In today’s Recap, Marcello talks about the faceoff between Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, and Twitter when he made a public offer to buy 100% of the social media firm; Warren Buffet was called a sociopathic grandpa from Omaha by Peter Thiel; Inflation and food prices are still going up.
Elon Musk offers to buy 100% of Twitter for $54.20 a share (at a 54% premium), saying the social media company needs to be transformed privately, a little over a week after first revealing a +9.2% stake in the company. Musk’s offer values Twitter at about $43B. According to Musk, the company can “neither thrive nor serve” free speech in its current state. Shares of Twitter rose over 6%, in the U.S. pre-market on Thursday. On Friday, Twitter adopted what is called a poison pill that helps prevent it from undergoing a hostile takeover, after Elon Musk put in an offer to buy the entire social media firm for $43B. The board unanimously adopted the limited duration shareholder rights plan. If any person or group acquires 15% or more of Twitter’s stock without the board’s approval, other shareholders are allowed to purchase additional shares at a discount. It reduces the likelihood that any entity, person or group gains control of Twitter
Finland & Sweden’s leaders say their decision on whether to apply for NATO membership would come within a matter of weeks, stating their security assessments had dramatically changed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In response, on Thursday, Russia’s Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev says both Finland & Sweden will become enemies of Russia if they join NATO.
Inflation for the U.K. was reported to +7% in March on an annual basis, its highest since in 30 years, driven by soaring food & energy prices. Consumer prices rose by +1.1% month-on-month, outstripping expectations for just a +0.7% climb by analysts, which had projected a lower +6.7% annual increase.
The World Trade Organization has cut its forecast for global trade growth this year, from 4.7% to 3%, due to the economic disruption caused by the Russia-Ukraine war. The WTO further warned that poorer countries are at greater risk of food shortages.
On Friday in a surprise move, China’s central bank kept a key interest rate unchanged, despite expectations for more stimulus as the government grapples with a new Covid surge. The People’s Bank of China stated it was keeping the rate on its 1-year medium-term loan unchanged at 2.85%.
Russia’s economy is set to contract by over 10% in 2022, the biggest fall in gross domestic product (GDP), since the years following the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, said former finance minister Alexei Kudrin on Tuesday. Russia is facing skyrocketing inflation & capital flight, while dealing with a possible debt default after western nations imposed crippling sanctions, to punish President Putin for sending 10’s of 1000’s of troops to Ukraine beginning on Feb. 24.
U.S. lumber prices are falling; The real domestic inflation rate is now approaching 20%; OPEC is telling the EU that it is nearly impossible to replace Russian oil; Nokia is pulling out of the Russian market
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