From mainstream media coverage to a parody skit on Saturday Night Live, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are starting to become a household name. But the concept can be confusing and leave investors wondering whether this is a fad, a hobby or a bona fide investment. While you may be able to address this question with a trusted financial professional, below we’re offering a quick introduction to NFTs and the potential risks and rewards involved with owning them.
Smartphone usage increased dramatically during pandemic as more people lost their jobs, were furloughed or adhering to stay-at-home orders. While smartphones can provide endless entertainment, they can also be bad news for your budget. In fact, the combined global monthly amount that consumers spent on apps and games peaked in May 2020 at $9.4 billion, a 25 percent gain on the monthly average in 2019.
Diversification is a well-known strategy to help reduce the risk of investment. And with international stock markets accounting for about 44 percent of the world’s capitalization, a broad range of investment opportunities exist outside the borders of the U.S.
Many of you might have seen the skit on Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend News” segment in which anchor Michael Che asks a tech titan played by Elon Musk, “What is dogecoin”? After each obtuse explanation by Musk, Che repeats the question again, and again, and again, and so on. It’s a good question! What is dogecoin, or bitcoin, or any of the other “cryptocurrencies”, which now number in the thousands?
Like the bubbles in a glass of champagne, bubbles in markets seem to form out of nothing and just as quickly burst and disappear. Possibly the second hardest decision in the markets is to recognize a bubble; the hardest is to know when it will burst. Bubbles are a part of market folklore.
The financial press has generated excitement and controversy over the increase in SPACs, due to the large sums of money placed behind the revitalized investment approach. SPACs raised more than $80 billion through nearly 250 initial public offerings in 2020, accounting for more than half of the money raised through IPOs. By comparison, SPACs raised just $10 billion two years earlier.