Natalie Pace Blogs
Photo of Natalie Pace by Marie Commiskey. Avalon Photography.
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Fast Fashion. Fossil Fuels. Atacama Desert Clothing Waste Dunes. That Star-Studded Mumbai Wedding.22/7/2024
 Fast Fashion. Fossil Fuels. Atacama Desert Clothing Waste Dunes. That Star-Studded Mumbai Wedding. The Circle of Waste, Plastic, Oil, Exploited Labor, Stolen Designs, CO2 & Billionaires Behind Those Fun Apps and Brands. Guess who is the number one exporter of fashion these days? Hint: it’s not France or Italy, the couture designers of the world. It’s the hottest new app, with ads splashed all over Instagram and TikTok: Temu. Temu ranks at the top of downloads in apps for both Android and iPhone. It is the fastest growing fashion brand with a revenue jump of 131% year over year in the most recent quarter. The company is so hot that if it weren’t so problematic in terms of exploitation, questionable labor practices, pollution, toxic waste, intellectual property violations, overproduction, plastic clothing, and being based in China, it might qualify as the hottest company of the year. If you would like a Fast Fashion stock report card, email [email protected]. China Based PDD Holdings is the parent company of Temu, symbol: PDD on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange. The company lists itself as a Dublin and Shanghai based company, but it is clearly a Chinese company, with an all-Asian C-Suite. The Arkansas Attorney General refers to the executives and board directors as “former Chinese Communist Party officials.” Temu is being sued and accused by Arkansas for pretending to be an e-commerce platform, while actually operating malware and spyware. This is key for investors to know because Chinese stocks have been very volatile, and many have seen their share price plummet with little hope of recovery. Fast fashion restrictions are being imposed or lobbied for in France, Ireland (oddly), Australia, the U.K., and the European Union. Former Wall Street darlings like Alibaba are trading at all time lows. China is ranked near the bottom of the Index of Economic Freedom, and is considered repressed by investors. Singapore is at the top, followed by Switzerland, Ireland and Taiwan. (Hong Kong used to be #1.)  As you can see in the chart below, PDD’s share prices are very volatile. Bad news can travel fast, and there are plenty of reasons why Temu might go viral for all the wrong reasons, as SHEIN did before it. (Shein was set for a U.S. IPO, which looks to be abandoned.) If you Google “Worst Fast Fashion Brands” you’ll see Temu at the top of many lists. So be careful taking the bait on the explosive growth, or that the company is based in Ireland. If it follows the trajectory of Alibaba, it could sink back to where it started, at under $20/share.  Source: MSN.com. (c) Microsoft 2024. Used with permission. Cheap, Plastic Clothes, Made in Asia and Sold to U.S. and EU Consumers. Why are SHEIN and Temu, along with Zara, H&M, and other fast fashion brands, receiving negative publicity these days? If you haven’t already seen the clothing waste dunes in Chile’s Atacama Desert, that’s a Google search that is worth your time. According to a report from the U.N.’s Economic Commissions for Europe, “Several tens of thousands of tons of textile waste cover around 300 hectares, some of which are burned on-site. Most clothes are made of synthetic fibres, and their incineration releases heavy metals, acid gases, particulates, and dioxins, harming the health of people nearby and damaging the local environment.” Earth.org reports that 92 million tons of waste is dumped annually from the 100 billion garments produced each year. Fast fashion brands are purchasing oil-based yarn (fossil fuels), overproducing cheap, polyester (made from oil) clothes, ripping off designs, selling the exploited goods to U.S., European and other worldwide consumers on their bargain apps, and then dumping whatever doesn’t get sold. Ads bait customers with offers of shoes, dresses, pants and tops at under $15. The questions are, “Are we mindful of the true cost of cheap polyester clothing? Are we aware of which companies and billionaires are getting rich on our fast fashion purchases? Will we rethink our choices, and spread the word?” Asia’s Richest Man: Over the past month, my social media has been blowing up with images of Asia’s richest man’s youngest son’s Indian wedding. Makesh Ambani, worth $120.3 billion, is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, an Indian oil/gas/polyester yarn+ conglomerate. Why would a polyester yarn manufacturer (what Reliance started out as) expand into owning oil and gas? Because over half of each barrel of oil is used to make plastic, polyester, vinyl, rubber, asphalt and other petroleum-based products that permeate every aspect of our lives. How many of us are aware that we wear shoes and clothes that are basically made of oil? Washing polyester clothing leaches plastic fibers into our water and soil, and back into our bodies. (Please purchase and wear natural fibers, and boycott polyester.) Makesh’s son, Anant Ambani, is in charge of Reliance’s renewable and green energy. Part of the way that company intends to become Net Carbon Zero by 2035 is by “maximizing [the] crude [oil] to chemicals conversion” (source: Reliance website). Crude to chemicals is exactly the way that polyester yarn is made. Reliance is the top producer of polyester yarn in the world (according to their website). When we understand the circular oil/shipping/fiber/sweatshop/nurdle/Atacama waste dunes of polyester it is harder to justify those cheap yoga pants. It’s easier to see the greenwashing in the job description of Anant. Our spending is the catalyst that sparks the cycle, while the 11th richest man in the world – Makesh Ambani – reaps the benefits.  Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and Rihanna all performed at various events for the Ambani wedding. Kim Kardashian and Nick Jonas attended some ceremonies. Everyone was dressed to the nines. SKIMS is a fashion brand with a lot of petroleum-based fabrics. It’s likely that a lot of these celebrities took private planes. (It would take most of us 600 years of living to equal the annual CO2 footprint of many of these jet-set celebrities. Click to learn more.) Deckers Outdoor Corp. and Allbirds More and more fashion designers are raising awareness on why polyester, even recycled, is so harmful to our own health, as well as the planet. Deckers Brands has many natural fiber products, as does Allbirds. Ugg, a Decker’s brand, prides itself on making shoes that are built to last. (It’s hard to imagine a pair of Uggs in the waste piles in Chile.) Clothing companies like MATE and PACT sell organic cotton activewear for affordable prices. Green designers are leaning into cotton, cashmere, wool, silk, hemp, linen, modal and viscose, and eschewing polyester. Buying less and using things longer are key to sustainability, in addition to boycotting polyester. Paying more for something that lasts ten times longer is more affordable in every way imaginable. While Deckers is nowhere near Temu’s explosive revenue growth, at just 21.25%, having a healthy, steady business model built on quality and durability has taken the company’s share price to new heights – as has a new listing on the S&P500 (as of 3.18.2024). Deckers is worth 8 times more today than it was in March 2020. (Be careful buying high, as the P/E is almost 30.) Allbirds gets great reviews from customers. (I love my weather-resistant sneakers.) However, the stock is trading below a dollar. The company has had to close stores and revenue is down -27.64% year over year. FYI: Crocs are made from ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), a polymer that comes from crude oil. If you would like a Deckers Outdoor+ stock report card, email [email protected]. Data Risks of Chinese Apps I mentioned the Arkansas lawsuit against Temu above, where Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin released a statement writing, “Though it is known as an e-commerce platform, Temu is functionally malware and spyware.” Politicians warn us that it is dangerous to give all of our personal information, including our credit card and bank accounts, to Chinese-based companies like TikTok, SHEIN and Temu. Of course, U.S. based companies are mining our data for profit, too. However, we’ve seen the Chinese government crack down on Alibaba and Jack Ma in ways that it’s hard to imagine in the Western World. Ma criticized the Chinese government just days before the Alibaba fintech spinoff Ant Group was set for an IPO. The IPO was canned. Ma ended up losing more than half of his wealth. (He’s still worth $25 billion, according to Forbes.) Ma stepped out of the public arena, and has kept a low profile since then. No matter where we stand on this debate, it’s better if we’re conscious of whom we are giving our personal information to, and what the ramifications of that might be, beyond that cute $10 polyester dress. Intellectual Property Rights Etsy designers have sued Shein and complain about Temu for stealing their work. Temu’s spokespersons say they take these allegations seriously, and remove products that violate intellectual property rights. However, designers point out that the designs can then show up on another vendor’s page of the Temu platform. No one is getting paid much to design a $5 t-shirt. Plastic-Free July July is devoted to plastic-free awareness. How many of us knew that so many of our clothes and shoes are all made from oil (as plastic is)? Are you an influencer? Can you help spread the word? Please be sure to use the hashtag #EarthGratitude. Also, if you haven’t read and reviewed my book, The Power of 8 Billion: It’s Up to Us, please do!  Bottom Line Cheap polyester clothing is harmful all up and down the supply chain, and makes oil, gas and polyester yarn billionaires rich. Recycling isn’t the cure. Refusing is. Be careful jumping into the stock of hot new fast fashion brands. The share prices are volatile, and the business model is on the wrong side of history. Join us at our online Oct. 18-20, 2024 Financial Freedom Retreat. Learn how to: * Invest in hot industries, such as Nvidia and artificial intelligence, * Hedge against a weaker dollar, * Invest and compound your gains, * Green your retirement plan, * Easy and efficacious nest egg strategies, * Get hot and diversified (including in artificial intelligence and EVs), * Evaluate stocks, * Keep an age-appropriate amount safe, and, * Know what's safe in a Debt World. You'll even discover how to save thousands annually with smarter big-ticket choices. Yes, it's a complete money makeover. Email [email protected] to register. Learn the 15+ things you'll master and read testimonials in the flyer on the home page at NataliePace.com. Register by July 31, 2024 to receive the best price. "Ten minutes into the first day I was already much smarter about investing than I ever thought I would be in my life and I knew I was in exactly the right place at this retreat. I am amazed at how EASY and FUN it is to make my money work for me and those I love. I think this kind of information should be compulsory in schools. I wish I'd learned this sooner." CM If you’d like an unbiased 2nd opinion on your current wealth plan, email [email protected] for pricing and information.  Join us for our Online Oct. 18-20, 2024 Financial Freedom Retreat. Email [email protected] or call 310-430-2397 to learn more. Register by July 31, 2024 to receive the best price. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details.  Join us for our Restormel Royal Immersive Adventure Retreat. March 7-14, 2025. Email [email protected] to learn more. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details. There is very limited availability. Register by August 15, 2024 to ensure that you get the exact room you want. (There may not be an opportunity to register after August 15, 2024.) This retreat includes an all-access pass to all of our online training for a full year for two, and three 50-minute private, prosperity coaching sessions. Much more affordable than you might think. Email [email protected] to learn more.  Natalie Wynne Pace is an Advocate for Sustainability, Financial Literacy & Women's Empowerment. Natalie is the bestselling author of The Power of 8 Billion: It's Up to Us and is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project. She has been ranked as a No. 1 stock picker, above over 835 A-list pundits, by an independent tracking agency (TipsTraders). Her book The ABCs of Money remained at or near the #1 Investing Basics e-book on Amazon for over 3 years (in its vertical), with over 120,000 downloads and a mean 5-star ranking. The 5th edition of The ABCs of Money and the 2nd edition of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is are the most recent releases of these books. Follow her on Instagram. Natalie Pace's easy as a pie chart nest egg strategies earned gains in the last two recessions and have outperformed the bull markets in between. That is why her Investor Educational Retreats, books and private coaching are enthusiastically recommended by Nobel Prize winning economist Gary S. Becker, TD AMERITRADE chairman Joe Moglia, Kay Koplovitz and many Main Street investors who have transformed their lives using her Thrive Budget and investing strategies. Click to view a video testimonial from Nilo Bolden. Check out Natalie Pace's Substack podcast on Apple and Spotify. Watch videoconferences and webinars on Youtube. Other Blogs of Interest Can Crowdstrike Recover from its Colossal Catastrophe? Featuring a Cybersecurity Overview. Fintechs and Brokerages that Fail are Not FDIC-Insured. Stocks Keep Hitting New Highs. Are You Thinking "Capture Gains?" Nvidia Volatility. Salesforce Drops. Election Years With Negative Yield Curves = ?. 5 Green Tips for Clean Beaches Week. Nio Sales Expected to More Than Double in 2Q 2024. So, You Think You Want to Be a B&B Owner... Artificial Intelligence and Crypto Scam Alert by the SEC. Netflix Evicts Unpaid Viewers. Empty Theaters. Retiring Soon? Start Planning Now. 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. Answers to the 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. May is National Bike Month. Paris and Amsterdam are the Stars. AI, Gold & Copper are on Fire. Sunpower Doubled. Sell in May and Go Away? What About the Election? Vacations that Color Our World Forever. The Magnificent 7 Drop to the Fantastic 5 9 Inflation, Budgeting, Debt Reduction and Investing Solutions. China & Russia Double Their Gold Holdings. 2024 Investment of the Year? The Reddit IPO. Meme Stock or Snap Land? Tesla's Factory in Germany Taken Offline by Activists. Bitcoin Sets a New Record High. The Importance of Rebalancing. Beyond Meat's Shares Surge. Quaker Oats' Pesticide Problem. Stocks are Flying High. Why Aren't Mine? Cut Your Tax Bill in Half. 9 Tips. Celebrity Jet CO2. Green Washing. The Facts. Some Solutions. Copper: Essential to the Clean Energy Transition. Uh. Oh. More Bank Trouble. Are Amazon, Square and Other Tech Companies Ripping Us Off? Housing. Unaffordable. What Works? Case studies and creative solutions. Don't Reach for Yield. Closed-End Funds. 2024 Investor IQ Test. Answers to the 2024 Investor IQ Test. Apple's Woes Drag Down the Dow. The Winners & Losers of 2023. Ozempic, Magnificent 7 & Beyond. 2024 Crystal Ball. The Underperforming DJIA, Full of Fossil Fuels and Forever Chemicals. A Spectacular Year for 3 of the Magnificent 7. The Best ROI* (Almost 40%!) & 7 Life Hacks That Save Thousands. Portugal Eliminates Tax Advantages for Ex-Pats. Earn $50,000 or More in Interest. Safely. Finally. WeWork's Bankruptcy. Half-Empty Office Buildings. Problems in our Personal Wealth Plan. Solutions for Unaffordable Housing. Cruise Ships Give Freebies to Investors. Should You Take the Bait? Should You Take a Cruise? Bonds. Banks. The Treacherous Landscape of Keeping Our Money Safe. 7 Rules of Investing 13 Lifestyle Choices to Reduce Waste, Pollution & CO2 & Save a Boatload of Dough. China Bans Apple 11-Point Green Checklist for Schools. Artificial Intelligence and Nvidia's Blockbuster Earnings Report Biotech in a Post-Pandemic World 10 Wealth Secrets of Billionaires and Royals. What Happened to Cannabis? Bank of America has $100 Billion in Bond Losses (on Paper) Lithium. Essential to EV Life. Fiat. Crypto. Gold. BRICS. Real Estate. Alternative Investments. BRICS Currency. Will the Dollar Become Extinct? Are There Any Safe, Green Banks? 7 Ways to Stash Your Cash Now. Lessons from the Silicon Valley Bank Failure. Which Countries Offer the Highest Yield for the Lowest Risk? Why We Are Underweighting Banks and the Financial Industry. Save Thousands Annually With Smarter Energy Choices Is Your FDIC-Insured Cash Really Safe? Money Market Funds, FDIC, SIPC: Are Any of Them Safe? My 24-Year-Old is Itching to Buy a Condo. Should I Help Him? The 12-Step Guide to Successful Investing. The Bank Bail-in Plan on Your Dime. Important Disclaimers Please note: Natalie Pace does not act or operate like a broker. She reports on financial news, and is one of the most trusted sources of financial literacy, education and forensic analysis in the world. Natalie Pace educates and informs individual investors to give investors a competitive edge in their personal decision-making. Any publicly traded companies or funds mentioned by Natalie Pace are not intended to be buy or sell recommendations. ALWAYS do your research and consult an experienced, reputable financial professional before buying or selling any security, and consider your long-term goals and strategies. Investors should NOT be all in on any asset class or individual stocks. Your retirement plan should reflect a diversified strategy, which has been designed with the assistance of a financial professional who is familiar with your goals, risk tolerance, tax needs and more. The "trading" portion of your portfolio should be a very small part of your investment strategy, and the amount of money you invest into individual companies should never be greater than your experience, wisdom, knowledge and patience. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, NataliePace.com does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions constitute our judgment as of the date of this publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument. Securities, financial instruments or strategies mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors.  Wiki Commons. Microsoft Blue Death Screen. Can Crowdstrike Recover from its Colossal Catastrophe? Or, the reason to pick a cybersecurity ETF over investing in an individual company. Or, how happy Apple and their customers are today… (Though it’s not a good idea to gloat publicly.) Crowdstrike is having a pretty rough day. It’s difficult to be responsible for a software update that takes down Microsoft users worldwide, affecting everything from airlines to healthcare, emergency centers, shipping and finance. Flights have been canceled. Banking access has been troubled. Broadcasters couldn’t go on air. Not surprisingly, Crowdstrike’s stock opened $40 lower this morning, after an overnight -11% gap down. Microsoft lost almost 1%. Apple was steady, as was the iShares Cybersecurity EFT IHAK. The real question now is, “Can Crowdstrike recover from this colossal catastrophe?” A Glitch, Not a Hack One of the most important distinctions here is that it looks like a glitch and not a hack. (That’s what Crowdstrike and Microsoft are claiming.) That’s important because a glitch can be fixed. The damage is limited to a known scope. Companies and agencies won’t have to worry about breached access or data, or malware. Some businesses, including banks and emergency service centers, have reported that they have already implemented the repair. While there will continue to be a lot of stern conversations and heated debates, both on-air and in boardrooms, the nature of cybersecurity as a 24/7 constant vigilance business, means glitches will happen. Up and down the supply chain, CTOs will be discussing an extra layer of protection to run checks on new software before it is widely distributed. Soon, there will be a refocusing of the mainstream conversation to frame it clearly as a fixed glitch rather than a breach or hack. And, the nature of the news cycle itself means that the story could easily disappear over the weekend. If the issue is a hack, that's going to be a much bigger problem. The AT&T & Ticketmaster Data Breaches: A Snowflake Crisis The data breaches at AT&T and Ticketmaster have created a crisis at another cybersecurity company, Snowflake. According to TechCrunch, Snowflake itself was attacked in one of the biggest breaches of the year, with data stolen from a number of its corporate customers, including AT&T, Ticketmaster, and others. Not surprisingly, Snowflake is one of the few cybersecurity companies that is trading close to its 5-year low. Although Crowdstrike took an 11% hit on Friday, July 19, 2024, shares are still trading at $305/share. Crowdstrike shares hit almost $400 a share on July 5th, and have doubled over the past year. Even with the pullback of Friday, shares are very expensive. A Leading Cybersecurity Company Crowdstrike is a leading cybersecurity company. As you can see in the chart below, it is ranked as a leader by the Forrester Wave, ahead of Palo Alto Networks, IBM and Cisco. Having Microsoft as your customer is no small feat. Year-over-year revenue growth was 33% in the first quarter of 2024 – another measure of how Crowdstrike is leading the industry. With an $86 billion market cap, this large cap company should be able to weather this storm, particularly if the story fades by Monday. If it were happening to a smaller company that would be more problematic.  Affected? Not Affected? Keep It to Yourself. Whether you are a corporation or an individual, be careful complaining about this bug. Criminals are already calling up customers, pretending to be from Crowdstrike, in order to gain access to their computers, or to convince them to download malicious programs that they claim will fix the problem. You just don’t want bad actors targeting you, or to know whether or not you have a Windows product or a Mac product. If the glitch didn’t affect you, consider yourself lucky but remember that, “Loose lips sink ships.” ETFs Snowflake was a popular cybersecurity company because it is very famously owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire purchased shares in the roadshow at $120/share. The company is now only worth about $130 a share. It is trading very far below its IPO and it’s high of $354, which was hit on October 29, 2021. Snowflake’s troubles and today’s Crowdstrike crisis are reminders that, for most Main Street investors, it’s a better idea to minimize our risk by having an exchange-traded fund that is targeted for the industry we might be interested in, rather than investing in a hot stock. Ever since the meme stock phase, we have been seeing epic “shoot the moon” performance, followed by crash landing wipeouts. Wall Street has proven to be a very volatile marketplace over the past five years. That can be smoothed out quite a bit with an exchange-traded fund, treated as a hot slice in our nest egg pie chart system. Rebalancing once, twice or three times a year is also an important strategy. Both are core curriculum at our Financial Freedom Retreats. Bottom Line Crowdstrike will likely weather this unfortunate worldwide calamity, largely because it is looking more like a glitch and not a hack, because cybersecurity remains a top priority for all all of us, because cybersecurity companies have limited liability built into their contracts, and because the company’s leadership position in cybersecurity is very strong. In the short term, of course, the stock can take a hit, and could go lower. Shares are rather expensive, even with the 11% sell-off of today, which is another reason to consider switching over to a cybersecurity ETF. The iShares IHAK cybersecurity ETF is trading close to a 5-year high, as well. For those who have had this exchange-traded fund for a while, now might be a great time to capture gains, while trimming back the slice to an age-appropriate percentage. If you are just now starting out in a cybersecurity targeted fund, consider dollar-cost averaging. If you’d like an updated Cybersecurity Stock Report Card, email [email protected]. Join us at our online Oct. 18-20, 2024 Financial Freedom Retreat. Learn how to: * Invest in hot industries, such as Nvidia and artificial intelligence, * Hedge against a weaker dollar, * Invest and compound your gains, * Green your retirement plan, * Easy and efficacious nest egg strategies, * Get hot and diversified (including in artificial intelligence and EVs), * Evaluate stocks, * Keep an age-appropriate amount safe, and, * Know what's safe in a Debt World. You'll even discover how to save thousands annually with smarter big-ticket choices. Yes, it's a complete money makeover. Email [email protected] to register. Learn the 15+ things you'll master and read testimonials in the flyer on the home page at NataliePace.com. Register by July 31, 2024 to receive the best price. "Ten minutes into the first day I was already much smarter about investing than I ever thought I would be in my life and I knew I was in exactly the right place at this retreat. I am amazed at how EASY and FUN it is to make my money work for me and those I love. I think this kind of information should be compulsory in schools. I wish I'd learned this sooner." CM If you’d like an unbiased 2nd opinion on your current wealth plan, email [email protected] for pricing and information.  Join us for our Online Oct. 18-20, 2024 Financial Freedom Retreat. Email [email protected] or call 310-430-2397 to learn more. Register by July 31, 2024 to receive the best price. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details.  Join us for our Restormel Royal Immersive Adventure Retreat. March 7-14, 2025. Email [email protected] to learn more. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details. There is very limited availability. Register by August 15, 2024 to ensure that you get the exact room you want. (There may not be an opportunity to register after August 15, 2024.) This retreat includes an all-access pass to all of our online training for a full year for two, and three 50-minute private, prosperity coaching sessions. Much more affordable than you might think. Email [email protected] to learn more.  Natalie Wynne Pace is an Advocate for Sustainability, Financial Literacy & Women's Empowerment. Natalie is the bestselling author of The Power of 8 Billion: It's Up to Us and is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project. She has been ranked as a No. 1 stock picker, above over 835 A-list pundits, by an independent tracking agency (TipsTraders). Her book The ABCs of Money remained at or near the #1 Investing Basics e-book on Amazon for over 3 years (in its vertical), with over 120,000 downloads and a mean 5-star ranking. The 5th edition of The ABCs of Money and the 2nd edition of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is are the most recent releases of these books. Follow her on Instagram. Natalie Pace's easy as a pie chart nest egg strategies earned gains in the last two recessions and have outperformed the bull markets in between. That is why her Investor Educational Retreats, books and private coaching are enthusiastically recommended by Nobel Prize winning economist Gary S. Becker, TD AMERITRADE chairman Joe Moglia, Kay Koplovitz and many Main Street investors who have transformed their lives using her Thrive Budget and investing strategies. Click to view a video testimonial from Nilo Bolden. Check out Natalie Pace's Substack podcast on Apple and Spotify. Watch videoconferences and webinars on Youtube. Other Blogs of Interest Fintechs and Brokerages that Fail are Not FDIC-Insured. Stocks Keep Hitting New Highs. Are You Thinking "Capture Gains?" Nvidia Volatility. Salesforce Drops. Election Years With Negative Yield Curves = ?. 5 Green Tips for Clean Beaches Week. Nio Sales Expected to More Than Double in 2Q 2024. So, You Think You Want to Be a B&B Owner... Artificial Intelligence and Crypto Scam Alert by the SEC. Netflix Evicts Unpaid Viewers. Empty Theaters. Retiring Soon? Start Planning Now. 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. Answers to the 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. May is National Bike Month. Paris and Amsterdam are the Stars. AI, Gold & Copper are on Fire. Sunpower Doubled. Sell in May and Go Away? What About the Election? Vacations that Color Our World Forever. The Magnificent 7 Drop to the Fantastic 5 9 Inflation, Budgeting, Debt Reduction and Investing Solutions. China & Russia Double Their Gold Holdings. 2024 Investment of the Year? The Reddit IPO. Meme Stock or Snap Land? Tesla's Factory in Germany Taken Offline by Activists. Bitcoin Sets a New Record High. The Importance of Rebalancing. Beyond Meat's Shares Surge. Quaker Oats' Pesticide Problem. Stocks are Flying High. Why Aren't Mine? Cut Your Tax Bill in Half. 9 Tips. Celebrity Jet CO2. Green Washing. The Facts. Some Solutions. Copper: Essential to the Clean Energy Transition. Uh. Oh. More Bank Trouble. Are Amazon, Square and Other Tech Companies Ripping Us Off? Housing. Unaffordable. What Works? Case studies and creative solutions. Don't Reach for Yield. Closed-End Funds. 2024 Investor IQ Test. Answers to the 2024 Investor IQ Test. Apple's Woes Drag Down the Dow. The Winners & Losers of 2023. Ozempic, Magnificent 7 & Beyond. 2024 Crystal Ball. The Underperforming DJIA, Full of Fossil Fuels and Forever Chemicals. A Spectacular Year for 3 of the Magnificent 7. The Best ROI* (Almost 40%!) & 7 Life Hacks That Save Thousands. Portugal Eliminates Tax Advantages for Ex-Pats. Earn $50,000 or More in Interest. Safely. Finally. WeWork's Bankruptcy. Half-Empty Office Buildings. Problems in our Personal Wealth Plan. Solutions for Unaffordable Housing. Cruise Ships Give Freebies to Investors. Should You Take the Bait? Should You Take a Cruise? Bonds. Banks. The Treacherous Landscape of Keeping Our Money Safe. 7 Rules of Investing 13 Lifestyle Choices to Reduce Waste, Pollution & CO2 & Save a Boatload of Dough. China Bans Apple 11-Point Green Checklist for Schools. Artificial Intelligence and Nvidia's Blockbuster Earnings Report Biotech in a Post-Pandemic World 10 Wealth Secrets of Billionaires and Royals. What Happened to Cannabis? Bank of America has $100 Billion in Bond Losses (on Paper) Lithium. Essential to EV Life. Fiat. Crypto. Gold. BRICS. Real Estate. Alternative Investments. BRICS Currency. Will the Dollar Become Extinct? Are There Any Safe, Green Banks? 7 Ways to Stash Your Cash Now. Lessons from the Silicon Valley Bank Failure. Which Countries Offer the Highest Yield for the Lowest Risk? Why We Are Underweighting Banks and the Financial Industry. Save Thousands Annually With Smarter Energy Choices Is Your FDIC-Insured Cash Really Safe? Money Market Funds, FDIC, SIPC: Are Any of Them Safe? My 24-Year-Old is Itching to Buy a Condo. Should I Help Him? The 12-Step Guide to Successful Investing. The Bank Bail-in Plan on Your Dime. Important Disclaimers Please note: Natalie Pace does not act or operate like a broker. She reports on financial news, and is one of the most trusted sources of financial literacy, education and forensic analysis in the world. Natalie Pace educates and informs individual investors to give investors a competitive edge in their personal decision-making. Any publicly traded companies or funds mentioned by Natalie Pace are not intended to be buy or sell recommendations. ALWAYS do your research and consult an experienced, reputable financial professional before buying or selling any security, and consider your long-term goals and strategies. Investors should NOT be all in on any asset class or individual stocks. Your retirement plan should reflect a diversified strategy, which has been designed with the assistance of a financial professional who is familiar with your goals, risk tolerance, tax needs and more. The "trading" portion of your portfolio should be a very small part of your investment strategy, and the amount of money you invest into individual companies should never be greater than your experience, wisdom, knowledge and patience. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, NataliePace.com does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions constitute our judgment as of the date of this publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument. Securities, financial instruments or strategies mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors.  Brokerages that Fail are not FDIC-Insured. Neither are Fintechs. Synapse failed leaving frozen funds at Evolve Bank, Synapse and Yotta. The Synapse Fintech Bankruptcy has depositors complaining of frozen funds at Evolve Bank, Synapse and Yotta. According to Techcrunch, $160 million in funds remain frozen, while there appears to be an $85 million shortfall between Synapse’s partner banks and what depositors are owed (source: Reuters). The heart of this matter is something we've been warning about for years. FDIC insurance kicks in when banks fail, but not when brokerages do. We’ve seen more than a few cases where depositors were told they were FDIC-insured, only to discover this loophole (sinkhole), including crypto brokerage Voyager Digital, fintechs Synapse and Yotta, and the crypto exchange FTX. Even technology companies that seem like banks, including Paypal and Square (Block Inc.), are using pass-through deposits and are not FDIC-insured. When Voyager Digital failed, the FDIC sent the company a cease-and-desist order for making false claims. More and more non-banks are receiving these notices. So, is your cash FDIC-insured? Be sure to read the blogs below to learn about the giant sinkholes (not just a loophole) we are exposed to when a brokerage promises FDIC-coverage, and then has to file for bankruptcy. Smaller, younger firms, which many fintechs tend to be, are more vulnerable to a liquidity crisis and restructuring or liquidation. These firms also employ gamification and other appealing marketing campaigns to attract deposits, including those promises of FDIC coverage. Is Your FDIC-Insured Cash Really Safe? Better Read the Fine Print. https://www.nataliepace.com/blog/is-your-fdic-insured-cash-really-safe-better-double-check#/ Cash held at a brokerage does have some protection through the SIPC (up to $250,000). (The SIPC cash insurance level is not the lofty cash sweep millions that many of these brokerages advertise.) Further, the solution isn't necessarily to opt for a Money Market Fund. MMFs aren’t FDIC-insured either. Neither are annuities or target-date retirement funds. Getting a safe 5% yield is so tricky these days that we spend a full day on the topic at our Financial Freedom Retreat. (There are some options available.) Money market funds were in freefall in March of 2020. The Feds stepped in with a rescue plan. However, in the event the investors withdraw en masse going forward, there can be liquidity fees imposed. (You could be charged to withdraw your money.) In the event of a fund liquidation, there will be a suspension of redemptions. Here’s another blog that spells out the differences between all of these cash options. Money Market Funds vs. FDIC & SIPC. Are Any of Them Safe? https://www.nataliepace.com/blog/money-market-funds-vs-fdic-and-sipc-are-any-of-them-safe#/ Fintechs Claiming FDIC-Insurance Chime, Block Cash, Robinhood, Quickbooks and more all claim that deposits are FDIC-insured. They entice customers in with good interest rates, access to crypto and/or games and lotteries. It is only in the fine-print where you learn of the sinkhole. What’s even more heartbreaking is that these low-fee brokerage and cash apps cater to middle and lower income and less-sophisticated customers, who might be relying on the fun, splashy marketing claims without really understanding the buried legalese. The complaints of customers at Evolve Bank, Synapse and Yotta include people who are having to borrow to make mortgage payments. Whether we are interested in newer platforms, such as Wealthfront (2016), Acorns, NerdWallet, Stash, eToro, or SoFi, or more established ones (Paypal, Venmo, Cash App), it’s important to understand that these are not banks and as such are not FDIC-insured, if they fail. Banks So, what is your best protection? Do your banking at creditworthy FDIC-insured banks and observe the FDIC insurance limitations. There are a lot of banks in the U.S. that are at the lowest rung of investment grade. It’s also important to remember that First Republic Bank was rated A- the week before it began its process of being rescued. Brokerages Hold your retirement and brokerage accounts at a creditworthy brokerage. Place a higher priority on a large brokerage with a good rating over a smaller one that has fun games. If the brokerage is publicly traded, you can even look into the liquidity and profitability. At minimum, it’s a good idea to check the company’s credit rating and track record. As two examples:
It’s also important to buy our funds from creditworthy fund companies. Avoid doing searches for crypto funds and investing with a company that you haven’t heard of before. Those companies can get into trouble, and will impose unexpected charges and fees without warning. (Their ability to do this is included in the fine print.) Email [email protected] if you’d like updated Brokerage and Fintech Stock Report Cards. How Can We Make Sure Our Cash is Safe? Getting safe in today’s world is tricky. We have to have cash and liquidity in order to pay bills, eat and stay afloat with life’s many expensive challenges. We need some cash in our retirement accounts to keep our wealth plan age-appropriate and properly diversified. Earning a 5% yield on our treasure trove requires, at minimum:
Selling businesses or real estate to get a wad of cash is risky because:
  Bottom Line We have to have some liquidity. Most of us pay our bills in our country’s currency. Crypto isn’t wildly accepted yet, and you can’t really have a currency that swings between a value of $15,000 and $74,000, as Bitcoin has over the past three years. We’d like to earn 5% yield. Both of those are tricky, but doable if we know how to avoid sinkholes, phishers, the taxman, false promises, sales, and marketing gimmicks, etc. That requires learning more life math. However, it’s the only way to be the boss of our money and design a plan that works in today’s Debt World. Some of the best ways of earning a safe yield require rethinking return on investment to include bills that we can toss out the window, which can amount to savings of thousands (or tens of thousands or more) annually. There are a lot more of these options than most of us are aware of. We spend one full day on What’s Safe? at our Financial Freedom Retreat. Join us! I’ll also be updating the What’s Safe section of The ABCs of Money 6th edition in the coming months, so keep an eye out for that release. Join us at our online Oct. 18-20, 2024 Financial Freedom Retreat. Learn how to: * Invest in hot industries, such as Nvidia and artificial intelligence, * Hedge against a weaker dollar, * Invest and compound your gains, * Green your retirement plan, * Easy and efficacious nest egg strategies, * Get hot and diversified (including in artificial intelligence and EVs), * Evaluate stocks, * Keep an age-appropriate amount safe, and, * Know what's safe in a Debt World. You'll even discover how to save thousands annually with smarter big-ticket choices. Yes, it's a complete money makeover. Email [email protected] to register. Learn the 15+ things you'll master and read testimonials in the flyer on the home page at NataliePace.com. Register by July 31, 2024 to receive the best price. "Ten minutes into the first day I was already much smarter about investing than I ever thought I would be in my life and I knew I was in exactly the right place at this retreat. I am amazed at how EASY and FUN it is to make my money work for me and those I love. I think this kind of information should be compulsory in schools. I wish I'd learned this sooner." CM If you’d like an unbiased 2nd opinion on your current wealth plan, email [email protected] for pricing and information.  Join us for our Online Oct. 18-20, 2024 Financial Freedom Retreat. Email [email protected] or call 310-430-2397 to learn more. Register by July 31, 2024 to receive the best price. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details.  Join us for our Restormel Royal Immersive Adventure Retreat. March 7-14, 2025. Email [email protected] to learn more. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details. There is very limited availability. Register by August 15, 2024 to ensure that you get the exact room you want. (There may not be an opportunity to register after August 15, 2024.) This retreat includes an all-access pass to all of our online training for a full year for two, and three 50-minute private, prosperity coaching sessions. Much more affordable than you might think. Email [email protected] to learn more.  Natalie Wynne Pace is an Advocate for Sustainability, Financial Literacy & Women's Empowerment. Natalie is the bestselling author of The Power of 8 Billion: It's Up to Us and is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project. She has been ranked as a No. 1 stock picker, above over 835 A-list pundits, by an independent tracking agency (TipsTraders). Her book The ABCs of Money remained at or near the #1 Investing Basics e-book on Amazon for over 3 years (in its vertical), with over 120,000 downloads and a mean 5-star ranking. The 5th edition of The ABCs of Money and the 2nd edition of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is are the most recent releases of these books. Follow her on Instagram. Natalie Pace's easy as a pie chart nest egg strategies earned gains in the last two recessions and have outperformed the bull markets in between. That is why her Investor Educational Retreats, books and private coaching are enthusiastically recommended by Nobel Prize winning economist Gary S. Becker, TD AMERITRADE chairman Joe Moglia, Kay Koplovitz and many Main Street investors who have transformed their lives using her Thrive Budget and investing strategies. Click to view a video testimonial from Nilo Bolden. Check out Natalie Pace's Substack podcast on Apple and Spotify. Watch videoconferences and webinars on Youtube. Other Blogs of Interest Stocks Keep Hitting New Highs. Are You Thinking "Capture Gains?" Nvidia Volatility. Salesforce Drops. Election Years With Negative Yield Curves = ?. 5 Green Tips for Clean Beaches Week. Nio Sales Expected to More Than Double in 2Q 2024. So, You Think You Want to Be a B&B Owner... Artificial Intelligence and Crypto Scam Alert by the SEC. Netflix Evicts Unpaid Viewers. Empty Theaters. Retiring Soon? Start Planning Now. 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. Answers to the 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. May is National Bike Month. Paris and Amsterdam are the Stars. AI, Gold & Copper are on Fire. Sunpower Doubled. Sell in May and Go Away? What About the Election? Vacations that Color Our World Forever. The Magnificent 7 Drop to the Fantastic 5 9 Inflation, Budgeting, Debt Reduction and Investing Solutions. China & Russia Double Their Gold Holdings. 2024 Investment of the Year? The Reddit IPO. Meme Stock or Snap Land? Tesla's Factory in Germany Taken Offline by Activists. Bitcoin Sets a New Record High. The Importance of Rebalancing. Beyond Meat's Shares Surge. Quaker Oats' Pesticide Problem. Stocks are Flying High. Why Aren't Mine? Cut Your Tax Bill in Half. 9 Tips. Celebrity Jet CO2. Green Washing. The Facts. Some Solutions. Copper: Essential to the Clean Energy Transition. Uh. Oh. More Bank Trouble. Are Amazon, Square and Other Tech Companies Ripping Us Off? Housing. Unaffordable. What Works? Case studies and creative solutions. Don't Reach for Yield. Closed-End Funds. 2024 Investor IQ Test. Answers to the 2024 Investor IQ Test. Apple's Woes Drag Down the Dow. The Winners & Losers of 2023. Ozempic, Magnificent 7 & Beyond. 2024 Crystal Ball. The Underperforming DJIA, Full of Fossil Fuels and Forever Chemicals. A Spectacular Year for 3 of the Magnificent 7. The Best ROI* (Almost 40%!) & 7 Life Hacks That Save Thousands. Portugal Eliminates Tax Advantages for Ex-Pats. Earn $50,000 or More in Interest. Safely. Finally. WeWork's Bankruptcy. Half-Empty Office Buildings. Problems in our Personal Wealth Plan. Solutions for Unaffordable Housing. Cruise Ships Give Freebies to Investors. Should You Take the Bait? Should You Take a Cruise? Bonds. Banks. The Treacherous Landscape of Keeping Our Money Safe. 7 Rules of Investing 13 Lifestyle Choices to Reduce Waste, Pollution & CO2 & Save a Boatload of Dough. China Bans Apple 11-Point Green Checklist for Schools. Artificial Intelligence and Nvidia's Blockbuster Earnings Report Biotech in a Post-Pandemic World 10 Wealth Secrets of Billionaires and Royals. What Happened to Cannabis? Bank of America has $100 Billion in Bond Losses (on Paper) Lithium. Essential to EV Life. Fiat. Crypto. Gold. BRICS. Real Estate. Alternative Investments. BRICS Currency. Will the Dollar Become Extinct? Are There Any Safe, Green Banks? 7 Ways to Stash Your Cash Now. Lessons from the Silicon Valley Bank Failure. Which Countries Offer the Highest Yield for the Lowest Risk? Why We Are Underweighting Banks and the Financial Industry. Save Thousands Annually With Smarter Energy Choices Is Your FDIC-Insured Cash Really Safe? Money Market Funds, FDIC, SIPC: Are Any of Them Safe? My 24-Year-Old is Itching to Buy a Condo. Should I Help Him? The 12-Step Guide to Successful Investing. The Bank Bail-in Plan on Your Dime. Important Disclaimers Please note: Natalie Pace does not act or operate like a broker. She reports on financial news, and is one of the most trusted sources of financial literacy, education and forensic analysis in the world. Natalie Pace educates and informs individual investors to give investors a competitive edge in their personal decision-making. Any publicly traded companies or funds mentioned by Natalie Pace are not intended to be buy or sell recommendations. ALWAYS do your research and consult an experienced, reputable financial professional before buying or selling any security, and consider your long-term goals and strategies. Investors should NOT be all in on any asset class or individual stocks. Your retirement plan should reflect a diversified strategy, which has been designed with the assistance of a financial professional who is familiar with your goals, risk tolerance, tax needs and more. The "trading" portion of your portfolio should be a very small part of your investment strategy, and the amount of money you invest into individual companies should never be greater than your experience, wisdom, knowledge and patience. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, NataliePace.com does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions constitute our judgment as of the date of this publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument. Securities, financial instruments or strategies mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors.  Natalie Pace at the Ritz Carlton in Powerscourt, Ireland. Photo by: Marie Commiskey. Stocks Keep Hitting New Highs! Are You Thinking “Capture Gains?” Wall Street keeps hitting new highs. What we’re feeling right now is a classic case of why buy low, sell high is so easy to say, and so hard to do. Everyone wants to buy Nvidia, AI and real estate today. Why weren’t we feeling that way in March of 2009, when everything was on sale? Because in the depths of a recession, we are worried that things will only get worse. Oftentimes, we’ve lost so much money that we can’t buy low. If we shouldn’t let our emotions be in charge of our investing, what’s a better idea? Check out the tips below. These are part of a time-proven 21st century strategy that has worked brilliantly since 1999, through three major recessions, when most people lost more than half of their wealth. It’s important to remember that 20 million Americans lost their home in the Great Recession – and those folks felt as exuberant about their winning equity lottery tickets then as homebuyers do today. Are You Tempted to Buy High, or Excited About Capturing Gains? Know What You Own and Why Rebalance Track Record Counts Blind Faith is Expensive Practice Makes Perfect. Stick to Your Knitting. 10-Point Checklist The Inflation-Busting Thrive Budget What’s Safe in a Debt World? Should You Buy a Home Right Now? And here’s more color on each point. Are You Tempted to Buy High, or Excited About Capturing Gains? When we have employed a time-proven system through good times and rough times, we will start noticing that we’re less emotional about things. A great deal of that has to do with the fact that we are in a much better financial position than everyone around us is. When most people are distressed over their losses, we’re grateful that we kept enough safe. We have a clear head, when most people want to party until dawn. A diversified plan protects us from losses before a recession, and allows us to have fun in the bull markets. The sample pie charts that we teach people at our retreats encourage us to get a lot more diversified and protected than most managed plans are. We’ve also been encouraging people to lean into technology, and underweight the Dow Jones Industrial Average. That has paid off in spades. The Magnificent 7 doubled our money last year, whereas the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up less than 14%, far less than the S&P500's 26.3% total return. Technology is more concentrated in the NASDAQ Composite Index than in the debt-laden DJIA. The returns on Wall Street continue to be heavily concentrated in the Fantastic 5 (all technology companies).  Source: MSN.com. (c) Microsoft. Used with permission. Know What You Own and Why A lot of managed plans are not performing as well as the S&P500. The reason for that is that they are underweighted in large cap growth. The Magnificent 7 (now Fantastic 5) are all very large, many of them are trillion dollar plus companies, and are categorized as growth (not value). So, if we have a plan that is geared towards value, we’re getting the Dow Jones Industrial Average. If we ask for a conservative plan, not only are we missing out on the gains of Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and Nividia, we might have exposure to long-term bonds, which have lost money on the safe side of our plan, where our principal is supposed to remain intact. Long-term government bonds lost even more than stocks did in 2022.  It’s very important to know exactly what we own and why, rather than just having blind faith that we are properly diversified and protected. A lot of us are being told that our losses on the safe side are just paper losses. However, how many of us are going to live another 30 or 40 years to get the principal back on our long-term bonds? Are we aware that over half of the S&P 500 is at or near junk bond status, which increases the risk that we will have to take a big haircut on the principal? There is a great deal of credit and duration risk in today’s Debt World. Sadly, if we ask for a conservative portfolio, we might be overexposed to this. The truth is in the brokerage statements. However, if we’re just listening to what we’re being told and not doublechecking the fine print, we might not be aware of it. Rebalance When stocks are hitting all-time highs, it’s a great time to rebalance our nest egg, and capture those gains. It’s never all or nothing. As I outline in my private coaching, and in our 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test blog, we want to check in once, twice or three times a year to make sure that we are still properly diversified and protected. (Assets increase and decrease in value.) Using our pie chart system is quite easy, once we learn the life math that we all should have received in high school and college. It’s a buy low, sell high plan on autopilot, which puts our emotions on the right side of the trade. We offer a Rebalancing Master Class every year. The next one should be in early 2025. Prerequisite: Financial Freedom Retreat. I offer pie chart analysis and rebalancing support with my unbiased 2nd opinion and private coaching. These strategies are outlined in my books and blogs, as well. Track Record Counts Ask your financial planner or HR person for the track record of your plan’s performance compared to the S&P500 for the last 20 years. (You want to be sure to include what happened in the Great Recession.) Most people are performing on par with the index, but about 2% lower due to fees. (If your plan is performing below that, then it’s a good idea to know why, and see if you can safely improve the performance.) If we are riding the Wall Street rollercoaster, we are very vulnerable in recessions. Most people lose more than half in 21st Century recessions, and then spend most of the bull market trying to make up losses. Even in the pandemic, the S&P 500 lost over 35% in just one month. We don’t normally print up $4.2 trillion to avoid a recession. So it’s quite important that we are properly protected and diversified before the economy weakens. There is no recession on the horizon at this point. However, economists are terrible at predicting them, and policymakers don’t admit that we are in a recession until well after most of the losses have already occurred. See the charts below, and you’ll notice that the recession wasn’t officially announced until stocks had lost 40% or more in value.   Blind Faith is Expensive The truth of what we own is in our brokerage statements. However, how many of us are really reading these reports. How many of us really understand them? You might have 18 pages of holdings and are being told that you are properly diversified and protected, when what you have is mostly large cap value and long-term bonds. (I do a great deal of unbiased 2nd opinions on wealth plans, and I have yet to find one that is properly diversified and protected.) As we age, we can’t afford to lose principal. If we’re properly diversified, we’re already invested in AI and large cap technology companies. Instead of being tempted to jump in now at such a high price, we’re in a financial and emotional position to capture gains, while also continuing to profit if the prices continue rising. If we missed the party, we can dollar-cost-average in, instead of arriving drunk on expectations (buying too much at too high of a price). Practice Makes Perfect. Stick to Your Knitting So how good is your own track record? Nobody bats 1000, not even Warren Buffett. However, that’s where the pie chart system comes to our aid. Instead of going crazy and all in on crypto, gold, cannabis, or anything else that we thought was hot a few years ago, we might consider them to be a hot slice of our diversified plan (not betting the entire farm). That gamble might not be as hot as we thought it was, or it might shoot the moon and then fall to Earth again. Clean energy tripled from the bottom of the pandemic (March 23, 2020) to January 8, 2021, and is back near a 5-year low. Bitcoin was at $69,000 in late 2021, and then plunged to a value of under $16,000 in late 2022. It's under $58,000 today. In 2012, when gold and silver hit all-time highs, so many were clamoring to put every cent they had into precious metals. They were the worst performers in the decade that followed. Silver is still down -38% from its 2011 high of $49.81, though it has rallied strong this year, with gains of 30.2%. Rebalancing helps us to manage the volatility and be on the right side of the trade. When one slice of Bitcoin becomes 5 or more, it’s begging to sell high. When a slice becomes a sliver. It’s prompting us to buy low. A 10% annualized return doesn’t mean that every slice is going to earn 10% and never go down. It means that the goal is an aggregate 10% annualized. Some slices will outperform, while others might be laggards. Thomas Edison said that success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. There’s a saying that practice makes perfect. On Wall Street, they say, “Stick to your knitting.” (Don’t be influenced by the noise. Keep to the plan.) What is that plan? Act age-appropriate. Diversify. Know what's safe in a Debt World. Rebalance. These are a few of the key points. Of course, the devil is in the details. 10-Point Checklist Below is a 10-point checklist that is very useful for wealth-building. Click over to the blog where I explain many of these points in greater detail. This is also something that we teach in our Financial Freedom Retreats. The retreat is a complete money makeover. Many people report earning back the price of the retreat in the first few months in budget savings alone. Email [email protected] or call 310-430-2397 to learn more.  The Inflation-Busting Thrive Budget There are so many ways that we are making billionaires rich at our own expense. Smarter choices in investing, health insurance, utilities, transportation, and housing, could mean that we stop making landlords, the taxman, the utility company, the gas station, the insurance salesman, etc. rich, and start living a rich life. There is an entire section on the Thrive Budget in my book The ABCs of Money. FYI, I’m currently updating the 6th edition, and plan to publish it within the next few months. Keep your eyes out for that. Make sure you’re always getting the most recent edition of my books by visiting https://www.nataliepace.com/#/. What’s Safe in a Debt World? We can receive a 5% yield today. However, it is tricky. We have to navigate between the heavily indebted, low credit quality, long-term bonds, and the newer issuances that pay higher yields for a shorter term (less risk), and oftentimes have higher credit quality, to boot. We spend one full day on What’s Safe? in our Financial Freedom Retreats. (The next one is Oct. 18-20, 2024. Get the best price when you register by July 31, 2024.) FYI, in the wake of the Great Recession, when interest rates dropped to zero, we were warning people not to take on the risk of long-term bonds. We weren’t getting paid unless we went into speculative status. Instead, we encouraged people to find ways to invest in real estate and income property. That paid off in spades. Getting safe in today’s world is tricky, but doable. We need to have a plan that makes sense for the next decade, not just for today. Should You Buy a Home Right Now? Survey after survey keep showing up that buyer’s remorse is rampant among post-pandemic homebuyers. According to Clever, 82% of buyers in 2023 and 2024 have regrets about their purchase. 44% have had to take on additional debt, and 43% have struggled to pay their mortgage on time. If you’re tempted to purchase a home right now, read my blog from earlier this year. There is a Real Estate section in The ABCs of Money that includes case studies of smart and not-so-wise choices made in real estate. (The 6th edition is forthcoming.) Bottom Line Can stocks and real estate prices keep going higher? Anything is possible. However, the Federal Reserve Board and FOMC are working hard to tame inflation, part of which means taming shelter inflation (the cost of buying a home is included in this). Unemployment is still quite low, however, there are signs that more layoffs could be on the horizon. The personal savings rate is at an all-time low, while consumer debt is at an all-time high. All of these problems accelerate if the economy slows down or falls into a recession. Again, if we wait for the headline that we’re in a recession, we’ll be late in protecting our wealth. If we chase gains, we could be on the wrong side of the trade. The pie chart system allows us to do both – protect our wealth and participate in hot trends. The sooner we adopt a time-proven system, the faster our life transforms. Join us at our online Oct. 18-20, 2024 Financial Freedom Retreat. Learn how to: * Invest in hot industries, such as Nvidia and artificial intelligence, * Hedge against a weaker dollar, * Invest and compound your gains, * Green your retirement plan, * Easy and efficacious nest egg strategies, * Get hot and diversified (including in artificial intelligence and EVs), * Evaluate stocks, * Keep an age-appropriate amount safe, and, * Know what's safe in a Debt World. You'll even discover how to save thousands annually with smarter big-ticket choices. Yes, it's a complete money makeover. Email [email protected] to register. Learn the 15+ things you'll master and read testimonials in the flyer on the home page at NataliePace.com. Register by July 31, 2024 to receive the best price. "Ten minutes into the first day I was already much smarter about investing than I ever thought I would be in my life and I knew I was in exactly the right place at this retreat. I am amazed at how EASY and FUN it is to make my money work for me and those I love. I think this kind of information should be compulsory in schools. I wish I'd learned this sooner." CM If you’d like an unbiased 2nd opinion on your current wealth plan, email [email protected] for pricing and information.  Join us for our Online Oct. 18-20, 2024 Financial Freedom Retreat. Email [email protected] or call 310-430-2397 to learn more. Register by July 31, 2024 to receive the best price. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details.  Join us for our Restormel Royal Immersive Adventure Retreat. March 7-14, 2025. Email [email protected] to learn more. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details. There is very limited availability. Register by August 15, 2024 to ensure that you get the exact room you want. (There may not be an opportunity to register after August 15, 2024.) This retreat includes an all-access pass to all of our online training for a full year for two, and three 50-minute private, prosperity coaching sessions. Much more affordable than you might think. Email [email protected] to learn more.  Natalie Wynne Pace is an Advocate for Sustainability, Financial Literacy & Women's Empowerment. Natalie is the bestselling author of The Power of 8 Billion: It's Up to Us and is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project. She has been ranked as a No. 1 stock picker, above over 835 A-list pundits, by an independent tracking agency (TipsTraders). Her book The ABCs of Money remained at or near the #1 Investing Basics e-book on Amazon for over 3 years (in its vertical), with over 120,000 downloads and a mean 5-star ranking. The 5th edition of The ABCs of Money and the 2nd edition of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is are the most recent releases of these books. Follow her on Instagram. Natalie Pace's easy as a pie chart nest egg strategies earned gains in the last two recessions and have outperformed the bull markets in between. That is why her Investor Educational Retreats, books and private coaching are enthusiastically recommended by Nobel Prize winning economist Gary S. Becker, TD AMERITRADE chairman Joe Moglia, Kay Koplovitz and many Main Street investors who have transformed their lives using her Thrive Budget and investing strategies. Click to view a video testimonial from Nilo Bolden. Check out Natalie Pace's Substack podcast on Apple and Spotify. Watch videoconferences and webinars on Youtube. Other Blogs of Interest Nvidia Volatility. Salesforce Drops. Election Years With Negative Yield Curves = ?. 5 Green Tips for Clean Beaches Week. Nio Sales Expected to More Than Double in 2Q 2024. So, You Think You Want to Be a B&B Owner... Artificial Intelligence and Crypto Scam Alert by the SEC. Netflix Evicts Unpaid Viewers. Empty Theaters. Retiring Soon? Start Planning Now. 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. Answers to the 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. May is National Bike Month. Paris and Amsterdam are the Stars. AI, Gold & Copper are on Fire. Sunpower Doubled. Sell in May and Go Away? What About the Election? Vacations that Color Our World Forever. The Magnificent 7 Drop to the Fantastic 5 9 Inflation, Budgeting, Debt Reduction and Investing Solutions. China & Russia Double Their Gold Holdings. 2024 Investment of the Year? The Reddit IPO. Meme Stock or Snap Land? Tesla's Factory in Germany Taken Offline by Activists. Bitcoin Sets a New Record High. The Importance of Rebalancing. Beyond Meat's Shares Surge. Quaker Oats' Pesticide Problem. Stocks are Flying High. Why Aren't Mine? Cut Your Tax Bill in Half. 9 Tips. Celebrity Jet CO2. Green Washing. The Facts. Some Solutions. Copper: Essential to the Clean Energy Transition. Uh. Oh. More Bank Trouble. Are Amazon, Square and Other Tech Companies Ripping Us Off? Housing. Unaffordable. What Works? Case studies and creative solutions. Don't Reach for Yield. Closed-End Funds. 2024 Investor IQ Test. Answers to the 2024 Investor IQ Test. Apple's Woes Drag Down the Dow. The Winners & Losers of 2023. Ozempic, Magnificent 7 & Beyond. 2024 Crystal Ball. The Underperforming DJIA, Full of Fossil Fuels and Forever Chemicals. A Spectacular Year for 3 of the Magnificent 7. The Best ROI* (Almost 40%!) & 7 Life Hacks That Save Thousands. Portugal Eliminates Tax Advantages for Ex-Pats. Earn $50,000 or More in Interest. Safely. Finally. WeWork's Bankruptcy. Half-Empty Office Buildings. Problems in our Personal Wealth Plan. Solutions for Unaffordable Housing. Cruise Ships Give Freebies to Investors. Should You Take the Bait? Should You Take a Cruise? Bonds. Banks. The Treacherous Landscape of Keeping Our Money Safe. 7 Rules of Investing 13 Lifestyle Choices to Reduce Waste, Pollution & CO2 & Save a Boatload of Dough. China Bans Apple 11-Point Green Checklist for Schools. Artificial Intelligence and Nvidia's Blockbuster Earnings Report Biotech in a Post-Pandemic World 10 Wealth Secrets of Billionaires and Royals. What Happened to Cannabis? Bank of America has $100 Billion in Bond Losses (on Paper) Lithium. Essential to EV Life. Fiat. Crypto. Gold. BRICS. Real Estate. Alternative Investments. BRICS Currency. Will the Dollar Become Extinct? Are There Any Safe, Green Banks? 7 Ways to Stash Your Cash Now. Lessons from the Silicon Valley Bank Failure. Which Countries Offer the Highest Yield for the Lowest Risk? Why We Are Underweighting Banks and the Financial Industry. Save Thousands Annually With Smarter Energy Choices Is Your FDIC-Insured Cash Really Safe? Money Market Funds, FDIC, SIPC: Are Any of Them Safe? My 24-Year-Old is Itching to Buy a Condo. Should I Help Him? The 12-Step Guide to Successful Investing. The Bank Bail-in Plan on Your Dime. Important Disclaimers Please note: Natalie Pace does not act or operate like a broker. She reports on financial news, and is one of the most trusted sources of financial literacy, education and forensic analysis in the world. Natalie Pace educates and informs individual investors to give investors a competitive edge in their personal decision-making. Any publicly traded companies or funds mentioned by Natalie Pace are not intended to be buy or sell recommendations. ALWAYS do your research and consult an experienced, reputable financial professional before buying or selling any security, and consider your long-term goals and strategies. Investors should NOT be all in on any asset class or individual stocks. Your retirement plan should reflect a diversified strategy, which has been designed with the assistance of a financial professional who is familiar with your goals, risk tolerance, tax needs and more. The "trading" portion of your portfolio should be a very small part of your investment strategy, and the amount of money you invest into individual companies should never be greater than your experience, wisdom, knowledge and patience. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, NataliePace.com does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions constitute our judgment as of the date of this publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument. Securities, financial instruments or strategies mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors.  AI image of an astronaut riding a horse, in the style of Picasso. Author: Asanagi. Wiki Commons. Used with permission. Nvidia Loses Half a Trillion, while Salesforce Drops $50 Billion. The S&P500 hit a new high on June 20, 2024. However, between June 20 and June 24, 2024, Nvidia plunged by 16%, over $500 billion (the value of ExxonMobil), from $3.46 trillion value to $2.8 trillion. (Nvidia is back up to $3.05 trillion.) Salesforce lost $50 billion in market cap on May 20, 2024, after reporting earnings. What lies at the heart of this volatility? Should you be worried or steadfast? How can you protect yourself from a drop, while also profiting from stocks that are roaring to new Wall Street highs? Here are the topics we’ll cover in this blog. Nvidia Loses Half a Trillion in Value SalesForce Sheds $50 Billion in Market Cap Dow Jones Industrial Average vs. NASDAQ and S&P500 Are Stock Prices Just Too High? Nvidia Loses Half a Trillion in Value On May 22, 2024, Nvidia reported revenue that was up 265% year over year. Yet in mid-June, the company lost half a trillion in market value – about twice the value of Salesforce. The future remains overwhelmingly positive for artificial intelligence and its leader, Nvidia. The company expects the June quarter’s revenue to more than double over the same quarter in 2023, from $13.51 billion to $28 billion. Results for that quarter should be announced around August 22, 2024. So, who sold, and why?
The promise of AI had a lot of Main Street investors buying when the stock split, thinking the split alone would send prices soaring. Shares are up slightly, almost 3%, since the ten-for-one stock split on June 7, 2024. However, most people who purchased after the split are underwater. After watching Nvidia shares inflate by a factor of almost 25 over the last five years, many insiders were motivated to sell high and capture gains. So, is there a better plan than buying high, hoping to sell higher? Consider dollar-cost-averaging into Nvidia or an Nvidia-rich ETF in an age-appropriate, diversified way. (This is something we teach at our Financial Freedom Retreats.) Email [email protected] if you’d like an updated Artificial Intelligence Stock Report Card. SalesForce Sheds $50 Billion in Market Cap Salesforce saw the biggest one-day drop in share price that the company had seen in the last 20 years on May 30, 2024, after announcing quarterly earnings. The company’s revenue came in at the lower end of their guidance, at $9.13 billion, but was still up 11% year over year. That’s not bad for an economy that’s only expected to grow 2.1% this year. So, why the plunge in value? Salesforce is another company that is seeing consensus insider selling in the C-Suite. Salesforce’s 46 P/E isn’t as lofty as Nvidia’s 72. However, it Is far too high for a company with low double-digit growth. Email [email protected] if you’d like an updated Salesforce/HR Technology Stock Report Card. Dow Jones Industrial Average vs. NASDAQ and S&P500 Salesforce is one of the 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, as is beleaguered Boeing. Nvidia is not. Nvidia is, however, listed in the S&P 500, as well as the NASDAQ Composite Index. Look at the difference of the performance of both of those indices compared to the more debt-laden Dow Jones Industrial Average.  NASDAQ Composite Index performance (blue) compared to the S&P500 (pink) and the DJIA (turquoise). YTD 2024. (c) Microsoft. used with permission. I have mentioned many times over the past year that without the outstanding performance of Nvidia and the Fantastic 5, the S&P 500 performance last year would have been under 10%, instead of the 26.3% total return. The companies in the Magnificent 7 doubled in value in 2023. All indices are not created equal. Many large growth funds are rich in technology, while value funds tend to have more Dow components. Due to the amount of debt and leverage in the U.S., combined with a lower yield, we are suggesting value replacement funds in our Sample Pie Charts. While U.S.-based, mega, multinational technology companies have higher performance, they also have higher volatility. That can be smoothed out with rebalancing and dollar-cost-averaging. Rebalancing 1-3 times a year is an important part of our wealth plan. For many years, we have also listed artificial intelligence and breakthrough technology as hot industries. Having an extra slice of the Fantastic 5 can really add performance to our portfolio, especially when done in an age-appropriate way that includes regular rebalancing (capturing gains) and dollar-cost averaging in (instead of buying high). One of the best performing exchange traded funds is iShares TECB. Because TECB has a very high concentration of Nvidia and the Fantastic 5, all of which are leaders in artificial intelligence, the performance of this “Breakthrough Tech” fund has been much stronger than the named artificial intelligence ETF: IRBO. IRBO includes a lot of smaller companies that just haven’t performed as well yet. It also has a much smaller concentration of Nvidia and the Fantastic 5. Are Stock Prices Just Too High? The current average P/E is 28.53. The historical average is 17.66. Professor Robert Shiller’s CAPE ratio shows us an important story. The only time that stock prices were more expensive (going back to 1880) was in the Dot Com Recession. Between the high of March 2000 and the low of October 2002, the NASDAQ Composite Index (the famous Dot Com stocks) lost 78%. It took 15 years to crawl back to even. A lot of promising companies, including eToys, bit the dust.  The other period of elevated equity prices was 1929, before the Great Depression. You know what happened there. According to the CAPE ratio, stock prices are even more elevated today than they were in 1929. Bottom Line Even great companies in a hot industry can see their share price sink, especially when the company’s growth potential is already priced in. A properly diversified, age-appropriate plan that we rebalance once, twice or three times a year can help us to:
You can read about our time-proven, easy-as-a-pie-chart nest egg strategies in The ABCs of Money 5th edition, you can learn and implement these strategies at our Financial Freedom Retreats, and you can get an unbiased 2nd opinion from me through my private coaching. Wisdom is the cure. Now is a great time to capture gains, while stocks are high! Yes, you can invest in hot companies like Nvidia, with a plan that doesn’t require you to buy high with the hope of selling higher (and the fear that you’ll lose). Join us at our online Oct. 18-20, 2024 Financial Freedom Retreat. Learn how to: * Invest in hot industries, such as Nvidia and artificial intelligence, * Hedge against a weaker dollar, * Invest and compound your gains, * Green your retirement plan, * Easy and efficacious nest egg strategies, * Get hot and diversified (including in artificial intelligence and EVs), * Evaluate stocks, * Keep an age-appropriate amount safe, and, * Know what's safe in a Debt World. You'll even discover how to save thousands annually with smarter big-ticket choices. Yes, it's a complete money makeover. Email [email protected] to register. Learn the 15+ things you'll master and read testimonials in the flyer on the home page at NataliePace.com. Register by July 31, 2024 to receive the best price. "Ten minutes into the first day I was already much smarter about investing than I ever thought I would be in my life and I knew I was in exactly the right place at this retreat. I am amazed at how EASY and FUN it is to make my money work for me and those I love. I think this kind of information should be compulsory in schools. I wish I'd learned this sooner." CM If you’d like an unbiased 2nd opinion on your current wealth plan, email [email protected] for pricing and information.  Join us for our Online Oct. 18-20, 2024 Financial Freedom Retreat. Email [email protected] or call 310-430-2397 to learn more. Register by July 31, 2024 to receive the best price. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details.  Join us for our Restormel Royal Immersive Adventure Retreat. March 7-14, 2025. Email [email protected] to learn more. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details. There is very limited availability. Register by August 15, 2024 to ensure that you get the exact room you want. (There may not be an opportunity to register after August 15, 2024.) This retreat includes an all-access pass to all of our online training for a full year for two, and three 50-minute private, prosperity coaching sessions. Much more affordable than you might think. Email [email protected] to learn more.  Natalie Wynne Pace is an Advocate for Sustainability, Financial Literacy & Women's Empowerment. Natalie is the bestselling author of The Power of 8 Billion: It's Up to Us and is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project. She has been ranked as a No. 1 stock picker, above over 835 A-list pundits, by an independent tracking agency (TipsTraders). Her book The ABCs of Money remained at or near the #1 Investing Basics e-book on Amazon for over 3 years (in its vertical), with over 120,000 downloads and a mean 5-star ranking. The 5th edition of The ABCs of Money and the 2nd edition of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is are the most recent releases of these books. Follow her on Instagram. Natalie Pace's easy as a pie chart nest egg strategies earned gains in the last two recessions and have outperformed the bull markets in between. That is why her Investor Educational Retreats, books and private coaching are enthusiastically recommended by Nobel Prize winning economist Gary S. Becker, TD AMERITRADE chairman Joe Moglia, Kay Koplovitz and many Main Street investors who have transformed their lives using her Thrive Budget and investing strategies. Click to view a video testimonial from Nilo Bolden. Check out Natalie Pace's Substack podcast on Apple and Spotify. Watch videoconferences and webinars on Youtube. Other Blogs of Interest Election Years With Negative Yield Curves = ?. 5 Green Tips for Clean Beaches Week. Nio Sales Expected to More Than Double in 2Q 2024. So, You Think You Want to Be a B&B Owner... Artificial Intelligence and Crypto Scam Alert by the SEC. Netflix Evicts Unpaid Viewers. Empty Theaters. Retiring Soon? Start Planning Now. 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. Answers to the 2024 Rebalancing IQ Test. May is National Bike Month. Paris and Amsterdam are the Stars. AI, Gold & Copper are on Fire. Sunpower Doubled. Sell in May and Go Away? What About the Election? Vacations that Color Our World Forever. The Magnificent 7 Drop to the Fantastic 5 9 Inflation, Budgeting, Debt Reduction and Investing Solutions. China & Russia Double Their Gold Holdings. 2024 Investment of the Year? The Reddit IPO. Meme Stock or Snap Land? Tesla's Factory in Germany Taken Offline by Activists. Bitcoin Sets a New Record High. The Importance of Rebalancing. Beyond Meat's Shares Surge. Quaker Oats' Pesticide Problem. Stocks are Flying High. Why Aren't Mine? Cut Your Tax Bill in Half. 9 Tips. Celebrity Jet CO2. Green Washing. The Facts. Some Solutions. Copper: Essential to the Clean Energy Transition. Uh. Oh. More Bank Trouble. Are Amazon, Square and Other Tech Companies Ripping Us Off? Housing. Unaffordable. What Works? Case studies and creative solutions. Don't Reach for Yield. Closed-End Funds. 2024 Investor IQ Test. Answers to the 2024 Investor IQ Test. Apple's Woes Drag Down the Dow. The Winners & Losers of 2023. Ozempic, Magnificent 7 & Beyond. 2024 Crystal Ball. The Underperforming DJIA, Full of Fossil Fuels and Forever Chemicals. A Spectacular Year for 3 of the Magnificent 7. The Best ROI* (Almost 40%!) & 7 Life Hacks That Save Thousands. Portugal Eliminates Tax Advantages for Ex-Pats. Earn $50,000 or More in Interest. Safely. Finally. WeWork's Bankruptcy. Half-Empty Office Buildings. Problems in our Personal Wealth Plan. Solutions for Unaffordable Housing. Cruise Ships Give Freebies to Investors. Should You Take the Bait? Should You Take a Cruise? Bonds. Banks. The Treacherous Landscape of Keeping Our Money Safe. 7 Rules of Investing 13 Lifestyle Choices to Reduce Waste, Pollution & CO2 & Save a Boatload of Dough. China Bans Apple 11-Point Green Checklist for Schools. Artificial Intelligence and Nvidia's Blockbuster Earnings Report Biotech in a Post-Pandemic World 10 Wealth Secrets of Billionaires and Royals. What Happened to Cannabis? Bank of America has $100 Billion in Bond Losses (on Paper) Lithium. Essential to EV Life. Fiat. Crypto. Gold. BRICS. Real Estate. Alternative Investments. BRICS Currency. Will the Dollar Become Extinct? Are There Any Safe, Green Banks? 7 Ways to Stash Your Cash Now. Lessons from the Silicon Valley Bank Failure. Which Countries Offer the Highest Yield for the Lowest Risk? Why We Are Underweighting Banks and the Financial Industry. Save Thousands Annually With Smarter Energy Choices Is Your FDIC-Insured Cash Really Safe? Money Market Funds, FDIC, SIPC: Are Any of Them Safe? My 24-Year-Old is Itching to Buy a Condo. Should I Help Him? The 12-Step Guide to Successful Investing. The Bank Bail-in Plan on Your Dime. Important Disclaimers Please note: Natalie Pace does not act or operate like a broker. She reports on financial news, and is one of the most trusted sources of financial literacy, education and forensic analysis in the world. Natalie Pace educates and informs individual investors to give investors a competitive edge in their personal decision-making. Any publicly traded companies or funds mentioned by Natalie Pace are not intended to be buy or sell recommendations. ALWAYS do your research and consult an experienced, reputable financial professional before buying or selling any security, and consider your long-term goals and strategies. Investors should NOT be all in on any asset class or individual stocks. Your retirement plan should reflect a diversified strategy, which has been designed with the assistance of a financial professional who is familiar with your goals, risk tolerance, tax needs and more. The "trading" portion of your portfolio should be a very small part of your investment strategy, and the amount of money you invest into individual companies should never be greater than your experience, wisdom, knowledge and patience. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, NataliePace.com does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions constitute our judgment as of the date of this publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument. Securities, financial instruments or strategies mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors. |
AuthorNatalie Pace is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project and the author of The Power of 8 Billion: It's Up to Us, The ABCs of Money, The ABCs of Money for College, The Gratitude Game and Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is. She is a repeat guest & speaker on national news shows and stages. She has been ranked the No. 1 stock picker, above over 830 A-list pundits, by an independent tracking agency, and has been saving homes and nest eggs since 1999. Archives
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