Economic update for the week ending January 15, 2022Stock markets down slightly for the week – This week the December CPI number, a key indicator of inflation, showed that consumer prices had risen 7% year-over-year, the largest increase since 1982. The Commerce Department reported that U.S. retail sales dropped 1.9% in December, indicating that higher prices have consumers holding off on some purchases. Higher inflation often equates to higher interest rates. To combat inflation the Federal Reserve has indicated that they intend to hike short-term interest rates this year. They have also indicated that they intend to reduce their balance sheet by dialing back bond and mortgage security purchases. That has already caused long-term mortgage rates to rise. It should be pointed out that interest rates are still near historic lows, but they are above the all-time low levels in the depth of the pandemic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 35,911.81, down 0.9% from 36,231.66 last week. The S&P 500 closed the week at 4,662.85, down 0.2% from 4,677.03 last week. The NASDAQ closed the week at 14,893.75, down 0.3% from 14,935.90 last week. U.S. Treasury bond yields – The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 1.78%, almost unchanged from 1.76% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 2.12%, almost unchanged from 2.11% last week. We watch bond yields because mortgage rates often follow treasury bond yields. Mortgage rates – The January 13, 2022 Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported mortgage rates for the most popular loan products as follows: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 3.45%, up from 3.22% last week. The 15-year fixed was 2.62%, up from 2.43% last week. The 5-year ARM was 2.57%, up from 2.41% last week.
MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / August 4, 2021 / Cuentas, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUEN)(NASDAQ:CUENW) (‘Cuentas’), a leading FinTech provider of mobile banking, digital wallet and payment solutions focused on Hispanic and Latino communities signed a Marketing and Promotion Agreement with Benelisha Group Inc., (‘Benelisha’) a financial service provider throughout the State of California.
Cuentas and Benelisha are hosting a celebration of their new relationship by sponsoring a networking event August 4th at Monaco Encino for professionals that attended the Wall Street Conference on Aug 3 & 4, 2021 in Beverly Hills. Additionally, Benelisha Group will be hosting their distributors and partners in the same celebratory event.
The 3 year Agreement will start with a ramp up period and goal of 15,000 new Cuentas General Purpose Reload (GPR) accounts after 1 year, with further extensions and Most Favored Nation (MFN) status up to 3 years if they reach 50,000 new accounts. The MFN terms will continue for perpetuity as long as Benelisha continues to add 50,000 new accounts each year going forward after the third year.
‘The Cuentas Mobile App and services that have been designed for the Latino communities, will allow Cuentas, together with Benelisha, to open California, the largest latino immigrant market in the US.’ said Arik Maimon, Cuentas Founder and Interim CEO. ‘This is a tremendous milestone achievement following our execution plan’, added Maimon.
‘We have a very strong marketing team to do all the promotions, press releases and outreach programs. Being that we are already a multicultural organization, we are at the best position to move this forward. The industries that we are currently involved in, represent a majority of the workforce in California,’ said Yosef and Oren Benelisha, founders and officers of the Benelisha Group.
‘Presenting yesterday at the Wall Street Conference in Beverly Hills and signing this agreement and sponsored networking event with Benelisha should be extremely beneficial to promote our Disruptive Mobile Banking FinTech Solutions and Promotional Agreement,” said Michael De Prado, Founder and Executive Vice Chairman of Cuentas.
The deal between the two groups was introduced by Mr. Itzik Akoka of I-Akoka consulting agency.
ABOUT CUENTAS
Cuentas, Inc. (Nasdaq: CUEN & CUENW) is a Fintech company utilizing technical innovation together with existing and emerging technologies to deliver accessible, efficient and reliable mobile, new-era and traditional financial services to consumers. Cuentas is proactively applying technology and compliance requirements to improve the availability, delivery, reliability and utilization of financial services especially to the unbanked, underbanked and underserved segments of today’s society. Its products are supported by its core methods, procedures, contracts and intellectual property. For more information, visit https://cuentas.com.
ABOUT BENELISHA GROUP INC.
Benelisha Group Inc. is based in Encino, CA and is spearheaded by Yosef and Oren, who have best represented the most underprivileged hardworking men and women in the fields of Construction, Retail, Hospitality, Real Estate and Management. They have enriched their lives by creating opportunities to grow personally and professionally.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains ‘forward-looking statements’, as that term is defined in section 27a of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and section 21e of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements in this news release, which are not purely historical, are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this news release contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements that are preceded by, followed by, or that include such words as ‘estimate’, ‘anticipate’, ‘believe’, ‘plan’ or ‘expect’ or similar statements are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release include statements relating to other publicly available information regarding Cuentas.
Economic Update For The Week Ending February 20, 2021Stock markets ended the week slightly lower on inflation fears – U.S. retail sales jumped 5.3% in January. This unexpected jump was credited mostly to consumers spending stimulus checks, as well as a general feeling that the worst of COVID is behind us. On the other hand, investor’s confidence in the economy, and a tremendous amount of stimulus money being added to the economy, has promoted fears of inflation. Those inflation fears, and economic optimism have caused bond yields to increase. Higher bond yields lead to higher interest rates which increases borrowing costs for businesses, consumers, governments, and mortgages. This held stock markets from jumping again this week despite strong corporate earnings, a drop in COVID cases, and strong data from just about all sectors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 31,494.32, up 0.1% from 31,458.40 last week. It is up 2.9% year-to-date. The S&P 500 closed the week at 3,906.71, down 0.7% from 3,934.83 last week. It is up 4.0% year-to-date. The NASDAQ closed the week at 13,874.36, down 1.6% from 14,094.47 last week. It is up 7.7% year-to-date.U.S. Treasury bond yields – The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 1.34%, up from 1.20% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 2.14%, up from 2.01% last week. We watch bond yields because mortgage rates often follow treasury bond yields.
Mortgage rates – The February 18, 2021, Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported mortgage rates for the most popular loan products as follows: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 2.81%, up from 2.73% last week. The 15-year fixed was 2.21% almost unchanged from 2.19% last week. The 5-year ARM was 2.77%, almost unchanged from 2.79% last week. California existing home sales – The California Association of Realtors reported that existing, single-family home sales totaled 484,730 on an annualized basis in January. That represented a year-over-year increase of 22.5% from the 395,700 annualized rate of homes sold in January 2020. The median price paid for a home in California was $699,890, up 21.7% from the median price of $575,160 last January. Inventory levels were lower than one year ago. There was just a 1.5-month supply of homes for sale in January, down from a 3.4-month supply one year ago.
Stock markets ended the week at record highs – Major stock indexes followed their worst week since October with their best week since November. Markets erased all their losses from last week and stocks surged to record highs. Investors jumped back into the market based on many new developments. Those included: another round of stimulus, a drop in COVID cases, improved vaccination numbers, and more of the country lifting some of their business shut-down orders.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 31,148.24, up 3.9% from 29,982.62 last week. It is up 1.8% year-to-date. The S&P 500 closed the week at 3,886.83, up 4.6% from 3,714.24 last week. It is up 3.5% year-to-date. The NASDAQ closed the week at 13,856.30, up a staggering 6.0% from 13,070.69 last week. It is up 7.5% year-to-date.
U.S. Treasury bond yields – The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 1.19%, up from 1.11% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 1.97%, up from 1.87% last week. We watch bond yields because mortgage rates often follow treasury bond yields.
Mortgage rates – The February 4, 2021, Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported mortgage rates for the most popular loan products as follows: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 2.73%, unchanged from 2.73% last week. The 15-year fixed was 2.21%, unchanged from 2.20% last week. The 5-year ARM was 2.78%, almost unchanged from 2.80% last week.
U.S. employers added 49,000 jobs in January – The Department of Labor and Statics reported that 49,000 net new jobs were added in January. While that was a disappointing number, it certainly is a turnaround from December when the economy lost 227,000 jobs. The unemployment rate dropped to 6.3% in January, from 6.7% in December. To date, the U.S. has 9.9 million fewer employees employed than in February 2020, before the pandemic, when the unemployment rate was at a 50-year low. Economists believe that the unemployment rate would be closer to 10% if not for so many disappointed workers leaving the job search. Fortunately, it is widely believed that jobs will begin to recover quickly as more people are vaccinated, COVID-19 cases continue to drop, and more of the economy reopens.
Stock markets suffered their largest weekly decline since October – Stock markets had their worst week since October as investors digested comments by the Fed, a disappointing fourth quarter GDP report, increasing job losses, and a pullback in consumer spending. The Fed shocked investors early in the week when they made comments suggesting that their key overnight rates would remain at or near zero percent for an extended period which could last years after the pandemic is over. This suggested that the Fed has data that the impact of the pandemic on the economy would last longer than investors believed.
On Friday a preliminary GDP report revealed that the economy contracted for the first time since the financial crisis, and suffered its largest yearly contraction since 1946. Retail and service sales reports showed that consumers had pulled back of purchases for goods and services in the fourth quarter, reversing a historic 33% quarter-over-quarter increase in the third quarter. Fortunately, it’s widely believed that the surge in the third quarter was partially attributed to stimulus from the CARES Act, and the $900 billion in stimulus from the CARES Act 2 that will be distributed in the first quarter of 2021 will increase consumer spending and grow the economy. Business investment, and residential real estate were sectors that surged in 2020, according to the GDP report. Complicating all of this was the debacle of GameStop, AMC and other stocks. Somehow private party investors fueled by social media began buying these stocks that have been beaten down by pandemic related loses and shorted by investment firms, and funds. Social media opinions went viral. Those opinions were that that these companies had been wrongly undervalued by investment funds that had released negative guidance and “shorted” these stocks assuming these companies would not recover quickly, and possibly not even survive. The social media stories included reasons why these companies would survive and thrive, suggesting that investment firms had miscalculated. Private party investors began purchasing these stocks and the shares began to increase in price exponentially. As the mainstream media began to report on what was happening more private stock investors jumped in. Next the funds had to purchase these stocks in order to protect their “short” positions, which further fueled speculation that the social media stories were correct. At one point on Thursday Robbin Hood and other private investor trading platforms shut down trading to these stocks, only to allow trading them again on Friday after a public outcry. GameStop was up 400% for the week. Unfortunately, the net result was an erosion of trust in the equity markets, as this trading was not based on fundamentals of the companies’ financials, but on speculation on what the stock could do if it was promoted on social media. As private party investors interviewed stated “who is to say that investment funds are not doing the same thing?” We shall see what long term effects are. The SEC has stepped in and promised to investigate in an attempt to build trust in the system.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 29,982.62, down 3.3% from 30,996.98 last week. It is down 2.0% year-to-date. The S&P 500 closed the week at 3,714.24, down 3.3% from 3,841.47 last week. It is down 1.1% year-to-date. The NASDAQ closed the week at13,070.69, down 3.4% from 13,354.06 last week. It is up 1.4% year-to-date.U.S. Treasury bond yields – The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 1.11%, almost unchanged from 1.10% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 1.87%, unchanged from 1.87% last week. We watch bond yields because mortgage rates often follow treasury bond yields.
Mortgage rates – The January 28, 2021 Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported mortgage rates for the most popular loan products as follows: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 2.73%, down slightly from 2.77% last week. The 15-year fixed was 2.20%, unchanged from 2.21% last week. The 5-year ARM was 2.80%, unchanged from 2.80% last week. 2020 marked the highest number of U.S. existing-home sales since 2006 – The National Association of Realtors reported that the number of homes sold in December were 22.2% above the number of homes sold last December. Despite the pandemic, 2020 marked the highest number of homes sold since 2006. The median price paid for a home in December was $309,800, up 12.9% from $274,500 in December 2019. With new listings surging, but not able to keep pace with buyer demand, inventory shrunk to record low housing supplies in 2020. There was just a 1.9 month supply of homes for sale in December, down from a 3.0 month supply one year ago
Stock markets dropped as COVID-19 related job losses surge – Stock markets fell off their all-time highs last week as investors feared that the economic business closures may last longer than expected due to what appears to be an out of control spread of COVID-19, and a vaccination process that has failed to live up to the numbers expected. Stocks were hit even harder on Thursday after it was reported that initial unemployment claims rose sharply last week. They were over 1 million for the first time since July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 30,814.26, down 0.9% from 31,097.97 last week. It is up 0.7% year-to-date. The S&P 500 closed the week at 3,768.25, down 1.5% from 3,824.68 last week. It is up 0.3% year-to-date. The NASDAQ closed the week at 12,998.50, down 1.5% from 13,201.98 last week. It is up 0.9% year-to-date.U.S. Treasury bond yields – The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 1.11%, almost unchanged from 1.13% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 1.85%, almost unchanged from 1.87% last week. We watch bond yields because mortgage rates often follow treasury bond yields. Mortgage rates – The January 14, 2021 Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported mortgage rates for the most popular loan products as follows: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 2.79%, up from 2.65% last week. The 15-year fixed was 2.23%, up from 2.16% last week. The 5-year ARM was 3.12%, up from 2.75% last week. Unfortunately, rates increased late in the week. Next week’s mortgage rates will be higher.California existing home sales – The California Association of Realtors reported that existing, single-family home sales totaled 509,750 on an annualized basis in December. That represented a year-over-year increase of 28% from the 398,370 annualized rate of homes sold in December 2019. It was the highest number of monthly home sales in 15 years, and the most homes ever sold in December. Home sales are homes that closed escrow. Pending home sales are new contracts signed. Those are at near-record levels as well. For the entire year of 411,870 homes sold, up 3.5% from 397,960 homes sold in 2019. That number is pretty incredible considering home sales were down almost 30% at the end of June. There was a record number of sales in the second half of the year. The median price paid for a home in California was $717,930, up 16.8% from the median price of $659,380 last December. Inventory levels were lower than one year ago. There was just a 1.3-month supply of homes for sale in December, down from a 2.5-month supply one year ago. The current supply of homes was almost unchanged from September and October, as a record number of new listings were taken in November but sold quickly. Below please find a graph of regional statistics for Southern California.
The U.S. Economy lost 140,000 jobs in December – The Department of Labor Statistics reported that 140,000 non-farm jobs were lost in December. This marked the first month of net job losses since April. As COVID-19 cases continue to spike, most states and local governments have entered more restrictive shutdowns. This has caused another round of layoffs.
The unemployment rate in December was 6.7%.Stock markets surged to new record highs again this week – Stocks had another active week as investors expect another round of stimulus, beyond the one that was just passed two weeks ago. Investors also believe that with the senate so evenly split, and the economy fragile, an increase in the corporate tax rate is unlikely. Even a disappointing December jobs report led to a rally, as it puts more pressure on congress to enact another round of stimulus and leave tax rates alone.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 31,097.97, up 1.6% from 30,606.48 last week. The S&P 500 closed the week at 3,824.68, up 1.8% from 3,756.07 last week. The NASDAQ closed the week at 13,201.98, up 2.4% from 12,888.28 last week.U.S. Treasury bond yields – The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 1.13%, up from 0.93% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 1.87%, up from 1.65% last week. We watch bond yields because mortgage rates often follow treasury bond yields.
Mortgage rates – The January 7, 2021 Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported mortgage rates for the most popular loan products as follows: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 2.65%, almost unchanged from 2.67% last week. The 15-year fixed was 2.16%, unchanged from 2.17% last week. The 5-year ARM was 2.75%, up slightly from 2.71% last week. Unfortunately, rates increased late in the week. Next week’s mortgage rates will be higher.
