November 7th, 2022

Welcome

As of October 27th, 2022 the world's richest person, Elon Musk has taken ownership of Twitter for a whopping $44 billion USD. If you're curious how much $44 billion actually is, here are some fun alternatives he could have pursued.

• Purchased more than half of the teams in the NFL

• 2.75 Hubble Telescopes

• Versailles

• Sri Lanka's national debt

What would you do with that kind of money?

Capital Markets: Certainly Uncertainty

The market rallied the month of October with the Dow Jones index ranking its best month in October since 1979 with a 13.95% jump. Dow's top performers include:

• Caterpillar +34%

• Chevron +25%

• Honeywell +22%

• JP Morgan +21%

• Visa +18%

• Apple +12%

• UNH +9%

• Walmart +9%

• Home Depot +8%

• Microsoft +1%

Meta, formally known as Facebook, has taken a rather large stock price tumble knocking them off the top 20 most valuable companies dropping to a market cap of around $240 billion. Last year, Facebook was in the top 5 most valuable U.S. companies with a market cap over a $1 trillion. Dot-com bust 2.0?

More on that, Meta is still making large investments in their long-term project of the metaverse, while they are hurting in the short-term. An interesting comparison is Ford Motor Co., as they are a company in a similar situation. However, instead of focusing on the future, Ford has decided to shut down their long-term project of self-driving cars to focus on their short term stability. Bet on the future, or focus on the present? The risk runs both ways.

The "Trillion Dollar Club" (companies with a market cap above $1 trillion), has reduced to 4 companies – down from 7 last year. Check it out! Apple is now valued more than Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon combined!

Canadian banks are getting ready for carbon offsets to go big as they are projected to grow from $1 billion to $50 billion by 2030. Here is a complete guide to the carbon market.

Fixed income: Powell's calves must be hurting! (get it)

On Wednesday, November 2nd, The Federal Reserve of the United States announced that it would be hiking interest rates by 75 basis points. Powell announced that he would potentially raise rates in the near future but in smaller increments since these past months have resulted in the swiftest tightening of US monetary policy in 40 years, all of this in the hopes to combat inflation.

Here's how the Fed's decision effected the market!

Mortgage rates have more than doubled this year hitting 20 year highs. The 30-year fixed rate topped 7% sending the previously booming housing market around. The Powerball Jackpot, valued at $1.9 billion (record high), interestingly enough is reflecting the steep interest rate hikes we've seen. The lottery value reflects the future value of your winnings (in government bonds), not its cash value.

G7 countries are scrambling to hike their rates in order to control inflation with little to no success. Are they going too far or not far enough? According to experts, there's an important balance to strike. Jerome Powell, the U.S. Federal Reserve Chair said, “There’s always a risk of going too far or not going far enough, and it’s going to be a very difficult judgment to make.”

Commodities and World Currencies: Distillate supplies are running low

Is the USA running out of Diesel? What would that mean for Canada and its neighbor? Last week the US Energy Information (EAI) reported that distillate inventories were at their lowest levels since 2008, explaining the high prices of both Diesel and Heating oil. Diesel is one of the most important resources for both economies as it is the main fuel used by industries such as Farming, Transportation, and Shipping. With the current world condition, energy uncertainty in most European nations has caused them to stockpile fuel supplies ahead of this upcoming winter. With fuel supplies from Russia cut off, European countries have had to look to other countries such as Canada and the USA to meet their supply needs, explaining why the distillates supply in both countries is so low.

Grab n' Go

Record office to apartment conversions - Aftermath of out of the office Stock market performance by president of U.S. Where do laid off tech-experts go? Startups. BC diver gets his mind blown. Your guide to writing a phenomenal novel. New Pokemon game breaking records in Japan.

Struggling to keep it together till Holidays? Bishops has got you covered. BU students can contact Empower Me Mental Health and Wellness Support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year at 1-833-628-5589.