Finimize - 🔫 The great crypto showdown

Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for March 24th in 3:09 minutes.

🗓 If you’ve already abandoned all your resolutions for 2023, here’s your do-over opportunity. Join Moneybox’s Brian Byrnes for How To Build Wealth In The New Tax Year on April 18th, and get your ISA ready for what could be a bumper twelve months. Get your free ticket

Today's big stories

The SEC closed in on Coinbase, with a legal showdown looking likely
A gloomier outlook has fund managers sitting on cash – Read Now
Consulting giant Accenture lined up 19,000 jobs on the chopping block

SEC You In Court

What’s Going On Here?

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued Coinbase a warning letter on Wednesday, sending the stock plummeting.

What Does This Mean?

It’s no surprise that the SEC's been keeping a close eye on cryptocurrencies ever since the spectacular collapse of FTX last November. And the fact the authority has issued Coinbase a so-called “Wells notice” – a final warning before a legal battle kicks off – shows that the watchdog has got bite as well as bark. The bone of contention here is whether crypto’s technically a security or nothing more than a currency of exchange: after all, it’s only securities that feel the intense glare of full SEC regulation. The authority’s doggedly insisting that Coinbase lets crypto be used as a kind of investment vehicle, while the firm’s saying crypto’s a whole lot closer to a commodity. Looks like one for the lawyers to battle out...

Why Should I Care?

Zooming out: Bad and good.
Coinbase's stock took a nosedive when the news broke. See, shareholders are worried that a regulatory defeat could lead to a wave of profit-slaying compliance costs. And tighter oversight could scare away crypto enthusiasts drawn by anonymity, and that tamped-down demand would drive down prices. But there might just be a silver lining: if the SEC comes out on top, Coinbase could rebrand crypto as a bona fide “investment”, and that just might endear it to some naysayers.

The bigger picture: Winner takes most.
Bringing buyers and sellers together has been the bedrock of countless success stories: think of Amazon Marketplace, Booking.com, or even the Nasdaq. What makes these marketplaces such good businesses is that they enjoy something called a network effect – the more people who join, the more attractive joining becomes to other people, and so on. Exchanges like Coinbase work in the same way, and as the only publicly traded crypto exchange left in the US, that could work out well for the firm – provided crypto has staying power.

You might also like: We could be dangerously close to a “Minsky Moment”.

Copy to share story: https://go.finimize.com/wp/news/sec-you-in-court/

🙋 Ask a question

Analyst Take

Flight To Cash For Fund Managers As Economy Fears Grow

Sentiment among professional investors is close to 20-year lows, as fear around the solvency of regional banks in America spreads through markets.

Bank of America’s latest survey of global fund managers shows that contagion risks across US regional banks drove investors out of the sector at the fastest pace since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

That’s today’s Insight: where fund managers are putting their money now, as economic worries accelerate.

Read or listen to the Insight here

The investing course that’s got everyone talking

The journey to financial freedom can be full of pitfalls, challenges, and misinformation.

You have to learn from the world’s best investors without blindly copying them, and apply textbook knowledge to the less predictable real world – all while sidestepping the charlatans.

But it’s a heck of a lot easier to find your way if you have a complete and clear guide at hand.

Well, join The Real Investing Course by Real Vision, and you’ll unlock thousands of hours’ worth of research in just ten hours. It’s essentially your Google Maps for the investing world.

It’s really got folks talking: one customer said they received “exactly the kind of high-quality, grounded, and honest market education that brought them to Real Vision in the first place.”

And as a loyal Finimize reader, you can get 40% off The Real Investing Course through this link.

Find Out More

Ax-enture

What’s Going On Here?

Consulting behemoth Accenture is wielding the headcount ax this time around, chopping 19,000 jobs according to news out on Thursday.

What Does This Mean?

Accenture makes its money by offering brains-for-hire to firms planning major system revamps. Over time it's evolved into a top-tier adviser for cutting-edge tech endeavors, like helping firms transition to the cloud – and that means this round of layoffs is well worth watching. See, while Accenture's only trimming 19,000 employees from its colossal 738,000-strong workforce, this move marks a stark reversal of its recent direction: the firm’s filled out its ranks by an extra 50% over the past two years, driven by fierce competition to conquer the cloud. So whether this decision suggests a slowdown in demand or simply a pruning of underperformers, there’s bound to be something behind this sharp about-face.

Why Should I Care?

Zooming out: On cloud four and a half.
As first-quarter results loom, tech investors are left pondering one super-important topic: just how bad the cloud slowdown will be for giants like Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet. Remember, those players fessed up to seeing, ahem, clouds gathering when they reported their fourth-quarter earnings – but the economic outlook has improved in recent months, and AI’s burst onto the scene making all kinds of grand promises. That’s lifted Big Tech titans’ share prices, which has investors hoping that the cloud doesn’t rain on their first-quarter parade.

The bigger picture: Along for the ride.
Investors have been casting around for ways to hitch their portfolio to the AI train ever since ChatGPT’s grand debut – and there's no shortage of prospects out there. IT services companies and consulting firms like Accenture could be one way to catch a ride: they’ve tended to thrive during past big tech shifts, and a bunch of companies could well look at AI, scratch their heads, and turn to the experts for help.

You might also like: Finding a stock is good, but finding a whole industry is golden.

Copy to share story: https://go.finimize.com/wp/news/ax-enture/

🙋 Ask a question

💬 Quote of the day

“If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion.”

– George Bernard Shaw (an Irish playwright, critic, and political activist)

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 – but 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.
📚 A Guide To Maximizing Your Tax Allowance: 5pm, April 3rd
🔮 Future of Finance: Waking Up To The Retail Investor (London): 6.30pm, April 12th
💸 Should You Save Your Cash Or Invest?: 1pm, April 13th
💰 How To Build Wealth In The New Tax Year: 1pm, April 18th
🙋‍♀️ Women And Investing: Powering Up Your Pension: 5pm, April 25th
💥 Investing 101: The DIY Investor: 1pm, May 4th
🎉 Modern Investor Summit 2023: 12pm, December 5th and 6th

🎯 On Our Radar

Broke generation. Gen Z is racking up debt like no one before them.
India’s MrBeast. YouTuber Harsha Sai has legions of fans – and plenty of detractors too.
The p’s and q’s of geopolitics. International disrespect can make for a seriously turbulent world.
Meet the Alphas. Just as you were getting to grips with Gen Z, a new generation is sprouting up.
Not quite a soulless society. We can’t seem to give up on the idea that humans have souls.

❤️ Share with a friend

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

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: Mark Van Scyoc – Shutterstock | Shams Suleymanova – Shutterstock

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

The Real Investing Course New Tax Year profitslaying compliance costs countless success stories honest market education major system revamps cuttingedge tech endeavors past two years bona fide investment loyal Finimize reader predictable real world big storiesThe SEC full SEC regulation global fund managers US regional banks

Older messages

🇬🇧 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

❣️ 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

📈 The bitcoin bros are laughing now

Monday, March 20, 2023

The Credit Suisse takeover means pain for one group | It's bitcoin's time to shine | TOGETHER WITH Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for March 21st in 3:13 minutes. 👀 When markets get

5️⃣ Five simple steps to size up stocks

Sunday, March 19, 2023

FedEx delivered – and then some | Banks borrowed big from the Fed | TOGETHER WITH Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for March 20th in 3:12 minutes. 💰 Tax-free returns don't come knocking

🔥 Hike-way to hell

Thursday, March 16, 2023

The ECB broke banks' hearts | John Lewis lost an utter fortune | TOGETHER WITH Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for March 17th in 3:11 minutes. ☘️ Finimized over a Guinness in The Palace

Want to unlock your home’s hidden value?

Friday, June 2, 2023

You may be sitting on more equity than you think — find out more today ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌

Creating a Monster

Friday, June 2, 2023

When innovation goes wrong ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Wall Street: A once-in-a-lifetime deal

Friday, June 2, 2023

The latest in finance. View in browser INSIDER INSIDER Subscribe 10 THINGS ON WALL STREET The weekend is here! Dan DeFrancesco in NYC, and I'm disappointed Prison Mike didn't give me a heads up

Mystery mass-fainting epidemic

Friday, June 2, 2023

Plus: Putin is reportedly terrified, and slang terms you'll only hear in prison. View in browser Subscribe June 2, 2023 Hello, Insiders. Jack Sommers, senior editor in the UK, here. Hundreds of

AI sweeps Wall Street

Thursday, June 1, 2023

Bloomberg Evening Briefing View in browser Bloomberg Deutsche Bank is using artificial intelligence to scan wealthy client portfolios. ING Group is screening for potential defaulters. JPMorgan is

⚡️ Energy overdrive

Thursday, June 1, 2023

The US isn't so keen on Swiss watches | Energy's set for a bumper year | TOGETHER WITH Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for June 2nd in 3:13 minutes. 💚 Green is the new gold. So

Musk's lavish China visit

Thursday, June 1, 2023

Plus: Six cities getting more expensive, and the 'new predators in higher education.' View in browser Subscribe June 1, 2023 Hello, Insiders. Hallam Bullock, an editor on Insider's audience

Wall Street: Jamie Dimon for president?

Thursday, June 1, 2023

The latest in finance. View in browser INSIDER INSIDER Subscribe 10 THINGS ON WALL STREET Hey there! Dan DeFrancesco in NYC. I don't care what TikTok says, I'm not going to to stop eating raw

[New post] What can we learn about monetary policy transmission using international industry-panel data?

Thursday, June 1, 2023

BankUnderground posted: " Sangyup Choi, Tim Willems and Seung Yong Yoo How does monetary policy really affect the real economy? What kinds of firms or industries are more sensitive to changes in

New Global Orders - Issue #418

Thursday, June 1, 2023

We're witnessing many revolutions. June 01, 2023 It seems that we're currently living another revolution – or many. From a financial, economic and geopolitical perspective, it looks like we