Finimize - ⚔️ Lego meets Fortnite

Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for March 8th in 3:01 minutes.

☕️ Finimized over a long black at Custard Canteen, Queensland, Australia (☁️ 29°C/85°F)

Today's big stories

Toymaking giant Lego is building big, but profit growth still took a dip
Here’s what this year could mean for 2022’s stock standouts – Read Now
The world huffed and puffed, but British house prices weren't blown down

A Ton Of Bricks

What’s Going On Here?

Lego reported on Tuesday that profit growth tumbled like a poorly engineered plastic house last year.

What Does This Mean?

Demand for Lego’s colorful plastic bricks stacked up last year, so much so that the firm had to scramble to keep up: the world’s biggest toymaker opened 155 new stores and upped production at over half of its factories. A lot of that enthusiasm was for fan favorites like Lego Star Wars and Harry Potter sets, but all-new creations made up nearly half of last year's sales. That helped Lego build up its market share, with revenue fattening up by 17%. But all that investment – plus some higher costs – inevitably put a dent in profit: 2022’s 4% uptick was the smallest in three years.

Why Should I Care?

The bigger picture: Brick by brick.
These results are actually better than Lego expected: after all, keeping up with the roaring pandemic years was always going to be a tough task. But the firm’s confident its market share will bulk up even more in 2023 – unlike rivals Mattel and Hasbro, which are predicting flatlining and falling revenue respectively. But Lego’s betting it knows how to avoid their fate: no price hikes and plenty of store openings – particularly in China, where the economy’s finally starting to find its feet again.

Zooming out: Virtual value.
Store openings are all well and good, but it’s hard to pull kids away from digital devices these days – and that’s a threat for old-school toymakers like Lego. The solution: lean into digital. That’s Lego’s attitude anyway, so the firm’s also funneling more money into its e-commerce offerings and digital playing experiences. In fact, the coming weeks are expected to reveal details of a metaverse collaboration with Fortnite’s developer Epic Games.

You might also like: Five spicy stocks for China’s reopening.

Copy to share story: https://go.finimize.com/wp/news/like-a-ton-of-bricks/

🙋 Ask a question

Analyst Take

These Five American Giants Made $100 Billion Profit: Buy, Hold, Or Sell?

When a lot of the world’s big companies were sputtering last year, the profit engines on these five US giants were purring.

Those impressive showings might lead you to think these companies have got a trick or two up their sleeves – ones that could repeat that winning performance again.

But this year could prove a lot tougher for some of the five firms, and that’s why our partners at interactive investors have been sizing up their stocks and their outlooks.

So, that’s today’s Insight: a look under the hood at five US companies that made a fortune in 2022 – and whether they belong in your portfolio.

Read or listen to the Insight here

Meet your future community

Let’s face it, even the best brands need a little push to reach the right audience.

Our one-million-strong community of modern investors is clever, clued-in, and keen to learn. In short, they’re exactly the type of folk you want to reach.

So whether you’re an established brand, scaleup, or startup, our promotional campaigns can help you reach the right audience at the right time.

Your tailored campaign will make the most of all the Finimize channels, including live event and Summit showcases, social media blasts, and curated newsletter placements – yup, right here.

Introduce yourself to your future community with Finimize.

Get In Touch

House Of Mirrors

What’s Going On Here?

Data out on Tuesday showed that British house prices took an unexpected leap in February.

What Does This Mean?

The housing market took a serious hit last year, when the Bank of England's interest rate hikes pushed mortgage rates through the roof. See, with the cost of loans suddenly too hot to handle, folks found that they no longer had the cash – or even the desire – to take the home-owning plunge. But the picture brightened a little in February: mortgage rates dipped from their peak, British consumer confidence ticked up, and the job market held firm. That might help explain why British lender Halifax saw UK house prices climb 1.1% from January to February, confounding economists' predictions of a 0.3% drop.

Why Should I Care?

Zooming in: Bringing down the house.
Best not declare victory yet, mind you: despite that slight climb, house prices are still trending downward in the long run – and with mortgage rates close to a ten-year high, that’s no big surprise. What's more, Halifax's data is sharply at odds with rival Nationwide, which claimed just last week that house prices dropped in February. (That sounds like a head-scratcher, but each lender bases its calculations on its own loans, so conclusions differ now and then.) Add on that fewer sales are being agreed these days, and most experts still think house prices will slide this year.

The bigger picture: Irate about rates.
UK households could be in for even more pain. While the Bank of England hinted that British interest rates might have peaked, its pal across the pond said on Tuesday that US rates would probably climb even higher than folk expected. Problem is, the prospect of higher rates makes a country’s currency more attractive to international savers and investors, which might be why the pound plunged versus the dollar after the news – a move that’ll make importing more expensive and squeeze Brits even harder.

You might also like: Housing stocks look to be on solid ground.

Copy to share story: https://go.finimize.com/wp/news/house-of-mirrors/

🙋 Ask a question

💬 Quote of the day

“I don’t try to describe the future. I try to prevent it.”

– Ray Bradbury (an American author and screenwriter)

Tweet this

Put your brand’s know-how in the spotlight

Retail investors are constantly on the lookout for reliable, smart, and easy-to-digest information.

We like to think our bite-sized, jargon-free content is what they’re looking for – and your brand’s specialist knowledge sure could help them level up too.

Finimize custom content solutions put your brand in the spotlight: demonstrate your expertise with jargon-free guides, and show our million-strong community that they can trust your brand.

Our editorial team will work with you to craft and maintain a content strategy that suits your business needs and resonates with our switched-on community, in text, audio, and video formats.

Find out more about custom content solutions.

Get In Touch

🌍 Finimize Live

🥳 Coming Up Soon…

All events in UK time.

🌥 Do Recessions Have A Silver Lining?: 5pm, March 8th
🌎 Three Ways Long-Term Investors Can Act On Climate Change: 12pm, March 21st
🚀 What Will Be The Next Big Thing In Artificial Intelligence?: 1pm, March 22nd

🎯 On Our Radar

You’re projecting. Bad cinema technicians are ruining the moviegoing experience.
Monk-fluencers. These viral monks have clashed with Buddhist authorities.
AI, please fix me. This PhD student asked an algorithm to sort out her messy life.
Pass the cockroach milk. Check out the so-called “superfoods” of the future.
1,300-year-old doodles. These ancient scribblings have got scholars all excited.

❤️ Share with a friend

Your Referrals: 0

Thanks for reading Reader. If you liked today's brief, we'd love for you to share it with a friend.

Share your unique link:

https://finimize.com/invite/?kid=177ZWC

You stay classy, Reader 😉

We’d love to hear your thoughts. Give feedback

Want to advertise with us too? Get in touch

Image Credits:

Image credits: Midjourney AI | Midjourney AI

Preferences:

Update your email or change preferences

View in browser

Unsubscribe from all Finimize Emails

😴

Crafted by Finimize Ltd. | 280 Bishopsgate, London, EC2M 4AG

All content provided by Finimize Ltd. is for informational and educational purposes only and is not meant to represent trade or investment recommendations. You signed up to this mailing list at finimize.com or through one of our partners. © Finimize 2021

Key phrases

big storiesToymaking giant Lego Harry Potter sets social media blasts British consumer confidence Five American Giants five US giants roaring pandemic years Interest rate hikes British house prices UK house prices digital playing experiences Five spicy stocks five US companies colorful plastic bricks LEGO Star Wars British lender Halifax

Older messages

😳 China's underconfident

Monday, March 6, 2023

China's set a pretty low goal | Eurozone retail sales were worryingly weak | TOGETHER WITH Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for March 7th in 2:53 minutes. ☕️ Finimized over a café de

🛢 Russian oil slipped

Sunday, March 5, 2023

Lufthansa was a high achiever | Russian oil prices plummeted | TOGETHER WITH Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for March 6th in 2:51 minutes. 👋 The way you invest is unique. So tell us about

🍺 Tipples toppled

Thursday, March 2, 2023

Salesforce got its mojo back | The world's biggest brewer is selling less beer | TOGETHER WITH Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for March 3rd in 2:56 minutes. ☕️ Finimized over a piccolo

🛞 Rivian needs to step on it

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Rivian's got a problem with speed | Lowe's predicted a slump this year | TOGETHER WITH Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for March 2nd in 2:52 minutes. 🤖 Capitalizing on artificial

📸 Zoom zoomed

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

India slowed down last quarter | Zoom sped ahead | Finimize Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for March 1st in 2:49 minutes. ♻️ You want to save the planet, but recycling your milk bottles

Inflation is the enemy

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Bloomberg Evening Briefing View in browser Bloomberg The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter percentage point and indicated there may be more hikes to come. In doing so, the Fed

🇬🇧 Britain got bruised

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

The Fed struck a compromise | Inflation dashed Brits' hopes | TOGETHER WITH Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for March 23rd in 3:07 minutes. ⏱ Time slips by pretty easily – so you might

Issue #184: I can stop freaking out — my money is totally safe in the bank

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

plus the Squirrel Lady + Hugh Jackman's cinnamon rolls ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌

Great news for your next vacation

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Plus: Bill Gates' AI predictions, and using ChatGPT to start a business. View in browser Subscribe March 22, 2023 Hello, Insiders. This is Jennifer H. Cunningham, the editor in chief of

Wall Street: Hedge funds are the new banks

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

The latest in finance. View in browser INSIDER INSIDER Subscribe 10 THINGS ON WALL STREET Hi there! Dan DeFrancesco in NYC, and these stories of wild sex accidents from an ER doctor who treated them

❣️ JPMorgan’s bleeding heart

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

JPMorgan rushed to rescue First Republic | Amazon's still slimming down | TOGETHER WITH Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for March 22nd in 3:03 minutes. 🔮 ChatGPT's smart, but it can

Roaring back

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Bloomberg Evening Briefing View in browser Bloomberg Beleaguered First Republic Bank is refusing to be the fifth victim of the banking crisis, surging by a record and leading a rally in US lenders

5 things to Know about Social Security Even if You’re Not Collecting

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Also: As Inflation Cools, Prices for These 5 Things Are Climbing ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌

🤦🏼‍♀️ A Woke Bank Crash? (Smh.)

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Plus, $100K jobs, five years of Ellevest Impact Portfolios, and how to protect your data. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Ex-CIA officials say Bush ‘lied’

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Plus: Gen Z real estate, and Credit Suisse winners and losers. View in browser Subscribe March 21, 2023 Hello, Insiders. This is Matt Turner, Insider's editor in chief of business. Amid all the big