“The project never launched, partly because Facebook burned its reputation to the ground selling our data and potentially destabilizing democracy. So regulators worldwide acted on our behalf to say that Facebook – with its billions of users and foothold within the internet – couldn’t be trusted with a radical new attempt for currency design. [Nouriel] Roubini’s project is similarly ambitious – creating an alternative safe haven asset to U.S. Treasurys that also has “payment features.” It might also offer yield, making it more attractive to hold, although in a blog post, Roubini notes that USG’s fluctuating value may limit its use as a form of payment.” (CoinDesk columnist Daniel Kuhn) … “Stocks will enter a bear market, at least by most conventional definitions, when the S&P 500 has dropped 20% from its last peak. As of Friday afternoon, the index had dropped nearly 14 percent from a Jan. 3 record. A 2.7% drop in late-morning trading on Monday meant the index was even closer to the bear market threshold now.” (The New York Times) … “Still, investors are parsing disparate data about the financial health of consumers and businesses. The U.S. economy shrank by 1.4% in the first quarter, the worst showing since early in the pandemic, in spring 2020. However, consumer and business spending remained strong. Bank executives have pointed to high spending in categories like travel and entertainment as reasons for optimism. Market volatility resulting from higher interest rates and the war in Ukraine have dinged big banks’ deal-making businesses. The market for initial public offerings has been largely shut down over the past several months.” (The Wall Street Journal)
