What we’re reading (10/31)
“Stocks Just Wrapped Up Their Worst Week Since March” (CNN Business). “It has been a messy week for the stock market. With only four days to go until Election Day, rising Covid-19 infections and uncertainty about further government stimulus to help the economy, there's plenty for investors to worry about. Stocks had their worst week since March, when the market tumbled under the first wave of coronavirus infections and lockdowns -- and one of their worst weeks of the year as a whole. All three major indexes also recorded the second straight month of losses.”
“We’re Halfway Through Earnings Season, Here’s What We’ve Learned” (Dealbreaker). “Beer sales in bars and restaurants remain under pressure, but Anheuser-Busch InBev said yesterday consumers have ‘quickly adjusted to the new reality’ of at-home imbibing…[s]treaming giant Spotify is officially in the groove, reporting a revenue jump of 14% yesterday…[c]able and entertainment conglomerate Comcast said yesterday its net profit fell 37% in Q3 with a potpourri of trends…[Royal Caribbean] came into port with negative (yes, negative) $34 million in revenue as it processed refunds, cancellations, and penalties.”
“Inside the Wild Stock Market For Politics Where Traders Bet On Our Next President” (Marker). “Right now someone, somewhere, is trying to make money off the latest news cycle. When the coronavirus pandemic began sweeping the globe, people began flipping hand sanitizer, while fashion brands pivoted to selling masks. When nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism erupted in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, some retailers saw an opportunity to sell merch, such as Black Lives Matter–themed wine stoppers and garden gnomes. And when President Trump tweeted on October 2 that he had tested positive for Covid-19, traders looking to earn quick cash on yet another campaign hiccup turned to PredictIt, an online prediction market where people buy and sell shares of what are essentially futures contracts for political events like elections, nominations, and presidential pardons.”
“‘Cash Is Trash,’ So Let’s Bet $425 Million On Bitcoin” (Wall Street Journal). “In volatile markets, you can use cash as offense or defense. MicroStrategy Inc., which recently had half-a-billion dollars in cash sitting around, thinks it can do both. The company could have gotten rid of its excess cash by paying a big dividend or by buying back much of its stock. Instead, MicroStrategy bet half its total assets on bitcoin. So is this a publicly traded company or is it a hedge fund?”
“The Man Who Wants To Help You Out Of Debt—At Any Cost” (The Guardian). “Dave Ramsey, America’s most influential personal finance guru, drives a pickup truck that, he says, will eat your electric car. He wears a .45 on his hip with a hollow-point in the chamber. He is an older white male, a self-described ‘capitalist pig’, and an evangelical Christian who almost always votes conservative. He hates government intervention in his life – and yours. His mortal enemy, however, is personal debt, and he has spent the last three decades on a crusade against modern usury, in the form of credit card companies (scum), payday lenders (the scum of the earth), and debt collectors (‘some good people’, but largely ‘complete scum’). Ramsey believes that as long as you have one red cent of debt – credit card debt, student loans, car payments, mortgages, medical bills – you can never be free. The day you take scissors to your credit cards is the beginning of your financial salvation.”
