Welcome to our #55 weekly newsletter.
Every week we curate key content and apply a female-lens so you can stay informed and inspired about money and investing.
Stay in the know.
Keep on top of global economic, financial and investing news and trends. And read about what this means for you and your money in 2021 during Covid-19 and beyond.
If you’re short on time, listen to the audio for a brief overview.
“For women who are taking control of their financial future”
-Jana Hlistova
From The Purse
Editorial from the Founder
The so-called ‘Buffett-Indicator’ has hit an all-time-high: global stocks are now equal to 122% of global GDP.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index recorded its best weekly gain since mid-November (up 3.5%).
‘Increased retail participation in equity markets is a typical side effect of bull markets and of bull markets overshooting into bubbles…’
Inflation returned to the Euro area in January.
And the Bank of England (BoE) tells banks to get ready for negative interest rates (the BoE currently holds its key rate at a record low 0.1%). However this does not mean the policy is imminent. And they forecast UK GDP will return to pre-pandemic levels by March 2022.
Meanwhile Bitcoin hit a record number 22.3m active wallets in January.
And ether (ETH), the world’s second largest cryptocurrency, hits a record high (again) above $1,700.
Crypto tokens associated with decentralised finance (DeFi) have all leapt to fresh lifetime highs.
Visa has announced it plans to help banks roll out bitcoin and cryptocurrency buying and trading services with a Visa crypto software program (to launch later in 2021)
Invesco has released a report about trends in blockchain, entitled ‘Hyper Real: An Overview of Global Blockchain Industry Trends’.
UK company Moonpig joined the stock market on Tuesday and its shares jumped 17% valuing the company at £1.4bn.
Meanwhile, low earners are more likely to be racking up debt during the pandemic.
Helena Morrissey has pulled her money from the ‘Girl Fund’ she helped to launch due to a lack of investor interest. The L&G Future World Gender in Leadership UK index fund, launched in 2018 by Morrissey when she was head of personal investing at Legal & General Investment Management, received £50m of seed capital from the UK institutional investor.
According to a study by etoro, women make up only 15% of bitcoin traders and only 12% of ether traders.
And we’re tracking UK start-up Gen M, the ‘Google for menopause’ founded by Heather Jackson and Sam Simister. It also aims to broaden the conversation about menopause in the workplace, to help employers create a culture where women can be open.
If you have time, check out the Coffee Break section and read about the economist who is placing value on black women’s overlooked work.
Stay safe, look after yourselves and your loved ones.
I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.
Until next week,
Jana
The Big Picture
Global markets and economy news, trends and indicators
The ‘Buffett Indicator’ has hit an ATH:
Global stocks are now equal to 122.4% of global GDP.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index, recorded its best weekly gain since mid-November, up 3.5%
Currently trades at 17x forward earnings, well above its 10-year average of approximately 14x.
Lars Kreckel, global equity strategist at Legal & General Investment Management said: ‘Increased retail participation in equity markets is a typical side effect of bull markets and of bull markets overshooting into bubbles…’
Inflation returned to the Euro area in January
Consumer prices rose 0.9% year-on-year.
Energy costs surged & tax breaks to stimulate German consumption ended.
Core CPI (consumer price index) that excludes volatile items such as food and energy, surged to 1.4%, highest in >5yrs.
Bank of England (BoE) tells banks to get ready for negative interest rates
However this does not mean the policy is imminent.
The BoE currently holds its key rate at a record low 0.1%.
(Countries like Japan, Switzerland and the ECB already have negative interest rates).
BoE: rapid GDP rebound likely as vaccines take effect
The BoE forecasts a 4.2% slump in Q1.
They forecast GDP will return to pre-pandemic levels by March 2022.
Bitcoin & cryptocurrencies
Global news, trends and insights
Bitcoin hit record number 22.3m active wallets in January
Data shows that there were more active Bitcoin wallets in January than during any other month in its history.
This is higher than the 21.6m figure in January 2017, when bitcoin set the then-record price high of over $19,500 (vs its new record ATH $41,940).
Visa reveals bitcoin and crypto banking roadmap amid race to reach network of 70m
Visa has announced it plans to help banks roll out bitcoin and cryptocurrency buying and trading services with a Visa crypto software program (to launch later in 2021):
First Boulevard, a Kansas-based, Black-focused digital bank, will pilot the APIs, designed to help Visa bank clients integrate bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
Visa’s head of crypto, Cuy Sheffield said: ‘We see crypto assets as more like digital gold’.
Ether (ETH), the world’s second largest cryptocurrency, hits a record high above $1,700
Ether climbed 11% to a price of more than $1,700 on Friday, according to data from CoinDesk.
Investors are awaiting the launch of ether futures contracts from the CME (due to start on Monday).
Crypto investors said another factor potentially boosting ether was the start of a major upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain, called Ethereum 2.0.
DeFi season? LINK, AAVE, ZRX and COMP hit record price highs (outperforming bitcoin)
Crypto tokens associated with decentralised finance (DeFi) such as COMP, AAVE, KNC and ZRX have all leapt to fresh lifetime highs.
Most of these coins have jumped in price and value recently as investors recognise the revenue potential of decentralised exchanges (DEXs) and other DeFi solutions.
Elon Musk says he is a supporter of bitcoin and thinks it will get ‘broad acceptance’ in finance
On Clubhouse, the audio chat app, Elon Musk said:
‘I do at this point think bitcoin is a good thing, and I am a supporter of bitcoin’ & ‘I think bitcoin is really on the verge of getting broad acceptance by conventional finance people’.
Bitcoin jumped above $38,000 after he changed his biography on Twitter to #bitcoin.
Future Focus
Keeping an eye on key predictions, innovations and what’s going to impact the future
Blockchain offers ‘burgeoning’ investor opportunities (Invesco report)
The report, Hyper Real: An Overview of Global Blockchain Industry Trends, looks in detail at industry developments and key trends that are shaping blockchain's long-term trajectory (including):
commercial blockchain networks have now been established across multiple sectors.
While the popular focus is on cryptocurrencies, other assets are growing fast. These include digital fiat currencies and digital securities that are modernising capital markets.
Stablecoins have generated more than $1.2trn in transactional volume since 2017. This year should see both the appearance of Facebook's Diem stablecoin and broader central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilots in Shenzhen and three other cities in China.
Companies: winners & losers
Companies to watch and share price movements
Gamestop plunged 60% and erased $27bn in value (Tuesday)
Last week, GameStop shares surged 1,500%+ in January as a horde of retail investors bid up shares and cheered each other on in Reddit forums like WallStreetBets. It is estimated that GameStop short-sellers had lost more than $19 billion+ this year.
UK: Moonpig shares jump as the group joins the stock market
Moonpig shares jumped 17% as the group joined the stock market on Tuesday, valuing the company at £1.4bn.
The company placed 140m shares at an initial price of 350p. New investors will have a 14% stake in the greetings card company and retailer.
The group’s floatation comes after a strong Christmas:
Moonpig reported £156m in sales in the six months to the end of October (benefiting from high street closures and people staying home).
Your Money
Insights, trends and what this means for you and your purse
Low earners more likely to be racking up debt during the pandemic
50% of low-paid workers (earning less than £15k) have endured a loss in their income during the public health crisis vs 29% of high earners (earning £50K+)
(Also, studies have found women have been over-represented in sectors most badly disrupted by lockdown measures such as hospitality, retail, leisure, tourism and the arts).
While another study found almost 700,000 people in Britain have been pushed into poverty as a result of the pandemic ie 15m of Britons now live below the poverty line (almost a quarter of the entire population).
Have You Seen This?
Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns
Helena Morrissey pulls money from ‘Girl Fund’ she helped to launch due to lack of investor interest
The L&G Future World Gender in Leadership UK index fund, launched in 2018 by Morrissey (when she was head of personal investing at Legal & General Investment Management) and received £50m of seed capital from the UK institutional investor.
Morrissey's decision to pull her investment comes as LGIM plans to merge away the gender diversity fund due to lack of investor interest.
Know this: it backed about 350 of the UK's largest companies with better gender diversity scores and aimed to provide income and growth, as well as make an impact. Just because LGIM merged this fund, does not mean investing with a gender-lens focus does not stack up. For example, Japan's giant Government Pension Investment Fund invests in an index that allocates to companies based on 19 gender equality criteria.
Women make up only 15% of bitcoin traders & only 12% ether traders
According to data from eToro, this confirms the gender imbalance in cryptocurrency investing.
In December, eToro reported that women were signing up to their platform at faster rates than men.
The platform reported a 366% rise in the number of women sign-ups compared to the 248% increase in male users.
Know this: the crypto and blockchain industry continues to be dominated by men. And generally-speaking, women tend to invest less than their male peers for many reasons. However, online investing platforms are making it easier and much more accessible for women to invest. As more women join the industry and invest in blockchain/crypto, the community will grow stronger which in turn will attract more women.
What We’re Tracking
Female and diversity-focused products or services, start-ups and businesses led by women/diverse founders, investment and research.
Gen M: (UK)-founded by Heather Jackson and Sam Simister, is the ‘Google for menopause’. And it aims to broaden the conversation about menopause in the workplace, providing guidance to help employers create a culture where women can be open.
By 2025, 1bn women worldwide will be in menopause.
A report they conducted found that 88 per cent of women think workplaces should be better set up to support women with the menopause.
Women over 50 are now the fastest-growing segment of the workforce, but about 14m working days are lost in the UK each year to the menopause.
Gen M’s report found that those at a high point of their career when entering the perimenopause were significantly unprepared (90%), while 83% knew almost nothing about it and 55% said it made them feel invisible.
The site has already had nods of approval from high-profile women. Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that Gen M was the best menopause site.
Coffee Break? Read This
We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and @janicka.
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