Dear valued client,
Markets jumped over 3% on Wednesday alone after Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, commented on the Central Bank’s approach to interest rates in the near future, “The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting.”
I anticipate a 0.5% increase in the Fed’s Dec. 14-15 meeting, as opposed to the 0.75% increases we’ve experienced over the past several months. Encouraging job figures and robust consumer spending reports bolster this prediction.
China made headlines this week with major protests breaking out in 15 cities across the country. In what’s being called the largest civilian uprising since the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in 1989, Chinese citizens have taken to the streets to protest Xi Jinping’s continued zero-COVID policy lockdowns. Zero COVID makes zero sense, but making sense is not the priority of communist regimes.
China takes their lockdowns to a whole new level; literally barricading citizens in their homes. The catalyst for the protests was a fire in an apartment building that killed at least ten people in the city of Urumqi – residents were unable to vacate the premises due to locks being placed on all entrances and exits. The CCP has been attempting to censor videos of the fire, as well as footage of the FIFA World Cup where thousands of fans can be seen cheering together… maskless.
Protestors are holding up blank sheets of paper – a form of protest seen before in Russia and Hong Kong – symbolizing what censorship doesn’t allow dissenters to say. It’s a way for protestors to convey their opinion against the lockdowns without being arrested. The blank white paper says it all without saying anything. Chants calling for freedom of speech and democracy can be heard across the country.
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” – Nelson Mandela
Have a terrific weekend,
PW
