Happy morning, Munchers! 🙏

As always, here is your daily dose of the news that matters, from Wall Street to Dalal Street - in 4 minutes and 57 seconds.

That's less time than it takes for the IMF chief to start feeling butterflies, California to start handing $$$ out, and Shell to warn of an end to the profit bonanza. 🔥

Let’s dive in.

What’s hot, what’s not?

Market Commentary

• Markets slid a little as investors weigh a ton of economic data.

• Almost everything is pointing to a strong contraction - which means we are on the path.

• King Dollar continued it's ascent to the moon as the Pound slid again.

Story Roundup

1 - IMF chief is gloomy on the world. 📉

The IMF is giving us a warning of stuff to come.

Their job is to promote economic stability across the world - something that's in scarcity at the moment.

Remarks from a press conference said that the combination of "shrinking real incomes and rising prices" would make us feel like we're in a recession. 

What this means is that we can count on the IMF to slash targets for global growth - a sign that we're gonna start cooling down fast. 

Red-hot. But not for long? 🥵

2 - California starts handing money out to residents. 💀

Millions of Californians are getting $1,050 as part of an inflation relief measure.

Yeah, you read that correctly. 

Americans think that this is gonna make inflation worse, but they don't care. The average Joe just wants food on his table, and a shelter above his head. 

So the government's coffers are gonna be handing out all this $$$.

But wait a minute - isn't excessive government spending what got us here in the first place? 

You bet it is. 

Strange times, guys. 🥶

3 - Shell warns that the oil profit party is over. 😔

Weaker gas trading is biting Shell - and they know it.

They've signaled that their record run of profits will come to a slow end as lower refining volumes, lower petrochemical margins, and weak energy markets take their toll on the company.

Shell reported record profits just a month after the Russia//Ukraine war started - but it looks like those high oil prices won't sustain.

Margins on their prized petrochemical plants have also gone up due to price pressures and slowing volumes. 

It's getting cooooool. ❄️

4 - Spanish home prices rocket to highest in 10 years. 🔥

The average price for a Spanish home is now at it's highest level in over a decade. 

It's been 3.5 years or so since increases in price of this rate were seen - and this just boldens the effects of reduced supply and hasty demand.

A lot of consumers are trying to purchase homes now to lock in good rates - which mean that their mortgage payments are cheaper, and life is better. 

Ripsaw. 🪚

5 - World Bank cuts India's GDP growth forecast. 🥲

The World Bank cut India's GDP growth forecast for 2022 from 7.5% to 6.5%.

Their bet is that spillover effects from Russia-Ukraine are gonna hit Indian consumers and businesses hard, along with tighter economies across the board and less money flowing around. 

Private investment might also be dampened by higher uncertainty and increased borrowing costs. 

India's Reserve Bank also sees growth a little lower at 7.3%, down from 7.8%.

The brakes are getting hotter. 🏎️

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Hope you enjoyed this issue of the Market Munch. If you've got any feedback - good or bad (😏) you can hit reply to this email. Thanks a ton for reading!

You might also wanna follow up on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram. 

Cheers, and have a lovely day. 🙏

Aryaansh