Brits have stopped shopping | Nio really needed its partner |

Hi John, here's what you need to know for March 28th in 3:00 minutes.

💥 You’ve probably have heard us talk about soaring prices in the chip industry. Well, join GDIT’s Joe Albano for How To Invest In The Booming Chip-Tech Industry, and discover the very best investment opportunities in chipmaking. Grab your ticket

Today's big stories

  1. UK retail sales fell unexpectedly in February, but Brits still paid more than the month before
  2. Our analyst has looked into how to profit as we head into a new "market narrative" – Read Now
  3. Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio reported mixed results

Dress Code

Dress Code

What’s Going On Here?

Data out on Friday showed that UK retail sales fell last month, even if the country’s shoppers have been swapping slippers for sneakers.

What Does This Mean?

Brits said farewell to the last of their Covid restrictions in February, and it looks like they couldn’t wait to get out and about: clothing and footwear sales were up 13% from the month before, and fuel sales were up 4%. Unfortunately, that’s where the spending stopped: sales at household goods stores fell by 3%, as home improvement habits ground to a halt. Online retail sales were down 5% too, which means they made up the smallest proportion of overall retail sales since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. All in all, that led overall retail sales to shrink 0.3% from January – a long way off the 0.7% growth economists were expecting.

Why Should I Care?

Zooming in: Vote of no confidence.
Shoppers might’ve been buying less, but they spent 0.7% more as inflation in the country continued to climb. No wonder they’re not feeling too hot: data out last week showed UK consumer confidence fell in March for the fourth month in a row, hitting its lowest since the depths of the pandemic in November 2020. And since prices are only set to climb, Brits might be forced to cut back even more in the next few months…

The bigger picture: Softly, softly.
This data suggests the Bank of England might’ve been right to change its tone earlier this month, when it suggested that it might need to go a little easier on interest rate hikes than it thought. Now, though, some economists are speculating that it might not raise rates at all in the second half of this year – especially as another spike in the UK’s Covid cases proves the country’s economy isn’t out of the woods yet.

Copy to share story: https://www.finimize.com/wp/news/dress-code/

🙋 Ask a question

Analyst Take

How To Get Ahead Of The Next Major Market Narrative

How To Get Ahead Of The Next Major Market Narrative
Photo of Stéphane Renevier

Stéphane Renevier, Analyst

What’s Going On Here?

Investors are constantly trying to explain why markets are behaving the way they are.

And they do that in part by telling themselves new stories every few months: market narratives that allow them to rationalize every shift and make decisions accordingly.

Right now, that narrative is centered on reflation: the combination of high growth and high inflation that has seen stock prices climb pretty relentlessly.

But there are some pretty glaring signs that we’re about to turn the page on that particular narrative.

So that’s today’s Insight: what the narrative could be about to shift to, and how to put yourself in a position to profit before it does.

Read or listen to the Insight here

SPONSORED BY ALTS

This isn’t your grandpa’s investment fund

Alts has been busy analyzing the heck out of alternative investment markets.

So we don’t know where it found the time, but Alts has just used its expert know-how to launch its very first fund.

The Alts1 Fund brings together alternative investments spanning more than three dozen asset classes, from fine art to whisky to NFTs.

That curated bunch of investments have historically returned an average of 40%, and Alts actively manages the fund to make sure it only ever includes the best opportunities.

Discover diversification the Alts way: check out the Alts1 Fund.

Find Out More

The Alts1 fund is only for accredited investors. Private investments are highly illiquid and risky and are not suitable for all investors. Please review risk factors for investments on the Alts website.

Smooth Talker

Smooth Talker

What’s Going On Here?

Nio reported a strong quarter for deliveries late last week, as the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker proved that it’s not what you know…

What Does This Mean?

EV makers have been struggling to get their hands on parts recently, but Nio’s been managing better than most. That’s because its EVs are manufactured by the Chinese government-backed Jianghuai Automobile Group – a well-connected firm with the heft to get suppliers on side. And it pulled it out of the bag: Nio delivered 44% more cars than the same time the year before, pushing up its overall revenue by 49%.

But none of those parts came cheap, and that extra cost – along with Nio’s ongoing investment in a new product lineup – saw the EV maker post a $340 million loss last quarter. And when it followed up with a worse-than-expected revenue outlook for this quarter, investors didn’t hesitate to send its stock down.

Why Should I Care?

For markets: Nio’s keeping busy.
Nio’s stock has now lost nearly 40% of its value this year, but the EV maker has a plan to turn things around: it’s aiming to launch three new models this year. One of those – due to be delivered to Chinese buyers this week – is being hailed as a direct rival to Tesla’s Model S, and analysts seem to believe the hype: their average price target for Nio’s stock is now $47 – more than double its current price of $20.

The bigger picture: Anything Tesla can’t do…
Nio has another project on the go too: the EV maker is planning to work with competitor Geely to set up 24,000 Chinese battery swapping stations – a faster alternative to charging – by 2025. It must know something Tesla doesn’t: the US EV maker already experimented with swapping batteries in 2014, only to scrap the project soon after.

Copy to share story: https://www.finimize.com/wp/news/smooth-talker/

🙋 Ask a question

💬 Quote of the day

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

– Muriel Strode (an American poet)
Tweet this

SPONSORED BY DACXI

Crypto, the simple way

There’s a lot to think about when you start your crypto journey, not least which coins to choose.

That’s why Dacxi decided to simplify the process: it’s made it easy to get to grips with crypto and build up the portfolio you’ve always wanted.

Just pick your favorite Dacxi bundle – like blue chip or precious metals – to stock up on some of the world’s top coins. But you’re not locked in: you can sell your coins individually too.

Then just sit back and enjoy your new portfolio. Well, unless you fancy using Dacxi’s educational tools to develop your skills, or feel like meeting fellow crypto fans in Dacxi’s community.

Discover how simple crypto can be: check out Dacxi.

Find Out More

The information provided in this article does not constitute investment advice, financial advice, trading advice or any other sort of advice and you should not treat any of this article’s content as such. You should carefully consider whether trading or holding Cryptocurrencies is suitable for you relative to your financial position. The price of cryptocurrency can go down as well as up and past performance is not a guide to future performance. Investors may not get back the full amount originally invested.

The information in this article is believed to be reliable. Dacxi has taken reasonable care to ensure the information stated is accurate. However, Dacxi makes no representation, guarantee or warranty that it is wholly accurate and complete. Do conduct your own due diligence and consult your financial adviser before making any investment decision.

When you support our sponsors, you support us. Thanks for that.

🌎 Finimize Live

🎉 Upcoming events

☔️ Invest Smarter By Understanding The Market Seasons: 4pm UK time, March 25th
👑 How To Invest In Tokenized Gold: 1pm UK time, March 28th
☘️ How To Pick The Best ESG Stocks: 6pm UK time, March 28th
👩‍🎨 The Telltale Sign Of A Promising NFT: 5pm UK time, March 29th
🎉 Investing In The Best NFT Drops: 12pm UK time, March 30th
🤫 Hedging’s Best Kept Secret: 6pm UK time, March 30th
💰 How Much Do Your Trades Really Cost?: 5pm UK time, March 31st
🛢 What Investors Need To Know About Russian Oil: 6pm UK time, March 31st
👀 The Stock Market Debuts To Watch In 2022: 6pm UK time, April 4th
🏠 Your Guide To Passive Real Estate Investing: 5pm UK time, April 12th

🎯 On Our Radar

  1. The disappearing NFT. Two men pulled off a million-dollar scam.
  2. Embrace the web3 era. This device makes it easier than ever to trade crypto coins and NFTs.*
  3. This man grew the world’s biggest strawberry. We wouldn’t recommend eating it, though…
  4. Virtual world, real pain. VR just became a lot less fun.
  5. Women are shredding. They’re dominating the ski scene, and they’re filming it too.

When you support our sponsors, you support us. Thanks for that.

❤️ Share with a friendYour Referrals: 0

Thanks for reading John. If you liked today's brief, we'd love for you to share it with a friend. If they sign up on your unique link, you’ll earn some sweet swag.

Share your unique link:

https://finimize.com/invite/?kid=12T6MV

You stay classy, John 😉

We’d love to hear your thoughts. Give feedback

Want to advertise with us too? Get in touch

Image Credits:

Image credits: GBM - Shutterstock | Foryoui3 - Shutterstock

Preferences:

Update your email or change preferences

View in browser

Unsubscribe from all Finimize Emails

😴

Crafted by Finimize Ltd. | Bow Bells House, Bread Street, London, EC4M 9HH

All content provided by Finimize Ltd. is for informational and educational purposes only and is not meant to represent trade or investment recommendations. You signed up to this mailing list at finimize.com or through one of our partners. © Finimize 2021

View Online