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Today's big stories

Against all odds, the US added far more jobs than expected in January
Only 10% of investors actually make money, and here's how to make sure you’re one of them – Read Now
Snap and Pinterest reported better-than-expected results, so investors have found their new favorite social media platforms

Judgment Day

What’s Going On Here?

Data out on Friday showed that the US added far more jobs than expected last month, suggesting this post-apocalyptic wasteland has become that much more inhabitable.

What Does This Mean?

Picture the scene: a super-contagious virus is running riot, businesses are sitting empty, and pale-faced workers are staying indoors. This isn’t Netflix’s latest big-budget blockbuster: this is January in the US. So the country was bound to add fewer jobs than expected, surely.

Except, it didn’t. In fact, it added 467,000 jobs last month – three times the 150,000 economists were expecting. Plenty of that was down to the leisure and hospitality sector, but transportation and retail posted strong numbers too (tweet this). Plus, the proportion of people either in work or looking for it rose to 62.2% – the highest since March 2020, and just 1.2% below pre-pandemic levels.

Why Should I Care?

For you personally: You’re rich!
If you have an interview coming up, don’t be afraid to really throw your weight about: all this hiring means companies are paying more for the best and brightest, which might be why the average hourly salary was 5.7% higher last month than the same time last year. Now, it’s true that this will probably come back on you, since it’s only a matter of time before companies raise their prices to maintain their profits. But you’re a baller now, so who cares?

The bigger picture: Jobs don’t necessarily mean growth.
These job numbers suggest vaccinations are having the required effect, but the party-poopers over at Goldman Sachs don’t think we’re out the woods yet: its economists reckon Omicron could prolong supply shortages. They also think the drop-off in government spending and tax support will leave less cash in consumers’ pockets and hit spending this year. That might be why the investment bank just cut its US economic growth forecast for 2022 from 3.8% to 3.2%.

You might also like: How to protect your portfolio from these sky-high prices.

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Analyst Take

How To Put Yourself In The Top 10% Of Investors

Stéphane Renevier, Analyst

What’s Going On Here?

Only a fraction of retail investors end up making money in the grand scheme of things.

Around 90% of investors lose money in the long run, which means – and I’ve personally crunched the numbers on this – that only 10% make money.

That stands to reason: overconfidence abounds in the markets, which leads investors to underestimate their risk, fall short on research, and take oversized positions.

What’s more, a lot of investors get caught up in how good their ideas are, without interrogating how to execute them or how their biases are influencing them.

So that’s today’s Insight: the simple ways you can put yourself in the top 10% of investors.

Read or listen to the Insight here

You wouldn’t treat your other investments like this…

Your pension will probably be the biggest investment you ever own.

So why do so many of us lose sight of how much we’re earning, not to mention accept it as a given when we lose track of pots from old jobs?

With Penfold, you can transfer all your old pensions to one pot and let its powerful digital pension technology grow your money for you.

You get to choose from four investment plans, all managed by BlackRock and designed to help you reach your savings goals. Penfold will even claim your 25% tax relief bonus for you.

And if you want to get into the nitty-gritty, take a deep-dive with Penfold’s Explore Your Pension tool and track your pension’s growth from one month to the next.

Unlock your pension’s potential today: download Penfold.

Power Up Your Pension

Capital at risk. It’s important to compare providers’ fees & any guaranteed benefits when deciding on whether to transfer, and be sure that the investments available are suitable for you.

We cannot accept defined benefit pension transfers. If you decide to close your Penfold account and the value of your pot has gone down, the amount returned to the provider may be less than what you originally transferred.