Investors are wondering how the G8 meeting this week in Italy will impact markets around the world. What must you know?
Global Economy
Leaders of the Group of Eight; Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States are expected to touch on a wide range of topics stemming from Iran to technology but perhaps none is more important that what they have to say about how to stimulate the world's economy.
European members led by Germany have stressed the need to limit government spending fearing crippling debt and inflation. The U.S. and Britain meanwhile are still emphasizing the need for stimulus, stressing it is too early for "exit strategies."
Climate
Global warming appears to be another big topic on the table and what the G8 says could be jarring for energy stocks.
According to the BBC, ”they are likely to agree that the world ought to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050 - with rich nations reducing them by 80%. The group will probably also say that any human-induced temperature rise should be held to 2C - a level considered to be a danger threshold.”
China*
Also, the dollar’s status as a reserve currency may come under the microscope, again.
The International Business Times writes, “it will be interesting to see if there will be any mention of the latest currency debate from China regarding the dollar. The Chinese officials have said over the last few days, that they wont change their currency reserve, as they have trust in the US economy and its currency and that statement gave dollar bulls some kind of relief for the time being."
* In case you’re wondering what China is doing at the G8 meeting, the world's five largest emerging economies meet separately on the first day Wednesday, and join the main forum later mostly on topics already covered by the core eight.
So what’s the trade?
Tim Seymour suggests keeping an eye on ag stocks. He expects the G8 to talk about farming and not subsidizing crops and as a result fertilizer companies such as Mosaic could get a pop.
Want to find out more about trading the globe? We spoke with Mike Gurka of Empower Global about his favorite plays; the South Africa ETF and the Taiwan ETF.
Why is Gurka bullish South Africa and Taiwan over other emerging nations. Find out. Watch the video now!
