Happy Monday, Munchers!

New week - let's get it. If you're a fellow Desi person, happy Independence Day. We're all brothers in this. ❤️

Here is your daily dose of the news that matters, from Wall Street to Dalal Street - in 5 minutes and 21 seconds.

Let’s dive in.

What’s hot, what’s not?

Story Roundup

1 - Saudi Aramco smashes profit records out of the park. 💸

One man's pain is another man's gain - and Saudi Aramco gained heavy from soaring oil prices. 

Their net income rose to $48.4bn in Q2 (DOUBLE Apple's) - marking a 90% year-on-year increase.

Aramco's market cap now lies at a stunning $2.7 trillion.

CEO warned that spare capacity remained very limited as demand was starting to ramp up.

In addition, Chinese COVID restrictions seem to be wrapping up - so some more demand will come in from there. 

No recession, bro. I didn't hear no bell. 🥊

2 - Crypto crash doesn't faze institutions. 🤷

Crypto assets have faced a rout in recent months. The 'benchmark' - Bitcoin - is down 50% year-to-date. 

This hasn't alienated the big boys, however. Here's a list of every big asset manager that's taking a dip into the crypto craze.

BlackRock - announced plans for a spot BTC trust, linked it's clients to the Coinbase exchange.ABRDN Investment - bought a stake in UK crypto exchange Archax.Charles Schwab - launched ETF to give investors crypto exposureSchroders - bought stake in crypto exchange Forteus

Crypto as a whole was being ridiculed for the longest time by these guys - and it looks like it's cool again. 

Probably nothing. ⭐

3 - Germany must cut gas use by 1/5th to avoid rationing. 🔥

Households in Germany are bracing for the worst energy crisis in a long, long time. 

The head of their energy network mentioned that gas use needs to be cut by 20% - "or there is a serious risk that we will not have enough gas".

They also said that they would need to outsource about 9% of their gas demand to the US - to make up for the cut in Russian supplies. 

A longer-term warning was also issued in the form of "a very high gas price" - directly a result of Germany's dependence on Russia.

Don't bite the hand that feeds you. 🐍

4 - Chinese home prices fell for the 11th month straight. 📉

China's $2.4tr new home market is showing little signs of salvation - piling more stress on an economy that barely expanded last month. 

Home prices (excluding state housing) sank 0.11% - or for the 11th straight month.

Last month, a lot of banks and developers boycotted payments on about 330 projects - forcing the government to step in and do their 'Big Brother' thing.

Chinese central banks are now doing all they can to avert a full-blown housing crisis. That means they're probably going to -- get banks to spend more- cut mortgage costs- relax home-ownership rules (deregulate)

Tipsy. 🏚️

5 - Saudi billionaire splashed some cash in Russia before the war. ⚡

Russia invaded Ukraine on the 24th of February. Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al Saud spent about $500m on Russian investments in February, according to a filing.

His $50b investment firm bought shares in Gazprom, Lukoil and Rosneft - although it isn't clear as to whether they still own them.

One thing is clear - these investments are worth substantially lesser now, compared to when they were probably purchased. 

Prince Alwaleed has been dubbed 'Arabian Warren Buffett' - having some very high-profile stakes in Citigroup, Apple, Uber and Alibaba. 

Money talks. 🫰

Another Monday - hope you've enjoyed your coffee while reading this. Have a great day ahead.

Hope you enjoyed this issue of the Market Munch. If you have any feedback, positive or negative, hit my line at [email protected] or +971 50 708 8469. 

Cheers and have a good one. 

- A