumption, it specifically mentioned “encouraging large-scale consumption such as automobiles and home appliances” and ” no new measures to restrict the purchase of automobiles in all regions “; on May 24, it mentioned the reduction of the purchase tax for passenger vehicles; On June 23, it was proposed to further release the potential of automobile consumption, including activating the used car market, promoting updated consumption, and improving the parallel import policy of automobiles. This time, it is a more specific measure issued to the locality.

• In terms of financial support, from June this year to the end of this year, the policy of halving the purchase tax of fuel vehicles of 60 billion yuan will be implemented. Last month, the National Standing Committee and the Ministry of Finance mentioned that they would consider extending the purchase tax reduction and exemption of new energy vehicles that were originally scheduled to expire at the end of this year.

• Automobile consumption accounts for about 10% of China’s total retail sales, and the huge industrial chain also supports many jobs. For more information on cars and consumption, see our previous reports. (Lin Guangying)

SHEIN has been sued for at least 50 infringements in the United States in three years, less than expected

• According to media reports, according to public records, SHEIN has faced at least 50 trademark or copyright infringement lawsuits in the United States in the past three years, with the plaintiffs including independent designers and brands such as Ralph Lauren. They complained that SHEIN used its design without authorization.

• SHEIN may actually face more infringement disputes than recorded. Court records show that in many cases, SHEIN has settled with plaintiffs for amounts that are generally not disclosed. SHEIN has publicly responded to the dispute, stating that it has no intention of infringing the intellectual property rights of third parties, and blames (partially) the supplier. He also emphasized that when intellectual property holders make legitimate demands, they will respond in a timely manner.

• This is yet another example of the balance between efficiency and compliance . According to the industry, fast fashion pursues low prices and fast new products, and often “accidentally” infringes intellectual property rights. Reconciliation after the event may be more cost-effective than strengthening management during the process. And SHEIN has almost 10 times as many infringing defendants than H&M, probably because the number of new listings is much higher. SHEIN is currently launching 5,000 or 6,000 new products every day.

• Infringement problems generally lie in the design process. It is reported that SHEIN uses software to collect popular fashion elements around the world, and designers can call the elements to freely combine. In addition, ready-to-wear is also purchased directly, especially at a time of rapid growth and the number of suppliers cannot keep up. When SHEIN responded to infringement before, it mentioned that it will strengthen the use of machines to identify infringement.

• Like many businesses, SHEIN has grown rapidly amid controversy. According to a report by LatePost in April this year, its sales in 2021 will achieve a year-on-year growth of more than 100% (nearly $20 billion) for the eighth consecutive year, and its latest valuation is about $100 billion. (Lin Guangying)

Volkswagen recruits software engineers in China to build cars

• Recently, Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess said that he would recruit thousands of software engineers in China. He said that software is the key, which will help Volkswagen quickly integrate into the Chinese market, especially in terms of autonomous driving technology and in-car user experience. . In April this year, CARIAD, a software company owned by Volkswagen, announced that it would establish its first subsidiary outside Europe in China.

• Volkswagen is the first overseas car company to enter China, and Tesla is the one that will make the most use of “Made in China” in the electric car era. Last year, Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory delivered more than 480,000 cars, accounting for half of Tesla’s total global production, while two new factories in the United States and Germany are experiencing billions of dollars in losses.

• Timing is important. In 2021, the number of electric vehicles sold by Volkswagen in China is about 70,000, but the figures of Geely, Great Wall and BYD are 100,000, 137,000 and 604,000 respectively, while BYD’s production and sales in the first half of this year It even surpassed Tesla for the first time, with a gap of 100,000 vehicles. Local brands are rising rapidly, and foreign companies that want to build electric vehicles can’t do it overnight by taking advantage of the Chinese market. (intern Xue Yujie)

Facebook one step closer to being banned from transferring European user data to the US

• According to media reports, the Irish DPC (Data Protection Commission) finally submitted to its EU counterparts on July 7 a draft resolution on the legality of Meta’s transfer of EU user data to the United States. . Ireland is where Meta is headquartered.

• The progress is not unexpected. Its basis can be traced back to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which was passed in 2015 and formally implemented in 2018. It stipulates that if companies want to expand the use of user data, such as providing it to third parties, they must clearly inform and obtain user consent. — This conflicts with US digital surveillance mechanisms, such as the NSA could theoretically demand European user data from large companies.

• In 2020, the European Court of Justice ruled that the Privacy Shield, which protects data transfers between Europe and the United States, is invalid under the GDPR, which means that companies can no longer arbitrarily transfer European user data to the United States. The first to be affected is Facebook. After losing the “shield” protection, the legality of the data transfer protocol SCC used by it is questioned because it does not meet the requirements of GDPR.

• But because the final decision has not been finalized, Meta has been able to transmit data so far. It is believed that this draft submission is also far from real implementation, “DPCs (Data Protection Commissions) in other countries will raise objections, leading to another bill, which may take another year and experience Vote…” In addition, Meta could continue to drag time in court.

• But there is no reason to doubt the EU’s resolve. User data is not only related to the economy. For example, Meta uses data to accurately push advertisements and monopolize hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue. It is also related to national security. China yesterday officially released the security assessment methods to be followed before data leaves the country, and the United States has also strictly restricted TikTok’s access to US user data.

• For the average tech company, it’s OK to set up a separate data center in Europe. But Meta’s situation is more complicated. After setting up regional data centers, it is necessary to connect the necessary data to link users in different regions. The good news is that the EU and the US are also discussing a new data transfer agreement, but the EU stated earlier that the situation is complicated and negotiations will take time. (Lin Guangying)

Amazon uses food delivery platform Grubhub to keep Prime members

• Amazon and the food delivery platform Grubhub announced on Wednesday (July 6) that they have reached a partnership. Grubhub will provide Amazon Prime members with a one-year membership service in the United States, including free shipping over $12; in exchange, Amazon can choose to acquire a 2% stake in Grubhub, if it can Bring enough growth to it, with the option to acquire up to 15% of the shares.

• In September last year, Amazon also announced a partnership with European food delivery platform Deliveroo to offer free delivery to Prime members in the UK and Ireland, but did not disclose whether there would be additional fees. Amazon took a stake in Deliveroo in 2019 and currently holds a 12% stake.

• As early as 2015, Amazon launched its own food delivery service, Amazon Restaurants, and in 2016, launched its corporate lunch delivery service, Daily Dish, but both closed in June 2019. Grubhub shares rose more than 8% on the day the official closure was announced.

• It may be more cost-effective to work with a former competitor than to build your own platform. The annual Prime membership fee has risen by $20 to $139 this year, and Grubhub’s monthly fee will be $9.99. Although takeout is not so popular in the United States because of high labor costs, whether it is used or not, the sense of value has at least improved. Amazon also has the option to terminate the partnership after a year if it is not satisfied with the results.

• As for Grubhub, since as many as 160 million U.S. Prime members must register on the platform to use the service, it is expected that the number of members will increase significantly in the initial stage, and the revenue and cash flow will begin to improve after a year. Grubhub will lose 400 million euros in 2021. While DoorDash, which has a market share of nearly 60%, had 20 million active users in the same period, revenue of $4.9 billion, and a net loss of $470 million. (Lin Guangying)

OTHER NEWS

The Ministry of Transport once again interviewed Huolala, Manbang, Kuaigou Taxi, and Didi Freight.

On July 8, the Ministry of Transport interviewed Huolala, Manbang, Kuaigou Taxi, and Didi Freight, and notified the recent future truck drivers to focus on issues such as price-cutting competition, multiple charges, and illegal operations among various Internet freight platforms. The interviews asked all platforms to rectify immediately. In January this year, the Ministry of Transport also interviewed the above-mentioned four companies with similar problems.

Shanghai plans to achieve a scale of 350 billion yuan in related industries by 2025.

The General Office of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government issued the “Shanghai Action Plan for Cultivating “Metaverse” New Track (2022-2025)”, which stated that by 2025, the scale of “Metaverse” related industries will reach 350 billion yuan, driving the city’s The scale of software and information service industry exceeded 1.5 trillion yuan, and the scale of electronic information manufacturing industry exceeded 550 billion yuan. The notice also pointed out that it will strictly prevent excessive financial speculation and malicious speculation in the “metaverse” field, and ensure the healthy and orderly development of the industry.

The first home loan interest rate in many places was lowered to 4.25%, and the minimum interest rate limit in some areas was tight.

Following Hohhot, Jinan, and Suzhou, banks in Changsha, Zhuhai, Jiangmen and other places also lowered the first-home loan interest rate to 4.25%. In June, more than 100 cities issued policies to stabilize the property market, and the industry believes that the real estate market in some areas has shown signs of recovery. The implementation of the minimum first home loan interest rate varies from place to place, and the loan quota with the lowest interest rate in some areas is relatively tight.

On July 7, China added “47+331” local new crown cases, and the number of social positives detected in the epidemic in Si County, Anhui dropped for eight consecutive days.

• On July 7, 47 new cases were confirmed locally, including 17 in Shanghai, 17 in Anhui, and 4 in Inner Mongolia.
• There were 331 new asymptomatic infections in China, including 140 in Anhui, 67 in Jiangsu, 66 in Shandong and 28 in Shanghai.
• Anhui added “17+140” cases, 5 cases (3 cases in Si County and 2 cases in Lingbi County) were found in social screening, and the rest were found in isolation control. Eight consecutive days of declines.
• Linyi, Shandong added 66 asymptomatic cases, including 52 holiday students and 1 teacher, who are students of Linyi No. 14 Middle School. Currently, 2,112 people in the school are under centralized isolation.
• Shanghai added “17+28”, and 1 new case of social infection was added on the 8th.
• From the 8th, Shanghai will gradually open up cinemas and performance venues.
• Shanghai announced that other areas of the street where the medium and high risk areas are located are low-risk areas and require 2 inspections every 3 days.
• The BA.5 sub-branch of Omicron is becoming the main epidemic strain in the world. Beijing, Tianjin, Shaanxi and other places have successively reported imported cases of BA.5 variant strains, and the prevention and control situation is grim.

TSMC’s June sales fell 5.3% month-on-month, and the industry believes that the most advanced process chips are still in short supply.

TSMC’s June sales were US$5.9 billion, an increase of 18.5% year-on-year, and a month-on-month decline of 5.3%; revenue in the second quarter was about US$17.9 billion, and the gross profit margin was expected to be 56% to 58%, an increase from 55.6% in the first quarter. Previously, it was reported that Apple, AMD, and NVIDIA have all lowered their orders to TSMC, but the industry believes that driven by new products, the most advanced process chips are still in short supply, and TSMC may benefit from market transformation by virtue of its advantages in technology and market share.

GM sold 484,000 vehicles in China in the second quarter of this year, down 35.5% year-on-year.

In the second quarter of this year, GM sold only 484,000 vehicles in China, the world’s largest market, down 35.5% year-on-year. Sales of its brands Buick, Cadillac, and Chevrolet fell by 22% to 79%, mainly due to the impact of the epidemic. The company said its Chinese brands would focus on resuming production and operations. GM’s U.S. sales also fell 15.4% year over year to 582,000 vehicles in the same period due to shortages of chips and parts.

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission announced that Ashley Alder, the chief executive, is leaving and will start recruiting his successor.

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission announced today (July 8) that Chief Executive Ashley Alder will step down and take up the role of Chairman of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) from January next year. It joined in 2011, and was originally scheduled to leave in 2020, and then renew the contract for another 3 years until the end of September next year. At that time, it was pointed out that the market in the post-epidemic period needed clear supervision. During Alderley’s tenure, the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission has a tougher regulatory style, and has established a number of cross-border market plans with the China Securities Regulatory Commission. The UK Treasury announced the appointment of Ashley Alder on the same day.

Levi’s parent company said the increase in Levi’s prices did not affect demand, but sales of more affordable brands fell.

In the first quarter ended May 29, Levi’s parent company Levi Strauss’ revenue rose 15% to $1.47 billion, but net profit fell to $50 million, mainly due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Management said that although Levi’s has also increased prices, demand has not been affected, and people still prefer comfortable jeans after returning to work; but sales of more affordable brands such as Signature fell by mid-single digits this quarter, indicating low-income consumption. Or may have begun to reduce spending due to inflation.

Rolex says luxury watches are still in short supply, with three-quarters pre-ordered before they are sold.

The Rolex Group posted a record 1.2 billion pounds in revenue in the year ended May 1, up 40 percent year-on-year, with pre-tax profit up 98 percent to 126 million pounds, a record; revenue is expected to grow at least another 20 percent this year. Watchmaking requires skilled workers and technology, management said, and supply is difficult to increase all at once, but demand remains very strong as luxury watches are increasingly seen as an investment rather than just a consumer product. We reported last week that used Rolexes outperform stocks and cryptocurrencies

Luxury brand Tom Ford is rumored to have hired Goldman Sachs to seek a sale.

According to media reports, luxury brand Tom Ford has hired Goldman Sachs to cooperate to seek a sale. People familiar with the matter said that the company’s valuation may be billions of dollars. The acquirer can choose to continue cooperation with the brand founder Tom Ford after the acquisition is completed. The report did not specify a reason for the sale, but luxury goods tend to be more resilient during economic downturns. Tom Ford was founded in 2005, initially focusing on luxury menswear, and later began to sell watches, leather goods, glasses, perfumes, lipsticks and other beauty products are also very popular in China.

Affected by recession expectations, copper prices fell 22% in the second quarter.

Copper prices fell nearly 22 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of this year, the biggest quarterly drop since 2011. Copper prices on the LME are currently at $7,735 a tonne, the lowest since February last year. According to the industry, copper has good electrical conductivity and plays an important role in the green transition, but the recent focus on fossil energy has shifted the focus, resulting in a drop in copper prices; on the other hand, copper is widely used in construction, home appliances, automobiles and other fields. Regarded as an economic bellwether, it is vulnerable to recession expectations.

The United States has launched a new special investigation into the Tesla crash.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it will launch a special investigation into two recent Tesla crashes. The two incidents killed a total of three people, all of whom were driving a 2022 Tesla Model S. There are currently more than 30 Tesla vehicle accidents under investigation by NHTSA, which may all be caused by the use of driver assistance systems such as Autopilot. Previously, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the main reason for the accident when using Autopilot was because of the driver’s overconfidence.

GameStop, one of the representatives of the “Meme” stock, fired CFO and announced layoffs.

Video game retailer GameStop announced on Thursday (July 7) that it has fired CFO Mike Recupero and plans to cut jobs across its divisions. In an internal letter sent to employees, the company said the layoffs were aimed at moving as quickly as possible to the online video game business. Shares of GameStop fell more than 6% in after-hours trading after the layoffs were announced, and were at $135.12 as of Thursday’s close.

Musk stopped talks to buy Twitter, which tumbled 7%.

The two sides have suspended talks in recent weeks after Tesla CEO Elon Musk believed the fake account data provided by Twitter was untrue, people familiar with the matter said. Musk said that the proportion of fake accounts in Twitter is estimated to be as high as 20% of all accounts, and Twitter responded on Thursday (July 7), saying that the proportion of fake accounts is less than 5%, and Twitter Over 1 million junk accounts are cleaned every day. According to the acquisition agreement reached by the two parties, if Musk cannot acquire Twitter for some reason, he will need to pay up to $1 billion in compensation.

New Hope’s June hog sales revenue was 1.765 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 62.67%. (The following is OTHER NEWS on July 07)

On July 7, New Hope released a briefing on the sales of live pigs in June. The sales revenue of live pigs in June was 1.765 billion yuan, down 0.06% from the previous month and up 62.67% from the same period last year. The large year-on-year increase in revenue from live pig sales was mainly due to the substantial increase in live pig sales and the increase in live pig prices. New Hope sold 979,200 live pigs in June, a year-on-year increase of 51.51%, and the average selling price of commercial pigs was 15.97 yuan/kg, a year-on-year change of 9.83%.

The net profit of YTO Express in the first half of the year was 1.771 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 174.24%.

On July 7, YTO Express disclosed the 2022 semi-annual performance report. In the first half of the year, the total operating income was 25.138 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28.94%; the net profit was 1.771 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 174.24%. It is worth noting that in the second quarter when there were local epidemics in Beijing and Shanghai, YTO Express achieved a net profit of 900 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 227.26%. The increase in the overall single ticket price of the express delivery industry this year has boosted corporate income. From January to May, YTO single ticket revenue increased by more than 10% year-on-year. The industry believes that this should be the best semi-annual report data since the listing of YTO Express.

Yesterday (July 6) in China, “94+244” was added locally, and the related epidemic situation at No. 148 Lanxi Road in Shanghai has the risk of hidden transmission in the community.

• On July 6, 94 new cases of new coronary pneumonia were confirmed in the country. (including 39 cases in Anhui, 32 cases in Shanghai, and 4 cases in Beijing)
• There were 244 new asymptomatic infections. (including 128 cases in Anhui, 57 cases in Jiangsu, and 22 cases in Shanghai)
• Anhui added “39+128” new local infections yesterday, a decrease from the number of new cases on the 5th, among which “36+126” cases were added in Si County.
• Shanghai added “32+22” and 2 new social cases.
• The related epidemic at No. 148 Lanxi Road (74 cases from July 3 to July 6) is a clustered epidemic in the same transmission chain, and there is a risk of hidden transmission in the community.
• Currently, Shanghai has 1 high-risk area and 49 medium-risk areas.
• According to the news released by Shanghai on July 7, Shanghai has not found any BA.5 mutants, all of which are BA.2.2.
• Four new local confirmed cases were added in Beijing, all of whom were quarantined and observed.
• Tianjin newly added “1+3”, all of which are management and control personnel.

Demand for durable plastics in China has fallen as consumers are cautious about buying big-ticket items.

According to media reports, Sinopec plants have gradually resumed operations in recent weeks, although capacity utilization is around 85%, lower than normal, and inventories are rising. According to the industry, the demand for durable plastics, which is often used in the manufacture of household appliances and automobiles in China, has not yet recovered significantly, which may mean that consumers are more cautious in purchasing and consumer confidence has yet to be improved. On the other hand, high transportation costs and supply chain congestion make it difficult for Asian plastics manufacturers to offset weak local demand by increasing exports to Europe.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region suspends the “circuit breaker mechanism for individual routes” from today.

The Hong Kong SAR government announced on July 7 that it will suspend the “circuit breaker mechanism for individual routes” from now on. The announcement stated that the original intention of the mechanism was to avoid importing a large number of cases from higher-risk areas in a short period of time. However, there are currently thousands of new cases in Hong Kong every day, and the proportion of confirmed cases among immigrants in the same period is between 1% and 3%, accounting for the total number of cases. Less than 1/10; and data show that more frequent nucleic acid testing can effectively reduce the risk of importation. Therefore, in order to reduce social costs, it was decided to suspend this mechanism.

Apple plans to launch an extreme sports version of the Apple Watch, and Meta is also launching a new product.

It is understood that Apple plans to launch an Apple Watch aimed at extreme athletes. Compared with other Apple Watches, this product uses the largest screen to date, a larger capacity battery, and a metal casing. It is expected later this year. Released with two other Apple Watches. Meta will also launch a new high-end VR device “Meta Quest Pro”. People familiar with the matter revealed that the price of this headset will exceed $1,000. As a priority project of Meta, it is likely to target the MR headset that Apple plans to launch next year. .

Hey Discount: Tokyo is the best shopping city in the world, London is the second and Paris is the third.

According to the latest Hey Discount report, Tokyo was named the best city in the world for shopping, followed by London and Paris, and Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney, New York, Madrid, Toronto and Boston were included in the top 10 best shopping cities. Currently, Tokyo has 1,970 shopping venues, 240 shopping malls, 149 brand flagship stores and outlet boutiques within 1 mile of the city center. London is followed by 1,221 shopping venues, 100 shopping centres within a mile of the city centre, and 81 brand-owned outlets, boutiques and stores, including 19 Rolex retailers.

Samsung expects operating profit to rise 11.4% in the second quarter.

According to the latest financial report, Samsung Electronics temporarily determined that its sales and operating profit in the second quarter were 77 trillion won and 14 trillion won, respectively, up 20.94% and 11.38% year-on-year, respectively, and sales hit the highest level in the second quarter over the years. Industry chip demand was strong in the second quarter, and Samsung’s profit growth was mainly driven by its semiconductor business. Samsung, which has been hoping to catch up to TSMC in foundry chips, said last week that it had started mass production of 3-nanometer chips at its semiconductor factory south of Seoul, a milestone for the semiconductor industry.

UAE to open first ‘Metaverse Hospital’.

The UAE has announced that it will launch its first “Metaverse Hospital” in October this year, which will be managed by healthcare provider Thumbay. At virtual hospitals, users can use their avatars to consult with doctors, and Thumbay also provides AR and VR headsets to long-term care patients who have been hospitalized for at least six months, bedridden or paralyzed, helping them travel through the virtual reality cloud. Thumbay is not the first institution to claim to build a virtual hospital, after digital agency Blink Digital announced that it would partner with the Yashoda Hospital Group to build a “metaverse hospital” on Decentraland, a blockchain-based virtual land platform.

Federal Reserve: If inflation pressures continue to rise, it may adopt tighter monetary policy.

According to the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee monetary policy meeting released by the Fed in June, policymakers believe that if inflation fails to fall, the Fed may adopt a tighter monetary policy and support a 50 basis point or 75 basis point rate hike in July. . In response to soaring inflation, the Fed announced a 75 basis point hike last month, the largest rate hike since 1994. Two-year U.S. Treasury yields climbed to 2.97% following the release of the minutes, suggesting investors continued to bet that the Fed will raise rates by 75 basis points later this month.

Bill Gates bought another 8.5 square kilometers of farmland and has become the largest private farmland owner in the United States.

Recently, Microsoft founder Bill Gates received approval from the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office to buy 8.5 square kilometers of farmland worth $13.5 million. Bill Gates has become the largest private farmland owner in the United States. He has purchased nearly 1,100 square kilometers of land in the United States, an area equivalent to three Berlins, accounting for 1% of the country’s agricultural land area. Adjusted for inflation, the average U.S. land value has grown from less than $1,500 per acre in the 1990s to over $3,000 per acre in 2020.

Virgin Galactic commissions Boeing subsidiary to build new aviation ‘mothership’.

Space tourism company Virgin Galactic announced Wednesday that it will commission Boeing’s research and development subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences to build two new “motherships,” or vehicles that carry spacecraft to high altitudes for launch. Virgin Galactic currently has two spacecraft and a “mother ship”, but the latter has been used for 14 years and is currently undergoing repairs and renovations, which are expected to be completed in the third quarter. Virgin says the new “mothership” will be more efficient and durable enough to support future space tourism and more space missions.

Old “mothership” Boeing 747 carrying the spacecraft to high altitude for launch Image: wikipeida. Click to see larger picture.

Pharmaceutical giant Merck may buy cancer biotech Seagen for a premium of at least $40 billion.

U.S. pharmaceutical giant Merck (known as Merck outside North America) plans to buy cancer biotech company Seagen for $40 billion or more, according to media reports. Merck’s latest market value is about $235 billion. Last year’s revenue was $48.7 billion, 35% of which came from the oncology drug Keytruda, but the patent will expire in 2028. Seagen (Seagen Gene) has developed precision anti-cancer therapy. Many oncology drugs have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. The market believes that its potential value far exceeds the current market value of 30 billion US dollars.

The French government plans to fully nationalize EDF and return to nuclear power development.

The French government announced Wednesday that it plans to fully nationalize EDF, which already holds an 84 percent stake. About 70% of France’s electricity comes from nuclear energy, and EDF operates all of France’s nuclear power plants, but has 43 billion euros in debt due to restrictions such as electricity prices. Nearly half of the reactors have been shut down this year due to insufficient investment, and nuclear power generation has fallen to its lowest level in 30 years. Experts say that the French government has decided to use nuclear power as the main energy source, and the EDF must build more reactors, but it has no resources and the only option may be nationalization.

In 2021, there will be 420 million hungry people in Asia, one-quarter more than before the epidemic.

According to the latest report of the United Nations, the number of hungry people in the world will reach 828 million in 2021, a cumulative increase of 150 million since the epidemic; about 2.3 billion of them are facing moderate or severe food insecurity. Asia has a population of 4.56 billion, accounting for 85% of the world’s total. In 2021, there will be 420 million hungry people, an increase of nearly a quarter from 2019. The report said that geo-events, extreme weather, economic shocks, and multiple factors may further regress the global food security situation.

Rivian, an American start-up electric car company, bucked the trend and increased its production by 72% in the second quarter, and plans to double its production in the second half of the year.

Rivian produced 4,401 vehicles in the second quarter of this year, an increase of 72% month-on-month, and produced 6,954 vehicles in the first half of the year. The management expressed confidence to complete the production target of 25,000 units this year. Rivian, seen as a potential rival to Tesla, halved its annual production target of 50,000 in March due to supply chain shortages. Tesla’s production in the second quarter of this year fell 15% from the previous quarter to 259,000 vehicles.

Text | Gong Fangyi, Lin Guangying, and intern Xue Yujie

Editor | Gong Fangyi

The title picture comes from the Japanese drama “News Reporter”

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