Hi, we've got 3 charts for you today:
Wall Street is booming.
Yesterday Goldman Sachs reported its 2Q 2021 revenue, which came in at $15.4bn. That's the second highest Goldman has ever printed, second only to... the first quarter of this year. That means the 152-year-old investment bank has pulled in more than $33bn in the first half of this year, which is more than what it managed for the whole of 2017 ($32bn) — and it's not just Goldman, JP Morgan also reported profits that nearly doubled.
Deals, deals, deals
Modern investment banks do a lot of different things, and for Goldman most of its activities were up. Advising corporates on acquisitions and raising capital was up, investing money on behalf of clients was up and gains made from investing in private companies was way, way up.
The only thing that was actually down for Goldman was its trading biz — the part most people think of when they think of Wall Street. Revenues in its trading division were down 32% relative to last year, but that's partly just because this quarter last year was such a strong one, as everyone made trades to buy, sell or swap their investments during the peak "panic" of the pandemic.
Wall Street to Main Street
When Goldman's CEO isn't spinning records (he has 500k monthly listeners on Spotify), he's working on Goldman's strategy to get you — the everyday consumer — to bank with Goldman. That consumer banking effort brought in $363m in revenue last quarter, just 2% of Goldman's current total. DJ D-Sol will be hoping to pump those numbers up in the future.
Cuba has been thrown into turmoil in the last few days as thousands of protesters have taken to the streets against the ruling party. So far clashes between protesters and police have claimed the life of one man, with many more people reported missing.
Progress, and protests
Cuba's "one state — one party" system of government has ruled the Caribbean island for more than 60 years, but protests have been rare in recent times. Despite a comprehensive set of economic sanctions imposed by the United States, Cuba's economy has progressed steadily in recent decades.
Life expectancy in Cuba is well into the late 70s, similar to the US and many other developed countries. GDP per capita has also grown at a similar rate to the rest of Latin America & the Caribbean, standing at just over $9,000 per head as of 2019, thanks in part to a thriving tourism industry that routinely welcomes more than 4 million tourists a year to Cuba.
Recently however, food and medicine shortages, inflation, and a renewed surge of COVID-19 cases and deaths have sparked unrest in the country. In years gone by those troubles may not have sparked formal protests — which are banned in Cuba — but the latest data suggests that upwards of 60% of Cubans may now have internet access. That has made organizing protests easier — or at least it was until the government completely blocked all access to the internet, a common suppression tactic also used recently in Myanmar.
So far in 2021 the Federal Aviation Administration has opened more than 550 investigations into "unruly passenger incidents" on US airlines. That's more investigations in just over 6 months than in 2018, 2019 and 2020 combined. That data is even more startling when you consider that the volume of air traffic in 2021 is still not quite back to normal.
Mask on, mask off
The FAA has revealed that 75% of the incidents so far have reportedly related to face coverings, with a number of passengers unwilling to wear masks or face coverings. At the start of the year the FAA imposed a strict "zero tolerance" policy, and has so far imposed fines of more than $680,000 in total this year.
This record number of incidents may only last a few more months, as the current federal mask mandates (that requires masks on trains, buses and planes) is set to expire on September 13th.
1) Black Widow has pulled in over $150m at the global box office, and more than $60m on Disney+, suggesting that roughly 2 million people were willing to pay the $30 premiere access fee — giving further credence to the theory that certain film releases can work in cinemas and on streaming.
2) The number of firework injuries per year in the US spikes every year on July 4th — even in a pandemic.
3) All eyes are on inflation at the moment as price rises begin to be felt throughout the economy. The latest US data showed prices up 5.4% in June relative to last year. Rising coffee prices are the latest commodity to hit the headlines.
4) Contemporary art prices have outpaced S&P 500 returns by 174% from 1995 through 2020, besting gold and real estate returns by nearly 2x. We've found an incredibly smart way for investors to diversify in fine art without breaking the bank. Masterworks.**
5) The Crown and The Mandalorian have tied for the most Emmy nominations with 24 each.
6) Reports are emerging that more than 70 people have died in South Africa as violence escalates across the country after the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma.
*See important disclosures.
**This is sponsored content.
