On Friday, the US released
important market data. The data showed that in January, job openings rose to
7.58 million, which was better than the expected 7.31 million. This data came a
few days after the US released jobs numbers that missed the consensus estimate
by far. The data showed that in February, the economy added more than 20K jobs,
which was lower than the consensus estimate. The increased openings raise an
important issue of a mismatch in the job sector, where many jobs don’t have
people to take them. Another data that was released was the Michigan consumer
sentiment, which rose to 97.8, which was higher than the expected 95.3. Data
from Baker Hughes showed that oil rigs declined 833 from the previous week’s
834. The total rig counts declined from 1027 to 1026.
Over the weekend, the chief
executive of Ethiopian Airlines announced that the ongoing investigation show
that there was a similarity between how the Ethiopian and Lion air planes
crashed. The problem is software-related and tends to force the plane’s nose
down shortly after take-off. Instead, the nose should face up. Last week, it
was revealed that Boeing was aware of the problem before and that it had
promised pilots that it will release an update. This update never came. Over
the weekend, it was revealed that federal prosecutors had started investing the
company in relation with the Lion Air crash. On Monday last week, a few top
people were probed and documents asked from them. A federal investigation may
lead to major headaches for the company. First, it has suspended the deliveries
of the plane. Second, the investigation could lead to huge fines, and third, it
could lead to order cancellation. Already, some airlines, such as Kenya Airways
have announced that they could cancel the order and move to Airbus.
Another major news came from
Europe, where Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank announced that they had initiated
formal merger talks. For many years, there has been speculation that the two
big German banks could combine. The previous talks failed to materialize. The
current talks come at a time when Deutsche, the biggest German bank has been
struggling. These struggles can be traced to the 2008/9 crisis, when the bank
refused to accept government funding. This was opposite of what the American
banks did. The bank has also faced many challenges such as falling revenues and
large fines. The merger of the two banks has been supported by the German
government and a number of large institutional holders. The German government
wants to create a large bank that will become a national champion, which is
likely provide funding to the country’s manufacturing sector.
In France, Emmanuel Macron was
not at ease. This is after another week of protests and violence as the
opposition to his presidency continued. These protests have been happening for
18 straight weeks. As a result, the president was forced to cut short his short
skiing holiday. As a result, more than 240 people were arrested. The premier
came to power with the goal of reforming the country and the EU but his actions
have often been criticized.
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