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Good morning investors! The world is in a political turmoil. There’s unrest everywhere, in such times it is important that your finances are in control. A great way to start it to focus on paying off as much high-interest debt as possible.

Fun fact: About 10% of US households hold international equity.

Today we cover:

• Big earnings this week

• Gemini gets sued

• Most Americans are poor (but keep spending)

Follow us on Twitter for more.

📊 Economy and News 

Toyota’s e-vehicles will adopt Tesla’s charging standard

Tesla might be down, but it's making giant strides with its charging stations and now another big company has decided to switch to using Tesla’s charging standard.

When? From 2025, all Toyota electric vehicles sold in the US will work with Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS), instead of the Combined Charging System plugs automakers in the US now use.

This is a big win for Tesla as Toyota is one of the biggest automakers in the country (and the world).

Elon Musk invited other automakers and charging companies to adopt Tesla’s NACS in November 2022. In only six months, names such as GM, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Honda, and Nissan have jumped the bandwagon.

But not everyone: Some are yet to make the move. Stellantis, for example, has no plans to switch to NACS.

Global hits:

• China restricts exports of graphite as it escalates a global tech war.

• Shein is preparing for a US IPO.

• Baby Boomer spending is causing inflation in the UK.

📈 Stocks

S&P 500 4,224 (-1.26%)
DJIA 33,127 (-0.86%)
NASDAQ 12,983 (-1.53%)
Oil 88.30 (-0.079%)
* Prices as of October 22, 11:20 AM UTC

Big earnings this week

Last week, Tesla and some other big names reported earnings. This week more are expected to announce, including:

Microsoft: Microsoft expects to grow earnings and revenue by 11.6% and 10.9% per annum respectively. EPS is expected to grow by 11.7% per annum. Return on equity is forecast to be 29.4% in 3 years. In fact, most experts are bullish on it and so are we.

META: Meta Platforms is forecast to grow earnings and revenue by 20.5% and 10.9% per annum respectively. EPS is expected to grow by 21.4% per annum. Return on equity is forecast to be 21.8% in 3 years. The company is expected to surprise investors with this report but we don’t expect a huge jump in its price after this report. However, we are bullish on it.

Google: Google or Alphabet is forecast to grow earnings and revenue by 14.6% and 9.9% per annum respectively. EPS is expected to grow by 16.3% per annum. Return on equity is forecast to be 21.7% in 3 years. Google usually beats earnings but it doesn’t always go up after the report. Hence, might be a good idea to buy it next year.

Coca Cola: We covered Coca Cola in detail in our previous Pro newsletter where we called it a ‘buy’, check the letter for free for more.

Also check: A key market indicator hasn’t been this high since the Great Recession

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🔐 Crypto

Bitcoin $30,343 (+1.6%)
Ethereum $1,679 (+3.3%)
Total market cap $1.19 (+1.9%)
* Prices as of October 23rd, 2:50 AM UTC

Three top cryptocurrency firms accused of defrauding investors

Gemini, one of the largest cyrptocurrency firms, is in the news for allegedly “lying to customers about the risks of an investment account it offered, which paid high interest rates on crypto.”

Not alone: According to reports, Genesis and its parent company Digital Currency Group were also involved in the program.

Who filed the lawsuit? The case was filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James. 

The crypto industry has been under a lot of pressure lately. We are still hearing from about the FTX case and the Ripple-SEC situation is not very clear either.

In fact, even Gemini has been in legal issues for a while. Earlier this year, the SEC had charged Genesis and Gemini for the unregistered offer and sale of cryptos through the Gemini Earn Lending Program.

💵 Personal Finance

About 61% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck

Despite inflation pressures cooling off, more than half of American adults are still struggling to meet financial demands.

Lower-income workers appear to be suffering the most.

• About 66% of consumers earning less than $50,000 annually struggled in June

• About 65% of consumers earning between $50,000 and $100,000 faced financial issues in June

• Only 45% of consumers earning $100,000 or more reported living paycheck to paycheck

More than 50% of US consumers struggle on a daily basis, forcing them to turn to credit cards or savings. Reducing expenses and saving more can be an effective way to secure your future.

We know that the key lies in ‘earning’ more, but how is it achieved? How can you make more money when you have no savings to invest? You do so by thinking out of the box.

Work double shifts, get a side hustle or second job and if that isn’t enough then find ways to make money from what you have. And, most importantly, reduce your expenses. That Disney trip can wait. It’s more important to have an emergency fund.

Also, we’ll encourage you to consider these options:

• Get insurance so you do not get into hot water in case of an accident. Health and vehicle insurance, we think, are a must. Moreover, they’re mandatory in most cases.

• Ask your boss for a raise. Believe it or not, sometimes all you need to do to make more money is to ask someone to pay you more. It’s especially important it your salary isn’t keeping up with inflation. At least ask for a match with inflation. Many companies are agreeing.

• Sell whatever you do not need and use this money wisely. Have an old TV? put it on eBay. Got Netflix subscription? Get rid of it. You can watch movies for free on YouTube.

I talk about this and more in this video:

💰 Be a Better Investor

👩🏽‍⚖️ Legal Stuff
Nothing in this newsletter is financial advice. Always do your own research and think for yourself.