Today's big stories

The US president issued orders banning US transactions with WeChat and TikTok
The coronavirus outbreak might've just proved exchange-traded funds are still a worthwhile investment – Read Now
The US economy added almost two million jobs last month

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We Don’t Chat

What’s Going On Here?

The US president has no time for China’s late-night cat gifs: he issued new orders last Friday banning US companies from doing business with WeChat and TikTok.

What Does This Mean?

The orders – which come into effect 45 days from now – are the latest attempt by the US to curb China’s power in global technology. America, after all, has a long and growing list of blacklisted Chinese companies that mainly operate in the tech industry.

Now it seems TikTok-owner ByteDance and WeChat-owner Tencent are next. As if things weren’t already bad enough for TikTok: the video-sharing network has been in the spotlight since the US threatened to ban its American operations earlier this month. And to make matters worse, Instagram recently launched its own video feed – which might remind TikTok of the time the photo-sharing app knocked Snapchat off the top spot…

Why Should I Care?

For markets: What an emotional rollercoaster.
Shares in Tencent – one of China’s most valuable tech companies – fell as much as 10% on the news. But it recovered half those losses after the US said the ban would only apply to WeChat, rather than the tech conglomerate as a whole. That still wasn’t enough to stop a knock-on effect on some other high-profile Asian tech stocks, mind you – and the impact dragged down markets across the region.

The bigger picture: Is this thing on?
WeChat isn’t exactly used by many people in the US, but the ban would have wide business implications because it’s so important to communicating with Chinese partners and customers (tweet this). In fact, it’s almost impossible to function in China without WeChat since so many people use WeChat over email and text messages. And with WhatsApp blocked in the country, there’s no real alternative either...

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Way To Go, ETFs

What’s Going On Here?

Some investors were worried the pandemic would expose the weaknesses of exchange-traded funds, but the Babushka dolls of the investing world may only have become more promising.

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Who Are You?

What’s Going On Here?

The US economy added almost two million jobs last month, but let's not relax just yet: this pandemic is one boss that's notoriously difficult to impress.

What Does This Mean?

Even with the recent surge in coronavirus cases in the US, the country’s labor market continued to strengthen in July with the addition of 1.8 million jobs – around 20% more than expected. A third of those gains were in the leisure and hospitality industry as the economy started to reopen over the summer and workers got back to business. The unemployment rate fell by more than expected too, but it’s worth putting all this into perspective: the total number of unemployed Americans is still languishing at 16.3 million.

Why Should I Care?

The bigger picture: Won’t somebody think of the lawmakers?
With the number of employed Americans still 13 million shy of pre-pandemic levels in February, US lawmakers are still trying to hash out what would be the fifth rescue package since the pandemic began. But precise details of the aid package remain up in the air, and talks seem to have ground to a halt. And that could spell trouble further down the road: reduced unemployment benefits means reduced consumer spending – the biggest contributor to the US economy.

For markets: Jobs matter. Ish.
The positive jobs report didn’t do much to move US stocks, which are now only 1% below their record highs. And that’s despite escalating US-China tensions and the uncertainty around the upcoming presidential election. There may be a good reason for that: the market rebound since March has been led by a handful of tech stocks that have benefited from the pandemic. Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Google-owner Alphabet are now the five biggest stocks in the US, and collectively make up almost a quarter of the S&P 500 – the most popular US stock market index.

Learn more: How lawmakers’ decisions impact your wallet.

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💬 Quote of the day

“If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?”

– Abraham Lincoln (the 16th president of the United States)

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📚 What we're reading

Even mice got into running over lockdown (Slate)
Microsoft Excel: 1 – Human Genetics: 0 (The Verge)
What next for Beirut’s buildings? (Architectural Digest)

Finimize - 🚫 America puts WeChat on notice

Today's big stories

We Don’t Chat

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

Way To Go, ETFs

💰 Earn some real interest

Who Are You?

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

Older messages

🎉 New Events: Fashion’s New Style, The Racial Wealth Gap, & The Pathway to Homeownership

💉 Investors don't want a coronavirus cure

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😇 Google says don’t be evil

📱 Microsoft wants to buy TikTok

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