Economics

• January jobs report was all good news—467,000 new jobs, average hourly earnings up 5.7% year-over-year, and labor force participation starting to move back up. December revised up from 199,000 to over 500,000! (Yahoo Finance) (Analysts are a bit skeptical of these numbers given the Omicron surge that was happening concurrently.) 

Investing

• To say the Meta earnings report was disappointing may be an understatement, its share price drop shaved 25% of its market cap. (Investopedia) For more on how the Apple privacy change is hurting companies reliant on that ad revenue, check out this NYT article (subscription may be required.)
• Amazon is huge, and 4^th quarter earnings report reveals revenue, EPS, and subsequently share price are all showing healthy growth. (CNBC)
• The Irrelevant Investor explains why investing is so hard.
• Here was an interesting article on value investing. (WSJ-subscription required)
• For you more quantitative geeks, check out this article describing Goldman Sachs “CAPE” ratio and how it has been used. (TKER)

Mergers and Aquisition activity

• Warner Media to be spun off of AT&T and merged with Discovery. (Reuters)
• Sony to buy video game maker Bungie in yet another merger in this space. (CNBC) 
• Visual Capitalist gives you picture of the biggest gaming mergers. 
• The New York Times is buying Wordle (I got today’s word in 2 tries for the first time!) (NYTco)

Crypto and NFCs

• Coinbase rival FTX successfully raises a third round of capital. (CNBC)
• Will Open Sea become the Coinbase of NFTs? (The Verge)

Entrepreneurship

• This article looks at how and why new products fail or succeed and discusses the “new science of scaling.” (NPR)
• TikTok Couture? The students might have fun with this one. (Vox)

Financial Wellness

• According to the 2022 Wealth and Wellness survey, on 34% of Americans feel financially healthy. (NSADAQ) offers suggestions for improving that.
• According to a new study by “Life Happens,” 67% of couples list financial security as one of the most attractive qualities in a partner. (PRNewswire)

About the Author

Beth Tallman

Beth Tallman entered the working world armed with an MBA in finance and thoroughly enjoyed her first career working in manufacturing and telecommunications, including a stint overseas. She took advantage of an involuntary separation to try teaching high school math, something she had always dreamed of doing. When fate stepped in once again, Beth jumped on the opportunity to combine her passion for numbers, money, and education to develop curriculum and teach personal finance at Oberlin College. Beth now spends her time writing on personal finance and financial education, conducts student workshops, and develops finance curricula and educational content. She is also the Treasurer of Ohio Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy.