Apple Moves Into Banking

March 31, 2022

Today is Thursday, March 31, 2022.

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Apple Moves Into Banking

Technology giant Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) may expand its capabilities by building its own financial services tools, according to a report from Bloomberg on Wednesday.

Details: The plan would see Apple bring more financial projects in-house instead of using third-party partners. This could include payment processing, risk assessment, and credit checks.

Numbers: Shares of Apple are up 24% in the past 6 months. On Wednesday, the stock dropped 0.66%.

Big Picture: This report caused shares of fintech companies to drop on Wednesday. PayPal Holdings (Nasdaq: PYPL) decreased 2.22%, Affirm Holdings (Nasdaq: AFRM) went down 2.91%, and Block (NYSE: SQ) fell 4.59%.

Background: Apple does already offer some limited financial products, such as Apple Card and Apple Pay.

Final Thoughts: While this project could reduce Apple’s dependency on outside financial vendors, it might actually make more sense for Apple to acquire a proven player rather than build its own financial product.

Notables

Notable Earnings Today: Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA), BlackBerry (NYSE: BB), PDS Biotechnology (Nasdaq: PDSB), Astra Space (Nasdaq: ASTR), Nano-X Imaging (Nasdaq: NNOX), Lottery.com (Nasdaq: LTRY), Blend Labs (NYSE: BLND), AST SpaceMobile (Nasdaq: ASTS), Celsion (Nasdaq: CLSN), Arco Platform (Nasdaq: ARCE), Data Storage (Nasdaq: DTST), Planet Labs (NYSE: PL), Pulse Biosciences (Nasdaq: PLSE), Affimed (Nasdaq: AFMD), nCino (Nasdaq: NCNO), Dare Bioscience (Nasdaq: DARE), GreenBox POS (Nasdaq: GBOX), Protalix BioTherapeutics (NYSEAMERICAN: PLX).

Notable IPOs Today: Investcorp India Acquisition Corp (Nasdaq: IVCAU), Rail Vision Ltd. (Nasdaq: RVSN), Redwoods Acquisition Corp (Nasdaq: RWODU).

Notable Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns Ending Today: BIPOC Homeownership (Small Change), Bircus (WunderFund), Transparent Path (NetCapital), ScanHash (NetCapital), OTACA Tequila (StartEngine), Mesh Communities (Wefunder), OmniValley (NetCapital).

Notable Economic Events Today: Initial Jobless Claims (8:30 a.m. ET), PCE Price index (8:30 a.m. ET), Personal Spending (8:30 a.m. ET), Chicago PMI (9:45 a.m. ET).

Behind Bitcoin’s Latest Surge

Photo by Kanchanara / Unsplash

With the price of Bitcoin having its best week in 2022, where will the popular digital currency go from here?

Numbers: Bitcoin has shot up about 11% in the past week. On Wednesday, the price of Bitcoin dipped a little, about 0.33%, for its only daily drop in over a week. It is currently worth about $47,000.

Bullish: Blockchain analytics platform Nansen told CoinDesk on Wednesday that Bitcoin could go higher, especially when compared to rival cryptocurrency Ethereum, which has been suffering from higher gas fees recently.

Zone: Trader Crypto Ed also sees $45,000 as a core bounce zone in case of a broader pullback, according to Cointelegraph.

Final Thoughts: The recent $600 million hack involving Axie Infinity’s Ronin network is weighing down cryptos for the time being.

Why Investors Should Pay Attention to Two-Year Treasury Notes

Even if bonds are not your investment vehicle of choice, keep an eye on two-year treasury notes.

Importance: A inversion of the two-year yield usually means that a recession could come within the next two years.

Recent Trends: The yield for two-year Treasury notes has risen above the 10-year note for the first since 2019, according to the Financial Times.

Final Thoughts: Keep track of two-year treasury notes, especially in relation to the 10-year note. It might signal what the economy will look like in the near future.

Trends to Watch

No Driver Needed: Waymo to Send Driverless Cars Through San Francisco (The Wall Street Journal)

Next Generation: Equity crowdfunding is a great way to connect with young investors (Private Banker International)

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