On Monday we will look at the aftermath of Italy’s swing to the right after the conclusion of a dour election campaign. The Financial Times came out early with a big read on what a far-right government means for the rest of Europe.
We also have elections this week in Latvia, Bulgaria, Kuwait and Bosnia and Herzegovina. But the big one will be on Sunday with the first round of Brazil’s presidential election. Leading the race is left-wing former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, but incumbent Jair Bolsonaro is far from out of the running. Tensions run high.
A smaller but nonetheless significant election will take place on Thursday when the City Council of the City of London will choose the next Lord Mayor. This largely ceremonial role will be key to promoting Britain’s financial hub, so it’s important. Hopefully the vote won’t be as controversial as last year.
Aside from the elections, it’s a strong week for space. On Monday, NASA will crash a spacecraft at 23,000 km/h into an asteroid to deflect its orbit. The $300 million Dart mission, short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test, has targeted an asteroid called Dimorphos because it orbits a different asteroid than the Sun.
The US space agency will be back the next day with the launch of Artemis I, the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to establish a permanent human base on the moon.
If that wasn’t uplifting enough, the week will end with the return of the London Marathon, albeit six months later than its usual April date to allow it to take place after the disruption caused by the pandemic.
companies
continuation of the game theme, Lego (the name derives from the Danish word “leg godt” or “play well”) announces half-year results on Wednesday. The toymaker has led analysts to expect sales to normalize after its pandemic boom, but expectations are high that sales will continue to outperform peers in the industry.
For petrolheads, Thursday is an exciting day because it gets involved Porsche will start trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange after the long-awaited IPO of the luxury car brand.
It’s a darker week for screen lovers. Abandoned cinema chain cinema world will publish its half-year results on Friday. Although the group is expected to post a profit as opposed to last year’s loss, focus will turn to its recent cash position and net debt after the company filed for bankruptcy protection in the US earlier this month.
economic data
This week, gross domestic product figures from the US, Canada and the UK, as well as several consumer confidence surveys, are used to find out how economies are doing and what the public expects of them.
We will also get further insight into Europe’s struggle to calm inflation with the release of CPI and PPI readings from Germany, France and Italy.
Read the full calendar for next week here.
