Screw Bitcoin & Memestonks - BUY BRITISH

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Stocks are set to open in the green, and sentiment is tilting positive...

Bank Of England Decision - GBP Rallies

English voice mode ON

Yep, the Bank Of England were pretty upbeat under the circumstances, stating that it doesn't intend to signal that negative rates are coming although it “would be appropriate to start the preparations to provide the capability to do so if necessary in the future.”

GBP rallied in response, and negative rate bets were pushed out to 2022 (and beyond?)

British banks took the news well, gaining 1.3% as negative rates were priced out...

Stocks (real ones, not memestonks)

One that's hot... 🔥

PayPal is up 5% in pre-market after reporting yesterday.

The shift to online shopping and digital transactions drove record levels of payment volumes for the quarter and the year.

They expect to add another 50 million active users in 2021 and forecast annual revenues of ~$25.5 billion, easily beating analyst estimates of $21.4 billion.

During 2020, PayPal processed a record $936 billion in payments...

One that's not... 😢

Unilever shares fell 4% on the open as investors were underwhelmed by the latest earnings report...

Full-year sales margins were weaker than expected, however, due to larger marketing investments, higher restructuring charges in 2020 with another ~€1 billion still to come in 2021 & 2022.

One for luck...🍀

Clover Health Vs Hindenburg

Chamath Vs The Short Sellers

Central Banks Behind Bitcoin Rally

So say the FT - apparently 'a deluge of central bank stimulus has inflated the price of assets globally'.

If only someone had told us sooner...

It's obvious loose monetary policy will be with us for some time, and Bitcoin is here to stay too.

The Bitcoin market cap reached $750bn at the peak, and institutions are loading up now too.

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Stimmy Update

Bipartisan negotiations continue...

Biden wants to stick to the $1,400 figure, but is happy to look at targeting the payments to those in greater need...

A bold and revolutionary idea, let's see how it works out...

“We can better target them,” Biden told House Democrats yesterday. “But I’m not going to start my administration by breaking a promise to the American people.”

Bloomberg report a proposal that income thresholds could be lowered to $50,000 for single adults and $100,000 for married couples, phasing out for incomes above that... Previous thresholds were $75,000 and $150,000 respectively.

Looks like stimulus is coming one way or another, and unemployment relief too...

Turns out that sending people money is hugely popular... 

Watch this space.

The $15 minimum wage is less likely to pass...

Some companies are already paying $15, others say it would be catastrophic for their businesses...

The timing is also terrible.

This chart shows the % of minimum wage workers by industry, but it could just as easily be a chart of the industries hardest hit by Covid restrictions.

Increasing the minimum wage would surely lead to higher unemployment under these circumstances...