📈 US banks aren't messing around

Big banks brought in big money | British life is ever so expensive | [TOGETHER WITH]( Hi {NAME}, here's what you need to know for January 20th in 3:06 minutes. 👯‍♀️ We’re all about community here at Finimize, and we know you love being part of something bigger too. So come along to [Investing in DAOs]( on Tuesday, and find out how these community-led entities are growing in users and potential. You might even meet some new friends. [Get your free ticket]( Today's big stories - Two major US banks reported better-than-expected earnings - One investment firm thinks there’s a much more important driver of stock prices than profit, and it’s flashing a warning right now – [Read Now]( - UK consumer prices rose at their fastest pace in 30 years last month Good Riddance [Good Riddance] What’s Going On Here? Bank of America (BoA) and Morgan Stanley announced on Wednesday that their earnings both came in better than expected last quarter, but this is where the two rivals part ways. What Does This Mean? [BoA]( and [Morgan Stanley]( will be thrilled the dealmaking boom hasn’t let up: their investment banking segments – which take a fee from every deal they work on – made 26% and 6% more in revenue last quarter than the same time in 2020. BoA topped that up with the $850 million it originally set aside in case pandemic-bruised customers couldn’t cover their loans, while Morgan Stanley celebrated a bumper 59% uptick in revenue in its investment management business. Not even slowing trading revenue could bring them down: BoA and Morgan Stanley’s profits climbed by a better-than-expected 28% and 9% respectively. Why Should I Care? For markets: Don’t bank on dealmaking. It’s easy to lump US banks together, but they aren’t all cut from the same cloth: Morgan Stanley, for example, doesn’t have a retail banking business like BoA does. That could make all the difference as interest rates start to rise, since it’ll allow BoA to charge more on the loans it offers. That’s a much more stable business model, especially as there’s no guarantee companies will keep striking deals when it becomes more expensive to borrow money. And don’t investors know it: BoA’s stock has outperformed Morgan Stanley’s stock by 9% this year. Zooming out: Fintechs are taking over. Still, even BoA will want to watch its back: digital banking app Revolut – the UK’s second-most valuable fintech company – [announced]( on Wednesday that it’s launching a commission-free stock trading platform in the US, as part of its goal to become a “super app” capable of managing every aspect of its users’ finances. It’s a good time to make the move: data shows that American retail traders spent over seven times more on stocks last year than in 2019. You might also like: [How to profit from BoA’s surging loans business.]( 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=Good Riddance&utm_campaign=daily-global-20-01-2022&utm_source=email) Analyst Take Move Over, P/E Ratio… [Move Over, P/E Ratio… ]( [Photo of Andrew] Andrew, Analyst What’s Going On Here? Consult any economics primer, and it’ll tell you that stock market investors are buying a claim on that company’s future earnings. That’s precisely why investors rely on [the price-to-earnings ratio](, a metric that multiplies underlying profits by some valuation they’re willing to pay to access them. But one investment firm suggests there might be [an even more fundamental driver of prices]( than how much profit a company is able to rake in – and the data does support its case. And unfortunately for your investments, [this catalyst]( is currently on the wane. So that’s today’s Insight: what exactly this investment firm tracks, and [how this driver might change the way you think about your riskier bets](. [Read or listen to the Insight here]( SPONSORED BY THE MOTLEY FOOL 5G. It’s the future. That’s probably why The [Motley Fool]( has marked it down as one of the most exciting investment opportunities out there right now. 5G, after all, is moving into the mainstream thanks to [Apple’s first-ever 5G iPhones](. Analysts have high hopes for where it’ll go from here. But [The Motley Fool]( doesn’t think Apple is the only way – nor [the most lucrative one]( – to play the trend. In fact, they know [one listed US company]( that makes a ​​component so essential to the 5G iPhone that Apple’s expected to include it in every new iPhone they make. You can find out what that company is for free: [just head over to The Motley Fool](. [Get The Stock]( Dirty Thirty [Dirty Thirty] What’s Going On Here? Data out on Wednesday [showed]( that UK inflation jumped to the highest level in 30 years last month – a major life event Brits might rather forget… What Does This Mean? It’s not just your imagination, afternoon tea has been getting more expensive: prices in the UK rose by a higher-than-expected 5.4% last month versus the year before – up from November’s 5.1% and well above the 4.5% the Bank of England (BoE) was expecting ([tweet this](). Rises came from all angles, with everything from food to furniture to footwear getting more expensive in the run-up to Christmas. But here’s a band-aid on a broken bone: data out this week also [showed]( that the UK added a better-than-expected 184,000 jobs last month, [bringing]( the unemployment rate down slightly to 4.1%. Why Should I Care? Zooming in: The peak? You can’t handle the peak. Inflation isn’t likely to drop off in the UK anytime soon: the country’s energy price cap – the government’s way of limiting what suppliers can charge for energy – is set to [rise]( about 50% in April. Consider too that job openings also hit a record high of 1.3 million last quarter, which might lead employers to offer better salaries and, in turn, pump more disposable cash into the economy. Put together, it’s hardly a surprise that economists think price rises are yet to peak: by their math, that won’t come until inflation hits 6.5% in April. The bigger picture: Rate hikes are a double-edged sword. The strong jobs market paired with decades-high inflation has economists predicting that the BoE will raise interest rates again next month. It still won’t be an easy decision, mind you: another rate hike should help slow down rising prices, but it would also make paying debts more expensive, which could leave already squeezed Brits with even less cash in their pockets. You might also like: [Six ways to prepare for breakneck interest rate hikes.]( 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=Dirty Thirty&utm_campaign=daily-global-20-01-2022&utm_source=email) 💬 Quote of the day “You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – A. A. Milne (an English author) [Tweet this]( CRYPTO PULSE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FABRIIK What are NFTs and how do they work exactly? You know what [non-fungible tokens]( are by now: digital assets that represent a physical object, like art, music, video, or even property. But, uh, what does “”non-fungible token”” actually mean? Well, crypto is fungible: you can trade one bitcoin for another. But there’s no such thing as two identical NFTs, so there’s no replacing yours – hence [non-fungible](. You create and list them on the blockchain – Ethereum, say, or [Bitcoin SV]( – through a process called “minting”. That makes a record of the NFT’s ownership [immutable](. That is to say, you inarguably have an original that you could [potentially sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars]( – not some digital hand-me-down you’ve grabbed from the internet. Want to learn more? [Check out Fabriik’s NFTs 101]( for everything you need to know. [Explore Fabriik's NFTs 101]( When you support our sponsors, you support us. Thanks for that. 🌎 Finimize Live ✉️ You’re invited… To an evening of [How NFTs Will Transform The Future Of Events](, a jam-packed talk all about the industry’s upcoming revolution. Dress code: casual, headphones encouraged. Please RSVP [here](. 📲 [Investing In DAOs](: 5pm UK time, January 25th ⚡️ [How To Invest In The Energy Transition](: 6pm UK time, January 26th 🎟 [How NFTs Will Transform The Future Of Events](: 5pm UK time, January 27th 🔥 [Your Guide To New Investing Opportunities](: 6pm UK time, January 28th 🚀 [Will The Future Be Tokenized?](: 6pm UK time, January 31st 💸 [How To Earn A Passive Income From Franchise Investing](: 6pm UK time, February 1st 🏡 [Your Guide To Opportunity Zones](: 5pm UK time, February 25th 🎯 On Our Radar - Still stalled. Tesla isn’t gearing up its [cybertruck]( anytime soon. - We’re going nuclear. It mightn’t be the [best idea](… - A lawyer, an architect, and a witch hunter. You never know who’s in your [family tree](. - Maya Angelou is making history. You can have a [piece]( of it. - Low carbon isn’t no carbon. Why environmentalists have beef with [this]( industry. ❤️ Share with a friend Your Referrals: 0 Thanks for reading {NAME}. 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