Today's big stories

US stock markets have all but erased their coronavirus-induced losses
Our analysts take a look at why 2020 may be a good year to invest in newly public companies – Read Now
The eurozone economy shrank by slightly less than expected in the first quarter

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Let’s Try This Again

What’s Going On Here?

The US stock market’s key index, the S&P 500, rose above the level at which it started 2020 this week – and it’s only about 5% away from February’s record high (tweet this).

What Does This Mean?

Ever since the dramatic stock market selloff in March, investors have been encouraged by promises from major central banks and governments that they’d do whatever they could to shield companies and workers from the coronavirus pandemic. And more recently, those investors have been further emboldened by business reopenings – so much so they’ve been buying up stocks in their droves.

But not everyone feels the same way: others think stock markets are now “priced for perfection”, and that unexpected bad news – like job losses or business insolvencies – could derail the market’s recovery. That fear’s likely been compounded by this recovery's dependence on big tech companies, which have helped the US’s tech-focused index – the Nasdaq Composite – rise 40% from its March lows to a record high this week.

Why Should I Care?

The bigger picture: The stock market isn’t the economy.
Stock markets reflect what’s expected to happen in the economy before it actually does – and even then, they're a better reflection of that economy’s biggest companies than the economy as a whole. That was driven home by the World Bank earlier this week, which now predicts the coronavirus-tanked global economy will shrink by 5.2% this year – the most since World War II, and an outcome that’ll force millions into poverty.

For markets: Put your money where your mouth is.
Some investors – like hedge funds – have positioned their investments so that if markets fall again, any losses will partly be offset by other assets using “put options”. Puts give an investor the right to sell shares at a predetermined price, meaning they’ll be able to recoup some losses from the fall of the shares themselves.

Take action: How you can use options to protect your investments.

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2/3 Premium

Double Trouble

What’s Going On Here?

Electric carmaker Nikola is now competing for attention with Tesla after debuting on the stock market last week – and given that its share price more than doubled this week, it must be doing something right.

Get the full story with Finimize Premium

🙌 You’re in safe hands

Not all hand sanitizers are created equal: some leave a funky smell behind, some leave your hands feeling sticky, and some don’t sanitize your hands as much as you think they do.

Thank goodness Demeter Fragrance Library have created their own then.

Demeter’s hand sanitizer has a few things going for it. For one, it uses an 80% concentration of ethyl alcohol – the active ingredient in sanitizer that kills germs on contact – so you know it’ll sanitize your hands like it’s supposed to.

For another, it’s completely unscented. You won’t go around smelling like you’ve just bathed in a sink of vodka – and it dries up in next to no time, so your hands won’t be left feeling bleh for the rest of the day.

Get your hand sanitizer, and stay safe out there.

Get Your Hand Sanitizer

3/3

Keeping Lagarde Up

What’s Going On Here?

Data out on Tuesday showed the eurozone economy shrank by slightly less than economists thought last quarter, but the European Central Bank (ECB) isn’t about to drop its defenses any time soon.

What Does This Mean?

This data was actually first reported in May, but it’s now been revised for accuracy. Not necessarily for the better, mind you: the eurozone economy was still 3.1% smaller in the first quarter than the same time last year. And compared to the last quarter of 2019, it shrank by 3.6% – its biggest quarterly decline ever.

No prizes for guessing the culprit: the coronavirus pandemic shut down an economy that was already barely growing. And even though the quarter was largely unharmed until March, the effects have reverberated ever since – which is why the European Commission is forecasting the eurozone economy will shrink by almost 8% this year…

Why Should I Care?

The bigger picture: It’s official! Sort of.
An economy is technically in a recession after two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. But on Monday, the National Bureau of Economic Research snubbed the tradition of waiting until an economy is officially in a recession to declare the US economy was, erm, officially in recession. Europe doesn’t need to hear from a bean-counter to know its economy is headed for the same fate: fresh data this month showed the bloc’s manufacturing activity continued to shrink in May.

Zooming out: Sacré bleu!
The ECB has repeatedly asked eurozone countries to take more responsibility for rescuing their own economies. And the German government did just that last week, announcing a comprehensive support package (including aid for its essential autos industry) after previously agreeing to a $10 billion bailout of airline Lufthansa. France followed suit on Tuesday with the announcement of its own $17 billion bailout – of the country's aerospace industry – as long as the companies in question commit to certain environmental targets.

Get ready: How to recession-proof your portfolio.

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🙋 Ask a question

💬 Quote of the day

“In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.”

– Thurgood Marshall (an American lawyer who served as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States)

Tweet this

😄 Change your mood in a sniff

If you’re feeling a little stressed – and goodness knows there’s a lot to be stressed about at the moment – a good smell can turn your mood right around. That’s science.

So let us introduce you to Demeter Fragrance Library. You heard that right: a library of fragrances. You can rifle your way through over 300 different fragrances, all inspired by real objects and experiences to help you evoke warm, wonderful feelings whenever you like.

Love the smell of hyacinths? You can throw on a splash of their hyacinth fragrance. Churros? They have that too. Mountain laurel? Kitten fur? Thailand? A space walk? You name it, you can smell like it. Check out Demeter’s range for yourself.

Smell The Range

Presented by Finimize Premium

🎓 Three post-COVID life lessons

Our Boardroom series introduces three very different industry leaders on what life after coronavirus has in store…

📈 Startups are innovating, again

VCs and startups alike are rethinking their strategies to adapt to the “new normal”: find out how they’re doing it – and how you can use those strategies too – from the CEO of Entrepreneur First, Matt Clifford.

📺 Media companies are nervous

Sure, lockdown’s benefited the likes of Netflix and Disney+. But the media landscape has massive challenges ahead: just ask Simon Guild, the man who turned MTV Europe from startup to household name.

💪 Defensive companies are a good bet

Defensive investments like telecoms can help protect your cash whatever comes next. And what comes next, says telecoms COO Jens Schulte-Bockum, could be “the mother of all recessions”.

🌍 Finimize Community

💆‍♀️ Keep calm and carry on investing

There’s a lot going on in the world at the moment, so you’d be forgiven if it was all getting on top of you. But you don’t want your emotions to get in the way of smart investment decisions: tonight’s Canadian event, Sizing Up Your Investing Biases, will help you stay cool, calm, and collected.

🇨🇦 Canada: Sizing Up Your Investing Biases – 6pm EST, June 10th
🇭🇰 Hong Kong: The Big Data Revolution – 9pm Hong Kong Time, June 11th
🇫🇷 France: The Future of Blockchain & Cryptocurrency – 6.30pm CET, June 17th
🇭🇺 Hungary: What’s Next For The Energy Market? – 6.00pm CET, June 23rd
🌍 Global: Finimize Live AMA – 1.30pm UK Time, June 30th

📚 What we're reading

Long live the king of blockbusters (Mel)
Methinks she doth protest too little (National Geographic)
Under the sea, under the sea (The Guardian)

Finimize - 📈 Tech stocks break records

Today's big stories

Let’s Try This Again

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

Double Trouble

🙌 You’re in safe hands

Keeping Lagarde Up

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

😄 Change your mood in a sniff

💆‍♀️ Keep calm and carry on investing

Older messages

💉 The 240 billion coronavirus cure

🇺🇸 Best jobs report ever

🇺🇸 Big tech leaves America

❗️ Fact-check: Twitter’s screwed

🕺 TikTok's 3 billion dollar moves

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