<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/big-pharma" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pharmaceutical</a> companies have <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/business" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lost</a> tens of billions in <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/stock-market" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stock market</a> value this week ahead of a trial regarding the heartburn drug Zantac.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) <a href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/statement-alerting-patients-and-health-care-professionals-ndma-found-samples-ranitidine">announced</a> in 2019 that Zantac, the brand name for the medication ranitidine, contains low levels of a carcinogenic substance called NDMA. GlaxoSmithKline — the British pharmaceutical company that developed the drug — has been named as a defendant in approximately 3,000 personal injury cases in federal and state court, according to a <a href="https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/media/press-releases/statement-zantac-ranitidine-litigation/">press release</a> from the company.
As the first legal proceedings are scheduled for August 22, prices for shares of GlaxoSmithKline fell roughly 11.5% since Monday. Shares for Sanofi, which has also held ownership rights to the drug, were down 9.9%, while shares for Haleon, a recent spinoff from GlaxoSmithKline, were down 11.8%.
According to Barclays analyst Emily Field, no meaningful information about the upcoming litigation has been publicized. &#8220;I think the panic &#8230; really comes down to market psychology as opposed to having learned anything new,” she told <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/haleon-not-party-us-litigation-focused-zantac-spokesperson-2022-08-11/">Reuters</a>.
As of 2019, Zantac ranked 53 among the most frequently prescribed drugs in the United States, according to <a href="https://clincalc.com/DrugStats/Drugs/Ranitidine">ClinCalc</a>. The FDA <a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/questions-and-answers-ndma-impurities-ranitidine-commonly-known-zantac">withdrew</a> ranitidine medication from the market in 2020.
“Patients should be able to trust that their medicines are as safe as they can be and that the benefits of taking them outweigh any risk to their health,” the FDA said. “Although NDMA may cause harm in large amounts, the levels the FDA is finding in ranitidine from preliminary tests barely exceed amounts you might expect to find in common foods.”
GlaxoSmithKline, however, said in its press release that multiple motions to dismiss have been rejected by the courts despite data affirming the safety of Zantac.
“The overwhelming weight of the scientific evidence supports the conclusion that there is no increased cancer risk associated with the use of ranitidine,” the company said. “Suggestions to the contrary are therefore inconsistent with the science, and GSK will vigorously defend itself against all meritless claims alleging otherwise.”
In 2012, GlaxoSmithKline paid one of the largest health care fraud settlements in American history over failure to report safety data and the marketing of misbranded drugs, according to the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/glaxosmithkline-plead-guilty-and-pay-3-billion-resolve-fraud-allegations-and-failure-report">Department of Justice</a>. The company marketed Paxil as a depression treatment for patients under 18 years old, even though the FDA has never approved the drug for pediatric use. The company likewise introduced Wellbutrin for weight loss, the treatment of sexual dysfunction, substance addictions, and ADHD, even though the drug had only been approved at the time for Major Depressive Disorder.
Beyond the advent of COVID vaccines and public controversies related to subsequent mandates, the pharmaceutical industry has been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/many-key-pharmaceuticals-could-be-threatened-by-supply-chain-backlogs-warns-fda">impacted</a> by worldwide supply chain issues. Last year, the FDA “asked manufacturers to evaluate their entire supply chain, including active pharmaceutical ingredients, finished dose forms, and any components that may be impacted in any area of the supply chain.”
American companies have grown increasingly reliant upon pharmaceutical imports from China and India, according to the <a href="https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/coronavirus-disrupt-us-drug-supply-shortages-fda">Council on Foreign Relations</a>. As of March 2020, 80% of active pharmaceutical ingredients and 90% of generic medicines came from the two nations.

Gavel

Big Pharma Stocks Plummet Amid Legal Issues Over Key Medication

Big Pharma

Business

Stock Market

House Minority Leader <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kevin-mccarthy">Kevin McCarthy</a> (R-CA) blasted House Speaker <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nancy-pelosi">Nancy Pelosi</a> (D-CA) as House Democrats plan to introduce a bill to ban members of Congress from trading stocks.
During his weekly <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybs0EkgU2kE">press conference</a> Friday, McCarthy blasted Pelosi for waiting until the end of the term of Congress to roll out a framework for a bill that would ban members of Congress and their spouses from trading stocks. McCarthy said that Pelosi&#8217;s husband, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pelosis-office-defends-husbands-stock-buy-ahead-of-key-vote-says-colleagues-are-actually-the-ones-breaking-rules">Paul Pelosi</a>, made a number of stock trades around the times of key Congressional actions, and said that he may have gotten that knowledge from conversations they had with each other.
&#8220;I think it&#8217;s ironic that the Speaker of the House now talks about bringing up a bill at the very end of the term of Congress,&#8221; McCarthy told reporters. &#8220;So her husband could trade all the way through, but now it becomes a crisis? Look, I think the Speaker of the House has greater determination of what comes to the floor, what gets out of committee. And her husband didn’t just trade stock, he traded options. I think what her husband did was wrong.&#8221;
“When she said she never told him anything, I know they spent their time together overseas and when they’re coming back, I’m sure she had conversations on the phone about what was gonna be on the floor,&#8221; McCarthy continued. &#8220;I’m sure she had conversations about what the chip version finally looked at. I’m sure she had those conversation; I don’t know if he was able to hear them or not. But I think we need to bring trust back to this institution, and I think we have to do a thorough investigation and look at what is the proper role for members of Congress and what influence they have, and I don’t think the proper way to do this is Nancy Pelosi writing the bill because we have proven that she can’t do that.&#8221;
McCarthy then said that if Republicans take back the majority after the midterms, they will introduce a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bipartisan-group-of-lawmakers-demand-pelosi-hold-vote-on-stock-trading-bans">bipartisan</a> bill that will go through the committee process.
“It should be in a bipartisan manner, and we should look at it through committee, and this is something that we will do in the majority, bringing new rules forward to make sure that you have trust in this House, and the ability — that you know that people [are] not investing in a place that they have influence,&#8221; McCarthy said. “What I’ve told everybody, we will come back and we will not only investigate this, we will come back with a proposal to change the current behavior.”
<a href="https://punchbowl.news/archive/7-28-22-punchbowl-news-am/">Punchbowl News</a> reported Thursday that Democrats in the House are planning to introduce a bill next month to ban lawmakers, their spouses, and members of their senior staff from holding shares in individual stocks. The proposal would force lawmakers, their spouses, and their senior staff to either put their investments in a blind trust or completely divest from their portfolios. They would, however, be able to hold mutual funds.
Democrats said the framework would be introduced by August, and hoped that the bill itself would be introduced in September, and passed by the end of the month.

Kevin McCarthy

‘Now It Becomes A Crisis?’: McCarthy Hammers Pelosi For Pushing Stock Trading Ban At End Of Congress’ Term

McCarthy Hammers Pelosi For Pushing Stock Trading Ban At End Of Congress' Term

House Democrats

Insider Trading

Nancy Pelosi

Netflix released “better-than-expected” results in its second quarterly <a href="https://s22.q4cdn.com/959853165/files/doc_financials/2022/q2/FINAL-Q2-22-Shareholder-Letter.pdf">report</a> on Tuesday, which showed the streaming service only lost about half of the two million subscribers projected initially earlier this year.
The report shows approximately 970,000 subscribers canceled their membership during the last three months. The number comes after the service took a massive hit in the first quarter when it lost 200,000 subscribers between January and March. 
While Reed Hastings, the company’s CEO, praised shows like &#8220;Ozark” and “Stranger Things” for keeping the results lower than the anticipated forecast, the company still saw its biggest loss in customers since its foundation 25 years ago.
“If there was a single thing, we might say ‘Stranger Things,’” Hastings <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niA_ECTcpvM">said</a>. “But again, we are talking about losing 1 million instead of losing 2 million.” 
“So our excitement is tempered by the less bad results,” he added.
The company, which currently holds about 220 million subscribers, said accelerating revenue growth is a “big challenge.” The report now projects that the company will add another million subscribers by the third quarter. 
“We’ve been through hard times before,” the company said in its shareholder letter. “We’ve built this company to be flexible and adaptable, and this will be a great test for us and our high-performance culture.&#8221; 
Netflix on Wednesday announced a new partnership with Microsoft to implement an ad-supported subscription plan, which viewers can anticipate interrupting their programs in early 2023.
“We’ll likely start in a handful of markets where advertising spend is significant,” the company said. “Like most of our new initiatives, our intention is to roll it out, listen and learn, and iterate quickly to improve the offering.”
The company said its advertising business would likely look different in a few years than it does at launch. 
Netflix has also begun implementing new ways to curb account sharing, and has already launched an “add extra member” feature in Central and South American countries.
The company paritially blamed the loss of subscribers last quarter on competing with other streaming services and massive account sharing. Now with the looming global recession, skyrocketing inflation, and the war in Ukraine playing a significant factor Netflix officials warned shareholders that as the US dollar strengthens and global currencies weaken, the historic pace could disrupt its global market, which makes up about 60 percent of its revenue.  
So far this year, the company has laid off over 450 employees, dozens of part-time and contract workers, and lost roughly 70 percent of its stock.
However, despite its concerns, Netflix still touts its fortune.
CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/19/netflix-nflx-earnings-q2-2022.html">reports</a> as Wall Street closed on Tuesday, the company’s shares traded just above $200. Last year Netflix shares traded for approximately $700. According to a Refinitiv survey, Netflix earnings per share prices at $3.20, while the company holds $7.97 billion revenue.
“We’re confident and optimistic about the future,” the company said.

Netflix Headquarters Ahead Of Earnings Figures

Netflix Loses Nearly 1 Million Subscriptions, Largest Drop In Company History 

Netflix Lost Nearly 1 Million Subscriptions, Largest Drop In Company History 

Netflix

Recession

Stranger Things

Wall Street

Hedge fund Coltrane Asset Management earned a 223% <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/stock-market">return</a> by betting against overpriced <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/big-tech">technology</a> stocks, according to a Tuesday report from <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/one-hedge-fund-is-up-223-this-year-thanks-to-a-big-bet-against-tech-stocks-11658223000?mod=hp_lead_pos10">The Wall Street Journal</a>.
Mandeep Manku, a managing partner at the fund, began shorting tech stocks in 2020 after he saw that many were trading at more than ten times their revenues. Though the fund lost 56% in 2020 and gained 19% in 2021, Coltrane — left managing less than $200 million of its previous $1 billion in assets — then reaped 223% so far this year as tech stocks collapsed.
“In our industry, lots of people who ended up right weren’t able to be there when they were right because they were closed out or clients took their money away,” Coltrane investor Stuart Roden told the Journal.
Indeed, as the stock market has declined more than 19% since the beginning of the year, growth industries like technology — which historically have produced short-term yields rather than long-term results — have suffered the most, while value industries like energy have reaped the strongest returns. Companies such as Microsoft, Lyft, and Tesla were the first to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/recession-fears-lead-big-tech-companies-to-pause-hiring-cut-jobs">lay off</a> significant portions of their staff or slow hiring as the stock market began its tailspin.
For instance, iShares’ <a href="https://www.ishares.com/us/products/308574/ishares-esg-msci-usa-leaders-etf">ESG Aware MSCI ETF</a> — which has its largest holdings in companies like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Tesla — is down nearly 20% since the beginning of 2022, slightly lower than the overall S&amp;P 500 index. Meanwhile, iShares’ <a href="https://www.ishares.com/us/products/239741/ishares-global-energy-etf">Global Energy ETF</a> — dominated by oil and gas conglomerates like Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and Shell — has risen more than 18% over the same period.
“Success is about having a consistent approach that’s true to your world view, staying grounded and calm,” Manku said in a statement, per the Journal. “We are still very much at the beginning of our journey but have, we hope, learned a few valuable lessons already.”
The implosion of tech stocks has further <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/virtue-signaling-isnt-free-how-woke-investing-fell-apart-once-the-economy-got-bad">called into question</a> the validity of Environmental, Social, and Governance (<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/esg">ESG</a>) investing, through which asset managers pour money into firms with leftist values — such as technology companies — rather than purely pursuing profits.
“If ESG vendors would openly admit that they were moving their gaze away from the pursuit of returns for their clients, it would be more defensible,” Jerry Bowyer, who serves as a senior fellow at the Center for Cultural Leadership, told The Daily Wire. “Clients would then know that they’re likely making a little offering to the gods of social responsibility in the form of lower returns. But what has happened is that the ESG industry has pretty consistently denied the return sacrifice and engaged in highly speculative arguments that ESG is good for shareholders.”
When left to their own devices rather than allocating their capital to large asset managers, American investors tend to avoid ESG, according to a recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/poll-by-two-to-one-margin-investors-reject-woke-companies-pushing-political-causes">Daily Wire poll conducted by Echelon Insights</a>. While 29% of respondents agreed it is a “good thing” for companies to use their financial power for political or social means supported by executives, 58% — twice as many — said it is a “bad thing.”
“The ESG movement’s realization that shunning traditional energy companies sacrifices profits proves what everyone else already knew: virtue signaling isn’t free,” entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americans-want-companies-to-stay-out-of-politics-ceo-launches-fund-to-take-on-woke-asset-managers">launched</a> an asset management firm centered upon “excellence capitalism,” told The Daily Wire. “Large asset managers are desperate to go back to the days of investing money to make money, but their hands are tied by the ESG rope of their own making.”

GERMANY-TECH-APPLE-COMPUTERS

Hedge Fund Brings In 223% Return By Betting Against Big Tech

Hedge Fund Takes Contrarian Bet Against Big Tech, Reaps Huge Returns

Big Tech

Netflix is expected to report its second-quarter earnings on Tuesday after the morning bell on Wall Street.
The 25-year-old streaming service <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://s22.q4cdn.com/959853165/files/doc_financials/2022/q1/FINAL-Q1-22-Shareholder-Letter.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">projected</a> last spring that two million users would cancel their membership by the second quarter after taking a massive hit of losing 200,000 subscribers at the beginning of this year.
&#8220;Our revenue growth has slowed considerably, as our results and forecast below show,&#8221; the report said. &#8220;However, our relatively high household penetration — when including the large number of households sharing accounts — combined with competition is creating revenue growth headwinds.&#8221;
Andrew Hare, a senior vice president of research at Magid, told <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/17/investing/stocks-week-ahead?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_newsbreak" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN Business</a>, &#8220;all bets are off&#8221; once Netflix becomes undervalued by the market.
&#8220;There will be hell to pay if they report a number that is significantly higher than the 2 million loss being thrown around,&#8221; Hare said.
Yahoo <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.yahoo.com/video/netflix-nflx-set-report-q2-153403843.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> the company forecasts its second-quarter earnings to be at $3 per share, which indicates a year-over-year decline of 20 percent.
Aside from attributing the loss to competing with other streaming services and massive account sharing, the company said the looming global recession, skyrocketing inflation, and the war in Ukraine also play a significant factor.
Benjamin Swinburne, head of U.S. media research at Morgan Stanley, told <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/netflix-second-quarter-earnings-report-subscriber-drop-1235180346/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Hollywood Reporter</a> a recession and the ever-increasing inflation could hit Netflix harder than expected.
&#8220;Streaming video revenues may prove more vulnerable than expected to a global recession and lower consumer spending levels,&#8221; Swinburne said. &#8220;While Netflix&#8217;s leading engagement should help it retain customers, its relative price premium is likely an offset as consumers look to trim their streaming bill.&#8221;
Still, 221.6 million subscribers worldwide currently have the option to log in and scroll for hours before potentially finding something to watch.
But other factors indicate the company is going through something.
So far this year, the company has laid off over 450 employees, dozens of part-time and contract workers, and lost roughly 70 percent of its stock.
CNN Business reports what happens with Netflix&#8217;s Q2 report could reshape the company&#8217;s future and the entire streaming industry.
Hare, the senior vice president of Magid who spoke to CNN Business, said investors would give the company time to &#8220;right the ship&#8221; but would need to hear how it plans to grow back the numbers immediately.
&#8220;It&#8217;s all about communicating how they are evolving the business to ensure they continue to win in streaming,&#8221; he said. &#8220;No one has the stomach for a business losing millions of subscribers every quarter.&#8221;
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings on Wednesday announced a new partnership with Microsoft to implement an ad-supported subscription plan.
The company has also begun implementing new ways to curb account sharing and launched an &#8220;add extra member&#8221; feature in Central and South American countries.
&#8220;It&#8217;s great that our members love Netflix movies and TV shows so much they want to share them more broadly,&#8221; a spokesperson <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://about.netflix.com/en/news/update-to-paid-sharing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;But today&#8217;s widespread account sharing between households undermines our long-term ability to invest in and improve our service.&#8221;

Streaming

Netflix To Report Q2 Earnings, Projects Losing Two Million Subscriptions

Mainstream Media

The office of House Speaker <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/nancy-pelosi">Nancy Pelosi</a> (D-CA) offered its response to her husband, investor Paul Pelosi, buying as much as $5 million in a technology <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/business">company</a> poised to benefit if lawmakers pass a new subsidy package.
Paul Pelosi — who was arrested after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nancy-pelosis-husband-finally-charged-with-dui">alleged drunk driving</a> earlier this year — exercised 200 call options to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nancy-pelosis-husband-makes-huge-stock-move-ahead-of-key-vote-on-chip-subsidies">acquire</a> 20,000 shares in Nvidia, a California company that produces semiconductors. First reported by <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2022/07/15/pelosis-husband-massive-amount-in-chips-stock-before-expected-senate-vote-subsidies/">The Daily Caller</a>, a disclosure filed by Nancy Pelosi to the House of Representatives last week revealed the trade.
&#8220;The Speaker does not own any stocks,” Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill explained, <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/nancy-pelosis-office-responds-husbands-controversial-computer-chip-stock-purchase-ahead-congress-vote">according to</a> Fox Business. “As you can see from the required disclosures, with which the Speaker fully cooperates, these transactions are marked ‘SP’ for Spouse. The Speaker has no prior knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transactions.”
The move comes as Congress <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/plans-for-new-semiconductor-factories-across-america-hit-major-roadblock">begins</a> debate on the $52 billion CHIPS for America Act, which is aimed at increasing semiconductor manufacturing capacity in the United States to address <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/inflation">inflation</a> and <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/supply-chain">supply chain</a> issues.
Hammill also commented that Pelosi mourns her colleagues&#8217; lack of compliance with the STOCK Act — a law that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-votes-for-increased-oversight-of-stock-transactions-for-federal-supreme-court-judges">requires</a> top federal officials to disclose their asset transactions within a 45-day window.
&#8220;The Speaker believes that sunlight is the best disinfectant,” Hammill continued. “The Speaker has asked Committee on House Administration Chair Zoe Lofgren to examine the issue of Members’ unacceptable noncompliance with the reporting requirements in the STOCK Act, including the possibility of stiffening penalties.”
A report from The New York Times’ <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/17/business/dealbook/congress-stock-trades.html">DealBook</a> — based upon research conducted by Capitol Trades — revealed that asset purchases from members of Congress and their immediate families <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sat-members-of-congress-and-their-families-traded-over-630-million-in-stocks-this-year">amounted</a> to $267 million in 2021, while sales amounted to $364 million. Top officials working at the Federal Reserve have also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/after-ethics-review-fed-bars-top-officials-from-trading-individual-stocks">faced criticism</a> for purchasing individual stocks amid their work to chart the nation’s monetary policy.
&#8220;To be clear, insider trading is already a serious federal criminal and civil violation and the Speaker strongly supports robust enforcement of the relevant statutes by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission,&#8221; Hammill added. &#8220;The Speaker led the House in passing the bipartisan Courthouse Ethics and Transparency Act, which would subject federal judges to similar disclosure requirements as those in the STOCK Act. President Biden signed this bill into law in May.”
Voting to begin consideration on the CHIPS Act is slated to begin as soon as Tuesday. The United States <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/onshoring-semiconductor-capacity-is-crucial-to-national-security">represents</a> 12% of global semiconductor manufacturing and 25% of global semiconductor demand, according to Radford University management professor Zachary Collier, with the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/yellen-pushes-to-end-american-dependence-on-china-for-computer-chips">majority</a> of global production occurring in Asia.
Biden administration officials have pushed for the subsidy package as a solution to high inflation. According to the most recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) report from the U.S. <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm">Bureau of Labor Statistics</a>, new and used vehicles are respectively 11.4% and 7.1% <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/here-are-the-products-making-your-wallet-lighter-as-inflation-hits-new-highs">more expensive</a> since June 2022 as automakers continue to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ford-and-gm-want-to-make-computer-chips-as-foreign-semiconductor-production-stays-bottlenecked">battle</a> low computer chip availability.
“I think you have to look at the unique situation that we’re in as an economy and think about how do we build more supply, how do we increase the productive capacity of our economy, so that we actually can supply more goods, bring prices down,” National Economic Council Director Brian Deese said on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-biden-adviser-called-out-for-saying-more-spending-will-finally-stop-inflation">CNBC</a> last week. “We know the answer on semiconductors exactly. We need more supply of those goods.”

Paul Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi

Pelosi’s Office Defends Husband’s Stock Buy Ahead Of Key Vote, Says Colleagues Are Actually The Ones Breaking Rules 

Pelosi Deflects On Husband's Massive Stock Purchase Ahead Of Key Vote, Says Colleagues Are The Ones Breaking Rules

Supply Chain

As the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/stock-market">stock market</a> goes down the tubes, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/wall-street">Wall Street</a> investors are reaping the whirlwind of their addiction to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/woke">woke</a> investing.
Environmental, Social, and Governance (<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/esg">ESG</a>) investing, which is in vogue among leading corporations and financiers, has suffered the most in the current downturn. ESG investors tend to select stocks from growth industries like technology, which often favor short-term yields over long-term results. Though tech companies are well known for bankrolling social justice initiatives in reaction to national events like the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/one-year-after-george-floyd-americas-biggest-corporations-earmark-37-billion-for-racial-equity">death of George Floyd</a> or the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/here-are-the-woke-businesses-vowing-to-cover-travel-costs-for-employees-abortion-tourism">overturning of Roe v. Wade</a>, they were the first to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/recession-fears-lead-big-tech-companies-to-pause-hiring-cut-jobs">lay off</a> large portions of their staff as the stock market began its months-long tailspin.
For instance, iShares’ <a href="https://www.ishares.com/us/products/308574/ishares-esg-msci-usa-leaders-etf">ESG Aware MSCI ETF</a> — which has its largest holdings in companies like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Tesla — is down over 21% since the beginning of 2022, slightly lower than the overall S&amp;P 500 index. Meanwhile, iShares’ <a href="https://www.ishares.com/us/products/239741/ishares-global-energy-etf">Global Energy ETF</a> — dominated by oil and gas conglomerates like Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and Shell — has risen nearly 16% over the same time period.
“The ESG movement&#8217;s realization that shunning traditional energy companies sacrifices profits proves what everyone else already knew: virtue signaling isn&#8217;t free,” entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americans-want-companies-to-stay-out-of-politics-ceo-launches-fund-to-take-on-woke-asset-managers">launched</a> an asset management firm centered upon “excellence capitalism,” told The Daily Wire. “Large asset managers are desperate to go back to the days of investing money to make money, but their hands are tied by the ESG rope of their own making.”
Asset managers BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street — which, on average, control a combined 20% stake in every Fortune 500 company and manage $21 trillion — have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-three-investment-firms-are-turning-companies-like-disney-woke-and-what-you-can-do-to-fight-back">advanced</a> ESG efforts within the ranks of their portfolio companies. By adopting ESG goals, companies commit themselves to pursuing green energy adoption, appointing a certain number of racial minorities to serve as executives, or otherwise mingling profitability with progressive politics.
Investor and author Jerry Bowyer, who serves as a senior fellow at the Center for Cultural Leadership, told The Daily Wire that recent stock market outcomes prove that “ESG is not a serious approach to investing for return.”
“If ESG vendors would openly admit that they were moving their gaze away from the pursuit of returns for their clients, it would be more defensible,” Bowyer argued. “Clients would then know that they’re likely making a little offering to the gods of social responsibility in the form of lower returns. But what has happened is that the ESG industry has pretty consistently denied the return sacrifice and engaged in highly speculative arguments that ESG is good for shareholders.”
A November 2019 <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Business%20Functions/Strategy%20and%20Corporate%20Finance/Our%20Insights/Five%20ways%20that%20ESG%20creates%20value/Five-ways-that-ESG-creates-value.ashx">report</a> from consulting firm McKinsey, for example, argues that companies which intentionally lower their energy consumption can benefit from cost reductions and reap higher returns by avoiding investment opportunities that “may not pay off because of longer-term environmental issues.”
Bowyer said that state treasurers are currently noticing that “arbitrarily excluding a major center of value creation such as oil, gas, and coal companies is not consistent with their fiduciary responsibility to pension investors.” Indeed, several Republican state treasurers have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wall-street-is-trying-to-punish-middle-america-for-religious-and-cultural-views-through-woke-investing-republican-state-treasurers-warn">sounded the alarm</a> over Wall Street’s efforts to use ESG metrics as an excuse to discriminate against public financing efforts from states with conservative values.
“The world of retirement funds is waking up to the problems earlier because the law is clearer regarding obligations to put investor interests first,” Bowyer remarked. “But in general, those people in the industry who are closest to investors — for example, financial advisors — are more aware of ESG problems than the top-down part of the industry in gigantic institutional money management.”
While large asset managers continue to push ESG, an exclusive <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/poll-by-two-to-one-margin-investors-reject-woke-companies-pushing-political-causes">Daily Wire poll conducted by Echelon Insights</a> recently indicated that there is a desire among American investors for more opportunities apart from progressive investing. Respondents recognized that ESG tends to promote “more liberal positions” than “more conservative positions.” While 50% believe the former and 16% believe the latter, only 21% believe that ESG investing is neutral.
David Bahnsen, the founder of Manhattan-based wealth management firm The Bahnsen Group, told The Daily Wire that “the pendulum will swing” away from “ESG insanity” in light of recent stock market trends.
“But along the way, will there be ongoing damage from those who have already dug their heels in? I am sure that is true, too,” he added. “The objective must be for markets to punish the ESG zealots enough that market forces usher in a reasonable pivot. Here, I do not merely mean stock prices, but rather the response of employees, managers, vendors, suppliers, and more.”
Indeed, the pendulum may be swinging among the broader American population. While 29% of respondents to The Daily Wire’s poll agreed it is a “good thing” for companies to leverage their financial power for political or social means supported by executives, 58% — twice as many — said it is a “bad thing.”

Times Square As U.S. Stocks Climb On Earnings

‘Virtue Signaling Isn’t Free’: How Woke Investing Fell Apart Once The Economy Got Bad

ESG Fails To Weather The Current Stock Market Storm

Energy

Readers Pass

Wokeness

The <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/stock-market">stock market</a> has experienced its <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/recession">worst</a> first half of the year in more than 50 years.
As of June 30, the S&amp;P 500 index — which monitors the performance of 500 large public companies — fell more than 21% since the first day of 2022. According to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/30/business/stock-market-worst-start-50-years.html">multiple reports</a>, the stock market has not seen a worse six months to begin the year since 1970. As a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wall-street-sees-worst-carnage-since-2020">series of selloffs</a> characterized the month of June, a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/investment-banks-predict-how-much-more-stock-market-could-plummet">forecast</a> from investment bank Morgan Stanley indicated that the S&amp;P 500 could drop another 15% to 20%.
The dismal <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/wall-street">Wall Street</a> benchmark was set as the United States contends with record-high <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/inflation">inflation</a>, as well as other phenomena eroding consumer and business confidence. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/here-are-the-products-gutting-your-bank-account-as-inflation-soars">rose</a> 8.6% between May 2021 and May 2022, while the core Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCEPI) <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/30/feds-preferred-inflation-measure-rose-4point7percent-in-may-near-40-year-high.html">increased</a> 4.7% over the same period.
As a result, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/consumer-sentiment-plummets-to-lowest-level-since-1950s">consumer confidence</a> — as measured by the University of Michigan’s benchmark Survey of Consumers — fell to its lowest reading since 1952.
“Business is a confidence game,” Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Bill Ackman <a href="https://twitter.com/BillAckman/status/1542088840130637824">commented</a> earlier this week. “Consumer confidence is weak because of inflation, not because of the economy. Jobs are plentiful and the economy is strong. The [Federal Reserve] needs to act decisively to kill inflation and inflationary expectations. Then confidence can be restored.”
In an effort to manage high inflation, monetary policymakers at the Federal Reserve are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-reserve-takes-most-aggressive-action-to-fight-inflation-in-three-decades">hiking interest rates</a> — most recently through a 0.75% increment that represented the boldest move to battle inflation in nearly three decades. Rate hikes increase the cost of borrowing capital, thereby tightening business investment and consumer activity. Earlier in June, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller warned that efforts from the central bank to tackle higher price levels would lead to higher unemployment.
Because personal consumption <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DPCERE1Q156NBEA">accounts for</a> nearly 70% of economic activity in the United States, the indicator is closely linked to overall economic performance.
“Consumers across income, age, education, geographic region, political affiliation, stockholding and homeownership status all posted large declines,” Survey of Consumers Director Joanna Hsu said in a statement, “As higher prices become harder to avoid, consumers may feel they have no choice but to adjust their spending patterns, whether through substitution of goods or foregoing purchases altogether.”
Business leaders are likewise pessimistic. A Conference Board survey of 750 global executives found that over 60% believe a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-survey-reveals-when-ceos-expect-a-recession-to-hit">recession will occur</a> in their primary region of operations by the end of 2023.
“CEOs are losing confidence because of uncertainty due to the perceived risk of sustained high inflation,” Ackman <a href="https://twitter.com/BillAckman/status/1542094302116909056">added</a>. “The [Federal Reserve] must act decisively to subdue inflation and inflationary expectations. Then business confidence will be restored.”
Indeed, inflationary pressures are top-of-mind for executives. A JPMorgan Chase <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/only-19-of-business-leaders-are-optimistic-as-recession-fears-loom">poll</a> released earlier this week shows that business leaders are markedly less optimistic about their industries and their own businesses compared to last year.
“The first half of 2022 has really tested business leaders with pricing pressures and increased interest rates, on top of the supply chain and labor-related issues they were already facing,” Ginger Chambless, head of research for JPMorgan Chase Commercial Banking, explained. “While it’s surprising to see how drastically sentiment has shifted, it is important to note that business leaders are still mostly upbeat when it comes to their companies and areas that they can more directly control.”

Stocks Continue To Slide As Concerns Rise Over Conflict In Ukraine

Stock Market Sees Worst First Half Of The Year Since 1970

Wall Street Takes Biggest Hit Since 1970s

Economy

Inflation

The S&amp;P 500, a key <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/wall-street">stock market</a> index, could drop another 15% to 20% before fully adjusting to a looming <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/recession">recession</a>, according to a recent analysts’ note from investment bank Morgan Stanley.
“The bear market will not be over until recession arrives or the risk of one is extinguished,” the note predicted, per <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-21/goldman-morgan-stanley-strategists-see-more-stock-market-losses?sref=3REHEaVI">Bloomberg</a>. Meanwhile, analysts from Goldman Sachs said stock traders were only pricing in a mild recession, “leaving them exposed to a further deterioration in expectations.”
The month of June has been marked by a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wall-street-sees-worst-carnage-since-2020">series of selloffs</a> amid dismal news on <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/inflation">inflation</a>, as well as the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-reserve-takes-most-aggressive-action-to-fight-inflation-in-three-decades">most aggressive move</a> to combat inflation from the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/federal-reserve">Federal Reserve</a> in nearly 30 years. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite fell 4.8% during the week ending on June 17, the S&amp;P 500 was down 5.8% — marking its worst week since 2020, according to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/16/stock-market-news-futures-open-to-close.html">CNBC</a>.
More <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bloodbath-on-wall-street-as-stock-market-plunges-into-bear-territory">selloffs occurred</a> during the week ending on June 10 — the day upon which the U.S. <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm">Bureau of Labor Statistics</a> announced that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 8.6% between May 2021 and May 2022, meaning that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inflation-reaches-8-6-setting-new-four-decade-high">inflation hit new four-decade record highs</a> and once again surpassed economists’ expectations. The Dow fell 2.5%, the Nasdaq fell about 3%, and the S&amp;P 500 fell 2.7% by the end of the week, according to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/markets/dow-falls-inflation-hits-40-year-high-consumer-sentiment-rcna32950">NBC News</a>.
On June 14, a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wall-streets-key-recession-indicator-just-went-off">yield curve inversion</a> — a phenomenon in the bond market that <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/wall-street">Wall Street</a> watches as a key recession indicator — made the financial world uneasy. An inverted yield curve historically precedes recessions by six months to two years, as indicated by data from the <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/T10Y2Y">Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis</a>.
The Federal Reserve’s benchmark interest rate is now between 1.5% and 1.75%. Although rate hikes increase the cost of borrowing money and thereby slow economic activity, central bankers are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/expect-higher-unemployment-as-federal-reserve-tackles-inflation-warns-top-policymaker">prepared to hike interest rates again</a> next month if high inflation persists.
While Democratic officials inside the Biden administration have insisted that a recession is not inevitable, former Democratic economic advisers lean in the opposite direction.
Larry Summers, who led the Treasury Department under the Clinton administration and served as National Economic Council director under the Obama administration, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-obama-economic-advisor-whole-range-of-indicators-point-to-coming-recession">said over the weekend</a> that “a whole range of indicators” point to a contraction.
“The dominant probability would be by the end of next year we will be seeing a recession in the American economy,” Summers told NBC News host Chuck Todd, noting that his view is widely shared among forecasters.
However, current Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen acknowledged the economic woes while remaining <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/yellen-recession-not-inevitable-russias-war-to-blame-for-soaring-inflation">as optimistic as possible</a>.
“I expect the economy to slow,” Yellen told ABC News host George Stephanopolous. “It’s been growing at a very rapid rate, as the economy, as the labor market, has recovered. We have reached full employment. It’s natural now that we expect a transition to steady and stable growth, but I don’t think a recession is at all inevitable.”
President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-biden-pushes-back-at-reporter-over-recession-warnings-dont-make-things-up">shot down a question</a> from a reporter on Monday about recessionary risks during his walk on Rehoboth Beach in Delaware.
“The majority of them aren’t saying that,” Biden said. “Come on, don’t make things up, okay? Now you sound like a Republican politician. I’m joking. That was a joke, but all kidding aside, I don’t think it is.”

Investment Banks Predict How Much More Stock Market Could Plummet

Morgan Stanley Says Stock Market May Fall Up To 20% More

The <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/stock-market">stock market</a> saw a brutal series of selloffs last week.
<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/wall-street">Wall Street</a> investors’ nerves came amid disappointing <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/inflation">inflation</a> news and a decision from the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/federal-reserve">Federal Reserve</a> to aggressively raise interest rates. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite fell 4.8% over the course of the week, the S&amp;P 500 was down 5.8% — marking its <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/recession">worst week</a> since 2020, according to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/16/stock-market-news-futures-open-to-close.html">CNBC</a>.
Last Monday, a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wall-streets-key-recession-indicator-just-went-off">yield curve inversion</a> — a phenomenon in the bond market that Wall Street watches as a recession indicator — rocked the financial world. An inverted yield curve historically precedes recessions by six months to two years, as indicated by data from the <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/T10Y2Y">Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis</a>.
Another series of selloffs occurred during the week ending on June 10 — the day upon which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 8.6% between May 2021 and May 2022, meaning that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inflation-reaches-8-6-setting-new-four-decade-high">inflation reached new four-decade record highs</a> once again. The Dow fell 2.5%, the Nasdaq fell about 3%, and the S&amp;P 500 fell 2.7% by the end of the week.
President Joe Biden, however, said in a Thursday interview that a recession is by no means “inevitable” and told Americans to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-claims-recession-not-inevitable-tells-americans-they-shouldnt-believe-economist-warnings">wait before concluding</a> that economists’ forecasts are true.
“You’ve got serious economists who warn of a recession next year… What should Americans believe?” Associated Press reporter Josh Boak asked Biden.
“They shouldn’t believe a warning. They should just say: ‘Let’s see. Let’s see, which is correct.’ And from my perspective, you talked about a recession. First of all, it’s not inevitable,” Biden replied before pointing to a survey taken last year to allege that Americans have robust savings.
Two days earlier, Biden <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-claims-inflation-is-worse-everywhere-but-here-thats-not-even-close-to-true">claimed</a> in a speech for the AFL-CIO that inflation is impacting the rest of the world more severely than in the United States. “Under my plan for the economy, we’ve made extraordinary progress,” Biden argued at the labor union’s conference. “And we put America in a position to tackle the… worldwide problem that’s worse everywhere but here: inflation.”
Nevertheless, <a href="https://www.oecd.org/sdd/prices-ppp/consumer-prices-oecd-06-2022.pdf">data</a> from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) show that the United States is dealing with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pretty-bleak-international-economic-organization-issues-new-warning-about-soaring-inflation-famine">higher inflation rates</a> than many other industrialized countries. The 8.3% inflation rate seen in the United States as of April was higher than the 7.8% rate in the United Kingdom, the 7.4% rate in Germany, the 6.8% rate in Canada, the 6% rate in Italy, the 4.8% rate in South Korea, and the 2.5% rate in Japan.
In response to high inflation, the Federal Reserve announced last week that it would <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-reserve-takes-most-aggressive-action-to-fight-inflation-in-three-decades">increase interest rates</a> by 0.75% — the largest one-time rate hike since 1994. The central bank already <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-fed-jacks-key-rate-up-half-point-as-inflation-surges">increased rates</a> by 0.5% in May — the largest such increase since 2000 — following a 0.25% rate hike from near-zero levels in March.
After the dust settled in the stock market, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said that similar moves in the near future would <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/expect-higher-unemployment-as-federal-reserve-tackles-inflation-warns-top-policymaker">lead to higher unemployment</a> — noting that he would vote for another 0.75% rate hike next month if the data are dismal once again.
The Fed’s benchmark interest rate is now between 1.5% and 1.75%. Rate hikes increase the cost of borrowing money for businesses and consumers — which tends to cut inflation at the expense of economic activity.

Wall Street Sees Worst Carnage Since 2020

Stocks Down Nearly 6% Last Week Amid More Dismal Economic News

Federal Reserve

The <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/stock-market">Dow Jones</a> Industrial Average fell below 30,000 on Thursday for the first time since January 2021 amid dismal <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/inflation">inflation</a> news and an aggressive interest rate hike from the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/federal-reserve">Federal Reserve</a>.
The Dow — a stock market index that tracks 30 large public companies trading on American exchanges — <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/24/trump-brags-about-dow-30000-at-surprise-press-conference-leaves-after-a-minute.html">reached 30,000 for the first time</a> at the end of 2020 under former President Donald Trump. When President Joe Biden entered office on January 20, 2021, the Dow closed at slightly under 31,000 amid the rebound from COVID and the lockdown-induced recession.
After steadily increasing to nearly 37,000 through 2021, the Dow has since plummeted due to several economic headaches — including record inflation rates, persistent supply chain bottlenecks, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On Thursday afternoon, the index sank below 29,900 — reflecting a roughly 19% plummet from its peak in early 2022.
Most recently, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inflation-reaches-8-6-setting-new-four-decade-high">8.6%</a> year-over-year as of May, surpassing economists’ expectations. The Producer Price Index (PPI), which monitors inflation for wholesalers, increased <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inflation-for-businesses-continues-at-double-digit-pace">10.8%</a> over the same period.
The Thursday selloff was induced by the Federal Reserve announcing that it would <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-reserve-takes-most-aggressive-action-to-fight-inflation-in-three-decades">hike interest rates</a> by 0.75% in the boldest monetary policy action since 1994. The central bank already <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-fed-jacks-key-rate-up-half-point-as-inflation-surges">increased rates</a> by 0.5% in May — the largest such increase since 2000 — after a 0.25% rate hike from near-zero levels in March.
Rate hikes are meant to discourage further price level increases and signal to investors that central bankers are serious about battling inflation, but they carry the side effect of increasing borrowing costs for businesses and consumers — thereby dampening economic activity.
“Overall economic activity appears to have picked up after edging down in the first quarter. Job gains have been robust in recent months, and the unemployment rate has remained low,” the Federal Open Market Committee, which handles the Federal Reserve’s policy interventions, said in a <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20220615a.htm">statement</a>. “Inflation remains elevated, reflecting supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic, higher energy prices, and broader price pressures.”
The yield curve — which tracks the relationship between bond maturity and expected interest rates — <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wall-streets-key-recession-indicator-just-went-off">inverted</a> earlier this week in a sign that the economy is bound for a recession. Normally, a bond with a more distant expiration will have a better interest rate — but with an inverted yield curve, short-term interest rates are higher than long-term ones, reflecting a looming rate increase in the near future.
Overall, the United States <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-states-economy-shrinks-in-the-first-part-of-2022">economy shrank at an annualized 1.5% pace</a> during the first quarter of 2022, representing the most severe drop since output plummeted by 31.2% in the second quarter of 2020. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis generally defines a recession as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
Multiple polls, therefore, show business leaders predicting a contraction. In the National Association of Manufacturers’ most recent Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey, over 59% of executives in the sector said <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/majority-of-manufacturers-predict-recession-within-the-next-year">inflationary pressures</a> “make a recession more likely in the next 12 months.” More than 90% of respondents identified higher raw material costs as one of their “primary business challenges” in the second quarter.
Likewise, CNBC’s most recent CFO Council Survey indicates that financial executives reflected a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/every-single-business-leader-surveyed-in-new-poll-thinks-a-recession-is-coming">pessimistic attitude</a> about economic futures. Most respondents — 68% — believe a recession will strike in the first half of 2023.

Screen Shot 2022-06-08 at 11.40.25 AM

Dow Plummets Below 30,000, Down Almost 20% This Year Under Biden

Dow Plummets Below 30,000 For The First Time Since Trump Administration

Biden Administration

Young <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/stock-market">investors</a> are behind on their retirement savings as <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/economy">economic</a> fallout continues from COVID-19 and the lockdown-induced <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/recession">recession</a>.
The most recent <a href="https://www.fidelity.com/bin-public/060_www_fidelity_com/documents/about-fidelity/FID-SORP-DataSheet.pdf">State of Retirement Planning</a> study from financial services company Fidelity shows that the turmoil of the past two years has disrupted many Americans’ savings behavior. Overall, one in four respondents are now “less confident than they were before the events of the past two years” — even though 79% are still confident that they can retire when and how they want.
However, 55% of “Next Gen” — which the study defines as Americans between the ages of 18 and 35 — said that they placed their retirement plans on hold during COVID-19, and 45% do not “see a point in saving until things return to normal.” Therefore, 39% “plan to retire later” due to their inaction.
Indeed, stock market conditions are far from normal as worse-than-expected inflation news <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bloodbath-on-wall-street-as-stock-market-plunges-into-bear-territory">triggers a fresh round of selloffs</a>. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 3%, the S&amp;P 500 fell about 4%, and the Nasdaq fell nearly 4% on Monday. Last week, the Dow fell 2.7%, the S&amp;P fell 2.9%, and the Nasdaq fell 3.5%.
Apart from the stock market, real estate — another mechanism Americans use as a store of wealth — remains expensive, especially for first-time buyers. Between quarter two of 2020 and quarter one of 2022, the median home sales price has increased from $322,600 to $428,700 — a 33% increase, according to U.S. Census Bureau <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUS">data</a>.
Overall, Fidelity recommends that younger savers “have time but need to ensure they are making smart retirement decisions.”
Meanwhile, 31% of Americans — including Next Gen, older Millennials, Gen-Xers, and Boomers — are not sure “how to keep up with inflation” when saving for retirement, and 71% are “very concerned” about the impact of rising price levels on their retirement preparedness.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 8.6% between May 2021 and May 2022, meaning that inflation has again <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/inflation-reaches-8-6-setting-new-four-decade-high">surpassed</a> record highs. Prices are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/here-are-the-products-gutting-your-bank-account-as-inflation-soars">particularly lofty</a> for energy products such as gasoline, utility gas service, and fuel oil, while food and vehicle prices also continue to soar.
Indeed, 77% of those with a retirement plan reported that they “know what to do to keep up with inflation,” while only 57% of those without a plan said the same, according to the Fidelity survey.
Beyond attitudes about savings in a post-COVID world, another generational shift in retirement planning lies in the use of digital assets. The 2022 Investopedia Financial Literacy Survey recently indicated that 28% of Millennials — those between the ages of 26 and 41 — expect to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gen-z-millennials-are-relying-on-crypto-for-their-retirements">use cryptocurrencies to support themselves</a> in their retirements. Nearly 20% of Gen Z — those between 18 and 25 — said the same.
“For younger investors, cryptocurrency is clearly not just a fun asset to trade in order to make fast money,” Investopedia editor-in-chief Caleb Silver remarked. “They are depending on generating returns from cryptocurrency to build wealth and fund their retirement, which is concerning given the lack of education around investing in crypto, and the fact it is still not regulated by the industry.”
Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency with the largest market cap, has plummeted from around $48,400 at the end of December to roughly $22,500 as of Tuesday — a 54% drop. Cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase is therefore <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/crypto-winter-coinbase-to-lay-off-nearly-one-fifth-of-staff">laying off</a> nearly one-fifth of its workforce amid the troubled digital asset market and overall macroeconomic instability.

Savings from broken piggy bank.

Young Americans ‘Don’t See A Point’ In Saving For Retirement In A Post-COVID World

Young Americans Have Stopped Saving For Retirement Since COVID Because They 'Don't See A Point' Until Things Get Back To Normal

Gen Z

Millennials

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