#7. Where to put your money in 2019

In its Global Strategy Outlook report for 2019, Morgan Stanley said it upgraded emerging market stocks from underweight to overweight for 2019, CNBC reports. US equities, on the other hand, were downgraded to underweight. 

In its report, Morgan Stanley says it believes the bear market is mostly complete for EM and that it expects the expansion in the US to slow down. 


#6. Slack to follow Spotify

Popular workplace messaging app Slack is planning on bypassing the traditional route to an IPO by directly listing its shares (just like Spotify did last year), the Financial Times reports. This means that the company would go public without selling new shares to raise money.

According to the same FT article, Slack was valued at $7.1 billion in its last fundraising in August. The company is one of several other highly valued tech companies (such as Uber and Lyft) that plan to go public in 2019.


#5. China’s stock market inflow

The inclusion of Chinese A-shares in global stock indexes could lead to an increase of foreign inflows into China’s stock market in 2019, Reuters reports.

Net foreign stock market inflows could potentially double, according to Fang Xinghai, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). Last year, said inflows reached 300 billion yuan ($44.38 billion) and this year they could reach 600 billion yuan.


#4. Huawei’s espionage charges

Not a great week for Huawei again. After the controversial arrest of the company’s CFO in Canada last month, a public relations executive was arrested on spying charges in Poland on Thursday, Yahoo Finance reports.

Huawei reportedly responded by saying it is aware of the situation and that they are looking into it.


#3. GM’s Cadillac transformation

General Motors is turning Cadillac into its lead electric vehicle brand in an attempt to compete against Tesla and other carmakers that bring EVs onto the market, TechCrunch reports.

The announcement made during an investor meeting on Friday marks a shift in the company’s approach to making electric vehicles because in the past, GM’s electric vehicles fell under its mass-market Chevrolet brand.


#2. Lithuania’s fintech boom

For two years now, Lithuania has been promoting itself as a launchpad for fintech companies, and with success: the initiative has led to the issuance of no less than 45 e-money licenses, Bloomberg reports.

The Baltic state offers (among other things) a friendly regulatory environment, English language services, and a three-month approval.  


#1. Zimbabwe’s currency plans

Zimbabwe is going to introduce a new currency in the next 12 months, the country’s Finance Minister said. A shortage of US dollars pulls the financial system into disarray, forces business to close and threatens unrest, Reuters reports.

Dollar shortages are also undermining efforts to win back foreign investors. With less than $400 million in actual cash in Zimbabwe, according to central bank figures, the country is facing fuel shortages and companies are struggling to import raw materials and equipment.



And that's the second week of 2019 all wrapped up. As always, we’ll continue to track Twitter and bring you the top financial micro-messages from the web. See you back here next week.


Source: www.scoopnest.com.