Fintech Focus For August 2, 2021

Quote To Start The Day: "The first casualty when war comes is truth.”

Source: Hiram Johnson

One Big Thing In Fintech: Square will buy Australia’s Afterpay for about $29 billion in an all-stock deal as the U.S. fintech firm looks to leverage the burgeoning popularity of buy now, pay later (BNPL) credit options.

Source: CNBC

Other Key Fintech Developments:

• PayPal’s new super app is ready.
• Mercury secures $120M funding.
• Zelle transaction volume soaring.
• Wealthfront adds crypto exposure.
• Spot added $17.5M for insurtech.
• Secured Finance added funding.
• Appital, Turquoise will cooperate.
• Xepelin secures $230M in funds.
• Binance winds down derivatives.
• State Street expands crypto offer.
• NYC launching fintech challenge.
• PayPal discontinues Money Pool.
• Tenderly secures $15.3M to grow.
• Paxos taps high-profile investors.
• Valora secures $20M in Series A.
• Stripe is faced with privacy claim.
• MoneyGram sees strong growth.

Watch Out For This: Credit Suisse suffered humiliation and shareholder wrath this year when it lost $5.5 billion from the collapse of the Archegos Capital Management investment fund. On Thursday, the bank admitted that its own failings were to blame, releasing a report that chronicled the “fundamental failure of management and controls” behind the debacle.

Source: New York Times

Interesting Reads:

• A space race and a new cold war.
• Exo added $200M for ultrasounds.
• Russia held its first Ironman race.
• Crypto supply shock is underway.
• usk denying Apple-Tesla merger.
• La Haus added funds from Bezos.
• Varda Space secures $42M round.

Market Moving Headline: Equity index futures to start the week off neutral, in prior-range and -value.

- Debt limit, China, fiscal policy cloud outlook.

- Expecting a heavy week for economic data.

- Responsive trade until key levels are taken.

Further, the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Dow Jones Industrial Average are above their key 20-, 50-, and 200-week moving averages while the Russell 2000 is stuck inside a multi-month trading range, between its 20- and 50-week moving averages.

Given the higher long-term trend, traders of the S&P 500, in particular, must contend with a week-long balance area, the result of participants finding higher prices valuable as they position themselves for a directional move, given increased clarity on earnings, taper, and more.

In the coming sessions, given that the modus operandi is responsive trade (i.e., fade the edges), rather than initiative trade (i.e., play the break), participants will want to focus their attention on where the S&P 500 trades in relation to the $4,392.25 high volume area (HVNode) pivot.

Source: Physik Invest