Issue 2.0 / April 19, 2020
Economy
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is forecasting the worst economic catastrophe in 90 years. According to the IMF, "For the first time since the Great Depression, both advanced economies and emerging market and developing economies are in recession." The economy is bracing for a financial crisis we have not experienced since 1930. The question is, how bad will it be?
Goldman Sachs’ forecast for American GDP echoes the IMF’s forecast, as Chief Economist Jan Hatzius said it could fall by 11% from 2019 levels. Goldman also predicts unemployment in the United States will increase to numbers not seen since World War II.
The pandemic has impacted millions of Americans because of layoffs or furloughs. Since late March, the U.S. has lost about 10% of its workforce as weekly jobless claims jump by 6.6 million.
Jeroen Blokland, Head of Multi Asset at Robeco, tweeted that 2020 could be the worst year for the UK economy since 1709. Yes, that’s more than 300 years!
China’s economy shrank for the first time since 1976, ending a nearly half-century of growth.
And as far as banks and financial institutions go, Jay Bray, CEO of the nation’s largest non-bank mortgage servicer, Mr. Cooper says, “There is going to be complete chaos.’
American banks are preparing for a flood of bad loans. JPMorgan Chase has set aside $6.8 billion to protect against an expected wave of loan defaults. Wells Fargo (WFC) is also preparing for bad times, setting aside $3.1 billion to protect themselves against bad loans.
Many more major banks in the United States are anticipating a spike of loan defaults as households and business customers take a big financial hit from the coronavirus pandemic.
Coronavirus could trigger mortgage market crash as first FDIC-Insured bank falls.
Octavio Costa, Crescat Capital’s portfolio manager, warns that the Coronavirus-stimulus won’t be enough to repair a damaged [stock] market. He elaborates on Twitter, “Global stocks lost about $20 trillion in value so far. The real damage, including all other assets, is probably closer to $50 trillion. Add a $13 trillion dollar shortage problem globally.”
And for the past week, here are the top 25 hotel markets (REVPAR = revenue per available room), according to Keith McCullough, CEO of Hedgeye Risk Management.
But in the midst of all this bad financial news, Cameron Winklevoss sees a silver lining for crypto. He tweeted that, “This pandemic will be an inflection point for Bitcoin and the Metaverse.”
- Here’s what to watch in the stock market this week
- 7.5 million small businesses are at risk of closing, report finds
- Man who warned of the coronavirus crisis months ago says gut tells him a 50% or deeper decline in stock market from the February top likely
Personal Finance
Coronavirus Stimulus Checks
Didn’t get your check? The IRS has launched a Get My Payment tool that lets taxpayers monitor when and how their money will arrive.
Experts are warning people to watch out for con artists and scams. Here’s what you need to know to keep yourself and your money safe.
Barbara Corcoran, real estate mogul and investor on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” suggests you use that money to set yourself up for the future.
We don’t know how long we will be in this recession. Carreira Finance says, “If you have already received or are waiting to receive your stimulus check, take a moment to make a budget.” And the Financial Panther asks the important question of, “Where Should You Put Your Emergency Fund?”
- Millions are still waiting for their unemployment checks
- Indiana man waiting for stimulus payment finds $8.2M in his bank account
Employment Resources
Job platform Jobble specializes in hourly and gig opportunities and is a good resource if you’re looking for flexible employment.
Indeed posts openings and provides suggestions and resources for workers impacted by COVID-19.
For emergency financial assistance search FindHelp by zip code to find local resources for food assistance, help paying bills, and other free or reduced cost programs, including new programs for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Do you know your cryptocurrency and blockchain? Are you a writer or content creator? CryptoSorted, a source of actionable crypto trading and investment guides, is looking for experienced, skilled, and competent authors and media creators to partner with.
Financial Panther has side hustled over $90,000 in 4 years. Read his article on how The Reverse Latte Factor can help you reach financial freedom.
Investing
Micro-investing app Acorns is seeing more than 70% of its customers sticking with their weekly contributions or investing more. You link a checking account to your Acorns account to fund it. And if you want, link credit cards to participate in “rounds up” where spending purchases are rounded to the nearest dollar and then invests the difference. In effect, this app makes investing in the stock market easy because you're spending through your spare change.
- You can start investing with Acorns. Get $5 when you use my invite link.
According to an investor with 40 years of experience, “periods of great stress” are the time to learn valuable investing lessons.
If you love charts and dividends stocks then this one is a must-see for you.
Being a good investor is incredibly boring.
The power of compounding.
OKEx’s Lenix Lai: Passive income in crypto is the new way to earn.
The big money is not in the buying and selling, but in the waiting.
The hustle includes the weekends.
Cryptocurrency
Bankers Advised to Tighten Stablecoin Regulations
The Financial Stability Board, which advises the G20 on vulnerabilities to the global financial system, recently published a document outlining 10 recommendations on how bankers should regulate stablecoins, which go from anti-money laundering sanctions to outright prohibiting these coins.
HTC Phone will let you Mine Crypto
HTC has partnered with Mida Labs to allow users to mine Monero (XMR) with the Exodus blockchain phone. The web 3.0 phone empowers you to own your own data and the device’s architecture secures your crypto assets. Mining on the phone only earns users a measly $0.0038 per day. I think I can earn more crypto in an hour mining Bitcoin on the CryptoTab Browser. However, I do think the following features makes the Exodus blockchain phone very enticing:
- Trusted Execution Environment that protects your private keys, sensitive data and runs trusted codes from 3rd party DApps partners.
- Guards your assets and sensitive data from malware and phishing.
- Supports Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Non-Fungible Tokens, and more.
American Crypto: The U.S. Digital Dollar
The recent U.S. Stimulus that sent most American individuals $1.200 saw an earlier bill that included the U.S. Digital Dollar but was removed as the current stimulus bill progressed across the House and Senate. However, there has been a new bill submitted for another stimulus and includes the digital dollar once again with a bit more new details.
Coinbase Custody to Support Polkadot Staking with up to 20% Returns
Coinbase Custody is launching staking support for holders of Polkadot’s DOT tokens via a blockchain firm, Bison Trails.
Dozens Of Chrome Extensions Discovered Emptying Crypto Wallets
Several cryptocurrency enthusiasts have learned that the hard way after their cryptocurrency wallets were drained dry.
Black Swan author urges: “Use cryptocurrencies!”
One of the best-performing hedge funds is starting to trade bitcoin futures.
Microsoft gets patent for cryptocurrency system using body activity data.
Amazon
Amazon rallied to another record session last week pushing it to a market capitalization of over 1 trillion dollars! To put that in perspective, the entire cryptocurrency market cap is a little over $200 billions dollars.
Amazon slashes commission rates for affiliate program that gives publishers a cut of sales.
$10,000 a second? Amazon’s results could be amazing. The retailer’s quarterly figures will have received a huge boost from lockdown sales.
Long-term investors must buy during bear markets - and these companies offer dividend reinvestment or direct investment plans to help seize the opportunity. Gilead, Costco and Amazon: 3 Top Pandemic Stocks for DRIP Investors.
Get 9 Free Kindle eBooks from Amazon for World Book Day. This national celebration of reading and books takes place every year on April 23.
Video Games and Multimedia
Whether it's a sharp increase in Twitch viewership, a big rise in concurrent Steam users, or surprising sales of the new Animal Crossing game, interactive entertainment is one way in which people are keeping themselves occupied and distracted during this difficult time.
The Nintendo Switch is sold out everywhere, so someone built one from scratch.
The new season of the popular video game Fortnite has been delayed.
Need a great time killer? QUBES an indie puzzle video game is now available for FREE. The objective? You have to push the boxes to their happy places. Here is a hilarious video review for this addictive game by 2purpleswitchs on YouTube. Best. Video. Game. Review. Ever!
Earn COIN while exploring the world! COIN allows you to gather COIN everywhere you go with your smartphone, while enjoying in-app mini-games and interactions with other geo-miners. This app features Geomining, Geoclaiming, and Geodrops. You can redeem your earned COIN for crypto like XYO, BTC, or ETH and other prizes too. XYO Token is an Ethereum-based ERC-20 utility token. Definitely an app worth checking out. You can earn 1,000 COIN with this link.
Google gifts two-months access to Stadia Pro as gamers stay at home. Anyone who signs up will get two free months of Stadia Pro with instant access to nine games, including GRID, Destiny 2: The Collection, and Thumper.
League of Kingdoms is offering a pre-registration event with $30 in gifts. This Clash of Clans style video game is developed with the Ethereum blockchain and allows gamers to earn cryptocurrency.
Sling TV: Free TV During Happy Hour (5 p.m. to midnight)
Learning
- Drawing Is the Fastest, Most Effective Way to Learn, According to New Research
- Henry Miller’s 11 Commandments of Writing and His Daily Creative Routine
- Vala Afshar, Chief Digital Evangelist at Salesforce, advice to his younger self
- 10 Free Financial Literacy Games for High School Students
- Here’s the One Thing You Need to Do to Learn More About Anything
Other Things I’m Reading
- Is Reddit Introducing A Blockchain Points System?
- Here’s Why This Billionaire Just Applauded Chainlink and Compared it to Bitcoin
- Is Now a Good Time to Invest?
- The Maid Who Mapped the Heavens
- How Bing Ranks Search Results
- Mediterranean diet slows cognitive impairment, studies say
- Restaurant owners share 5 delivery, takeout tips for customers
