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When Elon Musk tweets, crypto traders pay attention. The Space X and Tesla CEO has actually long been a vocal supporter of cryptocurrencies.

In some cases, though, cryptocurrency traders might focus too much on Musk. For instance, when Musk tweets photos of his Shiba Inu puppy, the value of digital coin Shiba Inu has a tendancy to rise. Does a picture of a billionaire’s dog truly make the crypto more valuable? Of course not.

Here are the only cryptos Musk actually owns.

1. Bitcoin

Previously this year, Tesla revealed that it purchased $1.5 billion of Bitcoin. It also started accepting the crypto as payment for its electric vehicles. That lasted just a couple of months, though, due to concerns regarding the energy consumption required to mine Bitcoin. Musk later stated that Tesla will probably resume accepting the crypto.

For a long period of time, Musk had only a modest position in Bitcoin. As recently as early 2019, Musk said that he had just 0.25 Bitcoins that were provided to him by a buddy. However, he verified over the summer that BTC is his largest crypto holding and intends to hold it for the long term.

2. Dogecoin

Musk has pretty much become the public face of Dogecoin. His connections to the crypto go back at the very least three years. In 2018, he reached out to Doge creator Jackson Palmer for assistance in removing scam bots from his Twitter page.

The next year, Musk disclosed in a tweet, “Dogecoin may be my favorite crypto. It is pretty great.” He also won the vote in an April Fool’s Day survey taken by Dogecoin’s main Twitter account asking which CEO would presumably be the ideal CEO for the cryptocurrency. Musk would later on briefly change his Twitter account to read “former CEO of Dogecoin.”

Still, Musk validated over the summer time that he personally owns Dogecoin. He stated that he supports it since it feels “like the people’s cryptocurrency.”

3. Ethereum

Musk’s initial public link with Ethereum was not a favorable one. One scam that was associated with Twitter users who impersonated well-known people supposedly gave out large quantities of Ether tokens.

His one-word tweet in April 2019 stating only “Ethereum” stoked interest in the crypto. It additionally triggered an online exchange between Musk and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

The subsequent year, however, Musk appeared to be undecided about Ethereum. He replied to a tweet from actor William Shatner, specifying, “I am not developing anything on ethereum. Not for or against it, just do not use it or own any.”

He now appears to have hopped off that fence. Previously this year, he revealed that he owns Ethereum tokens as well as Bitcoin and Dogecoin.

Author: Scott Dowdy

It is no secret that the human population has grown much older over the past thirty years. In fact, the global average age has consistently risen every ten years from 21.5 years in 1970 to 30.9 in 2020 due to a combination of decreasing birth rates and better longevity. And with the global average age projected to go up to 38.7 by 2070, this trend is one that is not going away soon.

How can investors use this unstoppable trend to their advantage? Since an aging population will most likely need more prescription drugs, I think that these two dividend-paying biotech stocks are excellent picks for investors to purchase right now.

1. Viatris

With the global medication industry expected to increase from $1.03 trillion in 2021 to $1.41 trillion by 2026, it will become more important for doctors, insurers and patients around the world to manage prescription drug prices. An increased emphasis on biosimilar and generic drugs to keep costs down should be favorable for biotech stock Viatris.

While 39% of its $13.5 billion in 2021 revenue has already came from biosimilar and generic drugs, this share will continue to increase in value even more in the coming years for two main reasons.The first reason is that Viatris drugs (like EpiPen, Lipitor, and Viagra) will likely have ongoing revenue reductions as they’ve been off patent for a while. Secondly, the Viatris is getting ready for a number of biosimilar and generic drug launches.

The largest selling point for the company besides its promising prospects and solid pipeline for biosimilars and generics is its really cheap valuation. Its forward price-to-earnings ratio of lower than four and 3% dividend price makes it a smart biotech stock purchase for patient income investors.

2. Pfizer

Investors might also want to consider buying Pfizer. Recently, this mega cap pharmaceutical stock is most known for the COVID-19 vaccine that it co-developed with BioNTech, known as Comirnaty, which it predicts will make up 44.2% of its $81.5 billion in forecast revenue in 2021.

Yet Pfizer still is far more than its COVID-19 vaccine. The company produced a 7% year-over-year increase just in the third quarter of this year, led by the blood thinner drug Eliquis and the rare heart disease drugs Vyndamax and Vyndaqel, which points to a powerful portfolio overall.

Second, Pfizer’s oral pill, known as Paxlovid, that is used to treat the covid virus, stopped clinical trials early because of its successful results; it lowered the risk of death or hospitalization among patients with a chance of developing severe covid by 89%. This will most likely give Pfizer a major therapy when the FDA provides Emergency Use Authorization, which might be just months away.

Author: Blake Ambrose

Saule Omarova, Pres. Joe Biden’s nominee for the role of the Comptroller of the Currency, said during a virtual conference in March 2021 that we should eliminate all deposits and private bank accounts.

In March, Omarova spoke at the LPE Project’s “Law & Political Economy: Democracy Beyond Neoliberalism” conference.

Omarova talked about one of her documents, “How to Democratize dollars and Finance the American Economy,” which could help in redesigning the financial sector and help make the economy “more fair for all people.”

She stated it would transition the “private-public power balance” and democratize finance to a more systemic level.

While discussing her paper, she stated that the Federal Reserve, the United states’ central bank, is only allowed to use “indirect levers” to “cause private banks to boost their lending.”

Her document calls for removing all banks and changing all bank deposits to a “FedAccount” at the U.S. Federal Reserve.

During her conference speech, she stated, “There won’t be any more private checking accounts, and all American deposit accounts will be kept directly at the Fed”:

Omarova stated her proposal would grant the Fed more “proactive” monetary policy tools, like “helicopter money.” She also thought that the United states’ Reserve could “take money” from U.S. citizens during an inflationary environment.

A former high level government official said that if congress were to confirm Omarova, she would be in the “least accountable, and most powerful” position over the United States’ banking system.

When talking about FedAccounts, the former high level government official stated, “The Democratic Party during the last couple of administrations, they would like the government to take over of the financial functions from banks.”

Omarova’s radical prospective led to 21 state financial officers to call for the president to withdraw her nomination for the U.S. comptroller:

The LPE serves as a platform to discuss:

“The role of law and legal discourse in the creation and management of capitalism and in mediating heightened tensions between democratic self-rule and capitalist order. Scholars in our network seek to better understand the connection between market supremacy and gender, racial, and economic injustice; to express the relationship between devaluation and capitalism of ecological and social reproduction; and to explore the distinctive ways that law gives shape to and legitimizes neoliberal capitalism, ranging from dynamics of financialization to the relation between the carceral state and capitalism.”

Author: Scott Dowdy

The stock market has had a good year, with the S&P 500 up by a huge 110% since prices went down in March 2020.

However, stock prices cannot keep going forever. Some experts think the market is now overvalued, and it could be due for a downturn sometime soon. Whether that will really happen, though, is anybody’s guess. The stock market is known for being unpredictable, and it is uncertain when prices will fall.

That said, it is normal to be worried about a crash. Although nobody knows for sure whether a crash is around the corner, there are some things you can do to prepare your own portfolio.

1. Ensure you are diversified

Diversification is important for building a stronger portfolio, and it can make a big difference when it comes to surviving volatility. The more companies you are investing in, the more your portfolio could come back after a market crash.

A diversified portfolio should have 10 to 15 stocks from various industries. To be safe, though, it could be wise to invest in 25 to 30 stocks at least from a variety of sectors.

2. Invest well for your age

When you have decades before your retirement, you can invest more aggressively. As long as you are buying good stocks and you have a portfolio that is diversified, there is a good chance your portfolio will come back eventually if the market falls.

If you are close to retirement age, though, it is a good idea to begin investing more conservatively. Depending on how many years you have left before retirement, you might not have the time to sit back and wait for your investments to return from a market collapse before you need the money.

3. Choose the best investments

The personal investments you go for will have a great effect on your portfolio’s numbers as well as its ability to come back from market downturns.

High-reward and high-risk investments might be tempting, but they are not for everyone. These stocks might perform well in the short term, but they usually struggle in the long term — especially if the markets are volatile.

A safer solution, then, is to put your money into solid companies with stronger underlying business numbers. These stocks likely will not experience large growth, but they do have a good chance of surviving a market downturn and bringing in positive returns long term.

Author: Blake Ambrose

Ken Griffin, the Founder and Chief Exec Officer at the multinational hedge fund Citadel LLC, still has his doubts about BTC and its use. He believes that another crypto project such as Ethereum will become the most popular in the digital asset universe.

Bitcoin has more than doubled its price in the past eleven months even though it has had many ups and downs throughout 2021. Significant support and Institutional adoption from prominent entrepreneurs and investors, some of whom usually describe it as a great store of value, are some of the reasons that the asset propelled towards its current heights.

BTC also became legal tender in El Salvador during September, propelling its way through on a national level.

However, it is not all sunshine and rainbows, as there are still people who like to criticize the primary crypto. One of them is Citadel’s CEO, Ken Griffin. Recently, in an interview with DealBook’s, Andrew Ross Sorkin shared his opinion that BTC hurts the environment way too much, is vulnerable to fraud activities, and has low transaction speed.

With these disadvantages in mind, Ethereum or another crypto based on its blockchain, which would have less of an energy footprint and less transaction costs, will steal Bitcoin’s dominance, he added.

Mark Cuban, the billionaire investor, also favored Ethereum and its native coin recently. According to him, if you’re a beginner in the crypto industry you should choose ETH as an investment choice because it has the most upside potential.

Griffin also talked about the financial crisis and the rising inflation that started rattling most economies. He didn’t believe that cryptos could solve those monetary problems, hinting that digital money might be more beneficial in the initiative.

Even so, he still seems to like blockchain calling it a “highly interesting technology and a very powerful way to manage a decentralized ledger around the world.”

Citadel Will Provide Cryptocurrency Services if The Industry Gets Regulated

In one of Griffin’s previous appearances last month, he once again bashed BTC and the alternative Crypto coins, claiming they might harm the U.S. dollar. He further said it’s a “Jihadist call” that some put their trust in digital assets instead of the currency of the America.

Even though he does not fit as the largest believer in the merits of cryptos, his organization will still offer its clients such exposure if there’s “regulatory clarity” in the space.

Author: Steven Sinclaire

A lot may happen in the next five years. And that is exactly why it’s an excellent idea to hold stocks for that length of time. That way, you have the chance to benefit from a company’s increasing sales, new products or expansion into other markets. Many times, a company’s good news takes a while to transition into share gains.

These two healthcare stocks have what they need to produce a lasting revenue growth in the next five years and eventually, very large share-price increases. That means that they very well may turn $10,000 into $50,000.

1. Teladoc

The Covid-19 pandemic equaled exponential growth for Teladoc Health. People raced to the company’s platform for online patient visits, revenue, and online medical visits, and the stock price soared.

As vaccination rates started to rise and the pandemic got better, investors were concerned business at Teladoc would drop. And that is why the shares have suffered so much this year, falling 28% so far.

However, Teladoc is proving that it is not a pandemic-only stock. People have went back to work, and healthcare facilities have started returning to normal operations, yet its revenue and patient visits are still climbing.

In the most recent report, Teladoc stated that quarterly revenue increased 81% and patient visits rose 37%, surpassing 3.9 million. The company even raised the lower end of its yearly revenue guidance. It expects there will be a minimum of $2.015 billion in revenue during 2021, and next year’s revenue may hit $2.6 billion.

This shows us that Teladoc’s success in 2020 wasn’t just a one time occurrence. Instead, it was the beginning of a much longer story.

2. Vertex

Vertex Pharmaceuticals value suffered after two candidates failed in clinical trials. They have declined 29% since the first failure a little over a year ago. As of today, the shares trade at only 14 times forward earnings estimates.

Why should you be optimistic about Vertex? First, the company rakes in billions of dollars in revenue and profit yearly from its portfolio of cystic fibrosis drugs.

It is the worldwide cystic fibrosis leader and thinks that will continue until at least the late 2030s.

With that being said, investors are concerned Vertex is struggling to grow beyond CF. Recent news shows this view might be overly pessimistic. This year, Vertex revealed positive trial data from a candidate that may be a game changer. Vertex’s gene-editing candidate for blood disorders had positive results in follow up of at least three months.

Vertex recently reported positive phase one of two trial data from an investigational stem-cell-derived treatment for type 1 diabetes. It also said it had made a “breakthrough” in research on a possible treatment for the 10% of cystic fibrosis patients who are not candidates for its commercialized CF medicines. Vertex’s shares might not look very dynamic right now, but if it goes as planned, the shares could soar in the not too distant future.

Author: Blake Ambrose

The consumer price index jumped 6.2% year over year during October, the Labor Department stated. The increase was the largest yearly gain since Nov. 1990. Prices rose by 0.9% month over month.

Analysts who took a survey by Refinitiv were thinking that prices would rise by 0.6% in October and 5.8% yearly.

“Inflation is expanding,” said Greg McBride. “In addition to groceries, shelter, and energy continuing to post record monthly increases, the price tag for a new or used car is once again going into overdrive.”

Energy prices rose 4.8% in the last month, and were up by 30% over the course of 2020. The October price increase was mainly the result of a 6.1% hike in the price of gasoline.

Food costs, meanwhile, ticked up 0.9% last month as the groceries at home category saw an increase of 1%. All food costs are up by 5.3% year over year.

Core prices, which don’t include energy and food, rose 0.6% month over month and 4.6% over the past year. Economists were thinking there would be respective increases of 0.4% and 4.3%.

Also contributing to the increase were used and new car prices, which in October increased 1.4% and 2.5%, respectively. Also, Prices for new automobiles were 9.8% over levels from just a year ago, while the prices for a used vehicles were up 26.4% from October 2020.

The price of shelter inched up 0.5% last month and was 3.5% over year-ago levels.

“We are witnessing the early signs of an inflationary surge that is likely going to continue, with businesses responding to increasing input costs with raising their own prices, which in turn produces higher input prices for others,” said Brad Armstrong. “It is a cycle that just keeps on repeating itself.”

Wednesday’s statement surely captured the Federal Reserve’s attention, which earlier in the month announced their plans to cut down its $120 billion a month in asset purchases while also taking notice of higher than expected inflation levels. The central bank still thinks inflation will be “transitory.”

Author: Blake Ambrose

The price of Bitcoin hit an all-time high today, priced above $68,000 early this week and investors believe its rise is not over yet, CNBC reports.

The price of the coin went down to about $66,700 at the time of this writing, however, there is still plenty of interested investors keeping an eye on Bitcoin, and they are more enthusiastic about the crypto’s short-term prospects than ever before. But as we have seen a lot of times before it is impossible to know when exactly Bitcoin’s momentum will slow down and start plummeting again.

The New Gold

Analysts suggest rising inflation, caused by government spending and stimulus plans, might be behind the rise of Bitcoin and other cryptos including Ether.

“Over time, will see the value of the dollar decrease, whereas BTC has a fixed limit on the amount of coins which can be made,” Susannah Streeter, from financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown, stated in the UK newspaper The Evening Standard.

So, investors are beginning to treat Bitcoin as if it were gold, an inflation hedge that allows them to hold on to their value long-term.

“Inflation is a big consideration for investors in today’s market, and younger investors usually favor crypto as a hedge over gold,” Wilfred Daye, the head of the trading platform Securitize Capital, told The Guardian.

Wall Street is also thinking the trend will continue, with JPMorgan doubling down on its own prediction that Bitcoin will likely rise to a whopping $146,000, according to CNBC.

It is not just finance people who are excited, either. The CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey called for BTC to be the “native currency for the internet” during an investors call this past week.

The cryptocurrency is also about to get its first upgrade in four years, called Taproot. The technology allows transactions to access a new level of efficiency and privacy, laying the groundwork for the “smart contracts” made popular by Ethereum.

It remains to be seen how much headroom is still there for the value of Bitcoin. But as inflation is expected to keep rising, we might see the cryptocurrency keep rallying in the upcoming months.

Author: Scott Dowdy

Even though Social Security has been here for many years, the program may change from time to time. And next year, there are some very large changes to prepare for. Here is what you should know, whether you are gearing up to get benefits soon or maybe even in the future.

1. Benefits are being boosted

The cost-of-living adjustment that is just around the corner, or COLA, for the Social Security program will be seniors’ biggest raise in decades. Benefits are being raised 5.9%, and while some of that raise will most likely be offset by Medicare Part B price hikes, seniors will likely come away with much more money than they are used to.

That said, the main reason benefits are receiving such a large raise next year is that inflation has risen a lot this year. While retirees can expect larger paychecks, they will also have to struggle with higher food prices and other rising expenses.

2. Workers will pay more Social Security taxes 

Every year, there is a wage cap that controls how much income workers will have to pay taxes on. Next year, the wage cap is going up from $142,800 to $147,000. Workers who earn less will not be affected by this change, but if you earn over $142,800, you should probably expect a higher tax bill.

3. Higher income levels will be needed to earn more work credits

To be accepted into the Social Security program, you need to receive 40 work credits in your lifetime. Credits are based on income, and you can earn at most four per year.

Next year, the value of a work credit is rising from $1,470 to $1,510. which means it will take $6,040 in earnings to receive four work credits. This isn’t something that will affect full-time employees or people who are well off, but it might have a big impact on people who work a part-time job like students and young people or even people who cannot work full time due to childcare problems or other reasons.

Author: Blake Ambrose

Cathy Wood’s ARK Investment firm is well known for making big wins with massive growth plays and it is no secret the popular investor is bullish on Bitcoin. The top cryptocurrency is now valued roughly $66,000 per share which is up roughly 115% in this year and Wood has stated the price may hit $500,000 sometime in the next five years.

For people seeking stocks with the same market-crushing ability, ARK Invest also has large holdings in some really promising growth stocks that may level up your portfolio.

Bitcoin is big, but interactive content may be bigger 

Unity Software stands as the fourth biggest overall holding within Cathie Wood’s Ark Innovation ETF, and I believe the interactive-software creation company has good long term potential of crushing the stock market. The company is best known for its video game development services, however, Unity’s growth prospects expand well beyond gaming.

You may have heard that Facebook has changed its name to Meta Platforms which is a shift that reflects the social media giant’s ambitions to capitalize on the future growth of the “metaverse.” Technology’s largest players believe that virtual worlds will have a growing role in commerce, socialization, and everyday life, and Unity may be the key in helping this vision become a reality.

Facebook’s momentum is already really encouraging. Unity was able to grow its sales 48% year over year during the second quarter. Customers raised their spending by 42% compared to the prior year, and the software company has continued to bring in new, high-value clients. During the second quarter, 888 customers each made more than $100,000 in revenue, which is up from 716 the prior year. The growth story here is probably just getting started, and I think the company will deliver more powerful results throughout the rest of this year.

The software expert is providing the tools and the foundational framework that will allow its customers to build extremely engaging interactive experiences, and the future demand outlook for all of its services is very promising. Bitcoin may very well go on to make more huge gains, but I believe Unity stock may beat it within the next five years.

Coinbase may lead the next leg of crypto approval

Coinbase shares sold off last month when news came out that Cathie Wood sold almost 100 thousand shares of the crypto brokerage. Nevertheless, Wood is not losing faith. In fact, Coinbase is presently the third-largest stock in Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF and is over 6% of the ETF’s entire holdings. Put simply, Wood is still bullish on the crypto stock.

It is easy to see Coinbase as a risky brokerage that caters to day traders online but that is clearly a misperception. During the second quarter the company reported having over 9,000 institutional investors and this group had traded $317 billion in purchases on its platform, which was almost 70% of its entire trading volume. The optionality these current relationships have for more services to foster adoption is an overlooked part of Coinbase’s investment thesis.

Coinbase is leading the way when it comes to efforts to grow the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The company recently obtained platform Bison Trails which was renamed Coinbase Cloud. This platform allows companies to quickly insert the blockchain framework into their operations. Also, the company created the Crypto Council for Innovation along with Fidelity and Square to shape regulatory efforts.

In the near term Coinbase will probably rise and fall with crypto value but the crypto company has a unique opportunity to lead in the crypto adoption of the future. That is why Cathie Wood is really bullish on this stock.

Author: Steven Sinclaire

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