Today's big stories

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is set to lose a few existing companies and add a few new ones
There are a couple of unusual investments getting a lot of love this year – Read Now
US stocks have hit new highs, but lower dividends could make them a riskier proposition than ever

1/3

Card Tricks

What’s Going On Here?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (a.k.a. the Dow) is set for a “reshuffle” next week that’ll switch three old companies out for three new ones before your very eyes.

What Does This Mean?

The Dow’s a key US stock market index that tracks the value of thirty companies. They aren’t necessarily the country’s biggest, but they do offer a cross-section of American industry – making them pretty representative of its economy.

Just like other major indexes, the Dow’s regularly rebalanced to make sure it’s accurate. But unlike a lot of other indexes, the Dow’s price is determined by companies’ share prices rather than their overall values. In other words, higher-priced stocks have more of an influence. And when Apple’s share price – the highest in the Dow – falls after the company's upcoming stock split, the tech sector’s contribution to the index will too. Hence, a rebalancing's needed.

Why Should I Care?

The bigger picture: Split personalities.
Apple’s stock split will have a couple of effects on the Dow. For one, the other companies in the index will gain more influence to compensate for Apple’s sudden downsizing (tweet this). For another, the gap between the Dow and the S&P 500 – the other key US stock market index – will widen: Apple and the other big tech firms still represent over a quarter of the S&P 500, even as the company’s sway over the Dow shrinks.

For markets: Wracked with Dowt.
In the reshuffle, healthcare giant Pfizer, defense contractor Raytheon, and oil major Exxon – once the world’s most valuable company – are being replaced by software titan Salesforce, biotech Amgen, and industrial conglomerate Honeywell. That means investment funds tracking the Dow will be forced to sell their stakes in the outgoing companies and buy into the newcomers, bruising the former’s stocks and lifting the latter’s.

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2/3 Premium

Bitcoin’s Back, Baby

What’s Going On Here?

Bitcoin prices are sitting near their highest level since the great cryptocurrency boom of winter 2017, and it’s not the only unusual investment getting a lot of attention this year.

Get the full story with Finimize Premium

🤓 Get in with the right crowd

It’s no secret that we’re huge fans of community here at Finimize. And on Public.com, you’ll be able to get to know a lot of smart cookies who will help you become a better investor.

After all, when you invest as part of a community, you learn from them too. And who better to learn from than people like Scott Galloway – a business professor with a wealth of investing strategies that he shares with other people on the platform.

What’s more, Public.com are giving you a free stock slice worth $20.* So you won’t just be able to talk all things investing – you’ll be able to take action too.

Ready to join Professor Galloway? Claim your $20 slice and get started.

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*Subject to account approval. Valid for U.S. residents 18+. This is not investment advice. See Public.com/disclosures.

3/3

The Divid-End Times

What’s Going On Here?

Dividends – shambling through this weird apocalypse we call 2020 as clumsily as the rest of us – fell by the largest amount since records began last quarter. Gaaaaaaains.

What Does This Mean?

While second-quarter dividends still added up to almost $400 billion, that quarterly total was – according to investment manager Janus Henderson – the second-lowest since 2012. That’s thanks to a 19% quarterly decline versus the year before. And that's thanks to the 27% of companies that cut their dividends, half of which suspended them altogether…

As the home of the world’s biggest stock market, the US was investors’ focus. But the UK and Europe had their fair share of trouble too: their payouts fell by around 40%, while France – the eurozone’s biggest source of dividends – saw its total fall to its lowest level in ten years. Switzerland and Japan made it through in one piece, mind you: both countries' dividends barely changed.

Why Should I Care?

For you personally: Risk and Morty.
When you buy a stock, you take on the risk it’ll fall in value. Things like dividends and share buybacks, then, are ways companies reward you for taking a chance on them rather than almost-risk-free investments like government bonds. But with dividends dwindling and last quarter’s US share buybacks nearly halving, you mightn’t just want to rely on a company’s share price rise to make a profit – especially while stocks are at record highs.

The bigger picture: Regrets, he’s had a few.
One of US stocks’ biggest critics in the investment world had a change of heart this week: he no longer reckons they’re worth ditching right now, partly because unlimited central bank support is keeping valuations propped up. But it’s not like investors were paying much attention to his concerns or dividends’ turmoil anyway: they’ve been buying up stocks in their droves.

Take action: How to protect yourself from the next market crash.

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💬 Quote of the day

“The world cannot be understood without numbers. But the world cannot be understood with numbers alone.”

– Hans Rosling (a Swedish physician, academic, and public speaker)

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🌍 Finimize Community

💪 Feel the earn

Forget Peloton or HIIT – all you need is our Create Your Financial Fitness Plan event, featuring a true-blue personal trainer who reckons taking control of your finances is just like getting in shape. You might wake up with achey brain biceps, but your bank account could start to look pretty swole…

🇨🇦 Canada: Navigating Post Pandemic Markets – 11am Pacific Time, August 26th
🇬🇧 UK: Create Your Financial Fitness Plan – 2.30pm UK Time, August 26th
🇩🇪 Germany: The Rise of Sustainable Investment – 11am Berlin Time, August 27th
🇬🇧 UK: Build Your Own Investment Portfolio – 11am UK Time, August 28th
🇺🇸 USA: Improve Your Financial Literacy – 12.30pm Miami Time, September 1st
🇦🇷 Argentina: The Future of Fintech in Latam – 11am Argentina Time, September 2nd

📚 What we're reading

Meet the voice of stars and politicians (Narratively)
The speed of light is really quite fast (Science Alert)
What if robot police are biased? (Nautilus)

Finimize - 🍏 Apple strikes again

Today's big stories

Card Tricks

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

Bitcoin’s Back, Baby

🤓 Get in with the right crowd

The Divid-End Times

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

💪 Feel the earn

Older messages

♻️The Rise of Sustainable Investment

🏘 Airbnb's new neighborhood

📈 US stocks hit record high

😡 TikTok: Oracle vs. Microsoft

😶 Billionaire biotech forgets about vaccines

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