Buck the Trend

Market Snapshot Futures pointed towards the green Monday morning, with both oil and the 10-year yield moving higher too. Crude had a nice day, moving back towards $110. Both ETH and BTC didn’t do anything exciting. At the closing bell, markets didn’t make much progress in either direction. The Dow dipped 0.19%, the S&P lost 0.29%, and the Nasdaq shed 0.88%. Microsoft Excel is finance's most ubiquitous tool, and you need to master it if you want to be successful in the industry. [Join us](=) for this 4-hour hands-on master class to set your career up for success. Act now – enrollment is limited. You won't want to miss this. Let’s get into it. Banana Bits - $HOOD under a microscope: shares jump 14% as [FTX]() might be probing for a deal - As the global commodities markets sputter, [Romania](=) tries to fill in for Ukraine - Not your father’s biz travel: [Amex](=) shares the latest trends - If you can’t use Excel [without a mouse](), you should keep your resume ready to go - [Maybe Larry is right](): ex-Obama era official predicts a return to stagnation and slow growth Banana Brain Teaser Yesterday — What can run but can’t walk, has a mouth but can’t speak, has a head but can’t weep, and has a bed but can’t sleep? A river. Today — For today’s BBT, we will cut the sticker price of our [Excel Master Bootcamp]() by 50 bananas for the first 20 correct respondents. LFG: I left my campsite and hiked south for 6 miles. Then I turned east and hiked for 6 miles. I then turned north and hiked for 6 miles, at which time I came upon a bear inside my tent eating my food! What kind of bear was it? Shoot us your guesses at [vyomesh@wallstreetoasis.com](mailto:vyomesh@wallstreetoasis.com?subject=Banana%20Brain%20Teaser) with the subject line “Banana Brain Teaser” or simply [click here to reply!](mailto:vyomesh@wallstreetoasis.com?subject=Banana%20Brain%20Teaser) Macro Monkey Says Falling Future Investment? — You’ve already heard news about hiring freezes and layoffs lately. While the layoff news is a bit non-sequitur, as big companies massage their headcount about +/-5% annually, outright hiring freezes are definitely news. Several tech giants have already announced freezes, and these are something to think about. With these freezes will likely come other cost-cutting measures. Some of these measures might include chopping internal projects that are more speculative in nature or decreasing infrastructure investment that might affect future business operations. While CIOs are still touting intentions to continue investing in IT, investing the same percentage of company dollars this year doesn’t get you as much return as it would have in years past. Inflation has taken a bite out of the return on infrastructure bang for the buck too, and this means that relatively speaking, we’re probably going to see a decrease in the outcomes of these projects. Hiring freezes are just the tip of the iceberg for a tight labor market. Lately, we have seen increasing jobless claims and really slow wage growth. This signals weakness. This data is probably going to get worse in the coming months, and when I say worse, I mean worse for the worker. It’s, in reality, the dose of medicine we need to get the economy back in check. Some might argue that we need a recession to kill inflation or at least move it down to manageable levels. Well, it’s pretty f*cking hard, so to speak, to have a recession when you have 2.5 open jobs for every job-seeker in the marketplace. If you’re looking for a job, now is probably a better time to find one than in six months. If you have amazing skills, speak 3 languages, and have years of applicable technical experience and an MIT Ph.D., it’s probably safe to hold off and not rush into something you don’t like; but if you’re what my last boss would call a marginal candidate, now’s the time to pound the pavement and look for gigs. WSO's Excel Master Bootcamp [image](=) Microsoft Excel is finance's most ubiquitous tool, and you need to master it if you want to be successful in the industry. Limited to 30 seats, Wall Street Oasis is offering an Excel Master Bootcamp on July 23rd, taught by a proven industry professional with legit Wall Street cred. [Join us](=) for this 4-hour hands-on master class to set your career up for success. Act now – enrollment is limited. You won't want to miss this. What's Ripe Energy ($XLE) — Energy stocks had a nice day yesterday on the heels of crude’s progress towards $110 per barrel. Names like Valero, Devon, and Marathon led the gainers of the S&P. $XLE moved higher, finishing the day up 2.93%. Chinese Tech ($JD, $BIDU) — Although the $KWEB didn’t have a strong day, JD.com and Baidu Inc. were amongst the Nasdaq’s winners yesterday, finishing the day up 2.52% and 2.58%, respectively. I’m personally not convinced that Chinese tech companies are the way to go, but on the relatively flat day, investors pumped these cats higher. What's Rotten Electronic Arts ($EA) — For some reason, even during a major selloff, some names have weathered the storm this year. Electronic Arts, the “It’s in the Game” people from our childhoods, is in that crowd. Yesterday, shares of $EA lost 3.53%, and on the year, they are down a mere 7.4%. Not a bad showing, given that they lost half of that decline during Monday’s session. EA appears to be the odd man out, as its peers like Activision Blizzard and Take-Two Interactive are courted by Microsoft and Zynga. Investors might be starting to ask, “does EA still have a future in gaming?” Disney ($DIS) — Disney’s stock has been backsliding lately, shedding almost 40% year to date. This puts it in the company of SaaS companies that have little to no revenue, not millions of dollars of infrastructure, and probably not a real estate footprint in the billions… not to mention a budding streaming business. Whether they are arguing with Florida’s Governor over paying their fair share of state and local taxes or making controversial promises about reproductive care in the wake of last week’s SCOTUS decision, it seems like Disney is always in the news. Shares of $DIS retreated 1.20% yesterday. Now it’s just ten bucks away from its March 2020 lows. Thought Banana Save Your Money? — The savings rate in this country has gone from about 33% of disposable income in April of 2020 (you know why!) all the way down to around 4% in recent months, a level lower than any other time since the Great Recession. Ironically, people were throwing their money into savings accounts when rates were still basically negative, earning next to nothing on their dollars and probably losing money in real terms. People are now spending more of their money and not stashing it away for a rainy day. This is actually counter to what the Fed is trying to do to stave off inflation. Accelerated spending rates and falling savings rates can introduce inflationary pressures into the economy. It makes sense that saving a third of your income isn’t possible forever (unless you’re from Qatar, the country with almost a 60% savings rate), but this drastic reduction in savings is quite the turnaround from two years ago. This kind of makes sense; things are more expensive now by like double-digit percentages for everything in everyday life of the average American, and wage growth hasn’t exactly kept up with the price of a decent living. Annual Percentage Yields on savings accounts around 0.18% aren’t normal; a certificate of deposit for 7 years at 0.69% is a dumb idea. Rising rates are going to change these interest rates. As we tighten, interest rates on everything will rise. From savings accounts to money market and CDs, but also on credit cards and personal loans, lending money will become more lucrative. This is healthy for the economy. If you can steer clear of sky-high rates like in the 1980s, a little bit of cost of capital is good for business. It also might motivate people with extra disposable income to put their money into banks and capital markets like they did before their return was going to hover around zero. As people continue to spend their money instead of saving it in the face of inflation, I have to ask – how will you save money to buck the trend? Wise Investor Says “Increased wages, higher pensions, more unemployment insurance, all are of no avail if the purchasing power of money falls faster.” — Bernard M. Baruch Happy Investing, Patrick & The Daily Peel Team Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up for the WSO Daily Peel [here](). [ADVERTISE](=) // [WSO ALPHA]() // [COURSES]( // [LEGAL](=) Don't want The Daily Peel? [Unsubscribe here](. Click to [Unsubscribe]( from ALL WSO content IB Oasis Corp. (aka "Wall Street Oasis") 20705 Saint Charles St Saratoga, California 95070 United States (617) 337-3353