Bank of Canada Raises Interest Rates to 14-Year High (3 min read)

The Bank of Canada raised the interest rate by 0.75% to 3.25%. There have been five increases since March and the last time interest rate higher than 3% was in April 2008. This shows the central bank’s dedication to bring inflation down to 2% target. CPI report shows the annual inflation slowed in July to 7.6% from 8.1%. Housing market has also deflated, home sales decreased by 30% and average home price dropped 5% compared to a year ago. Economic activities are expected to slow down in the remainder of the year and some economists believe the rates can go up to as high as 4%.

Oil Capitulates On Global Recession Fears (2 min read)

Crude oil prices continue to collapse and dropped over 5% on Wednesday as it gets closer to $80. Fear of global recession appears to be driving the price downwards. Energy traders remain skeptical of any rallies because of the on-going global economic challenges like high inflation and interest rates, the uncertainty of supplies, and weak demand from China, the largest crude importer in the world. Demand outlook in China remains bearish as the country maintains a zero-COVID lockdown that restricts the movement of 65 million people.

'Big Short' investor Michael Burry says the epic market crash he predicted is in full swing — and flags crypto, SPACs, and meme stocks as early victims (2 min read)

Michael Burry has been saying the market is in a bubble of unprecedented size. He recently tweeted that the massive market crash is underway and the list of predictions he made correctly. He said last year the booms in trendy assets like crypto or MEME stocks will not last because it’s driven by speculative fervor like housing in 2007 or dot.com in 1999. In his latest tweet, he pointed out all these investments have crashed but we have not hit the bottom yet. Michael believes we are only halfway into the crash based on how past downturns have played out.

What’s the Metaverse? The Answer Depends on the ETF (4 min read)

Metaverse has been growing very slowly in the ETF industry because it is hard to define it from an investment perspective. There are seven “Metaverse” ETFs in the market and each one has their own angle in portfolio constructions. The only thing in common are three stocks in their holdings - Apple, Snap, and Take-Two Interactive Software. These companies are linked to the Metaverse through mild related initiatives, augmented reality, or video games. As the relations are unclear, it shows the difficulties in establishing a definition for this space and thus hinder the growth of ETFs in this category.

Direxion Adds 6 Single-Stock ETFs (1 min read)

Direxion just added another 6 ETFs to their suite of leverage and inverse single-stock ETFs. These new additions offer one time inverse and 1.5 times leveraged exposure to the stock of Amazon.com, Alphabet, and Microsoft. The management fee is 0.97% and listed on the Nasdaq exchange. Currently there are a total of 22 similar ETFs on the exchange and Direxion accounts for about half of it. More details on Direxion’s ETFs are available in this article.

You Bought a Car. Here's How to Quickly Pay Down Your Auto Loan. (3 min read)

New data shows the current average US monthly auto payment is $644, an increase of 11.8% from the same time last year. This article shared ways to help pay down the debt faster. Try to get a side hustle - it can be something done at home like virtual tutoring, the point is to bring some extra cash to help pay off debt. Use your savings from purchases - any time you made savings from a coupon or discount, put it towards your auto payment. And streamline payments through autopay. If you can afford to, pay extra on your loan payments because it forces you to be self-disciplined and also helps to speed up paying off loans.

That's it for today! You can reply to this email if you have any comments or feedback.

Thanks,
Thomas

No longer want to receive these emails? Click here to unsubscribe.