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China on brink of consumer deflation (3 min read)
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China's economy faced the risk of deflation in June, raising the need for stronger stimulus measures to support its recovery. The consumer price index remained flat year-on-year, while factory gate prices experienced the fastest decline since 2016 due to weakened demand. China’s recovery is facing simultaneous challenges like falling property prices, declining exports, and reduced global economic growth. Many analysts anticipate further interest rate cuts by the People's Bank of China, accompanied by fiscal stimulus policies.

US Recession Is Not Completely Off The Table Despite Healthy Economy (2 min read)
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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently stated that while a recession is still possible, the US is on the right path in tackling inflation. Yellen expressed optimism, citing a healthy labor market and the potential to bring down inflation without harming job growth. The June jobs report released last week, which showed the addition of 209,000 jobs, was considered in line with expectations given the recent labor market expansion. The CPI data coming on Wednesday is expected to show inflation continues to slow by increasing only 3.1% year-over-year.

Instagram’s Threads surpasses 100 million users (2 min read)
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Instagram's new app, Threads, has achieved over 100 million users in just a matter of days since its launch, surpassing the milestone faster than OpenAI's ChatGPT. The app was released last Wednesday, gaining 2 million users in the first two hours, and continued to grow rapidly since. CEO Mark Zuckerberg described the launch as far beyond their expectations. Some believe Threads could become a conversation-based social media platform for Instagram users, unlike Twitter, which has been losing traffic and users in recent months.

Alibaba and Tencent buoyed by hopes China tech crackdown to end (3 min read)
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Shares of Alibaba and Tencent rose in Hong Kong after the $984 million fine imposed on Ant Group was seen as a sign that China's regulatory crackdown on the tech sector was coming to an end. The fine along with Ant Group's subsequent share buyback had provided liquidity and certainty for investors. Chinese regulators stated that most issues with platform companies' financial businesses had been resolved, shifting their focus to broader industry regulation.

The IPO Market Is Back: 2 ETFs to Trade It (3 min read)
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After a period of inactivity, the initial public offering (IPO) market is experiencing a revival as several launches this year were a huge success. Investors can participate in this reopening market through ETFs such as the Renaissance IPO ETF (IPO) and the First Trust U.S. Equity Opportunities ETF (FPX). IPO focuses on recent IPOs, while FPX includes spinoffs and equity carve-outs. IPO has outperformed FPX this year, driven by its significant exposure to the technology sector. More details on both ETFs are available in this article.

Worst Performing ETFs of the Year (2 min read)

While 2023 has been a great year so far, there are some ETFs that have performed poorly. About 14% of US-listed ETFs have seen losses year-to-date, with the bottom 20 experiencing losses ranging from 26% to 67%. Sectors with the most declines include energy and financial while specialty categories like volatility-linked and cannabis funds also performed poorly as well. The Noble Absolute Return ETF (NOPE) was the worst performer, suffering a 67% loss due to ill-timed bets. A full list of the 20 worst-performing ETFs is available in this article.

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Thanks,
Thomas

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