IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY....

The elections may start off the week´s news in Spain again, as although no Government is yet assigned, the general scrutiny in the provincial electoral boards began on Friday, and they have until today, Monday, to complete their work. It is a public recount where the foreign votes, which changed the picture slightly on Friday, are included.

Next week, as of August 8, once all the appeals have been resolved, the results will be published, and the electoral boards will issue the credentials so that the deputies and senators can appear in Congress and the Senate to be accredited.

The parade of the new parliamentarians to do the 'paperwork' is expected from Thursday 10 August. The whole process will not be completed until the first week in September. Meanwhile, in the financial sphere, the week starts with the publication of the May advance of the balance of payments in Spain, and with the preliminary inflation data for July and GDP for the second quarter, in the euro area.

In the business field, on Monday Meliá Hotels, Prosegur and Iberpapel will present results. Meanwhile, Aedas Homes and Desa pay a dividend.

In Germany, where the financial situation has bene highlighted as being worse than the UK by some commentators, the GDP data for the second quarter comes to light, and retail sales for June are released. In the UK, the figures for mortgage concessions for June are published, and the Bank of England reports on consumer credit for June.

Whilst much of Europe is on fire, and record temperatures recorded, the Mediterranean Sea being the latest to fall victim of the highest temperature ever recorded, the climate policy debate in the UK will continue, as oil and gas giant BP announces its results on Tuesday.

British Gas had already caused uproar after announcing record profits of nearly £1 billion last week, even though prices had to increase because of the war in Ukraine, Covid, grain prices, any excuse other than the fact they simply wanted to make a profit of the most vulnerable.

Of course, BP might not have made any money, they too could be suffering much in the same way Shell announced a mere £4 billion in profits.

On Tuesday, it is expected that the first inmates, sorry, asylum seekers, will board the Bibby Stockholm, although more people may be looking at their pockets as the alcohol duty rate changes take effect. UK manufacturing PMI figures are also released today.

Starbucks, Greggs, and Pfizer, which is not a description of a great weekend, but rather a market analysis, publish their financials on Tuesday, and on Wednesday we might see how war benefits companies, as BAE Systems publish their results.

Wednesday will show us how the financial crisis has affected other large companies, and not just our own wallets, as the Fortune Global 500 is published, an annual ranking of the top 500 corporations worldwide as meas- ured by revenue.

Later this week, Thursday to be precise, the Bank of England will announce its latest rate decision, which may well push mortgages even higher than they are now.

On the same day, the European Central Bank will release a Monetary Policy Report which should give an indication of when Threadneedle Street expects the direction of travel to change.

Perhaps more noteworthy will be the central bank’s analysis of the UK’s stubbornly high food inflation. Meanwhile, radio show producers will find out who actually still listens to the radio, as RAJAR listening figures are published.