A turbulent and volatile week again for the market indexes. The S&P 500 index (SPX) gained 1.86% this week and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 1.04%.
Oil price slightly increased by 2.34%, at $39.75 per barrel.
Gold price is at $1,730.19 per ounce.
The Retail sales rose by a record 18% in the month of May. This was a record increase. This was because the lockdowns were eased and people started spending the stimulus money given by the US government. Consumer spending is a vital cog in the US economy and that was the motivation to give money directly to the people this time around. In the 2008 financial crisis, the big financial institutions and corporations were bailed out on Wall street (like Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Detroit car makers etc.) but the Main street (you and me) were left out.
Microsoft released the “Money in Excel” template which works basically like Mint or Personal capital softwares. You can connect to your bank, credit card and investments accounts securely and see the transactions and spending. You can plan a monthly budget and categorize your spending. I plan to do a more deep dive into this and will share with you my experience.
A bit of a sad news, a 20-year old student at University of Nebraska took his own life after his trading went bad. He got a $1 million margin (loan) from the Robinhood app and since colleges were closed, he was in his parents house trading options. His account showed a negative $730,000 cash balance and he freaked out. He put a note on his computer “How was a 20 year old with no income able to get assigned a million dollars of leverage (debt)?” In an age where stock market investing is taken as a gambling venture, such tragedies are bound to happen. The right way of investing (not speculating) has to be taught to teenagers and the harms of leverage have to be distilled in them.