Finimize - 💰 JPMorgan finds 2 billion bucks

Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for October 14th in 3:07 minutes.

🍛 Variety is the spice of life, and it really brings out the best in a portfolio too. Join Roger’s Dominik Stroukal for The Pros And Cons Of Alternative Investments on Monday, and find out how less traditional investments can add some flavor to your returns. Get your free ticket

Today's big stories

JPMorgan reported bumper earnings thanks to a boom in dealmaking fees
A SoftBank-backed robotics company could become a major ecommerce opportunity when it lists on the stock market next week – Read Now
Luxury goods conglomerate LVMH reported better-than-expected results

Booty Call

What’s Going On Here?

JPMorgan Chase posted better-than-expected earnings on Wednesday, after America’s biggest investment bank dug up some of the treasure it hid away last year.

What Does This Mean?

JPMorgan makes a significant portion of its money advising on mergers and acquisitions, and there have been plenty of deals going around as companies capitalize on record-low interest rates and robust cash piles. So it stands to reason that revenue from the firm’s investment banking segment jumped 45% versus the same time last year. And it gets better: JPMorgan had previously set aside cash reserves in case borrowers didn’t pay off their loans during the pandemic, but it was confident enough to release another batch of that money last quarter. Avast, me hearties: that added a tidy $2 billion to its bottom line.

Why Should I Care?

The bigger picture: Enjoy it while it lasts.
Trouble is, analysts aren’t sure JPMorgan has much more of that pandemic cash left tucked away, at which point it’ll have to start relying on more traditional revenue streams. Potentially worrying, then, that the firm’s bread-and-butter loans business grew by just 6% last quarter, probably as US government support for individuals and businesses petered out. Still, JPMorgan has been striking an optimistic tone: the investment bank and its rivals say there are signs that customers are starting – albeit gradually – to feel comfortable enough to take on debt again.

Zooming out: Let us Mansplain.
JPMorgan isn’t the only financial success story: Man Group – the world’s biggest publicly listed hedge fund – announced on Wednesday that the amount of money it’s looking after hit a record high last quarter (tweet this). That could be because stock markets are so high and bond yields so low that alternative investments are a more promising way to generate returns – and why other hedge funds might’ve done well last quarter too.

You might also like: How you can profit from the dealmaking boom too.

Copy to share story: https://www.finimize.com/wp/news/booty-call/

🙋 Ask a question

Analyst Take

Is This Robotics Company The Next Big Ecommerce Play?

What’s Going On Here?

You’ll have heard us talk about AutoStore a couple of weeks ago.

The Norwegian warehouse automation company announced it would be listing on the stock market, and it’s doing just that next week.

This is exciting news. AutoStore sells a strong product to plenty of big-name clients, and it’s found itself at the intersection of multiple megatrends, from automation to ecommerce.

The firm’s growth potential is massive too: its revenue climbed from $4 million in 2010 to $300 million in 2021, and it thinks there’s still a market of $135 billion up for grabs.

So it’s a great company. But is it a great company at a fair price?

That’s today’s Insight: why AutoStore has such massive growth potential, and whether you should get in when it goes public.

Read or listen to the Insight here

Above Deck

What’s Going On Here?

Luxury conglomerate LVMH reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings earlier this week, as shoppers emerged, pale and blinking, into the humble lifestyle they once knew.

What Does This Mean?

There weren’t exactly many benefits to lockdown, but the money plenty of us saved up was certainly one of them. And it looks like fashionistas wasted no time making good use of it last quarter: LVMH’s organic revenue from its fashion and leather goods segment climbed 24% compared to the same time last year. And since the segment contributes almost half of LVMH’s total sales, that helped push overall revenue up by 20%. That means the company has made more money in the first nine months of this year than it did during the same period in a pandemic-free 2019. There was one hiccup, though: LVMH warned that increased shipping costs will hurt its profit going forward.

Why Should I Care?

For markets: Luxury is back in fashion.
The pandemic took a serious toll on the luxury industry: it’s hard for shoppers to justify a Louis Vuitton handbag when there’s so much uncertainty ahead, after all. These results, then, are an encouraging sign that the industry’s back on track, which might be why investors sent LVMH’s stock up 3%. And given that they look to the conglomerate for clues about other luxury companies, they’re suddenly feeling a lot more confident about Hermès’ and Gucci-owner Kering’s updates later this month. That might be why they sent those companies’ shares up too.

The bigger picture: Equality isn’t the enemy.
Investors were especially keen to know how LVMH has been doing in China: they’ve been worried that the company’s second-biggest market’s efforts toward “common prosperity” might’ve been impacting how the 1% spend their money. But LVMH said that it hasn’t noticed any changes in shoppers’ behavior so far, which might – temporarily, at least – help put investors’ minds at rest.

You might also like: Here’s what the 1% invest in. Should you be too?

Copy to share story: https://www.finimize.com/wp/news/above-deck/

🙋 Ask a question

💬 Quote of the day

“Control your own destiny or someone else will.”

– Jack Welch (an American business executive, author, and chemical engineer)

Tweet this

🎯 On Our Radar

The future of treating mental health. Try a brain implant.
Lots of crypto, little tax. Buy and sell crypto with Bitcoin IRA to save money on taxes.*
Ah, the good old days. Step inside Europe’s largest retro games club.
Should’ve got a hotel. Airbnb might not be the money-saver you think it is.
Southwest had a meltdown. Here’s why.

When you support our sponsors, you support us. Thanks for that.

🌎 Finimize Live

⚖️ Weighed and measured

Any investment has pros and cons, and alternative investments are no different. Pro: they can help you diversify your portfolio away from the broader market, keeping your money safe even when things go upside down. Con: they can be quite hard to get into unless you know how. Here’s a guy who can help: Roger’s Dominik Stroukal at our next event, The Pros And Cons Of Alternative Investments.

🤔 The Pros And Cons Of Alternative Investments: 5pm UK time, October 18th
👍 How To Trade In Good And Bad Times: 5pm UK time, October 19th
👀 How To Spot A Market Dud: 6pm UK time, October 20th
⚡️ What’s Next For EV Batteries?: 11am UK time, October 21st
🤓 A Smarter Way To Profit In The Short Term: 5pm UK time, October 21st
🇰🇷 Are Korean Stocks The Next Big Thing?: 1pm UK time, October 22nd
🤖 How to Assess Winning DeFi Projects: 6pm UK time, October 28th
🚀 Finimize & Ledger Crypto Summit 2021: December 2nd-3rd

❤️ Share with a friend

Your Referrals: 0

Thanks for reading Reader. If you liked today's brief, we'd love for you to share it with a friend. If they sign up on your unique link, you’ll earn some sweet swag.

Share your unique link:

https://finimize.com/invite/?kid=177ZWC

You stay classy, Reader 😉

We’d love to hear your thoughts. Give feedback

Want to advertise with us too? Get in touch

Image Credits:

Image credits: Carlos Amarillo - Shutterstock | Aerial-motion - Shutterstock

Preferences:

Update your email or change preferences

View in browser

Unsubscribe from all Finimize Emails

😴

Crafted by Finimize Ltd. | Third Floor, 1 New Fetter Lane, London, EC4A 1AN, UK.

All content provided by Finimize Ltd. is for informational and educational purposes only and is not meant to represent trade or investment recommendations. You signed up to this mailing list at finimize.com or through one of our partners. © Finimize 2021

Finimize - 💰 JPMorgan finds 2 billion bucks

Today's big stories

Booty Call

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

Is This Robotics Company The Next Big Ecommerce Play?

Above Deck

What’s Going On Here?

What Does This Mean?

Why Should I Care?

⚖️ Weighed and measured

Older messages

🍸 Bond breaks records

🇺🇸 Goldman’s hopes aren’t high

🤔 Your move, Fed

🎁 IPOs are the gift that keeps on giving

⚡️ China hogs the global phone charger

You Might Also Like

Good news for Trump

📖 Alphabet and Microsoft opened the books

Don’t like surprise home expenses? Read this.

🎂 Icky icing on the cake

I haven't been this worried since 2008...

Metal is back

👀 Meta spilled the beans

Lots of things emerge as spring begins — and we’re not talking about flowers

Issue #235: Is chasing high APYs worth it?

Harry's Take 4-24-24 Have You Saved Enough?