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In our ongoing effort to bring you prominent thought leaders sharing insights on topics affecting the capital markets, we continue our
Strategic Discussions series this Spring with:
Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, and
the
Future of the Universe
For years people have been talking about blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. At first they seemed like fringe ideas, but there is growing realization that this decentralized technology will fundamentally change how business is transacted. And like all disruptive technologies, there will be winners and losers.
Our featured speaker, C
hris Solarz, is a Managing Director at Cliffwater, a firm which advises large institutional investors on private equity and venture capital opportunities. Chris will offer his perspective on why this technology may indeed change the world as we know it, and how investors can participate.
Wednesday, May 2, 2018 from 12:00-1:30 pm in Costa Mesa, California.
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When the closing bell rang on Thursday of last week, it ended a turbulent week, month and quarter for US stocks. The S&P 500 Index found itself with a 1.4% rise on the day, but still down slightly for the quarter. Trade war fears subsided, but multiple worries contributed to volatility in the tech sector. The ongoing data privacy scandal, a pedestrian death due to a self driving vehicle, and possible new regulations for Amazon were all factors. The market was closed on March 30 for the Good Friday holiday.
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> GDP:
The final estimate for US Gross Domestic Product for the fourth quarter of 2017 was announced last week. Beating most analyst estimates, GDP was revised up to a 2.9% annualized rate. Contribution from consumer spending to the fourth quarter's total growth rate was 2.8 percentage points, almost the entire GDP rate.
> Home Prices:
Data released last Wednesday shows that home prices have continued their rise across the country. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City Composite posted a 6.4% year-over-year gain following a 6.3% gain the prior month. The composite price of 20 major US metropolitan areas now stands at 205.10 which compares to 180.68 ten years ago.
New York has not quite reached the price level it saw in January of 2008 (it's 4.66 points shy), but Los Angeles has seen a 48.87 point increase, San Francisco has seen a 69.88 point increase and Denver leads the way with a 76.37 point increase in price since 2008.
> Facebook:
As regulators investigate Facebook's privacy practices, investors are left wondering just how many users might abandon the social media giant. In 2017, Facebook brought in $40 billion of ad revenue with 2.1 billion users, or $19.05 for each and every user. And revenue growth is expected to skyrocket (see table below). But using Facebook's historical financials as a guide, a 13% drop in the number of users (taking their user count back down to 2016 levels) would translate into a 33% decline in revenue. Earnings, in turn, would drop by 43% and its P/E ratio would spike to 45.
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To coincide with the event, Danish designers at the social design lab,
Studio Roosegaarde, unveiled their newest installation at the UN Headquarters in New York: Waterlicht.
Studio Roosegaarde takes a
"bottom-up approach" to social issues: they first design a spectacle that brings a problem to life, with the hope that it spurs a local government to work with them to then develop some potentially planet-saving project.
Some of the prior iconic works from the lab include the SMOG FREE PROJECT (the largest outdoor air purifier which turns smog into jewelry) and VAN GOGH PATH (a bicycle path which glows at night and resembles The Starry Night).
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New Market Wealth Management offers modern investment solutions backed by extensive research and experience serving the needs of wealthy families. Through our strategic partnership with
Cliffwater LLC
, we have access to institutional-quality research, investment due diligence and asset allocation tools. We believe this level of experience and unique access to in-depth, sophisticated research are essential for success in today's complex world markets.
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