A short update on the situation in Italian politics 🇮🇹
The Italians to strike a deal with Russia?
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The election result likely allows Giorgia Meloni from Brothers of Italy to form a coalition with Lega Nord (Salvini) and Forza Italia (Berlusconi)
Let's have a look at the views of the coalition
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Salvini from Lega Nord recently said that the West should "rethink sanctions for Russia" in order to secure energy for this winter and the next..
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Berlusconi from "Forza Italia" recently said that Russia was pushed into a war with Ukraine by Nato aggressions
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More than 40% of ALL energy consumption in Italy is natural gas based, making it one of the countries with the biggest reliance on GAS in Europe
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More than 50% of ALL electricity production in Italy is based on burning natural gas.. This is by far the largest proportion of Nat Gas in electricity production among the big countries in Europe
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This was the composition of Nat Gas imports in Italy before the whole crisis started.. Almost 40% of the Gas imports stemmed from Russia..
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It is impossible to replace between 15-20% of the entire energy mix in a matter of months, why Italy will likely be forced into
A) Material rationing
or
B) A gas deal with the Russians
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The European leadership in Bruxelles is well aware of this issue, why they have been busy issuing warnings about repercussions for Italy, if they decide on route B above..
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Bottom-line?
I would NOT be surprised to see Meloni on a plane to Moscow within a month or two from now
What will the ECB do in such a situation? And what about the EUR?
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Time for a new episode of "The Macro Trading Floor"
This week @BobEUnlimited joined us for a discussion on the correlation break-downs seen in markets through 2022
A FANTASTIC episode, if you ask me
Bob argues that the break-down in correlations is a bad signal for risk parity strategies and 60/40 portfolios run by most, if not al most all, bigger institutions.
This could lead to a material setback for assets and Bob is short assets overall
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The episode is sponsored by Saxo Bank.
Saxo Bank offers unparalleled market coverage across fiat, crypto and metals. Moreover, they provide free currency subaccounts and competitive interest rates on deposits in local currencies. Learn more at goto.saxo/macrofx
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