TO THE MOON?
Good Evening! On Friday, the stock market experienced a decline, resulting in all significant indices concluding the week with a decrease. This occurred as investors acknowledged the likelihood of additional interest-rate increases from the Federal Reserve.
The S&P 500 experienced a decrease of 0.77%, while the Dow Jones observed a decline of 0.65%. The Nasdaq Composite saw a decline of 1.01%. The Nasdaq Composite has now marked its initial loss in the preceding eight weeks. In contrast, the S&P 500 terminated a sequence of five consecutive weeks of gains.
Virgin Galactic (SPCE) experienced a decline of almost 20% subsequent to the company’s disclosure in a filing that it had concluded a stock offering worth $300 million and intends to generate an additional $400 million in a subsequent offering.
So why are they requesting it? As per the SEC filing, the recently acquired funds will be allocated toward expanding the spaceship fleet and infrastructure to facilitate the growth of commercial operations. Additionally, the funds will be utilized for general corporate purposes, including working capital and general and administrative matters.
It has been only a week… Virgin Galactic’s stock experienced a significant increase of over 40% in the week preceding the current time frame. This was attributed to the company’s recent announcement regarding its intention to commence commercial space tourism operations in June. However, the year-to-date performance of Virgin Galactic’s shares indicates an increase of over 50%.
RATES KEEP GOING UP
Rates Keep Going Up… The Bank of England caused a surprise in financial markets by increasing interest rates by 0.5%, resulting in the highest level of interest rates in 15 years. In recent weeks, the central banks of Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Norway, and the European Central Bank have all made public declarations of their intention to increase interest rates.
Even outliers like Tukey have joined too… Despite having reduced interest rates over the past two years as a measure to counter inflation, has recently increased interest rates by 6.5%, a decision that has been deemed as a return to the fundamental principles of economics.
The U.S. as well! Despite the Federal Reserve’s recent decision to temporarily halt its rate hike campaign, Chair Jerome Powell conveyed that the public should anticipate the implementation of one or two additional increases within the current year. The rise of prices for various consumer goods and services continues to be a source of discomfort, despite the relatively lesser impact on the purchase of eggs and gas. In May, the Consumer Price Index experienced a 4% increase, consequently surpassing the Federal Reserve’s target of 2% by double.