The US is on holiday today, preparing for the fireworks and brouhaha that always accompanies its Independence Day celebrations.
There are expected to be a few fireworks in Greece over the weekend too, albeit of the figurative kind. The outcome of the nation’s referendum on whether it should accept the EU’s bailout terms remains too close to call.
Since the referendum was announced, things have moved on and, as many pundits have observed, the Greeks will probably be voting on a set of a set of proposals that are no longer on the table.
German chancellor Angela Merkel has said there will be no further debt negotiations with Greece until the outcome of the referendum is known, but the International Monetary Fund has muddied the waters somewhat by saying that Greece needs debt relief of around €50bn - €60bn; had it made this pronouncement earlier, debt negotiations could have taken a very different course.
Meanwhile, in China, the securities regulator has launched an investigation into suspected stock market manipulation. The regulator is investigating whether parties have been mis-selling financial products, the state news agency Xinhua reported.
It is almost as if China is following the blueprint for Western capitalism a little too closely.
Corporate news flow in London is on the light side, leaving the field clear for some or the smaller companies to grab a bit of attention.
When a quarterly report on iron pellet production is one of the most heavily viewed stock market news items, you know it is a slow news day. Having said that, iron ore producer Ferrexpo (LON:FXPO) did enjoy a record month, with the output of premium 65% Fe pellets reaching 89% of volumes.
A little bit more glamorous is Golden Saint’s (LON:GSR) quarterly operational update, where the focus is on a girl’s best friend: shoes.
No, make that diamonds.
The company revealed that in June it recovered the following diamonds: one 2.25 carat white diamond; one 2.62 carat white diamond; one 4.41 carat diamond; one 3.12 carat white diamond; eighty-nine carats of small diamonds under 0.5 carat.
To make that news even more interesting, you can try singing it to the tune of “Twelve Days of Christmas”.
The company has the shareholder perk to top all shareholder perks, which is the chance to buy diamonds from the company at a discount through its Diamond Club.
The company said its Diamond Club event in Perth – that’s the one in Western Australia, rather than the one in Scotland – generated A$32,600 in confirmed sales, with several expressions of interest in purchase still being pursued.