The Impact of REPO Operations on the Fed’s Balance Sheet. Half a trillion in a couple of weeks

During the week, the Fed reduced its securities portfolio by a modest $3.5 billion at the expense of MBS, but this is a drop in the bucket compared to the $96 billion that the Fed issued in REPO to banks ($60 billion), loans to banks and FDIC ($36 billion), as a result of these operations, the Fed’s assets increased by another $94.5 billion for the week. At the same time, banks reduced borrowing through an expensive discount window (-$42.6 billion) and increased borrowing under the BTFP program (+$41.7 billion), and the FDIC took an additional $37 billion to pay deposits.

The US Treasury continued to actively spend the “cache” from accounts at the Fed, adding another $77.8 billion to the financial system (of which $28.5 billion is still in the same FDIC for deposit payments), Yellen has only $200 billion left in her accounts, but April is ahead with its annual taxes. In general, the Fed, together with the US Treasury, poured $172.3 billion into the financial system.

In total, in 2 weeks, the US Treasury added $112 billion to the financial system, the Fed poured $ 386 billion, i.e. in the amount of about $0.5 trillion – about as many deposits apparently moved. It is clear that some of them were simply transferred to other banks, more than half went to money market funds and government bonds. Americans did not run much into cash, but they nevertheless became more active ($8.4 billion).

While some banks are running to the Fed for money, others are placing money there through reverse REPO (+$226.9 billion per week) in order to draw beautiful reports. As a result, despite the actively working printing press, money on bank accounts at the Fed has become less by $74.2 billion. In fact, such a story may indicate that the banking system is bad with trust, some banks are actively attracting money from the Fed, others are even more actively parking a free “cache” in it – this is more reliable. In general, “the banking system is stable” (c) Yellen, but banks’ limits on colleagues are beginning to be cut. At the same time, some part of the deposits of the population runs to money market funds, funds working with government bonds received an influx of $276.5 billion in 2 weeks – a record for many years. A little has flowed into cash, but just a little + $8.3 billion.
The most powerful weekly dumping of US government bonds by foreign central banks, which are stored in the Fed, has passed since 2014 – $70 billion in a week, it was more only when Russia dumped in March 2014 ($106 billion). @ESG_Stock_Market

While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has bypassed few industries, even fewer have been as hard hit as the tourism sector. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reports that, as 2020 drew to a close and severe travel restrictions were still in place, international tourist arrivals were down 74 percent in 2020 from the previous year. This corresponds to a decline of about 1 billion international arrivals, returning the industry to levels last seen in the late 1980s.

Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, the global tourism sector had shown almost uninterrupted growth for decades. Since 1980, international arrivals have soared from 277 million to nearly 1.5 billion in 2019. As our chart shows, the two major crises of recent decades, the SARS epidemic of 2003 and the global financial crisis of 2009, were minor blows in the road compared to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Looking ahead, most experts don’t expect a full recovery in 2021 and 2022, which began with many countries still struggling with the second wave of the pandemic. The UNWTO estimates that it will take 2.5 to 4 years for the industry to return to pre-pandemic levels of international tourist arrivals.

#tourism #coronavirus #COVID-19
@ESG_Stock_Market

The level of customer confidence in businesses varies around the world
A high level of customer confidence will prove critical to business recovery when the pandemic finally comes to an end (or at least approaches a near-normal stage). An Edelman Research survey in November 2021 surveyed 36,000 respondents in 28 countries about their confidence that businesses are “doing the right thing. The study found that people in China, Indonesia and India have the most confidence: 84 percent, 81 percent and 79 percent, respectively.

This figure was much lower in the United States at 49 percent, while in Russia it was even lower at just 34 percent. In just eleven countries trust in business increased, while in eleven it decreased. It is interesting that in 23 out of the 28 countries surveyed, more trust is placed in business than in government. The average level of trust in business globally was 61 percent compared to 52 percent in government.

#trust #client
@ESG_Stock_Market

The city in which someone studies can have a huge impact not only on their time at university, but also on their experience after graduation. The universities a city has to offer are by far the most important factor in a student’s life after graduation, but as QS rankings take into account, international students should also consider aspects such as student composition, safety, standard of living, employer activity. and affordability for the time they study.

As our infographic shows, if you take all this (and more) into account, the UK is home to the top-ranked city: “This year’s ranking is again topped by London. Home to several top universities, including UCL (University College London) , Imperial College London and King’s College London, this city has been popular with students for years, and there are plenty of world-class institutions from which students can choose.”

#london #munich #seoul #tokyo #berlin #zurich #melbourne #sydney
@ESG_Stock_Market

After the unprecedented job crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a new trend emerged in the U.S. labor market during 2021, with millions of Americans voluntarily leaving their jobs. According to the latest JOLTS report , the “Great Dismissal” gathered momentum again in November, when a record 4.53 million Americans quit their jobs.

The number of Americans laying off has exceeded the pre-pandemic high for eight consecutive months as employers, especially in low-wage sectors, struggle to fill open positions. The reasons for this trend are manifold, of course, but one major factor seems to be that many workers are no longer willing to put up with the pay and/or working conditions they (perhaps reluctantly) agreed to before the pandemic. “I certainly think the pandemic has caused many people to reevaluate their jobs, their priorities and what they want to do,” said Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, in a statement to Business Insider.

The fact that layoff rates are particularly high in sectors with large numbers of frontline workers, such as hospitality, health care and retail, suggests that safety concerns also play a role in workers’ exodus, while vaccination mandates have also contributed to the ongoing trend.
#work
@ESG_Stock_Market