Bi-weekly updates on personal finance, fintech, the US economy, and more
US Economy
The stock market is continuing to rally, online retail is at an all-time high, and big banks are contemplating game-changing geographical moves.
A Record-Breaking November
The S&P 500 has had one of it’s best single-month runs in 40 years this November, having gained 11% MoM. Though this performance stems from positive forecasts for 2021 and 2022, rising unemployment rates urge caution.
Online Holiday Shopping is Pushing Delivery Services to the Limit
UPS has imposed shipping restrictions on several big-name retailers such as Nike, Gap and L.L Bean following the massive volume of orders placed on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the Wall St. Journal reported. As Christmas shopping season hits full swing, this strain is expected to grow.
Goldman Sachs Florida Move Could Signal End of Wall St. As We Know It
Financial giant Goldman Sachs is contemplating moving it’s asset management arm to Florida. The exit of a financial titan of this caliber may signal the beginning of the end of New York City’s standing as the helm of the financial industry. The effects of COVID-19 have had a massive effect on Manhattan, which now has the most empty office spaces since right after 9/11.
Industry and Partner News
Housing
Mortgage Applications Up 19% in 2020
The housing industry is among those that have experienced growth in 2020, with new applications up 19% YoY. This is largely due to the digitization of the Mortgage Industry in recent years, along with the ongoing trend of dropping mortgage rates due to COVID’s effects on the economy.
Student Loans
Federal Student Loans Given Extra Month of Forbearance
Federal student loan borrowers will be given an extra month before repayments on their loans are required, the U.S Department of Education announced last week. The new deadline is now January 31st, 2021. The Federal Forbearance plan was created in March during the initial outbreak of COVID-19. The original deadline was set for September, but has been repeatedly pushed forward due to rising unemployment numbers and uncertainty surrounding the pandemic. As long as the program persists, federal borrowers will not be required to make any payments on their loans, and can enjoy an interest rate of 0%.
Banking
HSBC Considers Exit From US Retail Banking
HSBC may shutter it’s US retail banking division, following a loss of over $500M and the closure of 80 branches in 2020, the Financial Times reported last week. The plan will be presented to the board of the UK-based lender in the coming weeks.
Corporate News
Salesforce to Acquire Slack
Business software giant Salesforce will be acquiring the workplace-messaging platform Slack for a reported $27.7B, in a deal aimed at helping both companies compete with Microsoft and their Office-365 business suite, which includes their own internal messaging platform called Teams. This is the most recent development in what has come to be known as the “Cloud Wars” between leading internet giants. Salesforce also acquired Tableau for $17B in 2019.
Startups End Year in a Deal Frenzy
The end of 2020 is signaling the beginning of a new wave of startup IPOs, headed by well-known names such as Airbnb and Doordash who are going public with valuations in the tens of billions of Dollars. Wish.com, the mobile e-commerce company, is also set to go public this month, as well as the lending platform Upstart, and Biotech startup Abcellera.
Bonus — Visa is Going Crypto
Credit card giant Visa announced it is connecting its global payments network of 60 million merchants to the U.S. Dollar Coin (USDC) cryptocurrency developed by Circle Internet Financial on the Ethereum blockchain. The digital currency is now valued at $2.9 billion. This news comes on the heels of Paypal’s November announcement that their users will now be able to buy and sell Bitcoin directly on their platform.
