It’s been a few months since I did one of these, but the news is too juicy not to do one. A lot went down that needs to be addressed. From the Congressional Hearing to bitcoin and rumors of an AMC purchase.
I love investing and forming the best portfolio for my life, and writing these weekly stock updates is a way to hold myself accountable and up to date o the news.
Bitcoin Hits $50k
This week there was a huge bump in Bitcoin prices as it soared past 50k and settled between $51k and $52k. It seems to be pushing upwards to $55k soon. In January, after doubling in price from its previous all-time high of $20k to $40k, the world thought there was nothing to stop Bitcoin’s crazy growth.
What followed for over a month was a consolidation period, pushing the coin to settle in the low $30k range. Many people questioned if it would ever go past $40k ever again. Even JP Morgan analysts projected the growth would never happen again. A week after their prediction, Bitcoin started to move.
To follow along with this amazing Bitcoin news, what helped push Bitcoin out of is consolidation period was Elon Musk’s announcement of Tesla’s $1.5 Billion Bitcoin purchase. The price instantly jumped into the $40k range and hasn’t stopped till breaking its all-time high.
We’re in a wonderful time to be in crypto and the price is only going to go up in 2021. Even Ethereum hit all-time highs making its way towards $2k. I’m keeping a close eye on this bull run, trying to prepare myself for the emergence of the bear market predicted to hit at the end of Summer.
Congressional Hearing To Discuss GameStop Short Squeeze
Yesterday there was a Congressional Hearing to investigate the short squeeze event. The CEOs of Robinhood, Reddit and Citadel were all present along with Robinhood CEO Vladimir Tenev’s long-lost twin, WallStreetBets Reddit user, Keith Gill. They are not really twins, but they look very similar.
They were each grilled by several lawmakers. There is an ongoing SEC investigation, but this hearing was mostly just to watch these players talk themselves in circles until the time ran out. No real questions were answered and tempers were started to show halfway through.
WallStreetBets User, Keith Gill is being sued for manipulating the market to increase GameStop’s stock price. The lawsuit states he created a fake persona of a beginner trader, as he holds several financial certifications.
While some lawmakers were quit intense in their questioning, given they was only 5 minutes per person, some seemed supportive and tried to make a point new rules should be implemented on the SEC’s part.
There are set to be a few more hearings and I’m excited to see if anything comes out of it. Most likely some new changes will be implemented down the road, but this hearing could highlight some key changes needed to move forward.
Rumors of an AMC purchase
There is some word on the street that Amazon could purchase the dying AMC business. There are just rumors, but apparently they were in talks previously before the deal falling through. They could be coming back and saving the day, but why would they want to buy such a declining business? I don’t care. I love going to the movies and whoever wants to buy it, please do and keep them open.
There are some benefits for Amazon to buy AMC. It would be very beneficial for their streaming services, giving them a lead among other streaming platforms when it comes to distribution. It would open doors to more partners in this industry.
But the biggest benefit would have to be the research data it offers. From customer’s preferences to their actions and what they buy from concession stands. This data would really be put to good use in Amazon’s hands.
Perhaps they could be the ones to turn the movie theater business into a profitable venture down the road. Going to the movies is my favorite so I’m hoping theaters stay open after this Pandemic.
