Welcome to Q4 and here’s your weekly Zash update to get you ready!
There’s no ignoring the big story of the week, so let us get it out of the way early. The Pandora Papers, the biggest leak of offshore data ever!
However, unlike Pandora’s Box these papers haven’t unleashed physical and emotional curses on mankind, instead they’ve left world leaders and prominent figures red faced (how bad?). Check out this useful guide from the BBC so you can keep up to date with the story as it unfolds.
Creator of the Week 🧠
Conall McKeon is this weeks Creator. He works as an Audit Associate in EY Dublin and studied Business & Economics at Trinity College Dublin.
1. What do you generally like to invest in?
My active investments are in companies whose business model or operations I understand, with a preference towards profitable companies. I try to stick to the rule: If it doesn't make dollars, it doesn't make sense. If I can't think of a logical reason to buy, how will I know the right time to sell?
2. How would you describe your investing style?
My capital is split evenly between active and passive vehicles. My passive holdings consist of ETF's. I have automated these transaction to free up some more time for research. I spend my time researching profitable companies, whose operations and business model I understand.
3. What industry/ Company’s future are you excited by and why?
I am very excited by boom of DeFi and crypto, I am currently researching these companies and coins with the hopes of adding them to my portfolio. In terms of traditional stocks I find the gaming industry to be the most exciting. The constant growth in popularity of eSports and Twitch streaming has drawn a lot of new consumers into the market and I am of the belief that, in conjunction with the ever improving VR and AR technology, it's only a matter of time before "Big Gaming" joins the likes of Big Tech and Big Pharma as the most powerful and influential industry.
Reading of the Week 💡
Whats gone wrong with Britain’s stock market? Once a bastion of finance that leading global companies called their stomping ground has, in recent years, withered away.
In a piece published by The Economist it was revealed that in 2006 companies with shares listed in London were worth around 10.4% of the global equity market. This figure has been whittled down to a measly 3.6% today, so what went wrong?
For one, the number of tech companies occupying the FTSE 100 is ashamedly low. In the United States tech companies account for almost 40% of the S&P 500 index, in the U.K? less than one-fiftieth of the FTSE 100’s value is accounted for by tech companies.
However, the British stockmarket isn’t beyond fixing. Venture Capital has been flooding into Britain in the past few years helping to create more unicorns than France, Germany and Sweden combined. Check out The Economist’s story here to see how Britain can revive its stockmarket.
Tech News 🖥️
Formerly unidentified Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen, this week revealed her identity and doubled down on her allegations that Facebook prioritised “growth over safety”. Check out what Facebook had to say in response to this here.
Stock Market 📈
Morning Brew’s Breakdown of S&P 500’s Performance in September
September is historically a bad month for investing you say? We did warn you, but here’s a look ahead to what October might have in stock for us.
Last week data analytics company Amplitude made their stock market debut at a valuation of $5 Billion. Amplitude’s data analytics tools allow companies like NBC Universal, PayPal, Peloton and Zash to optimise their (our) products.
Crypto Market ₿
After a slow September that included a flash crash cryptocurrencies are seeing a price rebound in what some people are dubbing Uptober. They might be onto something though, as crypto has historically performed well in Q4.
