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Today's big stories

Fresh data showed US home sales hit a 14-year high last month
One of Bill Ackman’s most successful investment strategies is actually fairly straightforward to put into action for yourself – Read Now
Carmaker General Motors announced it's upped its spending on electric vehicles

1.

Make America Greet Again

What’s Going On Here?

Fresh data out last week showed US existing home sales hit a 14-year high in October, so you’d better get ready to welcome some friendly new faces into your neighborhood (tweet this).

What Does This Mean?

Sales of previously owned US homes climbed by 4.3% last month compared to the month before, bringing the annualized number of home sales – that is, the number over the next 12 months if October’s pace were maintained – to almost seven million. That’s the highest level since February 2006, while the all-time highs of 2005 might’ve been beaten too if the supply of homes wasn’t the lowest on record. So it makes sense that prices are on the rise as well, with the median selling price for a home jumping 15.5% from a year ago.

While we’re on the subject of record lows: US mortgage rates are now at their lowest since tracking began, which is arguably driving this whole house-buying bonanza. It’s probably not worth getting too excited, though: that’s the 13th time the record’s been broken this year…

Why Should I Care?

For markets: Build a better tomorrow.
With the shortage of existing homes boosting demand for new ones, the S&P Homebuilders index – which tracks stocks in the homebuilding industry – has outperformed the overall US stock market by 14% this year. Eager home-builders are certainly playing their part: the construction of one-family homes – the biggest portion of the housing market – just hit its fastest pace since 2007.

The bigger picture: What’s next?
The National Association of Realtors – the organization behind most of this data – reckons the housing market will keep growing into 2021. In fact, it’s said existing home sales will be 10% higher next year thanks to still-low mortgage rates and the impending coronavirus vaccine. As for how much value your framed “Live. Laugh. Love.” calligraphy will add to your bohemian apartment, it just can’t say.

You might also like: If you’re thinking of a buying a new home, you might want to hold off for a bit…

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🙋 Ask a question

2. Analyst Take

What Does Bill Know That We Don’t?

What’s Going On Here?

In what’s been dubbed “the single best trade of all time”, world-renowned investor Bill Ackman once turned $27 million into $2.6 billion – a return of 9,500%.

And now, once again, he’s buying “insurance” against a market meltdown that could pay off in the same way.

But here’s the thing: you don’t need millions in a hedge fund like Ackman’s Pershing Square to do exactly what he’s doing. Bill’s strategy is actually fairly easy to replicate.

So that’s what we’re looking at today: we’ve broken down exactly why Bill’s doing what he’s doing, and how you can go about doing the same thing.

Get today’s full Insight here

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3.

Power Play

What’s Going On Here?

General Motors (GM) has the power… to one-up its rivals: the carmaker announced late last week it’ll boost its spending on electric vehicles (EV) through 2025.

What Does This Mean?

GM will top up the $20 billion investment it announced back in March with an extra $7 billion, which should help the carmaker reach its ambitious goal of releasing 30 new EVs by 2025. And since the majority of its new vehicles will feature the company’s upcoming Ultium battery cells, they’ll all reportedly have a range of up to 450 miles – even further than the 402 mile radius of Tesla’s Model S Long Range Plus introduced in June. Better still, GM says its new battery cells should bring the price of its EVs in line with the company’s current gas-powered models by the middle of this decade.

Why Should I Care?

Zooming in: Dream big.
There’s growing pressure on carmakers to phase out gas engines: just last week, the UK banned the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 onward. That means competition is fierce: GM’s EV spending is dwarfed by Tesla and Volkswagen, which is planning to invest $86 billion into EVs over the next five years. But all three are using the same playbook: they’re developing their own batteries – the most expensive component and most influential over profitability – rather than buying them from third-party suppliers.

The bigger picture: Dream green.
All this is in keeping with what BlackRock’s been seeing lately: the world’s biggest investment manager said late last week that investors have been allocating more than twice as much money to its funds that invest in climate change this year. It’s also noticed that companies focused on so-called “stakeholder capitalism” – that is, on serving the interests of all stakeholders – have been outperforming their stock market rivals.

You might also like: How to spot the auto industry’s winners.

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🙋 Ask a question

💬 Quote of the day

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.”

– Steve Jobs (the chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Apple)

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🌍 Finimize Community

☕️ Step away from the caffeine

There’s only one way to kickstart your week, and it’s not with coffee, or bagels, or a brisk jog: it’s with advice on how to avoid he common pitfalls of bonds from the Senior VP of Investments at Mackenzie Investments. Don’t believe us? Well, clearly you’ve been too busy jogging and eating bagels.

🤔 Avoiding the Common Pitfalls of Bonds: 11am Vancouver Time, November 23rd
💰 Dangerously Debt Free: 1pm Miami Time, November 24th
🤖 The Rise of Blockchain: 7pm Dubai Time, November 25th
💸 The Finimize Induction with CEO Max Rofagha: 1.30pm UK Time, November 27th
🚀 Next Gen Investor Summit: 12pm UK Time, December 1st

📚 What we're reading

We’re talking about student debt all wrong (Mel)
Social media isn’t necessarily to blame (Jacobin)
Why not just get rid of geometry altogether? (Mother Jones)

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Finimize - 📈 Ackman's 9,500% strategy

Today's big stories

Make America Greet Again

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

What Does Bill Know That We Don’t?

💥 An indestructible Black Friday deal

Power Play

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

🏦 Your investments deserve better

☕️ Step away from the caffeine

Older messages

🥐 China goes all European

🔨 Lowe's needs lockdown

💰 Airbnb's billions 'n' billions

🎉 Keep those vaccines coming

😧 Disney's crushing Netflix

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