🛠 Black swan toolkit

Japan finally got the inflation treatment | Deere brought in a high-piled profit | [TOGETHER WITH]( Hi {NAME}, here's what you need to know for May 22nd in 3:14 minutes. 🔥 Investing themes don’t get any hotter than AI right now – and financial titans don’t come any bigger than BlackRock. So catch Jay Jacobs on the [Finimize Podcast](, and find out what the BlackRock hotshot sees waiting around the bend in super-smart tech. [Listen in here]( Today's big stories - Japan's inflation re-accelerated in April - Here’s how to brace your portfolio for the stuff you can’t see coming – [Read Now]( - Farm-equipment maker Deere harvested a whole pile of profit Rising Sum [Rising Sum] What’s going on here? Data out on Friday [showed]( that Japan’s inflation perked up last month. What does this mean? Inflation’s often seen as the bad boy of economics, but Japan’s long been pining for that rugged toughie. After all, inflation’s not a total ne’er-do-well: too much can mean you wind up like the West right now, sure, but too little and you risk deflation – an even nastier foe. So April’s data was encouraging: consumer prices picked up by 3.4% from the same time last year, with food prices leading the charge. And that jump would have been even steeper if the government hadn’t stepped in to offset surging gas and electricity costs. What’s more, rising prices haven’t had Japanese households and businesses closing their wallets: data out last week showed that resilient spending last quarter helped drag the nation out of the technical recession it had been languishing in. Why should I care? The bigger picture: Don’t bank on big changes. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has been snapping up government bonds for years to trim borrowing costs and kickstart growth. And with this inflation data in, some economists are hoping that the BOJ might bump up inflation forecasts and finally shake its policy up a bit. But let’s not uncork the sake just yet. See, it’s the aftershocks of the pandemic, not the BOJ’s strategic plays, that have nudged inflation upwards – and with exports and manufacturing still feeble, the central bank's unlikely to jeopardize the recovery with a drastic about-face. For markets: Japan’s jolt. This news means Japanese stocks are having a bit of a moment, with the country’s Topix index [hitting]( a 33-year high last week. And that’s not surprising: the economy’s dodging stagflation, valuations are in good shape, and growth’s finally back in town. And Warren Buffett’s much-publicized – and very influential – infatuation with Japan can’t have hurt either. You might also like: [An outsider signals change in Japan, the world’s third-biggest economy.]( Copy to share story: [/rising-sum]( 🙋 [Ask a question](mailto:questions@finimize.com?body=Ask us a question: Where are you writing from? Let us know and we'll mention it when we reply.&noapp=true&subject=Rising Sum&utm_campaign=daily-global-22-05-2023&utm_source=email) Analyst Take Black Swan Events Are Coming. Here’s How To Be Ready [Black Swan Events Are Coming. Here’s How To Be Ready]( [Photo of Stéphane Renevier] Stéphane Renevier, Analyst Disruptive, impossible-to-predict [stuff will happen](. In fact, we’re likely to see even more of those so-called [black swan events](, as the world becomes increasingly complex and volatile. So the challenge for you is to get comfortable expecting the unexpected and take steps to [protect your portfolio]( – even from the kinds of threats you can’t actually see coming. That’s today’s Insight: [how to brace your portfolio for black swan events.]( [Read or listen to the Insight here]( SPONSORED BY HARGREAVES LANSDOWN Discover three shares that Hargreaves Lansdown thinks people could consider The end of the tax year’s been on everyone’s minds, and [Hargreaves Lansdown]( knows it. That’s why [HL]( let us borrow its best and brightest for [our recent webinar](, which focused on the process of [spotting and vetting promising investments for ISA accounts](. Here’s a reminder of what you learned: never ignore [balance sheets](, [debt]( (not recessions) kills companies, [essential service firms]( make more reliable revenue, and the [cloud sector]( is great. You’ve already got a lot of pointers there, but Hargreaves went even more specific and identified [three promising companies]( by name – [an industry giant](, [a tech specialist](, and [a luxury name](. To find out which companies Hargreaves [thinks you could consider](, and how it found them, [you can watch the webinar here](. Important InformationThis isn’t personalised advice. Over time investments will rise and fall in value, so you could get back less than what you put in. If you’re not sure whether an investment is right for you, please ask for advice. [Find Out More]( When you support our sponsors, you support us. Thanks for that. Plowing Ahead [Plowing Ahead] What’s going on here? Deere, the leading farm equipment manufacturer, [reported]( a bumper crop of profit last Friday. What does this mean? Last year’s agricultural shortages saw farmers rake in record crop prices, and they took that golden opportunity to upgrade their equipment. And even now, with crop prices dropping and Deere’s products getting Deer-er, demand’s still looking fresh. The appetite for everything from new tractors to spare parts helped the firm smash through profit expectations last quarter – marking a 36% increase from the same time the year before, and notching up Deere’s best-ever second-quarter results. Plus, with the orders still pouring in, the firm upped its profit forecast for the remainder of the year – and investors, betting on a bumper harvest, sent Deere’s stock skyward. Why should I care? Zooming in: The plow and the stars. Deere’s precision agriculture segment – which uses sensors and data analytics to boost crop yields – emerged as the real star last quarter. Thing is, many farms are tucked away in remote areas, where good ol’ network connectivity is as rare as a hen’s tooth. And that’s a problem when your offerings include high-tech autonomous machines. Now, though, the firm’s [turning]( to the heavens for a solution, betting on satellite communications to plug the gap where signal’s sparse. Deere’s already trialing the tech, and if it goes well, analysts think it’ll boost the firm’s overall appeal – while opening some new software-service revenue streams. The bigger picture: Hanging on for Deere life. Deere’s an economic bellwether, meaning that its performance offers a glimpse into the financial health of the US in general. And these results bode pretty well for the world’s biggest economy: after all, the firm’s juicy profit hardly suggests that the country’s flirting with disaster. And while an easy escape from high inflation might seem far-fetched – history says that a recession’s the usual antidote – a growing number of experts do think that a softer landing could materialize. You might also like: [Keep an eye on these three big real-world recession indicators.]( Copy to share story: [/plowing-ahead]( 🙋 [Ask a question](mailto:questions@finimize.com?body=Ask us a question: Where are you writing from? Let us know and we'll mention it when we reply.&noapp=true&subject=Plowing Ahead&utm_campaign=daily-global-22-05-2023&utm_source=email) 💬 Quote of the day "My theory is that all of Scottish cuisine is based on a dare." – Mike Myers (a Canadian writer, actor, and director) [Tweet this]( SPONSORED BY RAISIN The right savings account could make big goals feel a lot less daunting First-time buyers make up at least 25% of [house purchases]( – and that’s some feat. After all, [saving for a deposit]( requires a lot of discipline and income, which might explain why Raisin’s research showed a quarter of 25 to 34-year-olds feel it’s impossible to [put enough away](. [The right savings account]( could make a difference, though: by picking accounts with the right [perks and interest payments to suit your goals](, you could make that deposit a little easier to hit. 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All events in UK time. ✅ [Three Industries That Thrive In A Downturn](: 5pm, May 23rd 🚀 [A Guide To Prop Trading](: 5pm, May 25th 👀 And After That... 3️⃣ [Three Reasons To Invest In Crypto Right Now](: 5pm, 30th May 💥 [A Guide To Impact Investing 2.0](: 1pm, June 1st 🌎 [The ESG Revolution: Investing with Purpose](: 6pm, June 8th 🙋‍♀️ [Finimize Ladies Investing Club](: 6.30pm, July 13th 🎉 [Modern Investor Summit 2023](: 12pm, December 5th and 6th 🎯 On Our Radar 1. Kawaii sleaze. Tokyo’s clubs are being taken over by ravers in a [strange new style](. 2. The incredible sulk. Pouting might be childish, but it’s also a pretty fascinating [way of communicating](. 3. Briney and brawny. This African fish might hold the key to [staying strong]( as we age. 4. Lucky for some. OpenAI finally launched an [official ChatGPT app]( – but just for iOS. 5. Piracy paradise. Twitter’s new video limit means [full-blown films]( are doing the rounds on the platform. ❤️ Share with a friend Thanks for reading {NAME}. If you liked today's brief, we'd love for you to share it with a friend. You stay classy, {NAME} 😉 We’d love to hear your thoughts. [Give feedback]( Want to advertise with us too? [Get in touch]( Image Credits: Image credits: Midjourney | dcwcreations, Gornostai shutterstock Preferences: [Update your email]( or [change preferences]( [View in browser]( [Unsubscribe]( from all Finimize Emails 😴 Crafted by Finimize Ltd. | 280 Bishopsgate, London, EC2M 4AG 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 [View Online](