The Fragreport

Anointed the “next frontier” of the internet, the metaverse has arrived. For many of us, we first heard of the metaverse after Mark Zuckerberg officially rebranded parent company Facebook into Meta Platforms, Inc.

Markets got off to a rocky start this week as we witnessed significant declines across all major indices and all 11 sectors of the S&P 500 on Monday, September 20 (See Figures Below). The sell-off was prompted by worries of contagion fears over China’s real estate sector and persistent efforts by the government to increase regulatory pressure on various sectors of the economy.

Geopolitical Forecast 2021: The COVID-19 pandemic dominated the focus of international relations in 2020 and effectively changed the course of domestic and international politics for all critical power centers around the world. The geopolitical landscape has changed, and investors should be aware of emerging geopolitical dynamics in 2021.

As a follow-up to Friday’s Market Commentary Alert, Reuters reported later in the evening that this weekend’s anticipated virtual meeting between US and Chinese trade officials was postponed. The meeting was cancelled due to scheduling conflicts allowing China more time to make purchases of US goods.

The evolving saga of “Cold War 2.0" will add another chapter this weekend as US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He are reportedly set to meet around August 15. This will be the second meeting of the summer where senior officials from both countries will meet to discuss the progress of the phase-one trade deal signed earlier this year.

We alerted our readers last week of a possible meeting scheduled for June 17 between US and Chinese officials in Hawaii and promised a follow-up analysis. Rumors of the meeting reported by the POLITICO were true, and the outcome of the secret seven-hour meeting between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi remain somewhat unclear.