📈 Mormon Church Fined for Not Sharing Investment Secrets

Good Morning!

Let's start with the US stock market, which took a hit yesterday. And by "hit," we mean it got smacked around like a piñata at a kid's birthday party. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 2%, and the S&P 500 slid by 2%. Ouch! The US isn't the only market feeling the pain. Over in Europe and Asia, indexes are red across the board - Looks like everyone's having a rough day.

In other news, it seems like the Mormon church is in a bit of hot water. They've been fined a cool $5 million over allegations that they didn't properly disclose their investments of their $32 billion investment fund. It just goes to show you, even churches can get caught up in SEC scandals. But hey, it's not all bad news. Our friend, the Financial Samurai, has some insight into buying Treasury Bonds with a 5%+ return. He's broken down some pros and cons, so be sure to check it out. It's nice to have a little financial advice to balance out all the doom and gloom.

Grab a coffee and settle in!

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Markets

All Indexes Cap Their Worst Day of 2023 (3 minute read)So, the US stock market took a bit of a hit yesterday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping over 2%, and the S&P 500 sliding by 2%. Oof, not a great day for investors - especially after some disappointing retail earnings reports. All the sectors were down, with consumer discretionary stocks taking the biggest hit. Even the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite pulled back by 2.5%. According to B. Riley Wealth's chief market strategist, Art Hogan, there wasn't just one thing causing the downturn - it was more of a cumulative effect of a bunch of different factors including the Fed's messaging and customer data that spooked investors.

European stocks lower; German inflation remains high ahead of Fed minutes (5 minute read)Stocks over the pond aren't exactly off to a flying start today. Investors are feeling a bit hesitant after seeing some high inflation numbers in Germany, as well as some mixed corporate earnings reports. At the moment, the DAX in Germany is down 0.8%, the CAC 40 in France has dropped 0.8%, and the FTSE 100 in the UK fell by 1%. Inflation in Germany rose 1.0% in February, bringing the annual figure up to 8.7%, which is higher than January's number. ECB President Christine Lagarde hinted last week that interest rates could be on the rise soon, and with the region's prices still looking pretty high, it seems like that's definitely still on the table.

Asian Stocks Drop on Ukraine Tensions, US Inflation Fears (4 minute read)China and Hong Kong stocks both finished lower, and things were no better in Japan, where the Nikkei share average hit a one-month low. Folks are worried about rising tensions between some of the big global players, and they're also a bit anxious about the possibility of interest rates continuing to climb in the US. All the talk from US President Joe Biden and Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine led to some selling on Wall Street, and that negative impact carried over to Asia. People are definitely feeling a little uneasy about the potential impact all this could have on the world economy.

Investing

Putin speech, Walmart earnings, Europe rebound - what's moving markets (4 minute read)Here's the scoop on what's going on today: Russian President Vladimir Putin made a big speech, and it sounds like there's no end in sight for the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Walmart and Home Depot are giving us a better idea of how US consumers were doing at the end of the year. And speaking of the US, stock futures are still feeling a little wobbly after economic data came out last week.

Feds fine Mormon church for illicitly hiding $32 billion investment fund behind shell companies (5 minute read)It's not often you hear about a church getting into some hot water with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but that's exactly what's happened to The Mormon Church! They, along with a non-profit that they controlled, have been slapped with a $5 million fine over allegations that they didn't properly disclose their investments. According to the SEC, the church tried to keep its investment holdings and management all hush-hush by hiding behind a bunch of shell companies from 1997 to 2019. By doing this, they failed to let the SEC and the public know just how big the church's equity portfolio really was.

This Is the Greatest Dividend Stock on the Planet, and Virtually No One Even Knows It Exists (5 minute read)When the stock market gets shaky, it's always nice to have some reliable dividend stocks in your portfolio. These are companies that pay out regular dividends to their shareholders and have often weathered economic storms before. Now, get this: according to The Motley Fool, the greatest dividend stock of all time isn't some big-name company, but a little-known water utility stock called York Water (YORW). They're only worth $654 million, trade fewer than 40,000 shares daily, and serve customers in just 51 municipalities in one U.S. state.

Money

Why You Won’t Regret Buying Treasury Bonds Yielding 5%+ (10 minute read)In this article, Investing Journal favourite, The Financial Samurai, breaks down some pros and cons of buying Treasury Bonds with a 5%+ return, and talks about why he won't regret buying more!

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