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- Rates dropping, yacht sinks, jobs worse
Big week! We got some very good but expected news and some very bad but unexpected news. Which one is which? I’ll never tell! Just kidding, I’ll tell.
Markets
PAST WEEK | YEAR-TO-DATE | |
|---|---|---|
Nasdaq | +1.1% | +19.2% |
S&P500 | +1.3% | +18.8% |
MSCI Emerging Markets | +0.5% | +10.3% |
Bitcoin* | +6.3% | +50.0% |
Ethereum* | +3.7% | +17.3% |
Stock of the week: | +51.7% | -16.8% |
Crypto of the week: | +47.2% | +80.9% |
Source: CoinGecko.com As of 8:33AM August 25th
World news
Top news stories of the past week
1) Rate cuts ahead (finally): U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has said at last that “the time has come” for interest rate cuts to begin. First cut will very likely happen in September, now it’s just a question of whether it will be for 0.25% or 0.50%. Place your bets!
“Put a finger down if…”
2) Britain’s Bill Gates dies: Mike Lynch, the British tech entrepreneur known as 'Britain's Bill Gates,' has died at 59 after his yacht sank near Sicily, shortly after winning a significant fraud trial against Hewlett Packard. Lynch, who co-founded the software company Autonomy, faced legal challenges over allegations of financial manipulation but was acquitted just months before his death. Tough break.
Mike Lynch’s now-sunk yacht: Bayesian
3) U.S. job growth not as good as we thought: U.S. job growth has been revised down by 818,000. If that sounds like a lot, it is. It’s the largest adjustment since 2009, raising concerns about the labor market's strength. However, current economic indicators do not suggest an imminent recession.
Are these guys all applying for the same job? What’s the dress code?
Top WEIRD stories of the past week
1) A Kentucky man was sentenced to nine years in prison for faking his own death to avoid paying child support and committing computer fraud and identity theft. Was it worth it?
2) A postcard mailed 121 years ago finally got delivered. Based on my experience, not a surprising delay.
3) Drug smugglers continue their arts and crafts projects, now disguising meth as watermelons. Delicious!
Chart
You like charts? Graphs? Ya you do
Is this the chart for the latest meme stock after Elon Musk tweeted about it? Nope. It’s the stock chart for Starbucks after it was announced that Brian Niccol, CEO of Chipotle, is moving to Starbucks as CEO in September.
Investment idea
What are we investing in?
Growth and tech stocks
With interest rate decreases on the horizon, now could be a great time to invest in growth and technology stocks.
I’m sure you know what tech stocks are - things like Apple, Google, and Meta. But what about growth stocks? These are companies that are expected to grow their earnings at a higher rate than the market.
Lower interest rates usually help growth and tech stocks because borrowing money becomes cheaper and their future potential revenue looks more attractive.
So what are a couple of investment options? Check out:
QQQ - this is the big daddy of tech ETFs. It represents the top 100 stocks in the Nasdaq - a tech-heavy U.S. stock index. Performance has been strong:
MSCI World Growth Index - for those of you who want a more global approach, this is an index of all stocks globally that are more growth-oriented. It’s also done quite well:
Music
Banger of the week
Most important thing
Meme? Nah. Art.
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