In today’s Recap, Marcello talks about the fall of Bitcoin (and other cryptos) prices during the week; Tesla is crushing its delivery expectations; Food prices keep rising due to increasing input prices, covid related worker shortages and transportation costs.
Bitcoin plunged -7.3% thursday overnight to $42,686.00 with losses exceeding -9% at one point. The price was slightly higher Thursday evening at $42,750.20. Ethereum, cardano, binance coin, solana & other cryptocurrencies were also deeply in the red, after minutes revealed that the U.S. Federal Reserve could soon start rapidly cutting back its support for the economy, spelling trouble for risky assets.
The U.S. S&P 500 rose +27% in 2021, hitting 70 all-time highs. That’s the most new records for the benchmark index since the 77, set in 1954. For the1st time in history, all the sectors of the S&P 500 also posted double-digit gains last year, but investors now wonder if the strong returns can continue, especially with the index now trading at 26x earnings.
2021 was a historic year for merger & acquisition (M&A) activity that was largely fueled by easy availability of cheap financing & booming stock markets. Global M&A volumes topped $5T for the 1st time ever, eclipsing the previous record of $4.55T set in 2007. The overall value of M&A stood at $5.8T in 2021, up +64% from a year earlier.
The Israel Defense Forces carried out retaliatory airstrikes in Gaza late Saturday night after 2 rockets fired from Gaza landed off the Tel Aviv coast on Saturday morning. Fighter jets & helicopters attacked a series of targets in a rocket production facility belonging to the Hamas terror group. Israeli tanks also shelled Hamas military posts near Gaza’s border with Israel.
1000’s of people in the Netherlands capital of Amsterdam gathered on Sunday to demonstrate against the Dutch government’s COVID-19 lockdown measures, before police cracked down & even employed dogs to disperse the crowd. Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema issued an emergency ordinance giving the order to clear the central Museum Square, after the protesters violated the city’s ban on public gatherings amid an increase in COVID-19 cases.
Alaska close to “Icemageddon”; U.S. stocks fell on Thursday.
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