Could it get worse?

"Applications for US unemployment benefits fell last week to an almost 60-year low," while "the European Central Bank rejected an immediate move to raise interest rates," South Korea's economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter," and "The World Cup staycations and scorching weather helped Britain's private sector bounce back in July." ET. "The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits for the first time unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest since the 1960s," as "Initial claims for state jobless benefits dropped by 22,000 - the largest decline in three months - to a seasonally adjusted 187,000 for the week ended July 18, the Labor Department said." Reuters. Why unexpected? Was it because the World Cup gave a bigger-than-expected boost to the hospitality sector, or was the eye jaundiced by hatred for President Donald Trump? "Europe is warming at roughly twice the global average," so that "at least 12,000 excess deaths were recorded across nine European countries during June's heatwave." "EU member states will need to spend close to 70 billion euros ($80 billion) every year until 2050 to adapt infrastructure and communities to rising temperatures." "Allianz projects that Germany could suffer economic losses of about $131 billion by 2030 if recent heat patterns persist." France could lose $240 billion, Italy $147 billion and Spain $120 billion. ET. Paradoxically, this winter could be hard for Europe. "Europe has rapidly replaced Russian pipeline gas with LNG." Consequently, "Europe now competes with Asia and other regions in a global LNG market where supply disruptions can reverberate around the world almost instantly." Storage facilities are currently 55% full, the lowest level since 2021 and "Europe faces similar challenges in diesel." ET. Meanwhile, according to the World Gold Council central banks have "purchased an average of 1,000 tonnes of gold annually for the past four years." Gold cannot be created like fiat currencies and is a hedge against inflation. ET. Central banks are reducing investments in US Treasuries and the dollar. The US needs foreign investors because of the huge deficits it runs. "The trade gap has been hovering around 3% of GDP for the last few years, and the current account deficit is closer to 4% of GDP." In 2004, "Japan's official holdings of US Treasuries accounted for 18% of all outstanding US debt held by the public, and in 2010, China's equivalent share represented 14%." Today they are down to 4% and 2% respectively. Today private investors are financing US deficits by buying into tech stocks. "Apple and Microsoft have triple-A credit rating, unlike the US government." The danger is that if markets fall, this flow could reverse. The deficits would become hard to finance. Reuters. The US sovereign credit rating is AA+ for both S&P's and Fitch Ratings and Aa1 for Moody's. World Government Bonds. On the other side of the pond, "The European Central Bank (ECB) is considering several options to mitigate its financial losses," as "ECB President Christine Lagarde confirmed...that policymakers would discuss raising minimum reserve requirements which means increasing the amount of cash banks must keep in an unremunerated account as a buffer in case of liquidity crunch." "Alternative options include not paying interest to banks on some of their excess reserves." Reuters. The US and the EU are the two biggest economies in the world. And they seem to be on edge. The times are interesting, already.