Apple's $3 Trillion Milestone

Today is Tuesday, January 4, 2022.

New to this newsletter? Sign up here.

Apple's $3 Trillion Milestone

Shares of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) increased 2.50% on Monday after becoming the first public company to be valued at $3 trillion.

Background: Apple first reached a market value of $1 trillion in August 2018. It hit the $2 trillion market value two years later.

Big Picture: The next closest public company in market value is Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) at $2.5 trillion.

Trouble: Despite high consumer demand, Apple has been dealing with supply chain issues. The company had to recently reduce its iPhone sales goals due to manufacturing supply problems.

Optimism: Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives is especially bullish on Apple, writing that the tech company’s services business is worth $1.5 trillion, according to Seeking Alpha. The services business, which includes everything from device management to subscription offerings, can fuel further growth.

Final Thoughts: Although $3 trillion is an incredible milestone, what’s next for Apple? Can the company sustain the same growth in the future? As for investors, getting the most profit out of Apple depends largely on when you are buying in.

Notables

Notable Earnings Today: Smart Global Holdings (Nasdaq: SGH), Miller Knoll (Nasdaq: MLKN).

Notable IPOs Today: Yellowstone Acquisition Company (NYSE: YSAC).

Notable Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns Ending Today: Medwave Software Solutions (Wefunder), Eastcoasterdam Gardens (MainVest), The Complete Experience (Honeycomb), Proctor360 (NetCapital), Love Sun Body (StartEngine).

Notable Economic Events Today: ISM Manufacturing PMI (10:00 a.m. ET), JOLTs Job Openings (10:00 a.m. ET), API Weekly Crude Oil Stock (4:30 p.m, ET).

Equity Crowdfunding Surpasses $1 Billion in Investments

Photo by Markus Winkler / Unsplash

Over $1.1 billion has been invested in startups through equity crowdfunding in the U.S. since the industry began, according to research firm Crowdfund Capital Advisors (CCA) via Crowdfund Insiders on Monday.

Definition: Equity crowdfunding allows startups to raise capital with funding from individual and retail investors. The industry launched five years ago due to deregulation and has since become a new avenue of investment for everyone.

Data: The CCA says that half of all equity crowdfunding investments occurred in 2021. This shows that it is becoming more popular.

Investors Enter: The number of equity crowdfunding investors grew from 18,000 in January 2018 to 253,000 in September 2021, according to research platform KingsCrowd.

Big Picture: In addition to cryptocurrency and real estate, equity crowdfunding is another option for investors who want to grow their portfolios in the private market.

Final Thoughts: The CCA also predicts that the equity crowdfunding market will experience more growth in 2022 after the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, which will force more investors to look beyond the public markets.

Experts See Stock Market Correction in 2022

The stock market could take a bearish turn and decline more than 10%, known as a correction, according to experts.

Down 20: Yahoo Finance Live host Brian Sozzi predicted last week that there will be a stock market correction of 20% in 2022 due to the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates.

Up and Down: Jim Paulsen, the chief investment strategist at the Leuthold Group, told Bloomberg TV last week that he expects the S&P 500 to grow from 4,700 to 5,000 next year before taking a downturn.

In the Stars: Henry Weingarten, managing director for the Astrology Fund, anticipates a market correction of 15% to 25%. He also recommends that investors buy gold, according to Forbes.

Final Thoughts: A majority of respondents in a recent Reuters poll also expect a market correction in the next six months.

Trends to Watch

Thank you for reading!

Forward to a friend and tell them to sign up here.

Want more investing tips? Listen to the podcast.

Questions or comments? Hit reply to reach out.