This shouldn’t come as a surprise as the company trims 2-7% of its workforce annually on performance factors. The layoffs have started and will continue through the autumn.
The cutthroat culture finally appears to be making shareholders money after trading virtually flat from 2018 to early this year.
This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.
Markets:
It was a quiet session with subdued moves across the markets. The newsflow was once again a bit dull as the only notable release was the Eurozone Flash CPI which came out in line with estimates.
ECB speakers continue to support a September cut, which is fully priced in anyway, but they emphasize data dependency for the next cuts. The attention will now switch to the US PCE report due in an hour but it’s unlikely to trigger big moves unless we get strong deviations from the expected figures.
It’s all about the next week as we will get many top-tier economic indicators and the most important NFP report of the year.
This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at www.forexlive.com.
This article was written by Arno V Venter at www.forexlive.com.
This article was written by Arno V Venter at www.forexlive.com.
This article was written by Arno V Venter at www.forexlive.com.
The AUD is the strongest but neck and neck with the Pound for the strongest on the session.
The CHF is the weakest, with the JPY not to far behind it.
Eurozone data this morning has been mixed with GDP data out of France printing worse than expected while inflation printed higher than expected. Eurozone total HICP YY printed in line with expectations, with the ex food and energy measure printed a bit higher than expected (but remained at the prior of 2.8%).
Nothing in today’s data was enough to change market expectations about ECB rate expectations.
This article was written by Arno V Venter at www.forexlive.com.
Markets:
It was a more lively session today with some notable moves in the FX and equity markets. The EUR has been the most notable mover in the FX space as the single currency fell on soft German statewide CPI figures. Note though, that the market’s pricing for ECB rates was unchanged.
In the equity space, we’ve seen the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq erasing most of yesterday’s weakness although the lack of catalysts will likely keep the price action rangebound until next week.
Overall though, there wasn’t any notable news release or development in the macro or geopolitical space and we keep waiting for next week where we will get many top-tier economic data including the NFP report.
The attention will now switch to the US jobless claims figures where we will likely need initial claims to spike above the 260K level to trigger a big market reaction.
This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at www.forexlive.com.
For the NZD the upside was sparked by the solid jump in the ANZ Business Outlook which printed at the highest since 2014. For the AUD the strength looks more driven by overall risk sentiment with the upside in equities likely offering some support.
In terms of the underperformers, the EUR was pressured following a decent deceleration in German statewide CPI data, with 5 of the 6 states printing new cycle lows for CPI.
Looking ahead attention will turn to US data with the release of Q2 GDP 2nd estimate as well as the weekly jobless claims data.
This article was written by Arno V Venter at www.forexlive.com.
This article was written by Arno V Venter at www.forexlive.com.
Ten years ago, the news that someone would be jailed for a
comment would have been bizarre. This is an unfortunate reality today, not
somewhere in a dictatorship but in the middle of Europe.
The latest developments go even further: earlier this week,
France detained
Telegram founder Pavel Durov in connection with
allegations related to terrorism or arms trafficking.
Immediately, freedom advocates, or so-called libertarians,
including Edward Snowden, called for Durov’s release. But it appears that some
are acting beyond speaking out.
Reports indicate that hackers have carried out DDoS attacks
on several French government websites, including those for government services
and the Medicines Safety Agency.
Even if it was a coincidence, it highlights a growing
trend: cyberattacks are also going to grow due to geopolitical tensions, and
not necessarily direct ones, such as between
Israel and Hezbollah.
Wars and rivalries are no longer confined to physical
battlefields; they are also fought online. This is why important countries now
have specialized cyber units, just like air forces.
Where do we stand now?
There is no need to start stocking up on tinfoil hats just
yet. Instead, it would be a good idea to add cybersecurity stocks to your watch
list, such as Palo Alto, Fortinet, and Check Point.
Given the current landscape, it’s no surprise that these
stocks are up more than 20% each since the beginning of the year, outperforming the S&P 500 and
Nasdaq.
As for whether it’s too late to jump on board, the answer
is it depends. For instance, Cisco Systems and Check Point look more attractive
than Palo Alto and Fortinet when you consider their P/E ratios.
Overall, spending on security still makes up less than 10%
of overall IT budgets despite the high risks of a breach. With Generative AI
expanding the ways cybercriminals can scale their attacks.
The demand for cybersecurity services is expected to
continue growing in the near future. With no one willing to skimp on security,
some companies will likely see significant profit opportunities.
It is worth researching which companies could benefit the
most by researching their products, prospects, and customer base. Otherwise,
there are ETFs focused on cybersecurity companies.
This article was written by FL Contributors at www.forexlive.com.