Today's data selection: Most gold futures positions were reduced by nearly 60,000 lots in the first two months; luxury brands are no longer popular in China
Most gold futures positions were reduced by nearly 60,000 lots in the first two months.
As gold futures continue to move towards new highs recently, Zhongcai Futures, one of the largest bulls in gold futures, continues to reduce its positions on highs.
According to statistics, as of May 20, on Shanghai Gold Futures AU2408, AU2410 and other contracts, Zhongcai Futures held a total of 34,000 gold futures long orders, which was a significant reduction of nearly 6% from the high position about 2 months ago. Thousands of hands. Many people in the futures industry believe that this means that Zhongcai Futures has taken profits on gold bulls.
The industry believes that the "trader" behind China Finance Futures' heavy position in gold futures may be the company's actual controller Bian Ximing. In recent years, he himself has posted an optimistic attitude towards gold on the official website of China Finance Investment Group. However, the reporter checked the website again and found that the relevant articles had been deleted.
Regarding the above-mentioned substantial reduction of Zhongcai Futures' long positions in gold, many futures industry insiders told reporters that this means, to a certain extent, that Zhongcai Futures' gold long positions have taken profits. The industry chief of a futures company said, "From a conventional perspective, Zhongcai Futures has taken profits on long gold orders."
Although the largest bulls in gold futures have successively reduced their positions on rallies in recent times, the current market atmosphere of bullishness is still strong. According to statistics, since 2022, long positions in gold futures have continued to fluctuate and rise. This trend has continued this year. On May 20 this year, long positions in gold futures reached 252,000 lots, setting a new high in recent years. , and the overall long-short position ratio is also at a high level.
Data show that among the 57 counties with a GDP of 100 billion, the top ten are Kunshan, Jiangyin, Zhangjiagang, Jinjiang, Changshu, Cixi, Shenmu, Yixing, Changsha County and Yiwu. Among them, Kunshan's annual GDP was 514.06 billion yuan, an increase of 5% over the previous year based on comparable prices.
In 2023, Du Fu's hometown Gongyi City achieved a regional GDP of 101.09 billion yuan, successfully reaching the 100 billion level and becoming the first "100 billion county" in Henan.
According to local media reports, Gongyi City currently has more than 6,000 industrial enterprises, 6 listed companies, 4 companies with sales revenue exceeding 10 billion yuan, 2 companies have been shortlisted for the "Top 500 Chinese Private Enterprises", and the "Top 100 Henan Manufacturing Enterprises" 4 homes.
Among the 12 counties with hundreds of billions in the central and western regions, Renhuai's regional GDP will reach 180.032 billion yuan in 2023, an increase of 8.7%. The economic aggregate will increase each year, accounting for 39.12% of Zunyi City's GDP. Renhuai is the seat of Moutai Group. Moutai Group's operating income in 2023 will be 164.48 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.5%; total profits will be 108.35 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.8%.
Sales decline, why luxury brands are no longer popular in China
Since the third quarter of fiscal year 2023, major luxury goods groups and brands have sent a signal to the market: the three years of soaring performance are coming to an end. Now, the prediction has come true. After successive price increases, the sales of luxury goods, which had been growing rapidly before, have begun to come under pressure. The most intuitive thing is the first quarter data released recently. The performance of some luxury brands has declined significantly.
Recently, the British luxury goods group Burberry announced its results for the 2024 fiscal year ending March 30. Revenue fell 4% to 2.968 billion pounds, and adjusted operating profit fell 34% to 418 million pounds. By region, full-year revenue in the Asian market fell 1% to 1.286 billion pounds, while the American market fell 19% to 603 million pounds. Burberry's performance in the Asia-Pacific market continued to deteriorate. Same-store sales in the fourth fiscal quarter fell by 17%, the mainland Chinese market fell by 19%, the American market fell by 12%, and the EMEIA market fell by 3%. The group expects wholesale revenue to fall by about 25% in the first half of this year. Thanks to cost reductions, performance may improve in the second half of the fiscal year.
Burberry is not the only one suffering from weak performance. Tod's, a long-established Italian luxury goods group, has delisted from Euronext Milan. Before delisting, the company announced its results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, with revenue falling 6.7% to 252 million euros. By brand, sales of the main brand Tod's fell 6.6% to 121 million euros, Roger Vivier fell 23.2% to 52.7 million euros, and Hogan's sales increased 8.2% to 61.5 million euros. By region, sales in Greater China fell 24% to 67.3 million euros, the Italian market fell 0.6% to 59.6 million euros, the European market excluding the Italian market increased 5.1% to 60.2 million euros, and the U.S. market increased 19.6% to 2000. million euros, other markets fell 5.8% to 45.2 million euros.
The price war for large models is going crazy. On the morning of May 21, Alibaba Cloud announced that the price of Tongyi Qianwen GPT-4 main model Qwen-Long was reduced by 97%, and 1 yuan can buy 2 million tokens. This move is quite a bit like pointing at bytes. Previously, ByteDance released the Doubao model on May 15, announcing that the market price of its main model is 0.0008 yuan/thousand tokens, which is 99.3% cheaper than the industry average price. After Alibaba Cloud reduced its price, its API input price dropped from 0.02 yuan/thousand tokens to 0.0005 yuan/thousand tokens. But despite a 97% price cut, Alibaba Cloud's price advantage only lasted a few hours. On the afternoon of the 21st, Baidu Smart Cloud announced that the two main models of Wenxin Model will be free of charge with immediate effect, including ERNIESpeed and ERNIELite.
"As long as there is a price reduction, you have to follow it, otherwise you will probably be left behind." In response to the recent price cuts by large model manufacturers, Zhang Junlin, head of new technology research and development at Sina Weibo, told China Business News. Behind the fierce and fierce price war, large model manufacturers have many reasons to follow.
Britain's biggest medical scandal kills around 3,000 people
The biggest scandal in British medical history is shocking.
According to CCTV News on May 21, British Prime Minister Sunak apologized for the "failures" of his country's previous governments after the results of the "blood contamination scandal" investigation were announced on the 20th. He called this day a national day of shame for the United Kingdom and promised to Compensate the victims at all costs.
The latest revealed investigation report shows that in the UK, this incident caused 30,000 people to be infected with HIV or hepatitis C virus through blood products, and has currently caused about 3,000 deaths. British media stated that the above numbers are increasing every week.
According to brokerage China, the British "Times" previously reported that the British House of Commons has passed an amendment and decided to establish an independent agency specifically responsible for managing state compensation payable in the "blood contamination scandal." The cost could be as high as £22bn. After the results of the investigation into the blood contamination scandal were announced on May 20, British Prime Minister Sunak apologized for the "failures" of his country's previous governments, calling this day a national day of shame in the UK, and promised to compensate the victims at all costs.
