Fed goes big again with third-straight three-quarter-point rate hike (2 min read)
The Fed has approved a third consecutive 0.75% rate hike on Wednesday. This takes the key rate to a new target range of 3% to 3.25% which is the highest since the global crisis in 2008. This decision will likely affect businesses and households by pushing the costs up. The economic projections were also updated and it shows the unemployment rate and inflation in 2023 are higher than they projected in June. The Fed expects interest rates to remain high in the following years with the projections of 4.4% in 2022, 4.6% in 2023, 3.9% in 2024, and 2.9% in 2025.
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Putin Warns, Defense Stocks Jump; Watchdog Says Nuke Markets Poised To Surge (6 min read)
Putin has implied again on Wednesday that he is willing to use nuclear weapons on the invasion of Ukraine and ordered his military reserve forces to mobilize. US defense stocks jumped about 2% as a result of this news. The US continued to dominate the market for global nuclear bombs and missiles. Defense stocks have generally outperformed this year. This article includes some of the defense stocks to look out for and are well positioned to benefit from the increase in funding associated with nuclear missiles.
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Existing home sales fall in August, and prices soften significantly (2 min read)
US existing home sales in August dropped 0.4% from July and 19.9% lower than a year ago. It is the slowest sales pace since May 2020 when the pandemic stalled housing sales activities. These sales figures represent the closings which means the contracts were signed in June or July when the mortgage rate spiked. The drop in sales was more in the lower priced existing homes. Sales of homes priced between $250,000 to $500,000 were down 14% year over year, while homes priced between $750,000 to $1 million were only down 3%.
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New ETF Dedicated to Solving Climate Change (1 min read)
The Carbon Collective Climate Solutions U.S. Equity ETF (CCSO) was launched on the Nasdaq on Tuesday. This ETF focuses on companies that provide solutions addressing climate change. Companies selected in the holdings must have at least 50% of their revenue from climate solutions that fall into the following six categories: green utility, waste management, biofuel, carbon capture and sequestration, water and water utilities, or plant-based diet companies. CCSO has a management fee of 0.35% and holds about 200 companies.
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Nasdaq Joins BlackRock in Institutional Crypto Push (2 min read)
Nasdaq launched a new business called the “Nasdaq Digital Assets” that offers crypto exposure to its institutional clients. It will be led by Ira Auerbach who previously ran the crypto brokerage and exchange Gemini. Nasdaq has also upgraded their anti financial crime technology for cryptocurrencies. Although cryptocurrencies had lost two-thirds of its market-cap, demand for exposure remains strong among institutional investors. Financial institutions and asset managers have been opening its door to the crypto market with BlackRock being the recent example where they launched a bitcoin trust and partnered with Coinbase.
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3 Budgeting Mistakes That Could Be Tripping You Up (2 min read)
This article talks about some of the mistakes to watch out for when budgeting. The first mistake is forgetting your one-off expenses. It's easy to remember expenses that occur every month but the ones that happen once a year might be easily forgotten. If you have any annual renewal fees for example, it is important to include that to your monthly budget as well. The second mistake is guessing your variable expenses. Cost of groceries, for example, changes month to month, so it would be better to use real data instead of assumptions in your budget. An easy way to do so is average the monthly grocery costs in the last six months. The third thing to watch out for is when bills increase. Recurring bills such as cables or streaming services can increase from time to time. Although it might not be a lot, it can easily add up. A simple way to stay on top is to review those expenses quarterly.
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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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