(Silicon Valley)

The next couple of years is supposed to be the new golden age of tech IPOs. Huge Silicon Valley unicorns like Uber and Lyft ae supposed to IPO, as are a slew of less well-known, but still big, names. All the activity is supposed to kick off very soon as Lyft has just priced its IPO. The company is seeking a valuation of about $23 bn based on an offering of just over $2 bn of shares. Uber, its rival, is planning to IPO soon as well, and looking for a valuation north of $100 bn.

FINSUM: Let’s put the Lyft valuation in perspective—the company has $2.16 bn of annual revenue, but lost almost a $1 bn in the last year. Quite eye-opening.

(Washington)

In an eye-opening claim, both RIA and broker advocates are claiming that state level fiduciary rules may be illegal under federal law. Both the Investment Adviser Association (IAA) and SIFMA say that at least for RIAs, Nevada and other states’ fiduciary rules are illegal because of the 1996 National Securities Markets Improvement Act, which prohibits states from imposing additional rules on SEC-regulated advisors. The IAA said “For more than 20 years, federal law has prohibited states from adopting any rules, interpretations, or guidance that would have the effect of substantively regulating SEC-registered advisors. The IAA will engage with policymakers in any state that appears to be moving in that direction”.

FINSUM: A lot of the states’ fiduciary rules don’t just stop at brokers and extend to RIAs and insurance agents. This IAA argument seems like pretty strong grounds for a lawsuit to block any/all of these.

(New York)

Today we wanted to write a story covering the topic of rate hedged ETFs. We have been examining these lately and feel they are in high demand because of the need for stable income for retirees and the still-relevant threat of higher rates. Mortgage REIT ETFs, such as iShares’ REM really caught our eye with 9%+ yields. However, they are very rate sensitive, so we wanted to find a better option. Enter ProShares’ HYHG, or the High Yield-Interest Rate Hedged ETF. The fund yields over 6% in a highly hedged manner, it goes long high yield US and Canadian debt and simultaneously shorts US Treasuries. The expense ratio is 0.50% and the fund has $127 under management.

FINSUM: This seems like a great fund to us—6% income with only 50 basis points in fees, all in a rate hedged package.

(New York)

Investors are anxious about the chances of a recession right now. While the Fed doesn’t seem likely to hike us into one any longer, economic fundamentals have just begun to show cracks. It started with housing, then job growth for February, and now it is jobless claims. Jobless claims rose by 6,000 last week after a long stretch of falling numbers. Weekly numbers are seen as less reliable than monthly figures because of random gyrations, but the data could indicate the economy is starting to soften.

FINSUM: It is too early to tell whether this is indicative of a coming softening or just an aberration, but certainly something to pay attention to.

(Washington)

Beto O’Rourke, long expected to step into the race for the Democratic bid, has finally announced he will. The young Texan lost a close race to Ted Cruz in Texas in November, but is aiming to ride his surge in popularity to the White House. Unlike many other contenders from the Democratic party, he is more of a centrist, not adopting the now-common socialist platform. Commenting on his candidacy, Beto says “The challenges that we face right now, the interconnected crises in our economy, our democracy and our climate have never been greater. They will either consume us, or they will afford us the greatest opportunity to unleash the genius of the United States of America”.

FINSUM: Outside of maybe Bernie Sanders, we think Beto is the biggest contender to Trump because he may be able to simultaneously get voters on the far left and some of Trump’s more centrist supporters.