Week of July 7 2017 Weekly Recap & The Week Ahead
“When I get hurt in the market, I get the hell out. It doesn’t matter at all where the market is trading. I just get out, because I believe that once you’re hurt in the market, your decisions are going to be far less objective than they are when you’re doing well… If you stick around when the market is severely against you, sooner or later they are going to carry you out.” – Randy McKay
1. Qatar Outlook Lowered at Moody’s — Qatar’s credit outlook has been cut to negative by Moody’s, which cited growing financial risks surrounding the country’s diplomatic spat with its Arab neighbors. It comes as Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE meet in Cairo to consider further sanctions on Doha as a deadline approaches for their list of demands.
2. Poland to Buy Patriot Missile Systems — Poland has agreed to buy Patriot missile defense systems (NYSE:RTN) from the U.S., in a deal worth up to $7.6B, as President Trump visited Warsaw to discuss transatlantic relations. During a joint news conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda, Trump stated it was “past time” for all NATO countries to “get going” on their financial obligations.
3. Berkshire Hathaway Buys Oncor utility — Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) has struck a deal to buy bankrupt Energy Future for $9B in cash, giving it Texas-based Oncor (including debt, the deal has an enterprise value of about $18B). The move is a bold bet by Warren Buffett, as Texas regulators blocked two earlier attempts to sell Oncor, one of the largest U.S. power transmission networks.
4. Robots Enter Bank Trading Floors — Robots are moving on to the trading floors of investment banks, and they’re not just doing back-office tasks. “We decided to start a conversation with the front-office guys on whether there were processes we could use a robot to do and we found a number of them,” said UBS’s Beatriz Martin Jimenez. The AI systems will automate post-trade allocation requests, as well as develop new strategies for trading volatility.
The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com: