Lyft cuts 13% of its workforce (2 min read)

Lyft announced on Thursday that they are cutting 13% of the company’s workforce. Currently, Lyft has just over 5000 employees. In an email to its employees, Lyft said the layoffs are due to possible recession next year and the rising rideshare insurance costs. Lyft is not the only tech company to announce cuts or a hiring freeze recently. Netflix, Spotify, Coinbase, Shopify and on the same day Stripe have also announced layoffs. While Google, Amazon, and Meta have put a freeze on hiring to keep their expenses in check.

Apple now valued at more than Amazon, Alphabet and Meta — combined (3 min read)

Apple’s market cap was at $2.307 trillion, surpassing the market cap of Meta, Google, and Amazon combined at $2.306 trillion as of the market closed on Wednesday. All four tech giant’s market caps have shaved off during the tech sector sell-off this year but Apple has held up much better. Apple was the only stock of its three peers to have a positive reaction after the recent Q3 reporting despite results only in-line with estimates. Year to date, Apple lost about 20%, which is much less severe than Meta, Google, and Amazon who have lost between 40% to 70%.

Hedge fund Elliott warns of more pain to come after 2022 market rout (3 min read)

Elliott Management said to its clients that the global economy is heading towards hyperinflation and could lead to the worst financial crisis since the second world war. The hedge fund estimated a 50% market drop from the peak to trough is considered normal, which suggests the current major equity markets have not fallen enough. It also warned investors not to assume they have seen everything because of past financial crises experience and believe market falls will always prove to be short lived.

Bank of England sets biggest rate hike in 33 years and warns of a long recession (3 min read)

The Bank of England raised the interest rate by 0.75%, taking its benchmark rate to 3%. This is the eighth rate hike from the central bank this year and the biggest single rate hike since 1989. The central bank said they believe the current economy is already contracting and projected the recession to continue into the first half of 2024. They also don’t think inflation will come back down until next year so more rate hikes are expected in the coming months. The British pound fell sharply after the news, dropping 2% against the dollar and 1.2% against the euro.

Cathie Wood’s ARKK Slips on Roku Downgrade (2 min read)

Shares of Roku plunged about 15% on Wednesday after giving a gloomy Q4 guidance in the previous day. Roku is the third largest holding in the ARKK Innovation ETF (ARKK) which led to the ETF dropping another 3%. ARKK soared 153% in 2020 as the pandemic boosted the returns on big tech, crypto, and gaming stocks which is a heavy focus in the ETF. However, ARKK has lost more than 62% this year as most tech companies are struggling with declining ad revenues and economic slowdowns, underperforming the Nasdaq QQQ and the S&P 500.

Dimensional Launches First Sustainable ETFs (2 min read)
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Dimensional Fund Advisors launched three ESG focused ETFs on Wednesday that offer diversified exposure to US, International, and Emerging Market equities. Dimensional Fund Advisors was traditionally a mutual fund only company and started their ETF offerings about 2 years ago. They have been investing in the ESG space for nearly 15 years through their mutual funds and this is the first time in an ETF structure. The firm has also filed for a global fixed income ESG ETF that will be launched later this month.

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