Banks Go Bananas 🍌

After passing the Fed’s stress tests, banks are boosting quarterly dividends and announcing stock buybacks— US banks will pay $2B more per quarter in dividends. ?

Morgan Stanley led the way, doubling its dividends (to $0.70). The bank also announced an ambitious $12B buyback program.

Goldman Sachs boosted dividends by 60% (to $2). Wells Fargo doubled dividends (to $0.20), halfway back to its pre-pandemic dividend of $0.51. The bank will prioritize its $18B buyback.

Bank of America will lift dividends by 17% (to $0.21). JPMorgan Chase increased dividends 11.1% (to $1). Citigroup said its dividends would be “at least 51 cents a share” (spoiler alert: Citi’s are at $0.51 right now).

What do big banks have in common? ? Sticking to their pre-pandemic playbook of resuming stock buybacks and delivering strong dividends.

The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund ($XLF) rose 1.35% this week.

Do you want a stable-yet-high-yield return on your crypto investment?? Coinbase has an offer for you. 😌

Buy USDC on Coinbase to receive a 4% return— $COIN cryptocurrencies claim to be backed by fiat currencies like dollars, pounds, etc. The exchange offers impressive rates to challenge conventional “high yield” savings accounts. A competitive rate right now is about 0.5%.

The 4% yield is higher than bank accounts but below lending competitors like BlockFi, which presently offers 8.6% returns on USDC and other stablecoins. 💸

Circle and Coinbase issue the stablecoin; there’s a similar program offered called Circle Yield. The only downside? No FDIC insurance. 😬 The auditable reserve might be strong enough for crypto maxis, though. 

Higher return without higher risks…? 😍 Sign us up.

United Airlines is about to drop a bag. ✈️ 💰 

In preparation for the post-COVID travel spree, United’s spending $35B on 270 new planes from Boeing and Airbus— it’s the largest aircraft order in history. 

The order includes 200 Boeing 737 Max’s and 70 A321neo’s. The company has 500 planes earmarked for delivery between now and 2027, replacing over 300 aircraft in United’s current fleet. 

The airline expects purchases to boost domestic capacity by 30%. United also announced today that the company hopes to add 25,000 union jobs by 2026. United plans to grow its workforce by 36% just months after accepting $54B in government aid. 

$UAL lost 0.65% today. 

Concerned about Elon’s Bitcoin/environment tweet? Yeah, us too. 

Nearly half of polled US investors worried about it, according to a new survey. 49% of the 1,103 respondents shared they have a “problem with Bitcoin environmental issues.”

In May, Musk stopped accepting Bitcoin as tender for purchases due to Bitcoin’s environmental impact. The price of $BTC.X started falling. 

On the bright side, polls show eco-friendly investors. 72% of respondents said they’re in favor of a more ‘green’ cryptocurrency. 

We’re all for decentralization while also saving the planet. ♻️ 🌎