China's Crumbling Economy

Market Update 📈

Markets remained essentially flat, as investors continued to scratch their heads on where the heck we are going. 300 chief investment officers were polled this week and asked a very simple question.

As you can see, about 3 out of 5 investors thought that the stock surge of 2023 was merely a little rally in a longer-term bear market, beginning nearly 2 years ago.

How this affects your wallet 💵

During uncertainty, you should not panic and pull all your money. If you have 3 months of emergency savings and are able to invest over the long term, I would hold strong. And hey, the best investors are always contrarian thinkers.

Top Headlines 🗞️

Oil Keeps on Rising

For the past 3 months, the price of oil has increased nearly 50%. Why you might ask? Well, inventories have continued to plummet across the country. But thankfully the U.S. has been increasing production to 13 million barrels a day, up to nearly a record-setting level.

How this affects your wallet 💵

With increased oil means increased gas prices. With increased gas prices means decreased travel and a decrease in consumer spending. Oh, and products that need oil to be produced like rubber and plastic just got more expensive.

China’s Crumbling Economy

Things are not looking so hot over in the Chinese real estate market. The founder and Chairman of Evergrande Group, Hui Ka Yan, has been put under house arrest by the Chinese government. That does not sound very fun. It’s because his company is in jeopardy of defaulting on $340B in debt. With slowing home sales and fundraising drying up, it doesn’t look like things are going to end well.

How this affects your wallet 💵

This will likely slow down the growth of the Chinese economy, an economy that represents 1/5 of global GDP. So this is not good news in our hopes to avoid a recession. Does this directly affect your day to day? Probably not. But this is the type of thing that could keep the world economy subdued for a while meaning fewer job openings and slower wage growth.

Quick Hits 🥊

JP Morgan agrees to pay $75M sex trafficking settlement

America’s largest bank, with $3.3 Trillion in assets, agreed to settle a claim that the bank enabled sex trafficking from Jeffrey Epstein. Wow, I mean what can I say? Check it out.

Elon Musk Signs a Deal with the U.S. Space Force

The new SpaceX deal is worth up to $70M for the company to build the government a “Starshield”.⭐🛡️ I don’t know what that is exactly, but it sounds f$%kin awesome! Check it out.

Meta Teams up with Ray-Ban for New Smart Glasses

You remember when the Google Glass 👓 launched and immediately failed? Well, Meta thinks they can do it better. They’ve teamed up with Ray Ban so you can Livestream for all your fans. Check out all the features.

Personal Finance Tip 💸

Okay, okay so I’ve written a lot about the looming government shutdown. I know that technically it’s not inevitable, but I’m pretty dang sure. Either way, we might as well be prepared for it. Let me break down for you what will happen if or when the U.S. government shuts down next week.

How this affects your wallet 💵

Alright so student loans are coming back to bite us next month. The Department of Education is the one that will process that influx of payments, but wait a second won’t they be at home in their pajamas? Well not exactly. In 2021, they released a contingency plan that said 11% of the workforce can still come into the office to prevent significant damage. So unfortunately you’ll still have to pay, but with far fewer employees good luck getting through to anyone if you have questions. If an issue does come up, use this guide to get help.

Quote of the Day 💭

Man, I love this quote, and it embodies what we stand for. RIP legend.

Meme of the Day 😏

Don’t be like Toby, I beg of you!!