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Forget the Butterscotch candies, I’ll just buy some Werther’s Stock!

Older Americans are defying traditional wisdom—the old “100 minus age” equity-allocation rule—by sticking with stock-market investments in lieu of shifting to safer assets like bonds. According to a Gallup survey, almost two-thirds of U.S. adults aged 65 and older own stocks. This figure has risen since before the 2008 financial crisis, making them the only age group to experience an increase in stock ownership rates during the same period.

Knock, Knock. Who’s there. Blackrock. ……

Blackrock x Bitcoin

Amidst regulatory pressures and some chaos in corners of the crypto world, big moves are being made elsewhere. Last week, Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, filed for a bitcoin ETF with Coinbase as its crypto custodian. Crypto prices climbed to end the week after the report made ripples.  If approved, the iShares Bitcoin Trust would be the first product of its kind in the U.S., marking a significant milestone in the institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies. Given a number of other firms have tried and failed over the past decade, such a regulatory green light would be a major vote of confidence for the space.

Buy now, sell now

Private equity firm KKR agreed to purchase nearly $43 billion of Paypal’s buy now, pay later loans in Europe. Buy now, pay later flourished in a zero interest rate environment but has been less appealing as rising rates and inflation have impacted the purchasing power of consumers. (Reuters) 

So what does this mean for both parties? The move offloads credit risk from the payment processor while freeing up capital that was likely sitting on the sidelines for loan loss provisions (they already announced $1 billion in share buybacks). For KKR, the private credit arm assumes a highly diversified loan book at what was likely a very deep discount. They’ll do what they do best and manage the loans while earning a high-interest rate. Both businesses get back to basics and keep the main thing, the main thing.