Episode 61: Peaceful transition completed and earnings season begins
This week’s inauguration was the most untraditional in American history. To hit the ground running, President Biden signed his extensive list of Day 1 executive actions - 17 - surpassing that of any previous president in modern history. The markets responded positively, hitting record highs on Inauguration Day.
Cryptic Crypto: Should you add Bitcoin to your portfolio in 2021? The conventional strategy has always been to shift out of the equity markets and into assets that will thrive in bad times. When all your stocks drop, money moves into treasury bonds, foreign currencies, and gold can provide you with a safety cushion. Could bitcoin do the same?
Well, Blackrock thinks so. The asset management giant submitted documents to the SEC today outlining its potential move into Bitcoin futures trading. The documents show that Blackrock will only be investing in cash-settled Bitcoin futures on exchanges registered with the CFTC.
Gamers got game: The video game stock, Gamers, soared as much as 69.4% to a high of $72.88 on Friday, bringing its gains to over 100% this week alone. Trading in the stock was briefly halted due to high volatility. Last week’s run-up followed the company’s announcement that Chewy (pet food) co-founder and former CEO Ryan Cohen is joining the Gamers’ board.
Show me the money: We’ll get reports from nearly 100 companies with current market capitalizations above $15 billion each, representing leaders in a number of industries. Apple earnings report will cover the first full season since the company released its new lineup of iPhones and subscription services bundles. The company’s stock was trading above $136 a share, up more than 3% on Thursday morning amid broader market gains.
Market Close: The market closed mixed today but ended up 2% for the week.
Dow 30 30,996.98-179.03 (-0.57%)
S&P 500 3,841.47-11.60 (-0.30%)
Nasdaq 13,543.06+12.15( +0.09%)
IPO
Andrew Dudum always thought he would take direct-to-consumer healthcare startup Hims & Hers public via a traditional IPO. Around 18 months ago, the co-founder and CEO of the San Francisco-based company began preparing for the inevitable investor presentations and roadshow meetings with investment bankers and other prospective backers. But six months in, going public via SPACs have become increasingly popular. These so-called “blank check” companies allow founders and investors to retain more control instead of leaving share pricing to the mercy of bankers. So they are SPACing and will go public next Thursday on the NYSE under ticker symbol HIMS.
Have a great weekend.