👀 What's going wrong for banks

US big banks open their books, Saudi Arabia stumbles, and a bird the size of a credit card | [Finimize](   TOGETHER WITH     Hi {NAME}, here's what you need to know for July 17th in 3:13 minutes.   🤫 Sometimes it really is all about playing the long game. So join us for [Secret Strategies Of A Long-Term Investor]( on July 24th at 5pm and learn about the tools you need to be successful. [Grab your free ticket]( Today's big stories - Morgan Stanley and Bank of America stepped up to the plate, with better-than-expected updates - Five tips to help you balance living for today and saving for tomorrow – [Read Now]( - Saudi Arabia has big plans, but they’re proving tricky to pull off Banking On A Winner [Banking On A Winner] What’s going on here? Bank of America and Morgan Stanley both [announced]( market-pleasing results on Tuesday. What does this mean? Morgan Stanley brought $3 billion in profit through the door in the second quarter, up 41% from the year before – and Bank of America brought in $6.9 billion, down 7%. Both were better than analysts expected, but the situation wasn’t all rosy. Morgan Stanley’s wealth management business, which earns based on the amount of assets it has, had a tough time: new business slumped to its lowest ebb since 2020. Meanwhile, Bank of America’s net interest income – the difference between what it earns on loans and what it pays savers – fell. But with the Federal Reserve expected to cut interest rates later this year, that could improve. The bank will be hoping so, as it’s a massive source of profit. Why should I care? Zooming in: Missing the mark. Wall Street neighbors JPMorgan and Wells Fargo both saw their net interest income fall short of analysts’ estimates, so Bank of America’s miss in that department won’t raise too many eyebrows. See, with interest rates sticking above 5%, consumers and businesses have been reluctant to take out loans – a key source of income for banks. Mind you, with rates expected to come down a tad later this year, that should bolster borrowing – and the economy. The bigger picture: The going rate. Higher interest rates have sent dollars by the trillions into [money market funds]( in the past few years, with savers happy to earn 5% or more now – a level that’s keeping their savings comfortably ahead of inflation. Even Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has flocked to cash and short-term bonds, investing $182 billion at the end of the first quarter alone. What happens next could be interesting: as rates in the US begin to fall, that money could start to move – much of it into stocks. You might also like: [How to play markets now, according to BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs](. Copy to share story: [( 🙋 [Ask a question](mailto:questions@finimize.com?body=Ask us a question: Where are you writing from? Let us know and we'll mention it when we reply.&noapp=true&subject=Banking On A Winner&utm_campaign=daily-global-17-07-2024&utm_source=email) Analyst Take How To Strike The Right Financial Balance: Saving And Spending Wisely [How To Strike The Right Financial Balance: Saving And Spending Wisely]( When it comes to personal finance, it sometimes feels like there are just [two goals](: getting on the housing ladder and saving for a comfortable retirement. And it makes sense that there’s so much focus on those dual holy grails: building a downpayment for that first home and saving enough to fund your post-work years are two of life’s biggest [financial challenges](. But, in the race to reach those major milestones, [don’t forget]( there are other things you may want to plan for too. That’s today’s Insight: [how to strike the right balance between saving and spending](. [Read or listen to the Insight here]( AI vs. wealth managers AI is transforming the finance and wealth industries. Internally, the [tech is changing the way companies work](, making them more sophisticated and efficient. And yet at the same time, it’s giving them competition. See, increasingly capable tools are empowering investors to self-manage their money, instead of paying someone else to do it for them. [The options are endless](: robo-advisors, quantitative trading models, risk-management systems, and natural language processing (NLP) systems, to name just a few. [Discover how AI could help you invest with our free guide.]( [Find Out More]( Your capital is at risk. 68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.** 20/30 Vision [20/30 Vision] What’s going on here? Saudi Arabia is struggling to see through its multi-trillion-dollar makeover. What does this mean? Saudi Arabia has some pretty grand ideas wrapped up in its Vision 2030 plan: to ditch its reliance on oil exports, diversify its economy, and increase public services. But there have been some bumps in the road, so the country is trimming billions off major projects and shoving others to the back burner. Neom, for one: the futuristic city being developed on the Red Sea coast will get 20% less funding this year than originally intended, and plans for a new airline for the area have been grounded. That’s down to a couple of things going wrong. For starters, foreign investors haven’t been biting: the goal was to raise $100 billion a year by 2030, but they’ve managed only $2.5 billion in the first quarter. What’s more, lower oil prices have made it tough for the country to balance its budget. Why should I care? Zooming out: Wakey, wakey. Saudi Arabia can’t afford to hit the snooze button on its makeover forever. EVs will soon overtake traditional gas-guzzlers – and that’s a problem for the country, given that oil sales still make up about 70% of its export profit and half of its economy. So the kingdom has its fingers crossed for a jump in the slick stuff’s price. In the meantime, it’s been racking up debt to cover its bills, quickly becoming the biggest issuer of new bonds among the world’s emerging markets. The bigger picture: This town ain’t big enough… There’s a showdown going on between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), about when oil demand will peak. OPEC is banking on 2045, while the IEA is betting on the decade’s end. If the IEA’s crystal ball gazing is correct, Saudi Arabia had better get a move on with its grand plans. You might also like: [Five reasons not to write off oil and gas](. Copy to share story: [( 🙋 [Ask a question](mailto:questions@finimize.com?body=Ask us a question: Where are you writing from? Let us know and we'll mention it when we reply.&noapp=true&subject=20/30 Vision&utm_campaign=daily-global-17-07-2024&utm_source=email) 💬 Quote of the day "One doesn't recognize the really important moments in one's life until it's too late." – Agatha Christie (a British novelist) [Tweet this]( Take a seat on the summit’s main stage Thousands of retail investors tuned into our [Modern Investor Summit]( sessions last year. Eager to discover the smartest tools and savviest tricks, they piled into fireside sessions, Q&A panels, and keynote speaker slots with the likes of Jamie Dimon. Now’s your chance to secure a spot at the next one. Our [Summit]( is slated for December this year, and we’re on the lookout for speakers with big ideas and serious know-how. 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