Hello. Remember us? It’s been way too long since our last post, but like most entrepreneurs will tell you, life can sometimes get in the way. In the process of getting our newsletter and knowledge base built, we suffered our own layoff from our full-time job, which further validates why building passive income is so important. Suffice it to say, many changes had to be made, some of which you’ll see in our products and services over the next several months. The first one being that we’re now using Beehiiv for our newsletter.

In the past 72 hours we are witnessing a historic pullback in global markets. High flying stocks as well as crypto are all pulling back 10% or more in some cases. While the core of UNEarned Inc is not stock trading it does have a place in our overall strategy to shorten the time to building passive income. In times like these it’s important to remember why we we are advocates first for long-term investing in good companies that pay dividends. Unemployment is now at a 3-year high which will certainly cause pain to those laid off who may need to start selling equities which now could be in freefall.

This too shall pass.

We hope you continue to stay with us on this journey to building financial security.

Stock Market Highlights

• Japan stocks have now erased their entire 25% YTD gain and Europe’s Stoxx 600 has hit a 5-month low.

• Nvidia’s price has fallen over 20% since its peak on June 18, 2024 and there are now rumors of a design flaw in one of its key chips that could delay shipments over 3 months.

• Well let’s face it, Friday August 2, 2024 was a blood bath for the stock market, but no one should be really surprised. Too many stocks were up 20%, 30%, 50% for the year. It couldn’t go on forever. The S&P 500 posted its third straight losing week bringing it to ~5.7% below it’s all time high. Now, the test is how low do we go.

• Apple $AAPL, has been the stock to own for both growth and dividends over the past 5 years making Warren Buffet a rich man. On Saturday it was revealed Berkshire has reduced its position in Apple, moving to cash. This will no doubt make a lot of people nervous. We’re still long on Apple, especially if your cost basis is under $125. It will probably open Monday, Aug 5th below $200 per share.

• Warren Buffett continues to love insurance plays, recently adding to his Chubb $CB position. He now owns 26 million shares of the insurer.

• Even as Intel is supposed to be the major national semiconductor play for the United States, the company continues to disappoint. They will now be cutting 15% of their workforce, with the stock trading around $21 per share. Meanwhile, it’s old partner Microsoft continues to be one of the most valuable companies in the world.

Earnings We Care About

Precious Metals

• Gold prices ($2453/oz. USD spot) are still hovering around all-time highs which is $1,000 more than it’s lowest price in the last 10 years which was back in November 2015.

• India's 4-week platinum imports from mid June eclipsed the 2023 total; bullion dealers exploited a loophole by registering alloys containing around 90% gold as platinum to avoid higher duties.

• Silver is currently trading at a spot price of $28.73 per oz.; JPMorgan is now predicting silver to hit $36/oz. in 2025. We still like silver at these levels and long-term for buying coins.

Real Estate Highlights

• Mortgage rates have finally dropped significantly raising the hopes of many would be buyers and refinancers. Zillow data recently showed the 30-year fixed at 6.12% as of the first week in August. The 15-year is now at 5.35%. Real estate investors can’t wait to get back into the game either, especially if the stock market continues to plummet.

Franchising Highlights

• McDonald’s recently reported earnings where the company’s same-store sales fell for the first time since the 4th quarter of 2020. Inflation is even effecting franchises outside of California where the minimum wage was hiked. McDonald’s says they’re committed to creating more value on their menus.

• Speaking of McDonald’s their venture called CosMc’s seems to be pretty quiet, online reports say lines are still fairly long during the day at certain locations. The drive-thru beverage franchise model continues to heat up with other competitors like Dutch Bros ($BROS), another stock we’re watching.

Crypto Highlights

• Morgan Stanley has given permission to its advisors that they may now pitch two Bitcoin ETFs to their top clients (i.e. have a net worth of at least $1.5 million).

• Bitcoin is now trending down hard, currently at $50,184 USD.

• Unconfirmed, JPMorgan supposedly will now accept XRP for credit card and mortgage payments. This is positive news for the coin if true which is currently trading around ~$0.5038 USD, well off its highs of over $3 USD.

Things That Make You Go Hmmm…

• I continue to want to go long on Costco ($COST); every time I visit that store, like I did this weekend, every car spot is still taken 15 minutes before closing. A guy gathering carts was muttering under his breath as I walked by that the place was busier than working at Disneyland. The number of Teslas at this place is also growing. I think Elon should open up a Tesla dealership inside Costco.

Disclaimer

Investing involves risk. All opinions expressed in this newsletter are just opinions of The ReWright Company, LLC. Please perform your own due diligence before making any investment, partnering, or acting in whole or part on information obtained from this newsletter. This information is for entertainment purposes only and should not be considered investment advice under any circumstances. The ReWright Company, LLC is not a financial advisor.