AMTD Digital Shares Soar in Move Reminiscent of Wild Trading Debut (2 min read)
Shares of AMTD Digital (HKD) soared 312% on Wednesday without any news and triggered multiple market halts for volatility on its way up. The trading volumes were 50 times higher than its daily average over the last 10 days. The unusual movement was similar to the surge last month when it traded 32,000% higher from the IPO price in July but has since come back down. After today’s mysterious rally, it last traded at $189.42 which is about 90% from its peak price of $1,679 in August. HKD were amongst the most actively traded stocks on the Fidelity platform on Wednesday.
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Twilio to lay off 11% of workforce (2 min read)
Twilio will lay off 11% of its workforce as part of a major restructuring plan. The company said they are aiming for profitability in 2023 and the restructuring plan is to reduce operating cost and improve selling capacity. Twilio CEO said in a letter that the decision was extremely difficult but is necessary to ensure the company runs efficiently and aligns with priorities. The layoff will focus on the area of the company where it can operate efficiently without too much need of human intervention. Shares of Twilio went up 10% after the news.
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Major Asia-Pacific markets drop 2% following Wall Street plunge (1 min read)
Markets in Asia-Pacific also dropped following the news of a higher than expected US consumer price index report. The Nikkei 225 in Japan, Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong, Kospi in South Korea, and Shanghai composite in China all dropped an average of 2% as of last close. Both the Japanese yen and Korean won are hovering at one of their lowest levels. The US 2 year treasury reached 3.79% on Wednesday, the highest level since 2007 as the market prepares for another rate hike this month.
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Schwab Study Sees Growing ETF Demand (2 min read)
The study includes both ETF and non-ETF investors ranging from 25 to 75 years of age and need to have at least $25,000 in investable assets. The result shows that 93% will continue to use ETFs and 41% of non-ETF investors will start using ETFs in the next two years. Gen X and millennials are driving ETF growth much faster than boomers. Millennials have about 41% of their portfolio invested in ETFs and while boomers are at 19%. They expect to grow their ETF exposure to 48% and 26% respectively in the next five years. The assets of ETFs in the US have more than doubled in the last five years to $6.48 trillion.
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THOR Debuts With Volatility-Focused ETF (1 min read)
THOR Financial Technologies launched their first ETF on Tuesday. It is the THOR Low Volatility (THLV) with a management fee of 0.65% and is listed on the NYSE. Equity ETF launches in the current environment may not be the most appropriate time as US equity ETFs had an outflow of $3.7 billion last week. However, the firm is optimistic as their fund’s strategy aims to minimize risks by using a systematic approach to deviate away from areas of the market that could see high volatility or drawdown. More details about this ETF is available in the article.
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Are I Bonds Still a Worthwhile Investment for You Today? (3 min read)
I Bonds are government issued securities that pay a combination of a fixed rate and an inflation rate. The fixed rate stays the same throughout the life of the bond while inflation rate is set twice a year. In the current high inflation environment, I Bonds have become competitive and attractive. The interest rates for I bonds issued through October 2022 is at 9.62%. But there are a few caveats to investing in it. You can only start redeeming after the first year and need to give up three month’s worth of interest if you take it out within the next five years. You are also limited to buying $10,000 per year. However, with inflation maintaining high and rates continuing to rise, it might be worth considering a small allocation into I bonds to keep pace with inflation and guarantee returns in the next few years.
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That's it for today! You can reply to this email if you have any comments or feedback.
Thanks,
Thomas
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