Greek Crisis Weigh Upon German Business Morale

German business morale is down again for a 2nd straight month in June according to a survey. Concerns about the Greek debt crisis has been affecting them negatively. The survey which is called the Ifo business climate index was conducted by Ifo Institute for Economic Research. It is based on a monthly survey of some 7,000 firms, it dropped to 107.4 in June from 108.5 in May.

Greece needs cash to save them from defaulting their loan from the IMF next week. Fears about the risk of a default have prompted savers to withdraw billions from Greek banks, forcing the European Central Bank to increase emergency liquidity assistance to keep them afloat.

German economic growth slowed to 0.3% in the first quarter, with no improvement is sight.

source: https://www.cesifo-group.de/ifoHome/facts/Survey-Results/Business-Climate.html

China's stock market Keeps on rising worth over $10 trillion

Right now China's stock market is worth over $10 trillion with the Shanghai Stock Exchange had a total market cap of $5.9 trillion while the Shenzhen Stock Exchange is at $4.4 trillion (World Federation of Exchanges), meaning there is $10.3 trillion in China's stock market since both the Shanghai and Shenzhen has been surging this year. The benchmark Shanghai Composite is up nearly 60% since January 1, and the Shenzhen Composite has skyrocketed by 120%, easily making it the world's best-performing market.

The crazy rise has pushed the Shanghai Stock Exchange up the ranks to become the world's third-biggest by market cap, behind the New York Stock Exchange at nearly $20 trillion and Nasdaq at $7 trillion.

81% of retail investors in China trade at least once a month, according to a State Street survey published earlier this year. American investors traded just 53% while French investors traded 32% monthly.

Top stock exchanges by market cap:

1.     New York Stock Exchange - $19.7 trillion
2.     NASDAQ OMX - $7.4 trillion
3.     Shanghai Stock Exchange - $5.9 trillion
4.     Japan Stock Exchange - Tokyo - $5 trillion
5.     Shenzhen Stock Exchange - $4.4 trillion
6.     Hong Kong Stock Exchange - $3.96 trillion
7.     Euronext - $3.5 trillion

Job Growth is Up by 5.5% in the US

There are concern about US economy is slowing, but this has not affected the job market as the government announce last Friday that businesses 280,000 jobs in May. The unemployment rate is up by 5.5% from 5.4%.

However, wages is barely rising above inflation, because of a limited the economy’s growth. Education and health has contributed an additional 592,000 jobs (2.8% gain). Healthcare has been boosted by the medical demands of aging population and the expansion of health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

People who were surveyed said they had to skip some medical care for lack of money, and could not cover an unexpected emergency that cost $400.