👀 You see this? Mid-Year Market Check

👀TL;DR: Mid-year check-in: stocks are up, Bitcoin is down, and Investrio is on the news!

We hope you are having a wonderful holiday weekend. Here at Investrio, it's the summer of building – we're busy developing the next exciting phase of our project: the mobile application! We'd love to hear from you and your thoughts on how Investrio can help you out of debt and into wealth. Book a time to chat with us here.

Speaking of navigating the market - this week we had jobs data, and economists' expectations were met with the announcement of 206k new gigs in June. While this shows a cool down from previous months, the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%, which is still historically low.

We're halfway through the year, and despite persistent inflation and high interest rates, we've had a booming stock market, so far. Brace for impact because we still have 6 months to go - which is fantastic. ✨ TOP PICKS BELOW! ✨

Investrio's Key Takeaways: 

🚀 Year-to-Date (YTD) the S&P 500 is sitting pretty at a +17% gain, surpassing its historical average return of around 8%. Nasdaq is at a whopping +24%, wowza.

🏆 Biggest Winners: NVIDIA (NVDA up +161%) and Super Micro Computer Inc (SMCI up +196%) have had a standout year! The artificial intelligence race continues, and investors are raking it in. 📈📈📈📈

🌱 Recognition for Renewable: NextEra Energy (NEE jumped +35%) benefiting from the global shift towards clean energy and government incentives for renewable projects. Honorable mention for Tesla (TSLA up +40%), despite supply chain issues, demand continues to soar.🚗

🩺 Healthy Growth: Drug makers Moderna (MRNA +50%) and Eli Lilly (LLY +50%) seeing steady growth post COVID-19 vaccine sales. Similar story for insurance darling UnitedHealth Group (UNH +30%), because we all need it.

🛍️ Retail is Down: Declining foot traffic and competition from e-commerce giants have been crushing Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY down -25%) and Macy's (M down -18%). Younger generations have voiced for shopping experiences.

💰Finance is Not Fine: Higher interest rates & new regulations have impacted banks too - Wells Fargo (WFC down -15%) and Credit Suisse (CS dipped -20%), because of scandals and financial losses.
 
If you missed out on these investments so far, fear not—it's not too late. Remember—pay off any high-interest-rate debt first, then begin investing. The stock market and the economy are still funky, and this fall's election could bring a lot of volatility. Stay tuned for more updates, and reply with any questions or feedback! 🤩

🚨On the radar: 

Investrio is a platform that helps people manage debt and build wealth. Recently, it was featured in the news for winning the Built-in Miami program. The platform was founded by Joyce Medeiros, a Brazilian-born Latina with a background in finance. Despite working on Wall Street, she faced challenges with student loan debt, which inspired her to create Investrio. The platform offers educational resources and personalized recommendations to empower users to make informed financial decisions. You can read more about it here.

No Free Lunch - JPMC is out for your money, literally. The head of America's biggest retail bank warns its 86 million customers: prepare to pay for your bank accounts. Chase Bank is the country's biggest bank for consumers and one of its biggest credit card issuers. New regulations that would cap overdrafts and late fees will make everyday banking significantly more expensive for all Americans. Chase is already planning to pass on the costs of higher regulation and charge customers for several now-free services, including checking accounts and wealth management tools. Unfortunately, the people who will be most impacted are the ones who can least afford to be.

Buckle up - "Upflation" is the latest catchy term describing a new trend where retailers raise prices for US consumers, even if their costs haven't necessarily skyrocketed. It's more than just traditional inflation. "Upflation" involves abandoning discounts, offering smaller portions for the same price, and promoting more expensive premium items. Retailers are using these strategies to protect their profit margins in the face of rising operational costs and pressure from investors. And for those mostly empty potato chip bags - we see you.

💰Crypto Corner

Bitcoin Slips - This week, Bitcoin's price fell below the $60,000 mark going dow as low as $53,000 , and it's got everyone talking. But what caused this drop? A big part of it is the Mt. Gox situation.
 
For those who don't know, Mt. Gox was a major Bitcoin exchange that went bankrupt in 2014. Now, it's releasing around $9 billion worth of Bitcoin to its creditors this month, causing worry about a flood of Bitcoin hitting the market. This influx creates selling pressure, as many creditors might cash out their recovered BTC, leading to a drop in price.
 
Despite these events, institutional investments in Bitcoin ETFs could help absorb some of this selling pressure. Since January, these ETFs have amassed over $52.5 billion worth of BTC. This could potentially stabilize the market in the long run.

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In Abundance,
Joyce and Laura