Tuesday,
January 30, 2024

Market recap

Dow Jones

38,333.45

+224.02 (+0.59%)

S&P 500

4,927.93

+36.96 (+0.76%)

Nasdaq

15,628.04

+172.68 (+1.12%)

Google

$153.51

+$1.32 (-0.9%)

Lucid Group

$3.37

+$0.72 (+27.17%)

General Motors

$35.39

+$0.21 (+0.6%)

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Top Story

How Houston cracked the affordable housing code

Could the key to fixing affordable housing be as simple as tweaking zoning policy? Some seem to think so, and Houston’s got the receipts.

Read more >>


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US stocks rose Monday ahead of the Fed’s latest interest rate decision, the January jobs report, and many earnings reports

•   Shares of Roomba-maker iRobot fell 8.8% after Amazon terminated its acquisition, citing no path to regulatory approval.

•   Electric vehicle maker Lucid saw its stock surge 27.1% following an analyst’s buy recommendation.

•   The Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index showed perceptions of business activity fell to their lowest level in eight months in January, while the Production Index recorded its worst reading since mid-2020.

What to be on the lookout for today

•   Job openings for December. We’ll also get a housing update with November’s S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index.

•   It will be a big day for corporate earnings, with Google, General Motors, JetBlue, Pfizer, Sysco, UPS, Starbucks, AMD, and Microsoft among the companies reporting.

What is alternative investing?

Investing is about much more than just stocks and bonds. Alternative investments, for example, are different from these traditional investment types.

Some of the biggest alternatives out there are real estate, private investments (such as private equity or private credit), and commodities. Want to invest in some farmland? That’s alternative investing. Planning to buy gold bars? Same story.

One key characteristic of alts? They tend to be less correlated with the stock market. That means they can help diversify an investment portfolio, potentially helping to hedge against inflation or interest rate fluctuations.

However, most alternative investments are also illiquid, meaning you likely can’t pull your money out of them as quickly. This is especially true in comparison to more conventional securities like stocks and bonds. Like with all investments, it’s important to keep in mind your own risk tolerance before making your investing decision.

Check out SoFi’s Guide to Alternative Investments to learn more


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Today’s top stories

We wanted a ‘soft landing’. But what’s a ‘no landing’ scenario?
Inflation has come down, but the economy continues to be stronger than expected. Does that mean the Fed’s high interest rate policy hasn’t worked?
Read more >>

Big Pharma could lose billions when patents expire
Some of the biggest names in pharmaceuticals are facing mass expiry of patents by the end of the decade that could lead to steep losses.
Read more >>

Bitcoin ETFs are here. This is what you need to know
The SEC approved a new type of crypto ETF tracking bitcoin prices earlier this month. Curious about crypto? Learn what these funds are all about.
Read more >>

Other news that caught our eye

Financial planner tip of the day

"ETFs are very similar to mutual funds and offer investors easy diversification since buying into an ETF is also buying into a collection of different assets. ETFs are generally passively managed. ETFs generally have lower fees than mutual funds. There are also differences in how ETFs and mutual funds are traded. ETFs can be traded like stocks, while mutual funds trade once per day."

Brian Walsh, CFPÂŽ at SoFi

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