👩‍⚕️ SPACs... aren't going to make it

UK retailers went toe to toe with Omicron | SPACs have G2G | [TOGETHER WITH]( Hi {NAME}, here's what you need to know for January 24th in 3:11 minutes. 💥DAOs are game-changers, allowing you to put your money toward causes you care about alongside people you’ve never met before. So join DAO expert Romina Bungert for [Investing in DAOs]( on Tuesday, and find out how you can throw yourself into this brave new world. [Get your free ticket]( Today's big stories - UK retail sales plummeted last month as Omicron wreaked havoc - Here are the stocks and trends that the world's biggest hedge funds have been investing in lately – [Read Now]( - More and more SPACs are calling it quits on their stock market listings Long Shot [Long Shot] What’s Going On Here? Data out on Friday [showed]( that UK retail sales fell by more than expected last month, but the odds weren't exactly in their favor… What Does This Mean? December was never going to live up to November’s bumper growth in retail sales, especially after an Omicron-driven surge brought a whole new wave of restrictions and jitters. But even then, those sales were down 3.7% in December from the month before – a long way off the 0.6% drop economists were expecting, and the biggest since the start of the country’s third lockdown last January ([tweet this](). They were down across the board too, with spending in clothing and sports stores falling 8%, furniture stores 3%, and gas stations 5%. It could be worse, mind you: UK retail sales were still 2.6% higher than they were before Covid kicked in. Why Should I Care? Zooming in: It could be a hard year. A lot of countries are dealing with rising prices right now, it’s true, but Brits [might]( have a particularly tough time ahead. For one thing, the government’s already moving to claw back the cash it spent during the pandemic, starting by raising taxes in April in a bid to raise £14 billion ($19 billion) this year. And for another, the Bank of England is expected to hike interest rates [again]( next month – a move that’ll make it even more expensive to borrow what they need. The bigger picture: It could be a really hard year. Given all that, it's no wonder UK consumer confidence – a measure of how settled shoppers are with their personal finances and the wider economy – just hit its lowest level in almost a year, according to [data]( out on Friday. In fact, KPMG thinks as many as a third of shoppers won’t buy as many nice-to-haves this year as they did last. And since it’s those “consumer discretionaries” that drive so much economic growth, it doesn’t bode well for the country’s recovery.  You might also like: [Interest rate hikes aren’t just a UK problem. Here are six ways to protect your portfolio.]( 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=Long Shot&utm_campaign=daily-global-24-01-2022&utm_source=email) Analyst Take Where Have The 20 Biggest Hedge Funds Been Investing? [Where Have The 20 Biggest Hedge Funds Been Investing?]( [Photo of Carl Hazeley] Carl Hazeley, Analyst What’s Going On Here? Hedge funds have been under [a lot of pressure]( in the last couple of years. It’s not easy to find assets that outperform the market when [almost everything’s been climbing]( indiscriminately, after all. But they’ve risen to the challenge, with the [world’s 20 biggest hedge funds]( earning a record $65 billion for their customers last year. There are a few ways they’ve done that: investing in [tech stocks]( (yep, still), taking [“defensive” positions](, and betting on [market volatility](. So that’s today’s Insight: the trends the world’s biggest hedge funds are investing in, and [the stocks and funds they’re using to invest](. [Read or listen to the Insight here]( SPONSORED BY FUND THAT FLIP This CEO puts his money where his mouth is You’re inundated with [investment opportunities](, we know. So here’s a way to hone in: look at where the person in charge invests their cash. Take [Fund That Flip’s]( founder and CEO, who personally invests in the company’s real estate deals. Every month, he shares the properties he’s adding to his portfolio (along with how they’re performing) in his [Dogfooding series](. They’re the same real estate deals you can invest in. Yep: you can [back expertly vetted property projects]( with Fund That Flip, where you can passively [earn up to 9%]( with as little as $1,000. If it’s good enough for the CEO, it just might be worth checking out. Team up with the man with a plan: [invest in real estate with Fund That Flip](. [Get Started]( Fund That Flip, Inc. does not make investment recommendations, and any information found herein should not be construed as such. This information is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security, which can only be made through official offering documents that contain important information about risks, fees, and expenses. Any investment information contained herein has been secured from sources Fund That Flip, Inc. believes are reliable, but we make no representations or warranties as to the accuracy of such information and accept no liability therefore. We recommend that you consult with a financial advisor, attorney, accountant, and any other professional that can help you to understand and assess the risks associated with any investment opportunity. Fund That Flip, Inc. is able to make investment opportunities available, only to accredited investors who submit required verification. Dearly Departed [Dearly Departed] What’s Going On Here? SPACs, we hardly knew ye: data out on Friday [showed]( that more and more special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) are calling off their stock market listings. What Does This Mean? Forget NFTs, ARK, and HODL: SPACs – listed companies that buy unlisted companies to fast-track their arrival on the stock market – were the all-the-rage acronym of 2021. They even raised more money than [initial public offerings]( for the first time last year. But the fire that burns twice as bright burns half as long: investors have been abandoning them on the back of more regulatory scrutiny, not to mention a shoddy performance that’s seen one SPAC-focused [index]( fall 40% from its all-time high. That tears it: seven US SPACs that planned to collectively raise more than $2.5 billion have canceled their planned listings this year – almost as many as pulled out in the whole of 2021. Why Should I Care? The bigger picture: SPACs save face. The execs behind those SPACs might have preferred the short-term embarrassment of calling it quits to the long-term pressure of trying to find a deal. A SPAC, after all, generally has to strike a deal within two years of listing on the stock market, or else give investors back the money they paid. That means it’s often left scrambling to acquire mediocre companies or overpay for half-decent ones, typically at the expense of investor returns. Singapore might realize this soon enough: the country – which is trying to position itself as the SPAC hub of Asia – just [listed]( its second-ever SPAC on its stock market on Friday. For you personally: Ditch the stay-at-homes. You might notice a lot of these post-Covid fizzle-outs in 2022. Take American companies Zoom, Docusign, and Peloton, all of which are [down]( more than 50% from the highs of the last couple of years. They had a captive audience during the pandemic, but virtual meetings, virtual notarization, and virtual exercise aren’t worth nearly as much in a face-to-face world. You might also like: [Are SPACs still worth backing?]( 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=Dearly Departed&utm_campaign=daily-global-24-01-2022&utm_source=email) 💬 Quote of the day “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.” – Helen Keller (an American author and political activist) [Tweet this]( SPONSORED BY LEDGER A brand new way to use your crypto The new[CL Card]( powered by Ledger in partnership with Baanx is a [crypto debit card]( that will revolutionize your money. Here’s how it shakes things up: - Never miss a moment. Your [CL Card]( changes crypto into cash the moment you spend, so you’ll never need to convert your crypto ahead of time. - Get paid in crypto. You can opt to [receive your paycheck]( partially in crypto to your new account. Just set the percentage you’d like to see. - Manage your crypto – wherever, whenever. Use the [Ledger Live app]( to manage your balance and top up your card on the go using fiat currencies or crypto. Be the first in line: [join the CL Card waitlist today](. [Join The Waitlist]( *Subject to eligibility conditions, including country of residence and availability. Entering the waiting list does not mean you will receive a CL Card. It does not in any event constitute a commitment to deliver the CL Card or a commitment on the features that will be offered by the CL Card. The CL Card and its features are provided to you solely by Baanx Group Ltd, UK, Baanx US Corp, United States and Frozen Time UNIPESSOAL LDA, EU and not by Ledger. 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