Today's big stories

Analysts were stunned to hear the US economy added more than two million jobs last month
ICYMI: Goldman Sachs has predicted the four biggest post-coronavirus trends in investing – Read in the Finimize App
Investors sold off Slack’s stock despite the company’s better-than-expected quarterly update

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Wait, What?

What’s Going On Here?

The US economy defied all expectations to add over two million jobs last month, according to data out on Friday.

What Does This Mean?

After falling a record 20.7 million in April, the number of jobs in the US actually rose by 2.5 million last month. That pushed the unemployment rate down to 13.3% from 14.7% the month before, as some of the sectors hit hardest by coronavirus – leisure and hospitality, construction, retail – started hiring again in May.

What’s most remarkable about the numbers is how much better they were than expected: not a single forecast had projected an improvement in either the number of jobs or the unemployment rate. Of course, the jobless rate still remains well above its peak after the 2008 financial crisis, and there was a catch: the unemployment rate would’ve been 3% higher if it had included anyone who was technically employed but absent from work – maybe because they were, say, suffering from an all-too-familiar virus…

Why Should I Care?

For markets: Pandemic? What pandemic?
The surprise improvement in the jobs market is raising hopes the US economy might bounce back from the pandemic faster than expected. That could explain why US stocks jumped by more than 2% on Friday, and are now just 6% shy of their all-time highs. But with the fabled coronavirus vaccine still nowhere to be seen, investors are nervously looking for any signs of a second wave of infections that could derail the stock market’s recovery.

The bigger picture: It goes trillion and on.
American households and businesses have been receiving almost $3 trillion in economy-boosting measures since March – in the form of direct checks, unemployment benefits, and cheap loans. And there’s potentially even more dough heading their way: the government is considering another round of measures worth up to $1 trillion.

Learn more: How you can invest in US stimulus.

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2/3 Premium

Goldman Predicts The Four Biggest Post-COVID Trends

What’s Going On Here?

A new report from Goldman Sachs lays out the investment bank’s predictions of what will become the four biggest investing trends when coronavirus is finally over.

Get the full story with Finimize Premium

🏖 Your invitation to #VacationWithCloos

We can’t promise all you globetrotters and jetsetters will be able to go on the vacation of your dreams this year, but what we can do is invite you to #VacationWithCloos.

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And they don’t just look good: Christopher Cloos sunglasses take care of your eyes too. Polarized lenses filter out horizontal light to block the glare from the sun, reducing eyestrain and eliminating those nasty UV rays. Now that’s style.

Explore The Range

3/3

Mixed Messages

What’s Going On Here?

Slack reported a stronger-than-expected quarter late last week, sure, but the workplace chat company hasn’t exactly responded to the pandemic like investors hoped it would – and its stock initially fell 15% on Friday.

What Does This Mean?

Slack’s higher-than-expected revenue helped the firm deliver a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss, as well as boost its revenue guidance for the year. No massive surprises there: Slack was poised to benefit as our new work-from-home lifestyles transformed from a luxury to a necessity. That’ll be why the company said it added 12,000 new paying customers last quarter – Amazon chief among them.

But coronavirus is no friend of Slack’s: the firm abandoned its billings guidance, which reflects its projected renewals, sales to new customers, and upselling of existing customers. Clearly Slack’s customers have been shaken by the pandemic, and so has the company’s confidence they’ll increase their technology spending this year.

Why Should I Care?

For markets: All work and no play makes Slack a dull boy.
If investors’ hopes for Slack were raised by Zoom’s strong performance last week, they were promptly dashed by the marginal increase to the messenger app’s revenue forecast. Zoom had doubled its own expectations – a very different outlook that might be explained by two very different customer bases. Where Zoom's clients use its video conferencing for everything from corporate meetings to quiz nights, Slack’s will promptly turn to WhatsApp and Telegram when they want a friendly chitchat.

The bigger picture: Slow and steady.
Stock markets are a short-term voting machine: investors cast their daily ballots for or against companies based on how they stack up to their prior expectations – which likely explains the drop in Slack’s share price. But in the longer term, a company’s fundamentals – that is, its capacity for consistent earnings growth – tend to shine through, rewarding patient investors with more capital and, quite often, income via dividends and share buybacks.

Get invested: Three techniques you can use to pick long-term winners.

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💬 Quote of the day

“When people care for you and cry for you, they can straighten out your soul.”

– Langston Hughes (an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright)

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🤔 Q&A · RE: Ready, Set…

“How do analysts work out whether the proportion of money investors are allocating to stocks or bonds is over or underweight?”

– Luís

“Let’s say an investor decided their portfolio would be made up of 70% stocks and 30% bonds as standard. That’d be their ‘neutral’ position. If they were then worried that, say, stocks were too expensive, they might shift their allocation to 50% stocks and 50% bonds. Analysts would then describe their new position as ‘underweight’ stocks and ‘overweight’ bonds versus their typical allocation. If they later changed their mind again and thought stocks were going to do much better, they might switch to 80% stocks and 20% bonds – making them overweight stocks and underweight bonds.”

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🕶 Find the perfect fit

There’s nothing more satisfying than something that’s just right for you. And that idea guides every pair of sunglasses Christopher Cloos create.

It’s why all their sunglasses use unbreakable spring hinges: in other words, they fit to the shape of your face, no matter what. It means they flex outwards if you need a bit more give, and hug a little more closely if you have narrow cheekbones.

But that’s not all. With so many different Christopher Cloos designs on offer, you’re bound to find the style that speaks to who you are. Whether it’s in the pattern or in the finer details, you’ll be able to express yourself without saying a word.

And this personal approach to sunglasses needn’t cost the world either: Christopher Cloos sunglasses are as affordable as they are stylish, meaning the perfect fit really is just that – perfect.

Explore The Range

📚 What we're reading

Here’s how smartphones got smart (Cosmos)
This means we can turn invisible, right? (Futurism)
Why small-town protests make a big difference (The Collected AHP)

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Finimize - 🇺🇸 Best jobs report ever

Today's big stories

Wait, What?

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

Goldman Predicts The Four Biggest Post-COVID Trends

🏖 Your invitation to #VacationWithCloos

Mixed Messages

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

🕶 Find the perfect fit

Older messages

🇺🇸 Big tech leaves America

❗️ Fact-check: Twitter’s screwed

🕺 TikTok's 3 billion dollar moves

🇺🇸 US is back in business

🙄 So much for Alibaba's trillion bucks

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