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Jun 29

Jun 29 Bankrupt Companies: Retail’s Façade

Institutional investors and algorithms that provide a massive amount of capital, and therefore volume, have driven markets since roughly the turn of the century. Hedge funds and investment banks simply have an immense amount of capital compared to individual investors. As of late, the weight of market players shifted. Federal stimulus recipients and even sports gamblers were introduced to the market recently, and provided an unprecedented result. Over the past year many online brokerages became commission-free, causing households to start trading outside their 401ks. According to the Wall Street Journal, TD Ameritrade’s daily average client trades before they became commission free was about 870,000. After they became commission-free, that number soared to almost 3,000,000. The increased volume has sparked a brisk recovery from March lows and volatility in bankrupt and near-bankrupt companies, creating a façade.

Jun 25

Jun 25 What’s Next for the IPO Market?

Michael Pagliaro

Companies spend anywhere from months to years preparing to launch an initial public offering. Many companies who were ready to go public this spring had to suspend their IPO due to reasons stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Record high volatility in the market has caused companies like AirBnb and DoorDash to push off their IPOs. These suspensions have left investors wondering when they will get their next fix of new stock.

Jun 24

Jun 24 Interest Rates, Refinancing, and the Threat to Mortgage-Backed Securities

Andy Colando

Business Current Events

While not the first viral illness to be labeled a “pandemic,” it goes without saying that the pervasive spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus is an unprecedented event in modern times. Likewise, the fallout of this pandemic, including that of economic significance, is equally substantial, and its full effects are still far from known. 2020 felt the sharpest spike in unemployment, with the national percentage (approximately 14.7% in April and still over 13% in May) comparable only to the Great Depression. This year has also seen one of the most severe and sudden stock market shocks in history, with the NASDAQ falling over 30% from its February peak in March. Despite impressive rebounds in most stocks, the forecast of the real US economy remains bleak, with some analysts expecting a 50% reduction in yearly GDP growth in 2020. Such devastating outlooks have persisted despite the historic $3 trillion stimulus package passed by Congress, as well as the Federal Reserve’s pledge to provide “unlimited” monetary support to the economy. Drastic times certainly do call for drastic measures, but even these great attempts are proving ineffective to shield many Americans from the effects of this economic slowdown.

Jun 23

Jun 23 Making a Real Change

Kexin (Carrie) Chen

“Equal justice under law.” A phrase engraved on the front of the United States Supreme Court. A societal ideal that influences our legal system. A symbol that rallies our trust and instills it in our justice system. The 14th amendment, ratified in 1868, guaranteed all citizens “equal protections of the law” (History.com Editors, 2009). This amendment, passed during the Reconstruction Era, aimed to abolish slavery and establish civil and legal rights for all (History.com Editors, 2009). As a nation, we have come a long way since the Civil War. Day by day, individuals are fighting to eliminate racism among other crimes. Unfortunately, it has not been enough. A tragedy took place on May 25, 2020. George Floyd, a 46 year-old African American man, was accused of using a $20 counterfeit bill to buy a pack of cigarettes at a deli (Hill, 2020). The consequence of this incident was his unforeseen death, after being pinned down on the ground by a Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds while three other policemen stood by, ignoring his pleas for air. This incident has unleashed a wave of protests and riots across our nation.

Jun 22

Jun 22 What the NASA-SpaceX Launch Means for the Future of Space Travel

Benjamin Bock

Elon Musk has been one of the leading names of technology and innovation in the 21st century. His entrepreneurial career began in the early 2000’s when he founded x.com (1). Musk’s company was then sold to PayPal, of which he later became the CEO. PayPal was then sold to eBay and, as the company’s largest shareholder, Musk walked away with $165 million dollars (1). He used this money to start companies and projects such as Tesla, The Boring Company, the hyperloop, and SpaceX. All of these entities have the ambitious goal of revolutionizing modern day transportation. Recently, SpaceX has been in the news for its greatest achievement to date: a successful manned launch into outer space using the world’s first reusable rocket.

Jun 21

Jun 21 Consolidated and Substitutable: The U.S. Meat Processing Industry

Steven Obadiah

After charging a couple of poultry companies with price-fixing, the U.S. Justice Department has recently opened a formal probe into the beef processing industry. This follows a previous statement from May in which politicians requested that the Justice Department investigate beef prices’ recent surge. The concern is that the meatpacking industry, which was recently deemed “critical infrastructure” due to COVID-19, is suppressing prices paid for cattle by purchasing fewer – devaluing cattle operations and increasing meat prices paid by consumers. While the traditional U.S. meat industry stumbles, the fake meat industry is seeing a growth in exposure and sales. Ground-meat prices doubled between March and May, leading to a 264% spike ($25.7 million increase) in grocery store sales of alternative-meat products during a nine-week period ending May 2nd. This article explores the current U.S. meat industry, the benefits and drawbacks of a consolidated meat market, and whether a fragmented meat market may bolster U.S. agricultural sustainability.

Jun 19

Jun 19 The Expansion of the Federal Reserve over History and into the COVID-19 Pandemic

Monica Wallace

From the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, the Federal Reserve (The Fed) has served as a key and central actor in the government’s economic response. The Fed quickly employed its arsenal of monetary policy initiatives to stimulate the rapidly slowing economy caused by consumers’ inability to leave their homes and spend money on goods. These aggressive responses aim to provide economic relief to sustain the economy until the impact of coronavirus subsides. Recently, the Federal Reserve announced new policies that dramatically expand its role in the national economy. This credit expansion calls into question the scope and purpose of the Federal Reserve as it continues to stretch beyond its initially limited goals. Looking into the future after the decline of COVID-19 underscores the highly alarming potential of the Fed’s newfound influence on businesses of all sizes and the politicization of Federal Reserve appointments.

Jun 18

Jun 18 ESG Investing, A Shortcut to Social Responsibility

Ethan Plasker

Socially responsible investing has been an increasingly popular practice for American individuals and companies. Global climate change has influenced one of the most famous social activist movements in the history of the United States, putting fossil fuel emitting companies under fire as well as their investors. This movement has caused a surge in investment in companies’ environmentally conscious practices. A more popular form of this investment has been termed “ESG” investing, or environment, social and corporate governance. This movement is an attempt to change the perspective on government and corporate investment in the United States. Essentially, this type of investing aims at improving both the images and functions of companies. This happens by spending money on helping fight climate change, improving social capital by ensuring their products and services bring safety and innovation to everyone involved and finally, by having a strong corporate governance that builds innovative culture.

Jun 17

Jun 17 Will Commuting to Work be a Relic of the Past?

Conor McCabe

The COVID-19 pandemic has many thinking what life will be like when things eventually “go back to normal”. Many are wondering if the mask-wearing trends will continue, while others believe handshakes will be gone with forever. In terms of working remotely, many experts are not counting out the possibility that this may be a sign of new times and the future for some businesses. With the growing costs of rent overhead and the prevalence of computers in the workplace, there is a very real possibility that working from home will be much more common once the pandemic has passed.

Jun 16

Jun 16 COVID-19 Consumption Trends: The Downfall of the Retail Sector

Jonas Monieson

By now everyone has been able to feel the effects of the Coronavirus outbreak, as it has had a dramatic impact on our day-to-day lives. Whether it be who we interact with, where we go, how we travel, or how we eat, our daily routine looks very different than it did only a few months ago. This drastic change in everyday behavior has also completely changed our consumption methods. No longer are we dining out, making trips to the mall, or shopping along our city’s streets. Numerator, a specialist in consumer insights, utilizes what they call an omnipanel to gather accurate consumer intel. The omnipanel collects consumer information from various sectors by collecting electronic receipts from a wide range of individuals. Numerator has been able to use this data to find great intel amongst consumers and how their consumption trends are changing due to Coronavirus. To help give a larger picture, almost 90% of individuals have changed their consumption habits due to Coronavirus (Numerator, 2020). Consequently, many large retail and typical brick-and-mortar stores are struggling to survive. The potential fallout of these stores would completely reshape our consumption methods for years to come.