Diamonds and Dogs

7/5/18

Praxair (PX) pushing higher. The German industrial gas company is up 5% not far from a 52 week high after agreeing to sell their European assets to rival, Taiyo Nippon Sanso for 5 billion euros ($5.9 billion). Praxair needed to sell assets to boost global competitiveness and get regulatory approval to merge with Linde for $83 billion. The Praxair/Linde merger will create a global leader in gas distribution, with revenues of almost $29 billion and 88,000 staff.

Trade war not good for the Emerging Markets. The Emerging Markets (EEM) are down 12% year to date. China's Shanghai Composite Index has declined for six consecutive trading weeks, closing today at a fresh two-year low. The US is gearing up to impose 25% import tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods starting on July 6. China is expected to impose retaliatory tariffs on US goods immediately after the US tariffs start. The Japan's Nikkei Index opened lower as well today declining to a three-month low.