The delta variant of the coronavirus continues to infect and kill across the globe with no end in sight. There are close to 700,000 confirmed new infections and 10,000 fatalities each day. For a world that never agreed on how to respond to the challenges posed by Covid-19, the mutation has spelled accelerating misery and sorrow. New Zealand extended its lockdown, as did Sydney, while U.S. states that repudiated precautions, such as Florida and Texas, are using more than 90% of their intensive care capacity as more of the unvaccinated—and a small number of vaccinated—are sickened.

As Covid-19 cases surge again, Wall Street has been unworried. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average set multiple record closes last week. Both indexes edged higher on Friday for their 48th and 34th record closes, respectively, of the year. 

Some of the top performing sectors last week were:

The stock market closed out the week higher, with the S&P (SP500) and Dow (DJI) ending at record highs as the strong jobs report buoyed reflation plays.

The Labor Department jobs report Friday showed the U.S. economy added 943,000 jobs in July. Economists expected 845,000 new jobs last month, according to Dow Jones estimates. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.4%, below the expectation of 5.7%.

Last week Stocks closed on a down note, as tech stocks led a broad retreat Friday. Major U.S. indexes were still higher on the month. 

On 15 April 2021, Georgia successfully priced a US$ 500mn, 5- year Eurobond. The coupon rate for the bond was determined at 2.750%. The Eurobond was met with significant interest from investors, some of the largest asset managers globally, with orders reaching US$ 2.0bn. After the book building the yield on the Eurobond was determined at 2.875%, representing c. 207bps spread over comparable US treasury (UST 0.750% due Mar 2026). Notably, Georgia tapped international debt markets for the first time since 2011, when a 10-year US$ 500mn, 6.875% Eurobond was issued.

Based on cooperation between the International Fund Curatio and Galt & Taggart the next document (XIV wave) of the healthcare sphere barometer has been published.

JSC Galt & Taggart has ensured successful issuance USD 10 mln worth biennial bonds of Kakhetian Traditional Winemaking LLC, one of the majour wine and alcohol producers in Georgia. This is the first emission of the Kakhetian Traditional Winemaking LLC, which shows increasing potential of the company.

Galt & Taggart offers its customers an innovative online investment space called Dashboard.

Galt & Taggart Investment Bank offers its customers a tailored and refined version of the G&T Trader website. Through an updated website, the G&T Trader platform gives customers access to more than 35,000 investment instruments. The intuitive interface of the platform allows customers to buy, store and sell securities through harmonized navigation.

Galt & Taggart Investment Bank, in order to increase access to finance for businesses, offers them support in obtaining mezzanine financing. Mezzanine financing is an intermediate product between the loan and equity, and the investment can be made in the form of both a loan and a preferred stock. The average funding term is 5-7 years and the minimum amount is $ 500,000.