You win some, you lose some

Good Morning,

Welcome to The Morning Bro. The MWF newsletter always delivers. Kinda like Amazon Prime, except instead of giving you 2-day shipping on your latest online shopping spree, we give you 45 seconds of enjoyment before you have to go back to your boring workday.

In Today's Morning 6 - 9:

• 2022 Winners and Losers

• The State of Crypto

• Cultural Catchups

• Bro-tastic Memes

2022 Winners and Losers

The past 12 months have been a wild ride, to say the least. It feels like we chugged a gallon of milk before embarking on this roller coaster. While it's been a rough year for companies, stocks, and futures - the worst-performing year for stocks since 2008 - there were some bright spots in specific industries that saw growth. According to Visual Capitalist, the top-performing sectors were

• The Energy Sector was the only sector to see positive performance in 2022, with most major energy stocks seeing double-digit growth

• The healthcare sector had a mix of good and bad performance, with some pharmaceutical companies and medical distribution companies doing well, but Pfizer experienced a decline.

• The Insurance Sector - Chances are, your premiums have increased. (Warren Buffet and Flo from progressive seem to know what they are doing)

The Losers

Tech sector:

• The tech industry had a tough year in 2022, with many major companies losing value, particularly those that make computer chips and software.

• The industry struggled due to increased competition and regulatory issues.

Real estate:

• The real estate industry had a difficult year in 2022, with companies building homes and residential properties and the commercial real estate industry (e.g. shopping malls and warehouses) experiencing significant losses

• The industry was impacted by rising interest rates and increased competition.

• If you're looking to buy Real estate - we're gonna do a deeper dive on Friday about why you should maybe wait a few weeks - stay tuned.

Crypto Corruption

• Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of a cryptocurrency exchange called FTX, has been accused of taking money from customers and using it for his own purposes, including funding his other company, buying property, making political donations, and being a total asshole. He has denied these charges and will stand trial in October. If he is found guilty, he could face more than 100 years in prison. Two of his colleagues (Former ex-girlfriend and FTX co-founder) have already admitted guilt and are helping with the investigation.

• Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder, and president of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, (also the guy who sued Mark Zuck accusing him of stealing his Facebook idea) has now accused Barry Silbert, CEO of the parent company for Gemini, of avoiding efforts to resolve a dispute over $900m in client funds that Gemini lent. The funds were used to generate yields for Gemini's lending product but were frozen after FTX filed for bankruptcy and Gemini paused redemptions for its service. Winklevoss accused Silbert of "bad faith stalling tactics" and alleged that relations are "beyond commingled", with the parent company owing Genesis $1.675bn. Gemini and Winklevoss are finding themselves in the middle of a possible class action lawsuit. Queue the Popcorn.

Cultural Catchups

• Tesla totally crushed it in Q4 with a 47% YoY increase in deliveries but seems as though the market was just expecting a little bit more. Still, a solid performance in a tough macro environment. Sure there's some uncertainty heading into 2023 with all the competition in the EV space and the whole Twitter thing with Elon, but I'm still bullish on Tesla and Elon, and so is ARC founder Cathie Wood - she has contributed to buying more stock this week for her fund.

• This Just In - Water is wet and hydration is important - A recent study found drinking enough water may help slow down the aging process in humans. People whose middle-aged blood levels of sodium (a marker of hydration) were higher than normal had an increased risk of developing chronic diseases and dying prematurely and also appeared biologically older. So Bro's, DRINK. MORE. WATER.

• The New American Dream? retiring at 20 off of meme stocks - A college student in the US made around $120 million in profit by selling shares in Bed Bath & Beyond that he had purchased for around $25 million after the company's value increased significantly in a short period of time due to becoming a "meme stock". 20-year-old Jake Freeman, who is studying applied mathematics and economics at USC, said his initial $25M stake was made possible by raising money from friends and family.

• Kansas City, Missouri was named the best city in the world to take a working vacation. It apparently has a great quality of life metrics, good internet and working conditions, and a good environmental score. Plus, it's got tons of tourist attractions like museums, sports stadiums, and amusement parks. And if you're not into Kansas City, there are other cities on the list like Vienna, Wellington, and Copenhagen that also scored in the top 5.

• Does Amazon know something we don't? Amazon has secured an $8 billion loan from DBS Bank for "general corporate purposes," according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The loan will mature in 364 days, with the option to extend for another 364 days. Amazon stated that the loan is part of its efforts to hedge against the "uncertain macroeconomic environment". 😳 👀

Bro-Tastic Memes

Thank you for reading, We hope you found this edition informative and enjoyable. Be sure to follow us on social media for even more Culture, Tech, and Business insights and updates @TheMorningBro