Lenan
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comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan
@comradelenan.bsky.social
34 followers 480 following 120 posts
Researcher in Political Economy & Philosophy. Exploring how ideas shape societies. Sharing reflections, analysis, and academic insights.
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comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 15m
=📈 Junk-rated sovereigns are re-opening primary markets: at least $8 bn of new dollar bonds from Egypt, Pakistan and Kenya in the past month cleared at 9-12 % yields as investors chase carry. The reopening signals easing liquidity stress and highlights revived risk appetite.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 1h
=🔋 India will triple incentives for rare-earth magnet production to ₹70 bn ($788 m), targeting a component where China supplies about 90 % of the market. Boosting NdFeB output could secure inputs for EVs and wind turbines, reduce import reliance and deepen India’s clean-tech supply chain.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 2h
=📉 Corporate America’s ‘labor-hoarding’ era is ending: blue-chip firms have announced >50,000 layoffs in the past few weeks, the sharpest uptick since 2020. A rising layoff rate could lift initial claims, temper wage growth and strengthen the Fed’s case to keep policy on hold.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 4h
=🔗 Beijing agreed to suspend new rare-earth export controls and drop investigations into US chip firms, easing supply-chain tensions as China supplies ≈70-80 % of global rare earths. The shift reduces input risk for semiconductors and EVs and may curb price premia embedded since the 2024 curbs.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 5h
=💷 UK gilts posted their strongest month in two years: the 10-yr yield slid 32 bp to 3.46% in October, pulling total returns to +2.7%. Net foreign purchases of about £6 bn signal renewed global appetite, compressing the gilt–Treasury spread ahead of Chancellor Reeves’s budget.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 6h
=🛢️ A Ukrainian drone strike ignited a tanker and damaged loading arms at Rosneft’s 240 kb/d Tuapse refinery on the Black Sea. The hit crimps Russia’s seaborne export capacity, raises war-risk insurance premia and injects fresh upside risk into Brent already near $80.
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comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 7h
=🛢️ A Ukrainian drone strike ignited a tanker and damaged loading arms at Rosneft’s 240 kb/d Tuapse refinery on the Black Sea. The outage crimps Russia’s seaborne export capacity and raises insurance premia, adding geopolitical risk to Brent already near $80.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 9h
=📡 Alphabet and OpenAI pledge billions to scale AI data-center capacity in India, fueling a projected $240 bn capex wave by 2030. Cheaper land, power and policy incentives could let Mumbai-Hyderabad hubs triple installed IT load, reshaping cloud services and regional electricity demand.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 19h
=🛢️ OPEC+ delegates back a modest December supply hike—≈100 kb/d—to be confirmed at Sunday’s virtual meeting. A calibrated boost would steady Brent near $80, align barrels with 1.5 mb/d 2026 demand growth and preserve Saudi spare capacity above 3 mb/d, easing price-volatility risk.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 20h
=📉 Bloomberg’s credit screen shows ‘zombie’ firms—those with interest coverage below 1×—now account for ~14% of US high-yield issuers, up from 9% before the hiking cycle. With junk yields near 8.6%, the rise signals allocative drag and heightens 2026 default risk as $1.2 trn in maturities approach.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 21h
=🛢️ Dangote’s 650 kb/d Lagos refinery says gasoline & diesel output already exceeds Nigeria’s demand, supporting Abuja’s 15 % import duty plan. Local surplus could cut $2–3 bn/yr FX outflows, strengthen the naira and rewrite West African fuel trade flows as imports fade.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 22h
=📊 PM Mark Carney admits Xi talks won’t scrap Beijing’s up-to-80% tariffs on ≈C$4 bn of Canadian canola, barley & pork. A protracted deal process keeps Prairie farm income under pressure and pushes Ottawa to accelerate Asian-market diversification.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 1d
=💳 BlackRock’s newly acquired $12 bn private-credit unit HPS just wrote a loan down to zero after suspected fraud. The loss exposes due-diligence gaps as the $1.7 trn direct-lending market balloons, sharpening scrutiny of asset quality and potential systemic risk.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 1d
=🔄 Beijing signalled it will lift controls on Nexperia’s China-origin chip shipments, unwinding curbs that froze supply of ≈100 bn discrete semiconductors a year. Reopening the flow stabilises auto & industrial supply chains, trims input costs and eases tech-trade frictions with US/EU.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 1d
=💰 Berkshire Hathaway’s cash hoard surged to a record $381.7 bn in Q3 as operating earnings rose 34 %. The swelling war chest underscores Buffett’s view that valuations remain rich, pointing to more share buybacks and a heftier bid for short-term Treasuries while M&A stays on hold.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 1d
=📉 The FOMC held the fed funds target at 5.50-5.75% for a third consecutive meeting, citing decelerating core PCE to 2.3% y/y and cooling labour demand. Balance-sheet runoff continues at $60 bn Treasuries and $35 bn MBS per month, signalling ongoing quantitative tightening despite data softness.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 1d
=🌐 Xi’s first Seoul visit in 11 yrs resets a $240 bn China-Korea trade corridor. Pledges to deepen supply-chain links come as Korean fabs hold 55 % of global HBM output and China buys 30 % of their chips. Warmer ties could unblock tech exports, diversify FX inflows and dilute US containment risk.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 1d
=💵 The DXY gained 2.3% in Oct, its second-strongest month of 2025, as the shutdown-induced data blackout obscured growth signals and Powell’s hawkish tone curbed rate-cut bets. A firmer dollar tightens global financial conditions and amplifies import-price pressure abroad.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 1d
=📈 Credit-default swaps on Meta debt started trading just days after its record $30 bn bond sale. The contracts give funds a way to hedge exposure to Meta’s growing leverage as it ramps AI capex, and signal deeper derivatives liquidity across the $1 trn BBB tech sector.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 1d
=🏠 UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves is weighing new council-tax bands for homes above roughly £2 mn—the first revaluation since 1991. The move could raise £3-4 bn a year, closing part of the fiscal gap but shifting the burden to high-value property and potentially cooling prime-market demand.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 1d
=📊 New York State trimmed its FY-26 deficit forecast by $3 bn after surging equity prices and bonus pools lifted tax receipts. The market-driven windfall eases near-term financing pressure but heightens fiscal sensitivity to any reversal in Wall Street profits and capital-gains flows.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 1d
=🔧 The US will let Dutch chipmaker Nexperia resume China-origin shipments after the Trump-Xi pact, lifting a curb that had stalled supply of ≈100bn discretes a year. Selective rollback of tech controls eases strain on auto & 5G supply chains and hints at narrower export-risk premia.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 1d
=📈 Scope Ratings lifted Italy’s sovereign outlook to positive (rating BBB+), citing PM Meloni’s fiscal repair plan that trims the deficit to 3.9 % of GDP by 2026 and stabilises debt near 137 %. The upgrade could narrow BTP-Bund spreads and cut interest costs on €2.3 trn debt.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 1d
=📊 Beijing scrapped the 2016 VAT exemption on physical gold transactions, re-imposing a 13% levy from 1 Nov. The change is set to raise retail prices, curb demand in the world’s largest bullion market, and could divert flows to tax-free hubs such as Hong Kong.
comradelenan.bsky.social
Lenan @comradelenan.bsky.social · 1d
=📊 Colombia’s BanRep held its policy rate at 9.25% in a 5–2 split, halting the easing cycle after headline CPI rebounded to 8.2% y/y—almost 3× the 3% target—and a hefty 2026 minimum-wage hike looms. The tighter-for-longer stance seeks to anchor COP and contain fiscal risk premia.