It’s officially that time of year when people start deciding that work projects are “getting pushed to next year”.

Holiday parties are in full swing, malls are slammed with moderately prepared shoppers (the less-prepared ones are yet to start their Christmas shopping), and owners of Christmas-themed bars are laughing hysterically as they set increasingly insane prices for cocktails.

I’m into it.

Markets

*Source: CoinGecko.com As of 7:17AM December 16, 2024

World news

Top news stories of the past week

1) Google’s quantum computer and parallel universes: Google has introduced a new quantum computer chip called Willow, which is incredibly fast and can perform calculations in minutes that would take regular supercomputers over 10 septillion years. Google suggests that this speed could be because the chip is using processing power from parallel universes, supporting the multiverse theory. Wild.

2) McKinsey pays for opiod involvement: McKinsey & Company, a consulting firm, has agreed to pay $650 million to settle charges related to its role in promoting the sales of the opioid pain medication OxyContin for Purdue Pharma. McKinsey provided strategies to increase OxyContin sales, despite knowing the risks and dangers of the drug, and a former partner is facing charges for deleting related documents to impede investigations.

3) Musk worth $400 billion: Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has become the first person to have a net worth of over $400 billion. This significant increase in his wealth is largely due to the rising value of Tesla shares and a recent deal that boosted the valuation of his space company, SpaceX, to around $350 billion.

Top WEIRD stories of the past week

1) Drones have been flying over New Jersey and people are (understandably) freaking out.

2) A New Zealander who doesn’t speak any Spanish won the Spanish world Scrabble championships. Showoff?

3) The UK’s spy agency has released its annual Christmas card puzzle to find the next generation of code-breakers.

Chart

You like charts? Graphs? Ya you do

Tesla is at new all-time-highs and worth more than $1.3 trillion. That’s more than five times bigger than the next biggest auto manufacturer.

Investment idea

What are we investing in?

Private credit

Private credit refers to loans made to companies or individuals by non-bank lenders, such as private equity firms, hedge funds, or even individuals. Unlike traditional bank loans, private credit is often used to finance businesses, real estate, or acquisitions that may not meet the strict lending criteria of banks.

It’s an attractive investment because it typically offers higher returns compared to traditional fixed-income assets like bonds, driven by the illiquidity and complexity of the loans.

Private credit is especially interesting now as interest rates are dropping, making the higher yields of private credit more attractive. For retail investors, access to private credit has historically been limited, but that’s changing. Today, platforms like Yieldstreet and Fundrise provide opportunities to invest in private credit deals with relatively low minimums.

For example, Yieldstreet offers investments in short-term loans backed by real estate, while Fundrise includes private credit exposure in its real estate and income-focused portfolios. These platforms make it easier for individuals to diversify and tap into this high-return asset class.

There’s even private credit ETFs getting launched for easy access - check out BondBloxx Private Credit CLO ETF.

History

On this day…

…in 1773, the Boston Tea Party took place. Americans destroyed an entire shipment of tea sent by the East India Company as a protest against taxes by the British Parliament on tea. If there’s one way to needle the Brits, it’s messing with tea.

Music

Banger of the week

Most important thing

Meme? Nah. Art.