by Calculated Risk on 11/30/2021 12:41:00 PM The FDIC released the Quarterly Banking Profile for Q3 2021 this morning: Quarterly net income rose $18.4 billion (35.9 percent) to $69.5 billion from the same period one year ago. … Total assets increased $462.6 billion (2 percent) from second quarter 2021 to $23.3 trillion. Securities rose $225 […]
Did Powell Just Spark “Shut It Down & Protect Returns” Mode Into Year-End?
The Powell-Put imploded this morning as The Fed Chair curb-stomped the ‘t’-word (transitory) and warned that “it is appropriate in my view to consider wrapping up the taper of our asset purchases, which we actually announced at the November meeting, perhaps a few months sooner. I expect we will discuss that at our upcoming meeting.” That […]
Best Buy Ventures Into Healthcare, Paying $400 Million For Current Health
Late last month, famed consumer electronics company Best Buy announced a revolutionary move: investing in healthcare. The press release detailed Best Buy’s decision to acquire Current Health, “a leading care-at-home technology platform that brings together remote patient monitoring, telehealth, and patient engagement into a single solution for healthcare organizations.” Deborah Di Sanzo, President of Best […]
Mark Meadows Reverses Course, Now Cooperating With Jan. 6 Committee
Topline Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is cooperating with the House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said Monday, in a significant flip from Meadows’ earlier stance of not complying with a subpoena requesting documents and a deposition from the high-ranking Trump Administration official. Key Facts Thompson, […]
Jerome Powell signals the Fed’s bond-buying program could end sooner as inflation persists.
live The Federal Reserve chair, Jerome H. Powell, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testify before the Senate Banking Committee at a time when prices are rising at the fastest pace in three decades.Sarahbeth Maney/The New York Times Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, signaled that the central bank is growing more wary of high […]
Stocks Fall After Powell's Taper Comments
Lululemon Sues Peloton Over Patent Infringement
The athletic apparel retailer Lululemon filed a lawsuit against the fitness company Peloton on Monday, accusing it of patent infringement over the designs of a new line of leggings and sports bras. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, accuses Peloton of trade dress infringement, false designation of origin […]
Will Ralf Rangnick Turn Manchester United’s Fortunes Around?
After the announcement of Ralf Rangnick as interim Manchester United manager was made public, the excitement was almost palpable among fans of the Red Devils. While it has been a few bleak months for Manchester United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the Red Devils’ hierarchy might well have just saved their season by making the change […]
PadSplit Expands Its Rooming House 2.0 Concept
More expansion news from affordable housing startup PadSplit: more rooms, more markets, more funding and an effort to increase the supply of homes. Founded in 2017, the Atlanta-based company aims to alleviate the affordable housing crisis with a new take on the rooming house. To that end, its platform helps both real estate investors to […]
What Will Industries Do With The Power Of Private Wireless Networks?
This is the final installment in a three-article series by business leaders at Nokia on the latest evolutions of Industry 4.0, what’s changed with uptake of smart, connected technologies, and how companies can use today’s advanced communications tools to fuel post-pandemic recovery and growth. Industry 4.0 took a massive leap forward over the last 18 […]
Shinomics; the Token that Allows Investors to Earn SHIB Automatically
Shinomics; the token that allows investors to earn SHIB automatically without effort Majuro, Marshall Islands, Nov. 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — (via Blockchain Wire) Shinomics is giving investors a chance to hold the token and earn SHIB without any action, all they have to do is hold. Investors who are looking to earn passive income, now have […]
Oxford Professor: Official Data Shows Face Masks “Made No Meaningful Difference” To Infection Rates
Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News, University of Oxford Professor Jim Naismith asserts that despite England dropping its mask mandate in July and Scotland keeping its rules in force, official data shows this “has made no meaningful difference” to infection rates. Naismith goes on to argue that new face mask mandates imposed in […]
Omicron Unlikely To Cause Severe Illness In Vaccinated Patients, BioNTech Founder Says
Update (1130ET): In Germany, Chancellor-in-waiting Olaf Scholz said Tuesday that the Bundestag would vote on whether to back compulsory vaccinations. He blamed the unvaccinated, raising questions about whether the Germans truly see the omicron variant as a threat. If so, will these mandatory vaccinations apply to a new round of omicron-specific vaccines? Elsewhere in Berlin, […]
Rokkit Fuel Newly Launched Cryptocurrency Set to Shake the Social Media Industry
A recently launched project & crypto coin, Rokkit Fuel, is being hailed as the next big cryptocurrency and has major plans to revolutionise the social media industry with a cryptocurrency-subscription based social media app. And if that isn’t enough, the token also redistributes 5% of each transaction to all holders in Bitcoin. Many previous projects […]
2021 Was The Year Of Product Placement In WWE
In 2021, WWE sponsorships were almost as ubiquitous as Roman Reigns in the main event, or “can they coexist” storylines. WWE’s countless sponsorship and content deals helped lead the promotion to unprecedented financial success in 2021, however these instances of product placement have ceded mixed results creatively, especially when WWE relies on campy comedy to […]
New Documentary ‘Out Of Time’ Celebrates Legacy Of Jim Ellison And Material Issue
1991 remains a fascinating year in the history of modern music. Artists like Vanilla Ice, Rick Astley, Roxette and Michael Jackson all released albums, finding placement on the pop charts alongside hard rock standouts like Metallica, Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne and Guns N’ Roses. Phil Collins graced a Genesis album for the last time while […]
Solana Tops Cardano, Ethereum To Become The Most Staked Cryptocurrency
Solana has slowly made its way into being the crypto sweetheart of 2021. The smart contracts platform had found popularity in the third quarter of the year as it rallied to new all-time highs following the massive adoption of the blockchain. It didn’t take long before the blockchain was being listed as an “Ethereum killer” […]
China Intensifies Crackdown On Didi With New Ride-Hailing Rules
Chinese regulators announced a new set of guidelines to increase governance over the country’s ride-hailing industry. Stuck in the crosshairs were SoftBank-backed Didi and other Chinese tech companies, according to Bloomberg. Beijing continues ratcheting up regulations on tech companies to reshape its digital economy. The latest is six regulatory agencies, including antitrust watchdog, transport ministry, and […]
Powell Says Fed Could Finish Bond-Buying Taper Early
Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, signaled that the central bank is growing more wary of high — and stubborn — inflation, and that it could speed up its plan to withdraw economic support as soon as its meeting in December as it tries to make sure that rapid price gains do not last. […]
Cyber Week Online Sales Down 1.4% Physical Store Visits Up
Cyber Monday was the biggest online shopping day of the year according to Adobe’s ADBE Digital Economy Index, bringing in $10.7 billion. This is slightly below last year by 1.4% but meeting expectations. Month-to-date for November, consumers have already spent $109.8B online, a significant increase of 11.9% over last year. On Cyber Monday, smartphones were […]
Alabama Amazon Warehouse Workers To Revote On Forming Union, Labor Board Official Orders
Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times, A labor board official has ordered a revote for Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama regarding forming the company’s first unionized warehouse in the United States. The decision was issued Monday by a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after an agency review found that Amazon improperly pressured warehouse staff […]
VLaunch Announces Big-Name Crypto Backers Ahead Of Its Launch
The VLaunch project is picking up some major traction ahead of its big launch this month, with a raft of big names from the blockchain community throwing their weight behind the effort. The project’s list of backers reads like an A to Z of some of the top influencers in the blockchain space. Names such […]
COVID Cases In South Africa's Omicron Epicenter Decline As Hysteria Rattles Global Markets
With so many contradictory comments hitting the wire, investors might be struggling to parse what omicron actually means for the global economy. Will the mutated virus cut through vaccine-induced immunity like butter leading to another global outbreak? Or is the latest variant scare merely a ruse for vaccine-makers to hawk more jabs, while governments from […]
Solana price eyes $300 as Grayscale launches SOL-backed trust
Solana (SOL) held onto its intraday gains on Nov. 30 as Grayscale Investments, the largest cryptocurrency fund in the world, announced that it would add SOL to its product line. The digital asset class is growing, and we’re expanding our offerings along with it! Gain exposure to $SOL, the native token of the @Solana network, […]
The Cheapest DEXes To Trade On Layer 1 Ethereum
The past couple of years has seen decentralized finance (DeFi) maintain a meteoric rise. Such an impressive growth can only mean one thing—a rise in decentralized exchanges as well. With centralized exchanges proving a little complicated and problematic at times, the crypto space will agree that decentralized exchanges are the future of cryptocurrency trading on […]
U.S. Army’s Project Convergence Resurrects Military Transformation, Revolutionizes Warfare
As the old century was ending two decades ago, the Pentagon was swept with enthusiasm for a new approach to warfare called military transformation. The basic idea was that a combination of new information technologies and joint teamwork would enable unprecedented success in defeating diverse enemies. The technological content of military transformation was aptly captured […]
Stocks Sink As Powell Takes A Rare Pessimistic View On Inflation Amid Omicron Variant
Topline Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell shifted his tone on inflation Tuesday, warning in remarks before the Senate that the new omicron variant could lead to higher prices well into next year and further complicate America’s economic recovery. Key Facts “The threat of persistently higher inflation has grown” due to the emergence of the Omicron […]
Safle Review – Bringing Your Identity Back Into Your Hands
The concept of digital identities has gained popularity following the debut of modern-day technologies such as blockchain. Safle, a next-generation non-custodial wallet, is one of the projects currently leveraging blockchain to bring identities back to the hands of users. Unlike the centralized and federated identity models, the Safle ecosystem introduces decentralized identities, giving crypto users […]
Coinbase will establish presence in Israel through purchase of Unbound Security
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase will acquire cryptographic security company Unbound Security in a move that will also have the U.S. company launch a research facility in Israel. In a Tuesday blog post, Coinbase said it would be purchasing Unbound to gain access to its cryptographic security experts as well as establish a presence in Israel. The […]
Dow Plunges 600 Points As Federal Reserve Warns About Omicron Impact
Topline Stocks moved lower on Tuesday in yet another volatile session of trading amid fresh concerns about the new omicron Covid variant, with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warning that it could pose a risk to the economic recovery—not to mention complicate the inflation outlook. Key Facts The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.7%, around […]
“Team Transitory” Is Dead After Powell Says “Time To Retire Word Transitory Regarding Inflation”
Remember when clueless macrotourists and worthless econo-hacks who have zero understanding of actual economic dynamics spent miles of digital ink convincing their tiny echochambers that they were right and that inflation was transitory (or rather, desperately scrambled to mask their utter lack of grasp of even the simplest concepts): Team transitory won btw. pic.twitter.com/7CEwdC11h7 — […]
Trump Strategized With Top Advisors About Overturning Election Hours Before Jan. 6 Capitol Riot, Report Says
Topline A Guardian report claims former President Donald Trump repeatedly placed calls to the Willard Hotel in Washington to strategize with a group of trusted advisors about how to overturn the results of the presidential election just hours before his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, though a Trump spokesperson called the report “totally false.” Key […]
More on Case-Shiller and FHFA House Price Increases
by Calculated Risk on 11/30/2021 11:08:00 AM Today, in the Newsletter: Case-Shiller National Index up 19.5% Year-over-year in September Excerpt: Both the Case-Shiller House Price Index (HPI) and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) HPI for September were released today. Here is a graph of the month-over-month (MoM) change in the Case-Shiller National Index Seasonally […]
WeWALK And Moovit Announce Partnership To Revolutionize Urban Transportation For The Blind
Even in the technologically advanced age we live in today, many optometrists treating those living with sight loss still believe that the humble white cane remains the most powerful mobility aid and accessibility tool available on the market. In recent years, white canes and other wearable devices have been adapted to incorporate ultrasonic sensors capable […]
How The ‘Fast And Furious’ Series Succeeded Where The ‘xXx’ Movies Failed
With $753 million worldwide as of Sunday, No Time to Die is a day or three away from passing the $759 million global cume of Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. That includes around $159 million domestic and $600 million overseas, with “just” $60 million coming from China. There is a certain irony in […]
Your Authentic Self Has No Competition In Business
By Susan Guillory When I started my content marketing firm as a solopreneur in 2006, I made a deliberate effort to make it look bigger than it was. I used “we” instead of “I” on my website. I donned a corporate look that said, “We’re serious about business and you should hire us.” I kept […]
Stocks, Bonds, & Cryptos Crushed As Powell Threatens Accelerated Taper
Fed Chair Powell has been more hawkish than many expected during this morning’s hearings, specifically noting the non-transitory nature of inflation and the need to use his tools to address it. “At this point the economy is very strong and inflationary pressures are high and it is therefore appropriate in my view to consider wrapping […]
Rabobank: Brushing Up Our Greek Alphabets
By Michael Every of Rabobank Brushing up our Greek alphabets After a ‘sell first, ask questions later’ Friday, markets regained some confidence on Monday. News that Omicron may lead to relatively mild symptoms may have helped the mood, though much about the new strain still remains unclear, including how infectious it is compared to other […]
Vladimir Putin says cryptocurrencies 'bear high risks'
On Tuesday, Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, voiced his criticism at the “Russian Calling” investment forum in Moscow. According to local news outlet lenta.ru, the president made the following remarks, as translated by Cointelegraph: “It is not backed by anything, [and] the volatility is colossal, so the risks are very high. We also […]
Holographic Breakthrough In The Wayray Holograktor Could Disrupt Car Interior Design
The Holograktor ride-sharing concept car from Swiss deep-tech firm WayRay could disrupt entire automotive interior design departments with its world-first Real AR holographic head-up display. The WayRay Holograktor EV runs three separate “Real Augmented Reality” holographic displays, with one for each of its three occupants, blended in seamlessly from ranges of zero to infinity, rather […]
Research links: future states of the world
Tuesdays are all about academic (and practitioner) literature at Abnormal Returns. You can check out last week’s links including a look at how to combine momentum strategies. Quote of the Day “When you sell an option, you don’t earn income. You just bet against some future state of the world.” (Kris Abdelmessih) Chart of the […]
Biden Considering CFPB Director Cordray For Fed's Vice Chair For Banking Supervision
Update (1130ET): Speaking during Tuesday’s CARES Act testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, Powell said he wouldn’t stand in the way of the Fed’s vice chair for supervision, saying he would generally allow the vice chair to pitch any actions to the entire Fed board, even if Powell doesn’t agree with the proposals. Whoever becomes […]
Five Common Pitfalls That Can Derail DE&I Initiatives
Edward Beltran, Forbes Council Member, CEO of Fierce Conversations, Entrepreneur, Avid Cyclist. Developing a culture of harmony and belonging among employees begins with honest conversations about three increasingly relevant topics: diversity, equity and inclusion. Diversity, equity and inclusion (known as DE&I) are emotive topics, which makes it even more challenging to initiate conversations about such significant […]
NFT sales aim for a $17.7B record in 2021: Report by Cointelegraph Research
In 2010, if someone had told you that Internet memes, digital artwork and Twitter avatars would sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars, would you have believed them? Well, these are nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, in a nutshell. NFTs are driving blockchains toward uncharted territory on the backs of cute kitties and pixelated punks. What […]
Climate Action Through Sustainable Cities: How CSR Can Contribute
Executive Chairman & Group CEO of Dake Group, an Advocate of Innovation & Sustainability – Focused on Food Security and Water Conservation. Historically, cities have been the engine for the evolution of civilization. They enable a much greater population density than rural communities, unlocking economies of scale greater than the sum of their parts. They allow […]
Eurozone inflation hits a record high of 4.9 percent.
Inflation soared to a record high in Europe in November as a continued upward climb in energy costs pushed prices skyward, data showed on Tuesday. Annual inflation in the eurozone surged to 4.9 percent, the European statistics agency Eurostat reported, the highest since records began in 1997. Excluding volatile energy and food prices, inflation jumped […]
3D metaverse marketplace MetaMundo aims for 2022 launch with new funding
MetaMundo, a virtual nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace focused on metaverses, has announced the completion of a seed funding round of $2.7 million. Led by Animoca Brands, MetaMundo’s debut funding further included Hypersphere Ventures, Digital Currency Group, OP Crypto, Metaartel Ventures and angel investments from the co-founders of Aave and Rarible, among others. Built upon layer-two […]
How To Get The Best Results When Working With A PR Agency
Katerina Antonova, founder and CEO of Aeris PR It’s not a rare story when a business owner hires a public relations agency or a consultant and, after a while of working together, becomes disappointed in PR as a whole. As the founder and CEO of a PR firm, I’ve found this often happens because of inadequate […]
‘Our Money Has No Value’: Frustration Rises in Turkey at Lira Crisis
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s insistence on directing monetary policy and sticking with low interest rates is draining confidence, economists say. ISTANBUL — Lines outside bread stores and gas stations; farmers defaulting on loans; impromptu street demonstrations. The signs of economic distress in Turkey are all too clear as the lira continues a dizzying slide. Sporadic […]
Foreclosure Looms for Homeowners Who Thought They’d Won, Thanks to Top New York Court Ruling
Yves here. This bank/mortgage servicer-favoring ruling by a conflicted judge brings up bad memories of the foreclosure/chain of title crisis era. While this decision applies only to New York borrowers, it’s a reminder of how the judicial process is skewed towards big institutional interests. We’ve seen this behavior in many other contexts, for instance, how […]