1.The Record is 11 Up Days in a Row for Nasdaq…..9 Right Now
Andrew Thrasher, CMT, @AndrewThrasher
For the 7th time since 1990, the NYSE has had 8 consecutive positive closes. The record is 11 days, set in May 1990.
https://twitter.com/AndrewThrasher/status/1359858837654802443/photo/1
2. KRE-Regional Bank ETF Breaks Out.
Regional Bank ETF Breaks Above 2018 Highs
3. TLT 20 Year ETF Daily Fund Flow …$639M out of ETF Tuesday
Michael Goodwell, @MichaelGoodwell
Tuesday saw the biggest outflow from $TLT, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF, since March. $639.14mm flowed out of the fund. The ETF’s AUM dropped by 4.07% to $15,696mm. On Monday, US 30s hit 2% for the first time since March. Capitulation of bond longs? Time to go long?
https://twitter.com/MichaelGoodwell/status/1359643980103880704/photo/1
TLT chart see lower levels in 2019
4. Pot Producers Raising Record Money
Once down in the weeds, cash-strapped pot producers raise billions in market rallyBy Shariq Khan
(Reuters) – A political shift in the United States has unlocked an estimated $1.38 billion jackpot for struggling pot producers who have cashed in on a surge in their shares since President Joe Biden’s election in November.
Canabis producers have issued stock worth this amount in the first five weeks of 2021, investment firm Viridian Capital Advisors estimates, as prices have risen on a promise of federal decriminalization of marijuana and a host of other reforms by the incoming Biden administration.
5. 9 Things Cannabis Investors Should Know in 2021
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/9-things-investors-should-know-about-the-cannabis-industry/
6. Big Annual Tech Profits
Michael Batnick-Irrelevant Investor
https://theirrelevantinvestor.com/
7. The Issues With SPACs-Deal Book NY Times
The blank-check boom shows no signs of slowing, but there are reasons to be wary.
By Andrew Ross Sorkin, Jason Karaian, Michael J. de la Merced, Lauren Hirsch and Ephrat Livni
What could go wrong?
There’s a new saying making the rounds on Wall Street, Andrew writes in his latest column. It’s not in good taste, but it captures the new trend transforming the financial world: “I know more people who have a SPAC than have Covid,” financiers keep telling Andrew. (We warned you.)
Continue reading the main story
The blank-check company boom shows no signs of slowing, with SPACs — or special purpose acquisition companies — raising nearly $26 billion in January, a monthly record in a red-hot market. These listed shell companies exist solely to find a private company to buy and take public. SPACs typically acquire a target around five times their size: With more than 300 such funds sitting on some $100 billion in cash currently seeking acquisitions, that implies financial firepower of $500 billion.
SPAC funds raised per month
Source: Dealogic, The New York Times
“Every friend is launching a SPAC,” the billionaire fund manager Bill Ackman told Andrew. “It’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, I got one, too.’” Mr. Ackman’s SPAC is the largest, raising $4 billion last year. (He has yet to name an acquisition target.) Other financiers getting in on the SPAC-tion include the tech investor Chamath Palihapitiya, the veteran banker Michael Klein and the buyout specialist Alec Gores, all of whom have multiple SPACs. Yesterday, the former N.F.L. quarterback Colin Kaepernick filed for his own SPAC.
“As a guy who was doing deals in the market in 1999, it feels exactly like it did then,” said Terence Kawaja, the founder of the boutique bank Luma Partners. (He worked as a banker on Time Warner’s sale to AOL.) “I worry about the public investors.” There are several misaligned incentives between the sponsors who put up a SPAC’s initial capital and the investors who come later, especially after a company is bought:
- Sponsors often say they have invested in a SPAC’s deals, aligning them with other investors. But they are also given big stakes essentially for free, so, as Andrew writes, “they are playing partly with house money.”
- Big mainstream investors that put money in a SPAC deal often get favorable terms that guarantee them a modest but predictable return no matter what happens.
- Sponsors don’t owe investors in the takeover targets any fiduciary duty, and few seek so-called fairness opinions to validate the price they are paying.
- SPACs generally must use the money they’ve raised for a takeover within two years or return it, incentivizing them to get any deal done, rather than a good one.
This isn’t to say that traditional I.P.O.s are better, as Andrew explains (speed and certainty make SPACs more attractive for many of the acquired companies). And some sponsors are devising ways to make SPACs more friendly to all investors.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/10/business/dealbook/spacs-blank-check-deals.html
8. Covid Hospitalizations in the U.S. have Declined 29 Days in a Row.
Covid-19 hospitalizations in the US have declined 29 days in a row, down 55k from their peak on Jan 6.
Charlie Bilello, @charliebilello
https://twitter.com/charliebilello
9. Vegas Goes Tony Robbins…Las Vegas to get £614million no-gambling hotel with gym and spa replacing casino
Las Vegas is getting a new £614million resort which will be a no-gaming and non-smoking hotel offering fitness and wellness instead
BY Julie DelahayeDigital Travel Editor
A new £614million hotel is opening in Las Vegas but instead of casinos and nightclubs, guests can expect a spa, fitness and wellness centre.
That’s because the Majestic Las Vegas will be a non-gaming, non-smoking hotel with six restaurants, a ‘medical spa’, and a fitness and wellness centre.
Guests will be able to receive personalised nutrition and fitness plans created by the nutritionists and trainers, as well as having access to classes including yoga, spinning and interval training. Oh, and of course there will be plenty of spa treatments on offer too at the impressive 70,000 sq ft spa.
The resort will also feature a five-star hotel with 720 luxurious suites, as well as a large pool complex with 50 cabanas offering views of the Las Vegas Strip.
The hotel will be a no-smoking and no-gambling resort (Image: Majestic Las Vegas)
The hotel promises to offer a ‘no noise’ experience, although there will be some live entertainment on offer, for example by the large pool complex or on the resort’s main plaza near the restaurants.
There will also be ‘Sky Suites’, corporate spaces which businesses can hire.
The Majestic isn’t the first no-gaming hotel in Las Vegas – but it is unusual for a resort of this size in Sin City not to feature gaming facilities such as a casino.
Still, it’s located just two blocks away from The Strip so those who do want to go exploring the nightlife won’t have to travel far.
Construction for the new resort is set to start later this year, and it’s expected that the Majestic will open its doors to guests in 2024.
You can find out more on majesticlasvegas.com.
The Majestic isn’t the only new hotel set to open in Vegas in the coming years. For a start, the hotel that featured on Love Island USA has been transformed into the Strip’s first adults-only hotel, while another hotel is due to open with a huge stadium-size rooftop pool sure to make for some epic pool parties.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/usa-canada/las-vegas-614million-no-gambling-23481338
10. The New England Patriots’ 7-Word Tweet to Tom Brady Is a Powerful Lesson in Emotional Intelligence
The Patriots could have suffered in silence. What they did instead was much better.
BY JUSTIN BARISO@JUSTINJBARISO
What would you say if, after losing the best employee you ever had, that employee went on to lead a competitor to greatness?
Would you talk trash? Or suffer in silence?
The New England Patriots did neither of those things.
Yes, you probably heard that Tom Brady–the Patriots’ former quarterback and current starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers–led his new team to a dominant Super Bowl win over the heavily favored Kansas City Chiefs.
Forget Big-Picture: Why You Should Build Mental Toughness Through Small Steps After the game, the New England Patriots shared a simple, seven-word tweet:
“Congratulations to the greatest of all time.”
These seven words are a powerful lesson in emotional intelligence, the ability to make emotions work for you, instead of against you.
What’s emotional intelligence got to do with it?
Many have wondered why the accomplished quarterback chose to leave New England.
Was it that the Patriots didn’t offer Brady the long-term contract he desired? Did he feel unappreciated by the franchise? Did he simply want a change, or need a new challenge?
Only Brady knows the true reason.
But whatever that reason is, it became obvious that it was ultimately time for both sides to move on.
And here’s where emotional intelligence–the ability to identify, understand, and manage emotions–comes into play.
When a player takes his talents to another city, it’s easy for franchise ownership to vilify the player. To make fans feel that they’ve been betrayed, even to inspire hatred. (See the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James, 2010.)
Regardless of how the Patriots feel about Brady’s move behind closed doors, the team’s tweet was brilliant. It was all class, showing overwhelming goodwill from the franchise towards their legendary quarterback.
In other words, the Patriots showed that they could be happy for Tom Brady.
That’s no easy feat, considering New England’s first year post-Brady ended in completely missing the playoffs–for the first time in well over a decade.
Time and again, we’ve seen sports franchises let emotion and resentment cloud good judgment. They’ve destroyed healthy relationships, turning their best allies into bitter enemies.
But with that simple congratulations, New England extended an olive branch and opened the door for Brady to come back in the future. No, likely never again as a quarterback–but as a team ambassador, a coach, or to work in the front office.
And think about it, who better to help recruit new talent than the person widely regarded as the greatest of all time, a consummate winner?
It’s a huge lesson for employers everywhere:
If your best person happens to leave for a competitor, don’t vilify them.
Don’t tear them down. Don’t badmouth them. Don’t burn your bridge.
Instead, congratulate them.
Because if you leave the door open, you never know what the future will hold.
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