Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for September 2nd in 3:11 minutes.

☕️ Finimized over a chocolate dulce de leche tea at El Gato Negro in Buenos Aires, Argentina (12°C/54°F ⛅️)

Today's big stories

Manufacturing activity in China shrank for the first time since April 2020, according to a new survey
There’s a simple way to profit from a stock market that isn't really moving anywhere – Read Now
A reshuffle of the UK’s major stock market index this week is expected to see three companies being replaced

Crease And Desist

What’s Going On Here?

Here’s a new wrinkle in China’s once smooth recovery: data out on Wednesday showed China’s manufacturing activity shrank in August for the first time since April 2020.

What Does This Mean?

It looks like China’s economy is finally losing steam after having outperformed its rivals’ during the pandemic: a widely followed manufacturing activity survey – which asks factory managers how busy they’ve been compared to the month before – showed activity in Chinese factories shrank for the first time since the early stages of the pandemic. And it’s not the country’s first sign of trouble: China’s also contending with weaker export demand, soaring prices for raw materials, and a slowing property sector – all of which are hampering economic activity (tweet this).

Why Should I Care?

For markets: Chinese stocks are losing fans.
Several investment banks have recently cut their growth forecasts for China, and Wednesday’s data could bring about even more downgrades. That’s not good news for Chinese stocks, which are already under pressure from the government’s ever-intensifying crackdown on the country’s fastest-growing industries. Just look at the popular index made up of the biggest 300 Chinese stocks: it’s down by 7% so far this year, even as US and European stock markets flirt with all-time highs.

Zooming out: Watch your emissions.
China might be slowing down, but manufacturing activity in the eurozone is booming at near-record rates. Trouble is, the region’s factories are some of the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide, alongside fossil fuel power plants and the transport industry. The European Union is trying to do something about that, with a “cap and trade” system in place to limit emissions in polluting industries. But companies can still exceed their cap by buying “allowances” from the EU’s carbon market, and boy have they been doing that: the price of carbon allowances hit a record high this week.

You might also like: How to profit from soaring European carbon prices.

Copy to share story: https://www.finimize.com/wp/news/crease-and-desist/

🙋 Ask a question

2. Analyst Take

How To Beat The Market When The Market’s Not Moving

What’s Going On Here?

So US stocks have been grinding higher and higher lately. Nothing new there.

At the same time, however, US economic data has started to look a little lackluster in the past couple of months.

That’s not to say we’re due a crash, mind you. It’s just as likely that the stock market might just… not do much for the foreseeable future.

And if that’s the case, you won’t get the returns you’re looking for from stocks.

That’s why this derivatives-based strategy is a good way to go: it tends to pay off even when markets are just treading water.

So that’s today’s Insight: how this strategy works, and one simple – and one not-so-simple – way you can roll it out for yourself.

Read or listen to the Insight here

Fresh Blood

What’s Going On Here?

The FTSE 100 is undergoing its quarterly reshuffle this week, and the injection of a few big names could give Britain’s biggest index a new lease of life.

What Does This Mean?

The FTSE 100 comprises the UK’s biggest public companies by value, and its performance helps investors gauge the health of both corporate Britain and the wider economy. But since company fortunes can turn on a dime, the FTSE is regularly updated to reflect stocks whose total market values have risen and boot out those whose values have dropped.

Both supermarket chain Morrisons and aerospace component-maker Meggitt are expected to join the party, having seen their stocks shoot up after takeover news. Dechra Pharmaceuticals too: the veterinary drug company’s shares are up more than 50% this year – a true testament to the lockdown pup-splosion. They’ll be taking spots from broadcasting giant ITV and engineering group Weir – both of which underperformed the FTSE 100 by nearly 10% last quarter – along with Just Eat Takeaway.com. That’s not because of its value, mind you: the FTSE just ruled that the food delivery platform is Dutch rather than British.

Why Should I Care?

The bigger picture: So much for a “new economy”.
Tech firms already represent a much smaller proportion of the FTSE 100 than they do of the equivalent American and German indexes, and Just Eat Takeaway.com’s elimination will only make matters worse. But at least the FTSE isn’t short on healthcare: the sector is already the index’s biggest, and it’s set to get bigger when Dechra joins the squad.

For markets: Keep an eye on funds.
Billions of dollars are invested in funds that passively track the FTSE 100, which means those funds are forced to invest in any stock new to the index. That's why some keen-eyed investors might’ve bought into certain high-performing UK companies ahead of this week’s rebalancing, hoping they’d profit once the passive funds buy up their stocks to reflect the updated index.

You might also like: These British stocks could do especially well out of the recovery.

Copy to share story: https://www.finimize.com/wp/news/fresh-blood/

🙋 Ask a question

💬 Quote of the day

“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society.”

– Mark Twain (an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer)

Tweet this

Interested in a career in finance?

Financial Edge is renowned among the Big Four investment banks for preparing the highest-quality candidates, which is why it’s their first-choice training firm for analysts.

No surprises there: not only are Financial Edge’s founders ex-investment bankers, but it boasts nine full-time Wall Street instructors with 157 years of industry experience.

And now you can use Financial Edge to fast-track your own career in investment banking, private equity, and more.

Study whenever and wherever suits you, and you’ll get certification to show future employers you have the same skills as those at the top banks.

You can even go on to earn a micro-degree and, upon completion, join Financial Edge’s growing LinkedIn alumni alongside hires at the top Wall Street firms.

And right now, you can get 25% off: just use code FINIMIZE25!

Get Started

When you support our sponsors, you support us. Thanks for that.

🎯 On Our Radar

The benefits of public nudity. Yup.
How to live longer. Straight from the longevity expert’s mouth.
Money or passion? Doing what you love isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Discover finance that’s fair, sustainable, and inclusive. Your money really does matter, and where you invest could change the world. Capital at risk.*
Amazon giveth after taking away. The king of ecommerce is bringing back malls.

When you support our sponsors, you support us. Thanks for that.

🌎 Finimize Live

🏃‍♀️ Limber up for our next event

Investing in meme stocks is a bit like running a sprint: they can feel like a quick win, but the rush is over before you know it. So join Metropolitan Capital Advisor’s Karen Finerman for How to Navigate Investing In A Meme Stonk World, and find out how to sustain that runner’s high for a whole lot longer.

❤️ Share with a friend

Your Referrals: 0

Thanks for reading Reader. If you liked today's brief, we'd love for you to share it with a friend. If they sign up on your unique link, you’ll earn some sweet swag.

Share your unique link:

https://finimize.com/invite/?kid=177ZWC

You stay classy, Reader 😉

We’d love to hear your thoughts. Give feedback

Want to advertise with us too? Get in touch

Image Credits:

Image credits: Dragana Stojanovic - Shutterstock | Pixel-Shot - Shutterstock

Preferences:

Update your email or change preferences

View in browser

Unsubscribe from all Finimize Emails

😴

Crafted by Finimize Ltd. | Third Floor, 1 New Fetter Lane, London, EC4A 1AN, UK.

All content provided by Finimize Ltd. is for informational and educational purposes only and is not meant to represent trade or investment recommendations. You signed up to this mailing list at finimize.com or through one of our partners. © Finimize 2021

Finimize - 🤕 China isn't so perfect after all

Today's big stories

Crease And Desist

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

How To Beat The Market When The Market’s Not Moving

Fresh Blood

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

Interested in a career in finance?

🏃‍♀️ Limber up for our next event

Older messages

👴🏻 Zoom gets old fast

😬 A Fed's gotta do what a Fed's gotta do

👩‍💻 Look busy, Salesforce is coming

👀 The Fed could send stocks tumbling

😎 Hedge funds don't need your money

You Might Also Like

Don’t think you can afford life insurance?

What are you hiding Elon?? (Tesla’s secret 69% dividend)

Giving thanks for inflation, Paul Mescal and more

💚 Holding space for career pivots

Harry's Take 11-27-24 Michael Saylor Has Seen an Impressive Learning Curve Playing Bitcoin at MicroStrategy!

The heterogenous effects of carbon pricing: macro and micro evidence

💉 A slimming proposal

Earn higher APY with a short-term CD

Do You Expect to Rely on Social Security?

Silicon Valley Angel Investor Predicts AI Market Shock