US Budget Deficit Grows; Fidelity Will Provide Crypto Services For Institutional Clients

The Water Coolest

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THE HEADLINES

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HELP ME, I’M POOR

money flying out of wallet

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The US budget deficit hit its highest mark since 2012, rising 17% to $770B during President Trump’s first full fiscal year (September year-end) in office.

The budget deficit has risen every year since 2015, which has only added to the country’s existing $21.5B debt load. For those keeping score at home, the crippling debt ended up costing Uncle Sam $523B in interest payments for fiscal 2018, the highest on record.

Tax cuts, increased federal spending, and an aging population (thanks, grandma!) have all done their part to help grow the deficit. While recent tax reform should boost the economy, corporate income tax receipts fell 31% due to the federal corporate income tax decrease. Individual taxes only increased 6.1%. You do the math.

Water Cooler Talking Point: “You’ve gotta spend money to make money … amirite?”

 

YOU’VE GOT MAIL

There’s no better way to shore up your bottom line than investing in the worldwide leader in unsolicited emails.

Case in point: Twilio, a PAAS (platform as a service) company which allows enterprises to make and receive phone calls and send and receive texts en masse will buy SendGrid, a mass email platform, for $2B in an all-stock transaction.

The reason for the big buy? Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson cited clients requesting that the company “solve all of their strategic communications challenges.” He also added, “the synergies that are about to be achieved in the spamming game will make your God damn head spin.” (note: he didn’t actually say this)

Shares of Twilio have risen more than 220% in 2018. But TWLO fell as much as 4% in aftermarket trading yesterday, while SendGrid jumped as much as 15%.

Water Cooler Talking Point: “If Twilio gets its grimy hands on an Instagram DM sliding product, no inbox will be safe.”

 

HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS?

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Fidelity is taking its talents to the cryptocurrency game. The company announced on Monday that it would be spinning off a new business unit to handle cryptocurrency trading and custody at an institutional level.

Fidelity is well established in the traditional custody space, with $7.2T (T!) in customer assets under management, and a laundry list of clearing, custody, and investment services clients. Fidelity boasts over 27M customers at 13k institutions globally. Until today, however, the firm has been rather limited in its cryptocurrency offerings beyond investments through Fidelity Charitable.

Fidelity’s new service will compete with the likes of CoinBase, Ledger, and the Winklevoss-run Gemini for customers looking to safely trade and store incredibly unsafe cryptocurrencies. This marks the first foray of a large US-based stalwart into the world of untraceable, code-based wealth.

Water Cooler Talking Point: “I hope Fidelity has enough Mountain Dew and unbranded, black zip-up hoodies to properly welcome their developers to their new crypto-home.”

 


IN OTHER NEWS

 

  • Improvise, Adapt, Overcome … and Merge. Harris Corp. and L3 technologies will combine in what will be the largest US defense industry merger ever. The $35B all-stock merger comes as President Trump, a Republican Congress, and the Pentagon increase the defense budget.

 

  • The world lost a legend yesterday. Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft and current Seattle Seahawks owner, succumbed to complications associated with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that had recently returned. Allen was 65.

 

  • Guess who’s back, back again? PDA, Elayne’s favorite electronic organizer, is making a comeback … with a mini phone that will be connected to your regular phone. Playing into the recent phone addiction backlash, PDA has hired Steph Curry to hawk a credit-card sized cell phone that will go wherever you do … so you can leave your burdensome actual phone at home. We’re just as confused as you …

 

  • Crazy Uncle Carl has got another cockamamie scheme up his well-starched sleeve. Carl Icahn disclosed that he holds an 8.3% stake in DVMT, the share that tracks Dell’s interest in VMware. Furthermore, Icahn plans to use the sizeable holding to block Michael Dell’s plan to bring Dell public (again) by buying DVMT. Carl and other activists believe the deal undervalues their respective stakes.

 

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The Water Coolest is a daily business newsletter consisting of business news, financial advice, and unfiltered commentary. Delivered fresh in your inbox every morning so you're ready to snap necks and cash checks. Written by Tyler Morrin, AJ Glagolev, Nick Ellis, and Ian Barto.