Markets
What is the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect?
What is the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect?
On November 17th, the long awaited Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect launched, connecting Mainland China’s capital markets with Hong Kong in a way never seen before.
Before the new investment channel link, individual investors could only participate indirectly in financial securities in the Mainland, such as specific funds and ETFs. The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, however, now allows investors to trade securities in a range of listed stocks in each both markets through their respective securities companies. This helps to promote and strengthen the connection between the two markets.
There is still a big disconnect between dual-listed companies traded in both Shanghai and Hong Kong. Some expected deeply discounted shares trading in Hong Kong to converge with their corresponding values on the Mainland. However, it is also true that shares are not directly fungible, which means that arbitrage is not possible.
It is expected that the Shenzhen Exchange will follow suit in the future if the Stock Connect is deemed successful. With all three merged, it would create the 2nd largest exchange in the world with a market capitalization of $7.5 trillion. While not yet passing the NYSE in value, the combined exchange would be bigger than the NASDAQ which has a market capitalization of $7.3 trillion.
Original graphic from: Goldman Sachs
Other Infographics
Markets
Visualizing Major Layoffs At U.S. Corporations
This infographic highlights the accelerating pace of layoffs so far in 2022, as businesses cut costs ahead of a potential recession.

Visualizing Major Layoffs at U.S. Corporations
Hiring freezes and layoffs are becoming more common in 2022, as U.S. businesses look to slash costs ahead of a possible recession.
Understandably, this has a lot of people worried. In June 2022, Insight Global found that 78% of American workers fear they will lose their job in the next recession. Additionally, 56% said they aren’t financially prepared, and 54% said they would take a pay cut to avoid being laid off.
In this infographic, we’ve visualized major layoffs announced in 2022 by publicly-traded U.S. corporations.
Note: Due to gaps in reporting, as well as the very large number of U.S. corporations, this list may not be comprehensive.
An Emerging Trend
Layoffs have surged considerably since April of this year. See the table below for high-profile instances of mass layoffs.
Company | Industry | Layoffs (#) | Month |
---|---|---|---|
Peloton | Consumer Discretionary | 2,800 | February |
Funko | Consumer Discretionary | 258 | April |
Robinhood | Financial Services | ~400 | April |
Nektar Therapeutics | Biotechnology | 500 | April |
Carvana | Automotive | 2,500 | May |
Doma | Financial Services | 310 | May |
JP Morgan Chase & Co. | Financial Services | ~500 | June |
Tesla | Automotive | 200 | June |
Coinbase | Financial Services | 1,100 | June |
Netflix | Technology | 300 | June |
CVS Health | Pharmaceutical | 208 | June |
StartTek | Technology | 472 | June |
Ford | Automotive | 8,000 | July |
Rivian | Automotive | 840 | July |
Peloton | Consumer Discretionary | 2,000 | July |
LoanDepot | Financial Services | 2,000 | July |
Invitae | Biotechnology | 1,000 | July |
Lyft | Technology | 60 | July |
Meta | Technology | 350 | July |
Technology | <30 | July | |
Vimeo | Technology | 72 | July |
Robinhood | Financial Services | ~795 | August |
Here’s a brief rundown of these layoffs, sorted by industry.
Automotive
Ford has announced the biggest round of layoffs this year, totalling roughly 8,000 salaried employees. Many of these jobs are in Ford’s legacy combustion engine business. According to CEO Jim Farley, these cuts are necessary to fund the company’s transition to EVs.
We absolutely have too many people in some places, no doubt about it.
– Jim Farley, CEO, Ford
Speaking of EVs, Rivian laid off 840 employees in July, amounting to 6% of its total workforce. The EV startup pointed to inflation, rising interest rates, and increasing commodity prices as factors. The firm’s more established competitor, Tesla, cut 200 jobs from its autopilot division in the month prior.
Last but not least is online used car retailer, Carvana, which cut 2,500 jobs in May. The company experienced rapid growth during the pandemic, but has since fallen out of grace. Year-to-date, the company’s shares are down more than 80%.
Financial Services
Fearing an impending recession, Coinbase has shed 1,100 employees, or 18% of its total workforce. Interestingly, Coinbase does not have a physical headquarters, meaning the entire company operates remotely.
A recession could lead to another crypto winter, and could last for an extended period. In past crypto winters, trading revenue declined significantly.
Brian Armstrong, CEO, Coinbase
Around the same time, JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced it would fire hundreds of home-lending employees. While an exact number isn’t available, we’ve estimated this to be around 500 jobs, based on the original Bloomberg article. Wells Fargo, another major U.S. bank, has also cut 197 jobs from its home mortgage division.
The primary reason for these cuts is rising mortgage rates, which are negatively impacting the demand for homes.
Technology
Within tech, Meta and Twitter are two of the most high profile companies to begin making layoffs. In Meta’s case, 350 custodial staff have been let go due to reduced usage of the company’s offices.
Many more cuts are expected, however, as Facebook recently reported its first revenue decline in 10 years. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made it clear he expects the company to do more with fewer resources, and managers have been encouraged to report “low performers” for “failing the company”.
Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here.
– Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Meta
Also in July, Twitter laid off 30% of its talent acquisition team. An exact number was not available, but the team was estimated to have less than 100 employees. The company has also enacted a hiring freeze as it stumbles through a botched acquisition by Elon Musk.
More Layoffs to Come…
Layoffs are expected to continue throughout the rest of this year, as metrics like consumer sentiment enter a decline. Rising interest rates, which make it more expensive for businesses to borrow money, are also having a negative impact on growth.
In fact just a few days ago, trading platform Robinhood announced it was letting go 23% of its staff. After accounting for its previous layoffs in April (9% of the workforce), it’s fair to estimate that this latest round will impact nearly 800 people.
Agriculture
Which Countries Produce the Most Wheat?
Global wheat production is concentrated in just a handful of countries. Here’s a look at the top wheat-producing countries worldwide.

Visualizing Global Wheat Production by Country (2000-2020)
Wheat is a dietary staple for millions of people around the world.
After rice and corn (maize), wheat is the third most-produced cereal worldwide, and the second-most-produced for human consumption. And considering wheat’s importance in the global food system, any impact on major producers such as droughts, wars, or other events, can impact the entire world.
Which countries are the largest producers of wheat? This graphic by Kashish Rastogi visualizes the breakdown of 20 years of global wheat production by country.
Top 10 Wheat Producing Countries
While more than 80 different countries produce wheat around the world, the majority of global wheat production comes from just a handful of countries, according to data from The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Here’s a look at the top 10 wheat-producing countries worldwide, based on total yield in tonnes from 2000-2020:
Rank | Country | Continent | Total yield (tonnes, 2000-2020) | % of total (2000-2020) |
---|---|---|---|---|
#1 | 🇨🇳 China | Asia & Oceania | 2.4 B | 17.0% |
#2 | 🇮🇳 India | Asia & Oceania | 1.8 B | 12.5% |
#3 | 🇷🇺 Russia | Asia & Oceania | 1.2 B | 8.4% |
#4 | 🇺🇸 U.S. | Americas | 1.2 B | 8.4% |
#5 | 🇫🇷 France | Europe | 767 M | 5.4% |
#6 | 🇨🇦 Canada | Americas | 571 M | 4.0% |
#7 | 🇩🇪 Germany | Europe | 491 M | 3.5% |
#8 | 🇵🇰 Pakistan | Asia & Oceania | 482 M | 3.4% |
#9 | 🇦🇺 Australia | Asia & Oceania | 456 M | 3.2% |
#10 | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | Europe | 433 M | 3.1% |
China, the world’s largest wheat producer, has yielded more than 2.4 billion tonnes of wheat over the last two decades, making up roughly 17% of total production from 2000-2020.
A majority of China’s wheat is used domestically to help meet the country’s rising food demand. China is the world’s largest consumer of wheat—in 2020/2021, the country accounted for approximately 19% of global wheat consumption.
The second-largest wheat-producing country is India. Over the last two decades, India has produced 12.5% of the world’s wheat. Like China, India keeps most of its wheat domestic because of significant food demand across the country.
Russia, the world’s third-largest wheat producer, is also the largest global exporter of wheat. The country exported more than $7.3 billion worth of wheat in 2021, accounting for approximately 13.1% of total wheat exports that year.
Russia-Ukraine Impact on Global Wheat Market
Because Russia and Ukraine are both significant global wheat producers, the ongoing conflict between the two countries has caused massive disruptions to the global wheat market.
The conflict has had an impact on adjacent industries as well. For instance, Russia is one of the world’s major fertilizer suppliers, and the conflict has led to a global fertilizer shortage which could lead to food shortages worldwide.
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