Bad time to have banking issues. Am no international economic expert, but it is obvious in the news that a lot of people are worried.
• Europe is worried about Russia’s next move after Ukraine.
• America is worried about Trade Wars, falling stock value, a U.S. recession, etc.
• President Trump behaves like a man with many grudges to satisfy – enacting revenge and seeking satisfaction by seeing both individuals and entire Nations suffer.
I often use The New Neo as a Muse – an online source of inspiration for my blog & X posts. Sometimes in conjunction with some interesting news that I just came across.
News EXAMPLE
This news today: European Banks Continue to Shun Defense Industry
European politicians, representatives of the defense industry and the banking sector are calling for an urgent review of rules and procedures to speed up financing for arms manufacturers.
This was reported by Bloomberg.
“Many defense companies have problems with simple things like getting a bank account,” said Florian Seibel, co-founder at Quantum Systems.
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The European banking system traditionally perceives arms manufacturers as high-risk clients or those that do not meet environmental, social and governance standards.
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He emphasized that Europe needs to simplify and unify financing processes, making the defense sector “more bankable.”Patrick Schneider-Sikorsky, partner at NATO Innovation Fund, said that political sentiment has not yet been reflected in the financial sector.
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Asset managers and banks alike point to regulatory restrictions that have led to arms manufacturers being classified as “sin stocks.”
Europe best get its arse in gear – *The Russians are coming!!!* 😉
Add in this news: European stocks have crushed the U.S. — now a big bank is shifting its view
The year has started with a big rally for European stocks as the U.S. market struggles to remain above water.
Now, HSBC strategists are changing their tune. HSBC gave a double-upgrade upgrade of Europe stocks, excluding the U.K., to overweight from underweight, while downgrading the U.S. to neutral.
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“What we underestimated was how the U.S.’s wavering support for NATO and Ukraine would trigger a watershed moment for the eurozone – with Germany expected to also follow through with sizeable fiscal stimulus,” said strategists led by Alastair Pinder, head emerging-markets and global-equity strategist at HSBC.
Now to my Muse
The New Neo’s “Open thread 3/11/2025” comment section – Mike Plaiss on March 11, 2025 at 10:45 am links to: The Trade War Will Pound Stocks
TommyJay on March 11, 2025 at 1:24 pm then breaks down that WSJ article (linked to by Mike Plaiss) to this:
1) There is a lot of foreign money in our markets and continuing to flow into them. He claims just the cessation of that flow would be bad, and withdrawals much worse.
2) The feds have been spending tons of money, and big reductions in federal spending will hurt the economy.
Conclusion
We have Europe worried about Russia’s next move after Ukraine, and sensing the need to make “defense the bloc’s No. 1 priority” – after witnessing President Trump’s behavior towards Zelensky, Ukraine, NATO, Greenland, Mexico, Canada, Europe, etcetera etcetera etcetera.
Note the above 1) point made by commenter TommyJay: ..‘cessation of that flow would be bad, and withdrawals much worse.’
A Watershed Moment indeed, and not just for Europe!?
President Trump has America in Trade Wars, falling stock value, a possible U.S. recession, etc. – and at the same time Europe’s ‘Banks Race to Catch Up With EU Defense Goals in Major Reset’.
Europe in the process of starting to build a Defense Industrial Base (DIB) independent of America is gonna take a lot of money. Is that gonna result in a ‘cessation’ and/or withdrawal of European money from American markets?
We shall see soon, I suspect…