Image Credit: Johannes Plenio

New Light Shed on the Federal Reserve’s Road Toward Accepting Cryptocurrency

 

Much of Fed Chairman Jay Powell’s confirmation hearing, essentially a job interview to keep his job, was sleepy. He straddled a lot of fences and tried to make everyone happy while not saying anything that could be overblown and impact the economy or roil markets. Digital currencies came up in a question, and his response shed much more needed light on the Fed’s
unofficial stance. Powell also offered clearer insight on his thoughts on privately issued cryptocurrency.

Position on Digital Currency

Powell was responding to a question asked by Sen. Pat Toomey during the hearing. Toomey asked, “If Congress were to authorize and the Fed were to pursue a central bank digital dollar, is there anything about that that ought to preclude a well-regulated, privately issued stable coin from co-existing with a central bank digital dollar?” Powell’s response was without hesitation. “No, not at all,” Powell said confidently.

Addressing an inquiry as to the state of the Fed’s long-promised, much-awaited report, from Senator Mike Crapo remotely from the Dirks, Powell said the Fed’s report on digital currencies is not “quite where we needed to get it” but would be released soon. The Fed chair explained the delayed report was the consequence of “changes in monetary policy.”  The
report is expected to discuss official policy surrounding the possible rollout of a central bank digital currency in the U.S. “It’s more going to be an exercise in asking questions and seeking input from the public rather than taking a lot of positions on various issues, although we do take some positions,” said Powell. “The report really is ready to go and I would expect we will drop it — I hate to say it again — in coming weeks.”

Other Digital Currency News

Powell’s testimony came the same day (January 11) Representative Tom Emmer’s Twitter post attracted thousands of retweets and  “Likes.” In it, he indicated he would be presenting new legislation on digital currency. It’s unclear what the legislature may be. It could be an attempt at “fixing” the definition of a broker in the infrastructure law, which took effect in November 2021, or another regulatory path to encourage innovation in the crypto industry.

 

 

Take-Away

The lack of clarity from Washington, including the Fed, Congress, and the SEC, on how to regulate the ongoing upsurge in the private digital currency space has caused those in the US Capitol, Wall Street, and the crypto universe to clash. Answers as to the official direction may be ahead as Powell confirmed that the central bank is planning to publish its much-awaited report on digital currencies in the coming weeks. This came after he pointedly agreed that a digital currency could co-exist within our monetary system with traditional cash dollars.

 

Paul Hoffman

Managing Editor, Channelchek

 

Suggested Reading:

Is Gold Still Preferred Over Large Digital Currencies as a Safe-Haven Asset?

Non-Fungible-Tokens Have Become a New Revenue Source for Once Stodgy Institutions

About the Central Bank Digital Currency Position Report, That’s Late

How Close is the US to Having a Digital Currency?

 

 

Sources:

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/cryptos-fed-cbdc-digital-coin-central-bank-coexist-powell-toomey-2022-1

https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-lawmaker-hints-at-upcoming-crypto-legislation-as-jerome-powell-says-fed-will-release-report-on-digital-currency-soon

https://twitter.com/RepTomEmmer

 

 

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Coinbase Closing Down for Four Weeks So Employees Can Chill

 

One doesn’t run a marathon each day and expect that months or years later they will still be able to put in a solid effort. Anything with an intense ongoing effort requires idle time, and a chance to recharge before getting back to the difficult pace. This is the reason Coinbase is giving employees four full weeks where production essentially shuts down – to balance out their “intense work culture.”

 

According to its blog published this week about company culture, written by its chief people officer, nearly the entire company will shut down in order to avoid work from piling up. The shutdown time won’t be consecutive weeks but instead scheduled approximately one week per quarter.

 

The cryptocurrency exchange that went
public in April of 2021 first experimented with “recharge weeks” in 2020 after discovering that many employees weren’t taking time off.  The blog post explains, “Despite our FTO policy for most employees, we realized in 2020 that many employees weren’t taking enough time off to recharge, either because they didn’t want to force their teammates to cover for them or because they didn’t want to fall behind on their work.” The chief people officer explained the culture is not one of family, but one of teamwork. This forced time out prevents employees from undermining the success of themselves or the company that could occur if they did not take a breather. Coinbase teams with critical 24/7 responsibilities, such as customer service and security, scheduled alternate recharge weeks.

 

The blog post discusses company culture by saying, “For most of us, Coinbase is the most intense place we’ve ever worked,” it explains “That intensity is only magnified by the current
moment in crypto, and it often results in long days and long weeks.” This is why the forced time off is critical. During the employee “recharge weeks,” nearly the entire company will shut down in order to avoid work from piling up.

 

Paul Hoffman

Managing Editor, Channelchek

 

Suggested Reading:

The Latest on Digital World Acquisition Corp’s Progress (Trump Media SPAC Deal)

NFTs are Becoming More Popular with Sports Fans

Coinbase to Propose a Regulatory Framework for Digital Currency

Is Interest Paid on Crypto Holdings an SEC Violation?

Sources:

https://blog.coinbase.com/working-at-coinbase-intense-and-demanding-balanced-by-deliberate-recharge-time-a5235b9fa920

 

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Coinbase Closing Down for Four Weeks So Employees Can Chill

 

One doesn’t run a marathon each day and expect that months or years later they will still be able to put in a solid effort. Anything with an intense ongoing effort requires idle time, and a chance to recharge before getting back to the difficult pace. This is the reason Coinbase is giving employees four full weeks where production essentially shuts down – to balance out their “intense work culture.”

 

According to its blog published this week about company culture, written by its chief people officer, nearly the entire company will shut down in order to avoid work from piling up. The shutdown time won’t be consecutive weeks but instead scheduled approximately one week per quarter.

 

The cryptocurrency exchange that went
public in April of 2021 first experimented with “recharge weeks” in 2020 after discovering that many employees weren’t taking time off.  The blog post explains, “Despite our FTO policy for most employees, we realized in 2020 that many employees weren’t taking enough time off to recharge, either because they didn’t want to force their teammates to cover for them or because they didn’t want to fall behind on their work.” The chief people officer explained the culture is not one of family, but one of teamwork. This forced time out prevents employees from undermining the success of themselves or the company that could occur if they did not take a breather. Coinbase teams with critical 24/7 responsibilities, such as customer service and security, scheduled alternate recharge weeks.

 

The blog post discusses company culture by saying, “For most of us, Coinbase is the most intense place we’ve ever worked,” it explains “That intensity is only magnified by the current
moment in crypto, and it often results in long days and long weeks.” This is why the forced time off is critical. During the employee “recharge weeks,” nearly the entire company will shut down in order to avoid work from piling up.

 

Paul Hoffman

Managing Editor, Channelchek

 

Suggested Reading:

The Latest on Digital World Acquisition Corp’s Progress (Trump Media SPAC Deal)

NFTs are Becoming More Popular with Sports Fans

Coinbase to Propose a Regulatory Framework for Digital Currency

Is Interest Paid on Crypto Holdings an SEC Violation?

Sources:

https://blog.coinbase.com/working-at-coinbase-intense-and-demanding-balanced-by-deliberate-recharge-time-a5235b9fa920

 

Stay up to date. Follow us:

	Image Credit: Johannes Plenio

New Light Shed on the Federal Reserve’s Road Toward Accepting Cryptocurrency

 

Much of Fed Chairman Jay Powell’s confirmation hearing, essentially a job interview to keep his job, was sleepy. He straddled a lot of fences and tried to make everyone happy while not saying anything that could be overblown and impact the economy or roil markets. Digital currencies came up in a question, and his response shed much more needed light on the Fed’s
unofficial stance. Powell also offered clearer insight on his thoughts on privately issued cryptocurrency.

Position on Digital Currency

Powell was responding to a question asked by Sen. Pat Toomey during the hearing. Toomey asked, “If Congress were to authorize and the Fed were to pursue a central bank digital dollar, is there anything about that that ought to preclude a well-regulated, privately issued stable coin from co-existing with a central bank digital dollar?” Powell’s response was without hesitation. “No, not at all,” Powell said confidently.

Addressing an inquiry as to the state of the Fed’s long-promised, much-awaited report, from Senator Mike Crapo remotely from the Dirks, Powell said the Fed’s report on digital currencies is not “quite where we needed to get it” but would be released soon. The Fed chair explained the delayed report was the consequence of “changes in monetary policy.”  The
report is expected to discuss official policy surrounding the possible rollout of a central bank digital currency in the U.S. “It’s more going to be an exercise in asking questions and seeking input from the public rather than taking a lot of positions on various issues, although we do take some positions,” said Powell. “The report really is ready to go and I would expect we will drop it — I hate to say it again — in coming weeks.”

Other Digital Currency News

Powell’s testimony came the same day (January 11) Representative Tom Emmer’s Twitter post attracted thousands of retweets and  “Likes.” In it, he indicated he would be presenting new legislation on digital currency. It’s unclear what the legislature may be. It could be an attempt at “fixing” the definition of a broker in the infrastructure law, which took effect in November 2021, or another regulatory path to encourage innovation in the crypto industry.

 

 

Take-Away

The lack of clarity from Washington, including the Fed, Congress, and the SEC, on how to regulate the ongoing upsurge in the private digital currency space has caused those in the US Capitol, Wall Street, and the crypto universe to clash. Answers as to the official direction may be ahead as Powell confirmed that the central bank is planning to publish its much-awaited report on digital currencies in the coming weeks. This came after he pointedly agreed that a digital currency could co-exist within our monetary system with traditional cash dollars.

 

Paul Hoffman

Managing Editor, Channelchek

 

Suggested Reading:

Is Gold Still Preferred Over Large Digital Currencies as a Safe-Haven Asset?

Non-Fungible-Tokens Have Become a New Revenue Source for Once Stodgy Institutions

About the Central Bank Digital Currency Position Report, That’s Late

How Close is the US to Having a Digital Currency?

 

 

Sources:

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/cryptos-fed-cbdc-digital-coin-central-bank-coexist-powell-toomey-2022-1

https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-lawmaker-hints-at-upcoming-crypto-legislation-as-jerome-powell-says-fed-will-release-report-on-digital-currency-soon

https://twitter.com/RepTomEmmer

 

 

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	Image Credit: Marie LaFauci 

Is the Tide Turning on Equity Investors?

 

The Federal Reserve has been accommodating economic growth since at least 2008. A broad stock market bet against the Fed during this 13-year period would have been like trying to swim against the tide. Only in 2018 did the market (S&P 500) have a negative return. The dip that year was in response to fiscal policies, including trade tariffs.

Last week the Fed released minutes from an FOMC meeting held three weeks earlier. These meetings are where Fed governors decide on the stance of monetary policy, making money easier or tighter within the economy. Within the minutes it was clear that the Fed viewed the job market to be near statistically peak levels; they also discussed shrinking their balance sheet. In other words, money that was put into the market to help lower rates and stimulate growth through bond purchases would be unwound by selling securities which has the effect of taking money out of the economy. One reason the market reacted so abruptly is that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell gave a statement to reporters after that meeting, as he normally does, and did not mention this seemingly important change in thought back then.

By the end of last week (January 7), the Nasdaq had fallen 4.5%, the S&P 500 had fallen 1.9%, and the Russell 2000 Small-Cap index by 2.8%. During the Fall of 2020, the Fed chairman presented inflation as not a concern, “transitory” is how he described any pricing strength. Many market watchers at the time saw inflation as more than fleeting and a potential problem. But, not unlike mentioned earlier, going against the Fed can be costly. So, the market did not react to the many forecasts of higher inflation and rates.

 

Investment Style Shifts

During the period from 2008 until the present, not all sectors or stocks participated in the strong market growth. One only has to look at a comparative chart of the energy sector to realize this. As the Fed begins to step on the economic brakes, there will be sectors and stocks that either benefit from the changed financial situation or have a strong enough product and management team to prosper despite the less accommodative stance of the Fed. Investing in the broader market may be detrimental.

Identifying the sectors poised for growth in a weakened market and the stocks within the sectors that have the greatest opportunity now has increased importance. This may be a dramatic shift for those that have been investing for only a dozen or fewer years. During this time stock fundamentals seemed less important in the selection process than just making sure one was in the market. The truth is fundamental analysis of the various industries and companies within those industries has always been important, it’s just that short-cuts like just climbing aboard an index fund for the ride were easy and rewarding.

Were likely to go through a period where strong economic news is viewed as bad because it could mean a need to accelerate rate hikes, and bad economic news is bad because the Fed isn’t likely to back off even when there are pockets of weakness.

 

Looking Forward

Very successful investors have been warning against mismatched valuations in indexed funds for a couple of years. These “mismatches” have only broadened since then. Now may be the time for those that believed indexed funds offered diversification to understand that this is less true now than ever before. Also, better understand what you’re buying and the growth potential of individual companies. For example, as of Thursday (January 6), 38% of Nasdaq stocks had fallen 50% or more from their 52-week highs. The benchmark was only down by 5.7% from its all-time high. This is because of the heavy weighting of big tech that remained strong. These stocks mask the underlying weakness of the other companies in the index. Should their massive valuations come more in line with historical norms, they could pull down the index significantly.

 

Take-Away

The tone of the last Fed meeting, based on the minutes, indicates a more rapid change in direction at the Fed. This has already roiled markets that have been benefitting from years of increasingly accommodative policy. As the tide turns, finding the sectors with the better prospects and the specific stocks within those sectors will require a little more diligence. If you have not already done so, we continue to recommend registering, at no cost, for Channelchek emails; these include research by top-ranked equity analysts and insightful articles on various industries, markets, and economic activity.

Paul Hoffman

Managing Editor, Channelchek

Suggested Reading:

Is the Index Bubble Michael Burry Warned About Still Looming?

Index Funds May Still Fall Apart over Time

Peter Lynch Echoes Michael Burry’s Warning Over Index Fund Investments

Why Michael Burry has Better Opportunity Than Cathie Wood

Sources:

www.koyfin.com

https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20220105a.htm

https://www.barrons.com/articles/stock-market-tech-stocks-federal-reserve-51641603791

 

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	Image Credit: PiggyBank Canada (Flickr)

Robinhood Will Be Adopting More Traditional Investment Programs

 

Some of the trading patterns and techniques that once allowed brokerage app Robinhood (HOOD) to flourish have largely faded from popularity. This may be pushing the once disruptive newcomer to adopt more traditional investment tools and services.

 

News Out of
Robinhood

Robinhood Markets is adding a top executive with a traditional brokerage pedigree. They are adding him while they also plan to introduce new investment tools to guide investors into more accepted investing techniques. As the momentum that helped the company during the era when investors were locked down with their smartphone and their stimulus checks slowed, the company that went public in July 2021 at $38 has found its stock is now trading below $16. While some of the company’s more traditional peers have learned a few new business practices from Robinhood, in order to regain its footing, Robinhood is now adopting some more tried and true online brokerage practices.

The announcement on Wednesday (January 5) that it would appoint Steve Quirk, the former executive vice president of trading and education at TD Ameritrade, in a new position as chief brokerage officer may be welcome news for some stockholders. Mr. Quirk will be responsible for overseeing Robinhood Financial and Robinhood Securities which are the company’s broker-dealers. In its announcement, Robinhood highlighted the depth of Quirk’s 35 years of experience within the securities brokerage community.

 

Background

After Charles Schwab (SCHW) acquired TD Ameritrade, it was known that top executives from TD Ameritrade would be leaving after the transition. Robinhood has been viewed as a tech and data company that is in the securities business. Several of its top executives have been previously employed by Amazon (AMZN) and Alphabet (GOOGL), their focus is now broadening.

While the app’s technology may be easy to use, other brokerages are catching up. And relying heavily on meme stock fads and cryptocurrency trading may not be diversified enough for the company to withstand the test of time. The newer additions to its program will help users accumulate assets and follow a wealth accumulation strategy with less risk. This may be a safer road for both the company and the clients when compared to its history of free stock give-away for opening an account, and other game-like features to encourage usage.

While this is a significant step toward remaking Robinhood’s business model, the new direction could come at the expense of repetitive trades. More than three-quarters of Robinhood’s revenue comes from transactions. However, becoming less dependent on high-frequency traders and more on assets on the platform could level Robinhood’s earnings and lower the volatility in its own share price.

 

Suggested Reading:

From Robinhood to Rocket $HOOD

Robinhood’s IPO and its Place in Stock Market History

Can Small Investors Compete with Wall Street?

Cannabis Fundamentals Not Hype Important to Investors

 

Sources:

https://blog.robinhood.com/

https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2022/01/06/ex-td-ameritrade-exec-joins-robinhood-tech-roundup/?slreturn=20220006150524

https://www.barrons.com/articles/new-executive-hiring-highlights-a-shift-at-robinhood-51641433636

 

Stay up to date. Follow us:

	Image Credit: PiggyBank Canada (Flickr)

Robinhood Will Be Adopting More Traditional Investment Programs

 

Some of the trading patterns and techniques that once allowed brokerage app Robinhood (HOOD) to flourish have largely faded from popularity. This may be pushing the once disruptive newcomer to adopt more traditional investment tools and services.

 

News Out of
Robinhood

Robinhood Markets is adding a top executive with a traditional brokerage pedigree. They are adding him while they also plan to introduce new investment tools to guide investors into more accepted investing techniques. As the momentum that helped the company during the era when investors were locked down with their smartphone and their stimulus checks slowed, the company that went public in July 2021 at $38 has found its stock is now trading below $16. While some of the company’s more traditional peers have learned a few new business practices from Robinhood, in order to regain its footing, Robinhood is now adopting some more tried and true online brokerage practices.

The announcement on Wednesday (January 5) that it would appoint Steve Quirk, the former executive vice president of trading and education at TD Ameritrade, in a new position as chief brokerage officer may be welcome news for some stockholders. Mr. Quirk will be responsible for overseeing Robinhood Financial and Robinhood Securities which are the company’s broker-dealers. In its announcement, Robinhood highlighted the depth of Quirk’s 35 years of experience within the securities brokerage community.

 

Background

After Charles Schwab (SCHW) acquired TD Ameritrade, it was known that top executives from TD Ameritrade would be leaving after the transition. Robinhood has been viewed as a tech and data company that is in the securities business. Several of its top executives have been previously employed by Amazon (AMZN) and Alphabet (GOOGL), their focus is now broadening.

While the app’s technology may be easy to use, other brokerages are catching up. And relying heavily on meme stock fads and cryptocurrency trading may not be diversified enough for the company to withstand the test of time. The newer additions to its program will help users accumulate assets and follow a wealth accumulation strategy with less risk. This may be a safer road for both the company and the clients when compared to its history of free stock give-away for opening an account, and other game-like features to encourage usage.

While this is a significant step toward remaking Robinhood’s business model, the new direction could come at the expense of repetitive trades. More than three-quarters of Robinhood’s revenue comes from transactions. However, becoming less dependent on high-frequency traders and more on assets on the platform could level Robinhood’s earnings and lower the volatility in its own share price.

 

Suggested Reading:

From Robinhood to Rocket $HOOD

Robinhood’s IPO and its Place in Stock Market History

Can Small Investors Compete with Wall Street?

Cannabis Fundamentals Not Hype Important to Investors

 

Sources:

https://blog.robinhood.com/

https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2022/01/06/ex-td-ameritrade-exec-joins-robinhood-tech-roundup/?slreturn=20220006150524

https://www.barrons.com/articles/new-executive-hiring-highlights-a-shift-at-robinhood-51641433636

 

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	Image Credit: Diverse Stock Photos (Flickr)

After a Big Year for Cryptocurrencies, What’s on the Horizon in 2022?

 

The year 2021 was marked by several major breakthroughs for cryptocurrencies.

For one, new crypto applications like non-fungible tokens (NFTs) gained ground, with sales of these digital assets setting new records at major auction houses. Secondly, Bitcoin made strides towards mainstream acceptance with major websites like Expedia and Microsoft accepting the coin as a means of exchange. Third, in September, El Salvador became the first country in the world to accept bitcoin as legal tender.

There are many more examples of how the market for cryptocurrencies has expanded just in the last year. With this uptick of activity, what’s ahead in 2022 for cryptocurrencies?

 

This article was republished with permission from The Conversation, a news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It represents the research-based findings and opinions of Erica Pimentel, Assistant Professor, Smith School of Business, Queen’s University, Ontario. Bertrand Malsch, Associate Professor of Accounting, Smith School of Business, Queen’s University, Ontario. Nathaniel Loh, Junior Fellow of the CPA Ontario Centre for Corporate Reporting and Professionalism, Queen’s University, Ontario

 

We believe there are three main areas where cryptocurrencies will gain steam in the next year: greater acceptance of Bitcoin as a means of payment, increased regulatory scrutiny and a rise in NFT activity.

The Embrace of Bitcoin

Understanding what motivates individuals to adopt Bitcoin has been a challenge for researchers. A recent study suggests five main factors contribute to someone’s likelihood of using Bitcoin:

• Trust in the system
• Online word of mouth
• Quality of the web platforms available for transactions
• Perceived riskiness of the investment
• Expectations about Bitcoin’s performance

Other studies have added more nuances to this argument by considering gender, age and educational level as equally important factors.

The conditions in the crypto space have made it increasingly likely that Bitcoin will become mainstream in the near future.

First, there’s increased activity in online communities like Twitter and Reddit, where even crypto novices can exchange information with seasoned investors to obtain word-of-mouth advice about price predictions and trading strategies.

Second, there has been an explosion of new crypto-exchanges — or trading platforms where one can exchange fiat currency for crypto — and major investments into the technological infrastructure of existing exchanges. These infrastructure investments have expanded access to crypto markets and also piqued the interest of institutional investors.

 

Institutional Involvement, Regulatory Scrutiny

The last year has seen institutional players like the European Investment Bank (EIB) — the lending arm of the European Union — take a stance on crypto.

In April, the EIB issued a 100-million-euro digital bond on the Ethereum blockchain. Goldman Sachs, Banco Santander and Société Générale were also involved in the issuance. Research has pointed to institutional adoption as a turning point for widespread crypto adoption, and it would appear we’re quickly heading there.

Altogether, the increased availability of points of sale that accept Bitcoin as a means of exchange and institutional investment in the space will likely lead to greater acceptance of Bitcoin as a method of payment in 2022.

After cryptocurrencies, decentralized finance (DeFi) is widely regarded as the next frontier in fintech. DeFi provides the opportunity to create decentralized systems that rely on distributed ledger technology to facilitate peer-to-peer loans, create new financial securities like stablecoins or even offer new models of corporate governance.

Regulators also appear to be increasingly paying attention. In November, the European Council — the body that defines the political priorities of the European Union — announced its position on the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework, which will provide increased regulatory clarity over cryptoassets and DeFi.

In the same month, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency of the United States produced a joint statement announcing that they would produce a set of policy directives on crypto.

Researchers have pointed to a lack of regulation as a major barrier to mainstream crypto acceptance. Increased government oversight, coupled with the move by several countries to consider digital versions of their national currencies, are likely to result in a lot more regulatory activity in 2022.

 

A Rise in NFT Activity

The year 2021 brought a new wave of sales of NFTs. An NFT can offer proof of ownership of, for instance, digital art in the same way a physical canvas can offer proof of ownership of a Vincent Van Gogh painting.

Although NFTs began as a way to formalize ownership of digital art, they have since expanded to include other types of digital property, including digital real estate.

Sales of NFTs are setting new records — a recent one raised US$17.1 million at Sotheby’s. As a result, the auction house launched Metaverse, an NFT-only marketplace to facilitate sales of digital works.

As new NFT applications emerge, this space will likely continue to grow in 2022.

 

Buyer Beware

Despite these investment opportunities, we urge crypto investors to be skeptical of claims they read in online communities. At a minimum, crypto enthusiasts must do their due diligence before investing.

What is sure to emerge in 2022 are new frauds and schemes. Take, for instance, the SquidGame crypto that capitalized on the popular Netflix show but was a fraud. Or the fake Banksy NFT that sold for 244,000 British pounds.

Research on the behavior of retail investors has found some are highly susceptible to the “fear of missing out.”

Therefore, it may be difficult to turn down a tip from your hairstylist or your best friend’s cousin on the next hot crypto opportunity. However, crypto investors should educate themselves on the technology and the basics of financial markets if they want to prudently get involved.

Crypto, after all, remains speculative and is not for everyone.

 

Suggested Reading:

Can Wall Street Giants Put Crypto on the Menu?

Backed by the Full Faith and Credit of Blockchain

Making Sense of Non-Fungible Tokens – Living in a Digital World

NFT Fractional Ownership and Metaverse Museums

 

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Flotek Industries Receives Unsolicited Indication of Interest, Engages Piper Sandler Flotek Industries announced it has received an unsolicited indication of interest for a potential transaction for all or part of the Company Research, News & Market Data on Flotek Watch recent presentation from Flotek

Euroseas Ltd. Announces New Charters For Two Of Its Vessels, M/V “Evridiki G” and M/V “EM Corfu” Euroseas Ltd announced the extension of the charter of its container vessels M/V “Evridiki G” and a new time charter contract for its container vessel M/V “EM Corfu” Research, News & Market Data on Euroseas Watch recent presentation from Euroseas

Kratos Receives $50 Million Sole Source Contract Option Award for 65 Production BQM-177A Aerial Target Drones from U.S. Navy Kratos Defense & Security Solutions announced that Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems (KUAS) has been awarded a $50,917,490 contract modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract Research, News & Market Data on Kratos

 

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Will the Markets Continue to March Higher in 2022?

 

A relentless bull market, Covid variants, supply-chain issues, and inflation are likely to each have a chapter of their own when the story of the market’s strength throughout 2021 is written. With all the concern during 2021 over whether stocks would stay strong, whether disease outbreaks would crush the economic recovery, and the risks of inflation, the outcome is quite positive. Had an investor built a diversified portfolio on January 1, then ignored it the rest of the year, there is a good chance it would have outperformed the historical averages of the major indexes.

 

 

For those who diversified away from equities and decided to play it “safe” in the bond market, many U.S. aggregate bond funds were negative on the year. High yield funds tended to return a paltry return relative to stocks.

 

 

Consumer Prices

Inflation started the year as a talking point and ended as the center of attention. The U.S. economy entered 2021, with consumer prices rising at a low 1.4% year-over-year. This was below the Federal Reserve’s long-run target of 2%. If inflation concerned the Fed at all early in the year, it believed it should be a little higher.

Later in the year, supply-chain-related shortages had made it from business news to mainstream news programming. Prices became a normal dinnertime topic after the Dollar Store raised all of their prices. The weakest supply chain links were reported to be at ports where containers with imported goods waited to be put on a truck for delivery to its U.S. destination. Both available drivers and trucks are still well below the current demand level.

Stimulus

Supply and delivery problems were half of the issues that worked their way into producer and consumer prices. Another stimulus bill out of Washington worth $1.9 trillion signed by the new administration (added to the previous $900 billion package, and the $2.1 trillion Cares Act passed the prior year) put an excessive amount of money into the economy.  The Fed was supporting borrowing by purchasing Treasury securities at nearly a $1 trillion annual rate, along with nearly $500 billion in agency mortgage-backed securities, which continues to keep mortgage rates well below current inflation. The high level of cash that was pumped into the markets to offset lockdowns and slowdowns, along with the inability to deliver goods on time worked its way into prices. Inflation now stands at the end of the year at close to 7%. This is a rate not seen since 1982.

 

Easy Money

Although not counted directly in the CPI-U basket of goods, larger homes increased in price 20% or more as people working from home now felt they wanted more space. Early in the year, Fed Chairman Powell called the surge in single-family home prices a “passing phenomenon.”

Along with housing, inexpensive money seemed to drive asset prices up on much more speculative assets.  This included collectible non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Few had even heard of an NFT at the start of 2021, but by year-end the stratosphere-level prices had many investors taking notice and many companies entering the space. Low cost of money inflates the value of assets. Cheap, abundant capital can justify all manner of additions to one’s life, from electric vehicles, to stationary computerized bicycles, to speculative cryptocurrencies.

A shortage of computer chips led to a shortage of stand-alone computers and auto and marine engines that rely on these chips. This helped drive up used car and boat prices as much as 10% in one month.

  

Take-Away

In 2022, one can only guess, much of what drove prices up (new money, supply problems) will diminish. It already seems that a stimulus package that only a couple of months ago had the votes to pass, may not be even close to the expected size first envisioned. With this in mind, money management and investment selection become even more important. One cannot just put their money in a diversified fund and expect it to ride the wave.

The Channelchek platform houses current equity research and well thought out articles that are added to daily. It is a great online source to discover actionable ideas and understand what industry experts are thinking.
Register at no cost now for Channelchek to help stimulate your investor knowledge in 2022.

 

Suggested Reading:

Why Small Cap Stocks May Outperform Large Caps in 2022

Market Index Inclusion and Spikes in a Stock’s Demand

Will there be Enthusiasm for Ark Invest’s ESG ETF?

ESG Ratings Could Miss Problematic Supply Chain Issues

 

Sources:

https://www.bls.gov/

https://apps.bea.gov/itable/index.cfm

www.koyfin.com

 

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