Your Weekly Financial Roundup Issue No. 1

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In this week’s edition, we cover the latest news in the world, crypto, and economy.

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Your Financial News Roundup

October 19, 2022


TL;DR

  1. World: Student loan forgiveness apps have officially opened under the Biden administration. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s SpaceX continues to provide Starlink services to Ukraine and clean energy is going mainstream.
  2. Crypto: A digital arts dealer and his team exploited Mango Markets for $117M, claiming the hack was legal. Walmart is diving into Web3 and the highly-anticipated Aptos Mainnet launched.
  3. Economy: Things aren’t looking so great for the economy with concerns over the rise in mortgage rates, significant price hikes, and a looming recession ahead.

World

📖 Student loan forgiveness apps now open: The Biden administration has officially launched their student loan forgiveness program at Studentaid.gov, which is expected to provide debt relief to millions of borrowers nationwide. Note that there are a few requirements and caveats:

  1. The debt relief does not apply to private student loans, only federally-held student loans.
  2. Only individual borrowers who make less than $125,000 annually and married couples or heads of households who make less than $250,000 annually are eligible for up to $10,000 of their debt forgiven.
  3. Qualifying borrowers who also received a Pell Grant while in school may be eligible for up to $20,000 of debt forgiveness.

💫 Elon Musk and SpaceX’s Starlink services: According to Elon Musk, SpaceX’s Starlink services in Ukraine is costing the company ~$20 million a month, with $80+ million in expenses so far. The company has not received any funding from the U.S. Department of Defense for its services and costs. While Musk initially suggested that his company may not be able to fund the program indefinitely, he has since backtracked on his comments and doubled-down on their commitment.

💡 Clean energy is going mainstream: 87 countries have now passed the 5% tipping point for switching to renewable energy, with China making one of the fastest transitions to solar and wind energy. As the world crosses a mass-adoption movement for green tech, we’ll start seeing the foundations of a climate-friendly energy system get built, starting with solar power, wind turbines, electric cars, grid-scale batteries, heat pumps, and more. (Source)

energy usage

Crypto

🥭 $117M Mango Markets hack: On October 11, digital art dealer Avraham Eisenberg and his team exploited $117 million from Mango Markets, Solana’s lending and trading DeFi protocol. According to Eisenberg, his team took legal actions and used the protocol as designed, though he is now negotiating a proposal with the Mango DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) to partially return the funds. (Source)

🏬 Walmart’s making moves into web3: At the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit on October 17, Walmart’s CTO, Suresh Kumar, took a positive stance on crypto’s value as a payment option in the Metaverse and live streaming on social media apps. Back in late September, Walmart entered the Roblox Metaverse with Walmart Land and has been rumored to roll out crypto payment support soon. (Source)

🪙 â€˜Solana Killer’ Aptos launches: After more than four years of development, Aptos Mainnet officially launched on October 17. Dubbed the ‘Solana Killer,’ Aptos is backed by top players in the VC world, including Andreesen Horowitz and FTX. Its key differentiator is the “parallel execution” feature, which allows for faster transactions processing. Despite initial buzz, the price of Aptos has since crashed more than 40%, indicating skepticism among investors. (Source)

aptos logo

Economy

🏠 Average mortgage rates reach 7.24%: If you’re shopping for homes this fall, you may face an uphill struggle. As of October 17, the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage climbed to a high of 7.24%, up from 7.05% a week ago. Meanwhile, the average rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is 6.47%. (Source)

⚒️ Up to 80% price hikes at Ikea: Despite record-high revenues this year, some products at Ikea have surged 80% in price in less than a year. According to a spokesperson at Ikea, the company is committed to keeping prices low but is not immune to the increased costs of raw materials and transport, as well as the ongoing war in Ukraine and inflation. (Source)

📉 Fears of a looming recession ahead: Fitch, which is one of the world’s top three credit rating agencies, recently released a report predicting a 1990-style mild recession slated for spring 2023 due to inflation and interest rate hikes. The impact of the recession will likely get cushioned by a tight job market and strong consumer balance sheet. (Source)

real disposable personal income per capita chart

Recommended Resources


Tip of the Day

💸 Setting up a Roth-401(k) will give you the best benefits of both pre-tax and post-tax retirement investing — tax deductions and tax-free withdrawals.


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