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Today's big stories

The US economy added fewer jobs than expected in November
Our analyst has laid out three simple ways you can protect your portfolio from another economic crisis – Read Now
A group of major oil-producing nations agreed to increase their output next month

1.

Looking For Workshop

What’s Going On Here?

This isn’t the holly jolly Christmas the US had planned: fresh data out on Friday showed the States added just 245,000 new jobs in November – far fewer than economists predicted.

What Does This Mean?

That figure is bleak, but investors might not actually have paid much attention to it: the update didn’t include employment data from the last two weeks of November. That means they’re still missing crucial clues about hiring in the lead-up to the all-important holiday shopping season, which helps indicate how the retail industry’s doing this quarter.

The unemployment rate did fall from 6.9% in October to 6.7% last month, sure, but that’s not worth getting excited about either. That’s because it was partly driven by a drop in the number of Americans who count themselves among the workforce. In other words, when fewer people declare themselves available for work, the percentage of those who are working appears to rise.

Why Should I Care?

The bigger picture: Labor force be with you.
62% of the adult US population is currently in the “labor force” – that is, in a job or looking for one. That’s around 2% lower than in February, and near its lowest level since the ‘70s (tweet this). And while labor force participation usually drops in a recession, there are no guarantees it’ll bounce back like in past downturns: the pandemic has forced some boomers into early retirement and some parents into full-time childcare, after all. That’s worrying: workers are the building blocks of an economy, and a dwindling number of them risks the US’s growth next year and beyond.

Zooming out: Nope-ioids.
The US’s 62% labor force participation is much lower than both the UK and eurozone’s roughly 80% rates. Some economists have blamed the difference on America’s workforce-crippling opioid epidemic – and if they’re right, solving that crisis could bring people back into gainful employment and help boost economic growth too.

You might also like: How unemployment affects you even if it doesn’t affect you.

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2. Analyst Take

How To Protect Yourself From Another Crisis

What’s Going On Here?

It’s hardly a secret that the markets have had a tough time of it this year, and your investments might’ve had to work hard to make up the lost ground ever since.

So if there’s one thing we can learn from the last few months, it’s how to avoid those big losses in the first place – and there are a few ways you can do that.

For starters, you might want to diversify across multiple asset classes: gold, bonds, and alternative investments are a good idea.

Next, you’ll want to think about investing in defensive sectors. In March this year, for instance, utilities, consumer staples, and healthcare outperformed the US stock market by around 40%.

We look at both of these avenues in more depth in today’s Insight, as well as suggest another way to help you hedge your bets.

Get the full Insight here

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3.

Plus Points

What’s Going On Here?

OPEC+ – the group of major oil-producing countries and their allies – agreed late last week to add 500,000 barrels to their collective daily output, starting in January.

What Does This Mean?

First, some no-background: earlier this year – after a price war in which Saudi Arabia and Russia ramped up oil production and pushed down its price – OPEC+ agreed to lower its output for a while. There wasn’t much need for the slippery elixir at the height of the pandemic, after all – not with the global economy having all but ground to a halt.

As part of the agreement, OPEC+ said it’d start boosting oil production by 2 million barrels a day in stages – first in the summer, and next in January. But since the global economy still isn’t firing on all cylinders, OPEC’s settled on upping production by a quarter of that. Of course, no increase at all might’ve been even better…

Why Should I Care?

For markets: With friends like these…
The price of an oil future hit its highest level in nine months last week, partly because less fresh oil than expected should raise the value of what’s left. That’s especially true because demand for the black ambrosia is booming in Asia, given that growth is getting back to its winning ways – particularly in China. And since OPEC+ reached this compromise without too much fuss, analysts are more optimistic than normal that the countries who usually don’t stick to these kinds of agreements will do this time around.

The bigger picture: Betting on a brighter tomorrow.
By upping oil production, OPEC+ is essentially betting that the worst of the dip in global economic activity is in the rear-view mirror, and that growth – and with it demand for oil – will pick up next year. If it’s right, oil-dependent industries like construction and travel will start to recover – boosting oil’s price, balancing OPEC+ nations’ budgets, and restoring oil companies’ profits.

You might also like: How higher oil production impacts the oil companies you invest in.

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🙋 Ask a question

💬 Quote of the day

“We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.”

– Helen Keller (an American author, political activist, and lecturer)

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🌎 Finimize Community

✌️ Far out, man

Next week, we’re having a conversation with ex-CEO of Canopy Growth, Bruce Linton, on investing in the cannabis and psychedelics industry, and how it’s getting ready to take the world on one giant trip. That is so freaky.

💪 Invest With Impact: 1pm New York Time, December 8th
💊 Are Psychedelics the New Weed Stocks? w/ ex-Canopy CEO: 1pm New York Time, December 15th
🚘 Rally Rd Founder on Alternative Investing: 1pm New York Time, December 17th

📚 What we're reading

Department stores are done for (Vox)
Grief in 2020 is something new (MIT Technology Review)
“I can’t get good WiFi in this Faraday cage” (Daily Dot)

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Finimize - 😭 Dreadful US job numbers

Today's big stories

Looking For Workshop

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

How To Protect Yourself From Another Crisis

✈️ Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

Plus Points

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

💪 Plan smarter with Modern Fertility

✌️ Far out, man

Older messages

🎉 Thanks for everything Reader - get 70% off Premium today

🚀 China's stocks are taking off

🎉 Your Free Pass to the Next Gen Investor Summit

🎉 Last day of Black Friday sales, Reader...

📈 Blimey, British stocks

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