Brittney Griner in a Russian jail cell (left), Elon Musk (right)ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images (left) and JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images (right)
Elon Musk responded to reports of a US-Russia prisoner exchange to free WNBA player Brittney Griner.
“Maybe free some people in jail for weed here too?” I have tweeted alongside a meme on Sunday.
Griner was imprisoned in Russia after officials found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.
Elon Musk tweeted Sunday in response to a US-Russia prisoner exchange offer reportedly made by the Biden administration to free WNBA star Brittney Griner.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist has been detained in Russia since February after Moscow airport officials claimed they found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.
“Maybe free some people in jail for weed here too?” Musk wrote in Sunday’s tweet, alongside a meme captioned: “People in the US in jail for weed while the government trades a Russian war criminal to free a woman’s basketball player in jail for weed.”
The Biden administration offered to release Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer known as the “merchant of death,” in exchange for Griner and Paul Whelan, an ex-marine accused of espionage, The New York Times and CNN reported last week.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged last Wednesday that the US made a “substantial proposal” to get the pair of Americans released, but didn’t confirm if Bout was offered up in the negotiations. No deal between Russia and the US has been finalized yet, Reuters reported Thursday.
Sunday’s tweet isn’t the first time Musk has criticized the US justice systems’ persecution of marijuana-related crimes.
“Selling weed literally went from major felony to essential business (open during pandemic) in much of America and yet many are still in prison. Doesn’t make sense, isn’t right,” the Tesla CEO tweeted in 2020.
Two years before, Musk was filmed smoking marijuana during a live interview on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast weeks after telling The New York Times that “weed is not helpful for productivity.”
“There’s a reason for the word ‘stoned,'” he told the outlet. “You just sit there like a stone on weed.”
With the August earnings season about to kick off, ASX companies big and small will soon turn in their report cards for mums, dads (and every other type of investor!) to judge their progress.
But before the bell rings on the duxes and drop-outs, we asked our Foolish contributors to let us know which ASX shares they reckon will top the class in the long run. Here is what the team came up with:
7 best ASX shares for August 2022 (smallest to largest)
Lindsay Australia Limited (ASX: LAU), $144.95 million
Electro Optic Systems Holdings Ltd (ASX: EOS), $148.86 million
Ansarada Group Ltd (ASX: AND), $164.82 million
Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW), $637.52 million
Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (ASX: CLW), $3.29 billion
What it does: Lindsay Australia is an integrated transport, logistics, and rural supply company. It has a large and growing fleet of road and rail transport, along with more than 40 rural supply stores and transport depots.
By Bernd Struben: The Lindsay share price has gained around 17% so far in 2022, despite skyrocketing fuel costs. Even following that gain, the stock trades at a reasonable price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 20 times. And, I believe it has strong growth potential with the end-to-end solutions the company provides to Australia’s farmers by simplifying transport and logistics issues across the agricultural sector. That’s particularly relevant in light of a growing global food crunch.
In its FY22 first-half (H1) results, Lindsay reported a 20.2% year-on-year increase in underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), which reached $31.4 million. The company also continues to expand its rail fleet, adding 50 refrigerated containers in H1, bringing the total to 350.
Lindsay is also a reliable dividend payer, with a current trailing dividend yield of 3.96%, unfranked.
Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben does not own shares of Lindsay Australia Limited.
Electro Optic Systems Holdings Ltd
What it does: Electro Optic Systems (EOS) is an Australian-owned and operated defence, space and communications company.
By Aaron Teboneras: EOS designs, manufactures and exports advanced technology systems. Key applications include sensors and systems for space domain awareness, optical, microwave and on-the-move satellite products, and remote weapons systems.
With the EOS share price currently trading not far off multi-year lows at 91 cents, I believe this has created an attractive buying opportunity for long-term investors.
Defense capabilities among Australia and its allies have been growing in importance since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. This has highlighted a need among many EOS customers, including NATO, to increase their defense expenditure.
In FY2021, EOS reported record revenue of $211.8 million. That was 17.5% higher than what it achieved in FY2020 ($180.2 million). The company expects FY22 revenue to be equal to or higher than FY21.
Furthermore, the defense contractor continues to invest heavily in the future, particularly in its SpaceLink division. The total addressable market for this is estimated to be around US$2 billion per annum from 2024.
Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras owns shares of Electro Optic Systems Holdings Ltd.
Ansarada Group Ltd
What it does: Ansarada is a provider of specialized cloud-based software addressing the needs of companies and organizations requiring data management solutions for managing mergers and acquisitions, tender processes, and board meetings.
By Mitchell Lawler: The tech sector has been punished so far in 2022. However, while it is not uncommon to find small-cap ASX tech shares showing falls of more than 40% on a year-to-date basis, the Ansarada share price has been somewhat resilient, retracing 19% since the start of the year.
Notably, the reduction in the company’s share price has coincided with sustained growth across key metrics. Last week, Ansarada released its fourth-quarter results for FY22. Positively, revenue increased 43% year-on-year (YoY) to $12.9 million, accompanied by customer growth of 52% YoY.
With an impressive staple of clients, zero debt, and $22 million in cash, I believe Ansarada is currently a relatively well-positioned company.
Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler owns shares of Ansarada Group Ltd.
Temple & Webster Group Ltd
What it does: Temple & Webster is the largest, online-only retailer of furniture and homewares in Australia. A majority of the 200,000 products for sale on the company’s website are held and directly dispatched to customers by external suppliers. Temple & Webster also has a growing private-label range.
By Tristan Harrison: The Temple & Webster share price has fallen heavily in 2022, which I think has created an opportunistic time to buy.
The company continues to grow strongly, with its latest trading update showing 23% revenue growth year-on-year.
The ASX retailer is adding new growth avenues, such as its ‘The Build’ website for home improvement. It’s also aiming to increase its productivity and customer experience by investing in areas such as data, personalisation, AI, augmented reality and logistics.
I believe greater scale can benefit Temple & Webster’s unit economics and enable further re-investment. Plus, it’s considering “opportunistic inorganic activity”, meaning potential acquisitions.
Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison does not own shares of Temple & Webster Group Ltd.
Charter Hall Long WALE REIT
What it does: Charter Hall Long WALE REIT is a real estate investment trust (REIT). It owns a portfolio of properties with long weighted average lease expiries (WALE).
By Sebastian Bowen: I believe Charter Hall Long WALE REIT is an investment worth considering as we head into the last month of winter. This property trust specializes in holding real estate assets with long WALEs, as its name implies. These include distribution centers, offices, and pubs, among others.
Many of these properties are held with lease agreements spanning more than a decade, with inflation-linked rental increases built into many. This arguably provides investors today with much-needed certainty in an uncertain investing environment.
Even better, on recent pricing, this REIT offers a trailing distribution yield of close to 7%. As such, it could well be worth a look this August.
Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns units of Charter Hall Long WALE REIT.
Treasury Wine Estates Ltd
What it does: Treasury Wine is the maker, marketer, and supplier of iconic Australian wine brands including Penfolds, Wolf Blass, and 19 Crimes.
By Brooke Cooper: The Treasury Wine share price has had a rough trot over the last few years.
It’s been impacted by the pandemic, Chinesetariffs on Australian wine, and general market weakness.
In fact, the stock is around 24% lower than it was at the start of 2020, trading at $12.25. However, brokers are tipping a turnaround.
Morgans has slapped Treasury Wines shares withan ‘add’ rating and a $13.93 price target.
The broker believes the company is gearing up to post a few years of strong earnings growth, starting with the six months ended 30 June.
Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper does not own shares of Treasury Wine Estates Ltd.
South32 Ltd
What it does: South32 is one of Australia’s largest miners. It has a portfolio of world-class assets across a range of locations and commodities, including aluminum, copper, and nickel.
By James Mickleboro: I think South32 shares could be a top option for investors in August. Last month, the miner released its fourth quarter and FY2022 production update and revealed it had another solid year despite battling weather, COVID, and labor headwinds.
In light of this, and the strong prices South32 is commanding for a number of the commodities it produces, the company appears well-placed to deliver bumper free cash flow when it releases its full-year results later this month. And thanks to its strong balance sheet, this could potentially mean big dividends for shareholders.
Looking ahead, I believe the future is bright for South32 due to its exposure to commodities that are integral to the decarbonisation megatrend. So with its shares changing hands for just 0.75x net asset value, compared to Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) at ~1.4x, this could make South32 great value today.
Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro does not own shares of South32 Ltd.
There’s good news on the horizon for those who’ve managed to preorder the handheld Steam Deck console. According to creator Valve, everyone who currently has a reservation placed will get their consoles by the end of 2022 – a major step forward for the console’s production. Those in the Q3 and Q4 reservation slots now have a guaranteed end-of-year release date, with select orders in later periods also reportedly being pushed up.
‘We’ve cleared up supply chain issues, a bunch of folks got moved up to Q3, and all other reservations are now in Q4,’ Valve clarified on Twitter. ‘For clarity, Q3 is July-September, and Q4 is October-December.’
It appears the supply chain issues – which likely included a coronavirus-induced lack of staff and materials, shipping delays and factory closures – have now been resolved, with Valve re-establishing confidence in its manufacturing capacity and ability to meet existing demand for the console .
‘Many of the supply chain shortfalls that affect Steam Deck are gradually clearing up, and we’re continuing to ramp production, so we’re able to produce more Decks faster than ever before,’ a new blog post reads.
Read: A major Steam Deck rival is now available for preorder in Australia
Sadly, this update doesn’t include information about a wider global release – but regardless, it’s good news for those keen to preorder the Steam Deck around the world. Should Valve’s production schedule continue to remain strong, it’s likely the company will open up preorders in other regions shortly.
Demand for handheld PC gaming is at an all-time high, with several competitors – including the Aya Neo consoles – now entering the global market.
In late 2021, Valve indicated it was working to provide Steam Deck preorder capacity for Australia and Japan specifically, but this has yet to materialize. Should the production update be a good indication of Valve’s progress, we could hear more about global preorders by the end of 2022.
At that stage, the console will be a full year into its life cycle, but there are certainly those who are willing to wait to hear more about the device. While Valve’s update is a minor one, it’s a good sign for everyone hanging out for preorders.
Stranger Things star Joseph Quinn has been inducted into legendary metal band Metallica as an honorary member after jamming with the band at the Lollapalooza festival in the US.
On the show, Quinn plays Eddie Munson, a misunderstood metal fan who’s forced to go on the run when he’s wrongly accused of murder. In a pivotal scene, Eddie saves the day by playing “the most metal concert ever”: Metallica’s icon banger, Master of Puppets. Quinn performed the song himself.
Netflix/Supplied
When Metallica met “Eddie Munson”, from left to right: drummer Lars Ulrich, lead singer and guitarist James Hetfield, bassist Robert Trujillo, actor Joseph Quinn and guitarist Kirk Hammett, at Lollapalooza 2022, in Chicago. Insert: Joseph Quinn as Eddie Munson.
On Saturday, Netflix shared a clip of the 28-year-old British actor joining the band backstage at the festival, where lead singer James Hetfield invites Quinn to jam with them in the band’s tuning room.
“I’m a bit rusty,” Quinn says. “You might need to give me a lesson.”
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He describes the song as being all he listened to for two years during the pandemic while he was waiting for shooting on season four of the show to resume after the UK and US lockdowns.
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Actor Joseph Quinn jams with Metallica backstage at Lollapalooza in Chicago.
“I feel very connected to you guys.”
He then gets to play Master of Puppets with the band, prompting drummer Lars Ulrich to announce Metallica “just became a five piece”.
Hetfield caps the love fest off by giving Quinn a replica BC Rich NJ series Warlock guitar like the one played by Eddie on the show, signed by the band, with Eddie’s Hellfire Club logo inside the case.
Quinn’s transformative performance of Eddie Munson has been widely lauded by fans and critics.
The character swiftly took on iconic status, appearing in memes, on tee shirts across the Internet, while a petition created by fans to demand the Stranger Things producers The Duffer Brothers bring Eddie back next season has reached more than 80,000 signatures.
The South London-raised actor, who studied drama at the Benedict Cumberbatch’s old school, Lamda , has been in hot demand since the show’s final episodes aired in mid-July.
A recent London comic convention allegedly tuned sour when organizers were overwhelmed by the number of people who turned out to meet him.
Netflix/Supplied
Joseph Quinn as Eddie Munson in a pivotal scene in the final episode of Stranger Things season 4.
During a Q&A at the event, a fan expressing gratitude for Quinn’s performance and for the time he spent with the fans brought the actor to tears. When 1883 Magazine published a cover story with the star its site crashed for 24 hours.
In an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Quinn expressed surprise and relief at the response to Eddie. He said he would love to play Eddie again, and is open to returning, although he has no idea how they would do that.
“It was moving to see how many people have identified with him,” Quinn told Fallon.
Stranger Things season four is available on Netflix now.
Veteran rider Annemiek van Vleuten has won the historic, re-booted Tour de France Femmes on Sunday after clinching the eighth and final stage in style.
Key points:
Van Vleuten won the stage by 30 seconds from fellow Dutchwoman Demi Vollering
Vollering was also second overall, three minutes and 48 seconds behind van Vleuten
The best placed Australian was Grace Brown, who finished 20th overall
The 39-year-old won the stage for 30 seconds from Dutch countrywoman Demi Vollering, who also finished the race second overall.
Italian rider Silvia Persico was third in the stage, one minute and 43 seconds behind the winner.
In the overall standings, Movistar rider van Vleuten was three minutes and 48 seconds clear of Vollering (Team SD Worx) and six minutes and 35 seconds ahead of Polish rider Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon–SRAM) in third spot.
Van Vleuten had just about enough energy to punch the air in delight when crossing the line after the 123-kilometre mountain stage in the Vosges mountains of eastern France.
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It featured two category-one climbs, the second ascent being the stage-ending trek up La Super Planche des Belles Filles, which finished with a daunting gradient of 23 per cent.
She entered the final stage with a lead of three minutes and 14 seconds over Vollering.
On Saturday’s penultimate stage, Van Vleuten rose from eighth overall to take the yellow jersey from Marianne Vos with more superb climbing in the Vosges.
Van Vleuten added this victory to a long list of achievements, including three Giro d’Italia Femminile titles, Olympic gold in the time trial and two world championship golds in the same discipline.
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Six years ago, her career was under threat after she sustained fractures to her spine and was placed in intensive care after crashing during the women’s Olympic road race at the Brazil Games.
Vos was among the favorites, but the three-time Giro d’Italia champion ended up in 26th place overall despite winning two stages.
The best placed Australian was Grace Brown, who finished 20th overall, riding with FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope.
Grace Brown of Australia (FDJ-Suez Futuroscope) was the highest-placed Australian at the Tour de France Femmes 2022. (Getty Images: Dario Belingheri)
Fellow Australian Rachel Neylan finished 28th (Team Cofidis).
Redland Mayor Karen Williams has been sentenced to 80 hours of community service and had her license disqualified for six months after pleading guilty to drink driving.
Key points:
The Mayor was charged with being more than three times over the limit when she crashed her car
She was disqualified from driving for six months and had no conviction recorded
A small group of protesters outside court called for her to stand down
The south-east Queensland Mayor appeared in Cleveland Magistrates Court this morning, charged with being more than three times over the legal blood-alcohol limit when she crashed her car on June 23.
The court heard Ms Williams crossed four lanes of traffic before she left the road, entered a ditch and struck a tree in the single-vehicle incident at the intersection of Queens and Wellington Streets in Cleveland.
Her blood alcohol concentration was 0.177, more than three times the limit.
She was disqualified from driving for six months and had no conviction recorded.
In sentencing, Magistrate Deborah Vasta said there would be “a small number of very hurt people who will never forgive” the Mayor.
A small group of protesters, pushing for the mayor’s resignation, gathered outside court this morning.
A group of protesters outside Karen Williams’s court proceeding at Cleveland Court.(ABC News: Jemima Burt)
Magistrate Vasta said community service would help the Mayor overcome the betrayal felt by members of her community affected by road fatalities.
“This case has gathered a lot of public attention, condemnation and vitriol,” she said.
“It seems to me that there is a group of people who feel very betrayed by your client’s actions and behavior and who may perceive your client to be a two-faced politician who has milked their grief for her own political gain.
“It seems to me that there is a real desire to see your client punished more than the average drink driver and not just because she is older and should be held to a higher standard, because of what some people see as stunning hypocrisy and betrayal. “
Current councilor Adelia Berridge said the feeling within council was “awful.”
The court heard Ms Williams had consumed four glasses of wine prior to getting behind the wheel.
Messages were tendered in court showing dozens of vitriolic texts sent to the Mayor’s phone, which included “very sad you didn’t die in the crash” and “resign now you two faced b***h.”
The Mayor and gallery, including road safety advocate Judy Lindsay, sat through a graphic road safety video.
Speaking outside court, Ms Williams described the incident as a “lapse of judgement” and said she would return to work later this week.
“I know that I will have to work very hard to regain the trust of my community and I’m absolutely committed to doing that. I will never put my family, my friends, my community and my council colleagues in this position again.
“This was a single lapse of judgment in 18 years of service to my community. I know I have hard work to do and I will regain that trust as I return to work later this week.”
One hundred and seventy-two people have died on Queensland’s road this year — the highest toll in 30 years.
‘I don’t respect’
Judy Lindsay is calling on Ms Williams to resign.(By Jemima Burt)
Among the protesters was road safety advocate Judy Lindsay, whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver in 2009.
“I think she needs to stand up and resign now,” she said.
Ms Lindsay was in a Zoom meeting with Ms Williams, and other families who had lost loved ones to drunk drivers, prior to being caught drinking driving.
“[It] just shows to me that she had no respect for me, my story or anybody else in the Zoom meeting that lost family members,” she said
Ms Lindsay said this is a “really bad example of what happens in our community.”
“I feel that for someone who is pushing for road safety in our community, she can’t be in that position anymore.”
Current councilor Adelia Berridge was also outside with the protesters advocating for Ms Williams’s resignation.
“They are asking for the Mayor to resign, which is I believe the right thing to do,” Ms Berridge said.
“How can we aspire to a civic leader who we are seeing drink driving at a very high range?”
A Brooklyn woman out walking her dog fought off a stranger who put her in a chokehold and tried to rape her, shocking video released by the NYPD Sunday shows.
The attacker ambushed the 30-year-old victim from behind as she was walking her pooch near Woodbine St. and Ridgewood Place in Bushwick at about 8:25 am Saturday, cops said. He put her in a chokehold and dragged her to the ground, the video shows.
The victim dropped her dog’s leash in the struggle and the startled small canine darted part way down the block.
A would-be rapist put a dog walker into a chokehold and tried to force himself on her on a Brooklyn street. (New York Daily News Handout)
As the attacker held the victim in the chokehold he started humping her over her clothing while she struggled to free herself.
She managed to fight him off, and he ran away east on Woodbine St., police said.
The woman, who suffered neck and face injuries, initially declined medical attention but later went to Interfaith Medical Center, cops said.
In addition to video of the attack, cops on released surveillance images of the suspect taken before the attack and are asking the public’s help identifying him and tracking him down.
Photo of the suspect from a surveillance video provided by the NYPD. (DCPI)
He is described as about 30 and 5-feet-8 with a dark complexion, black hair in dreads, a thin mustache and what appears to be a slight goatee. He was wearing a black baseball hat with a rose design on the front, a black T-shirt, black shorts and black sneakers.
Cops ask anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.
Some systems connect lenders with borrowers, and depending on how much demand there is on either side, calculate an ‘interest rate’ for investors who tip money in.
These are called “automated lending protocols”, and the biggest ones are Aave, Maker and Compound, which have failed 65 per cent, 59 per cent and 72 per cent respectively.
DeFi also boasts “automated market makers” or decentralized exchanges, which automatically connect buyers and sellers and also provide liquidity to marketplaces.
The biggest ones are Uniswap, Curve and PancakeSwap which are down 60 per cent, 78 per cent and 67 per cent respectively since January 1. Australian DeFi projects include Synthetix, which is down 38 per cent, Maple Finance, which is down 14 per cent .
Although the token prices are the most obvious way to track the performance of a DeFi project, the yields show how much demand there is for the system.
For example, if many people want to lend their money out, yields are high. When people don’t want to lend it out, yields are low. Yields in January were between 10 and 20 per cent, whereas yields are between 0.5 per cent and 5 per cent now, showing just how much money has pulled out of crypto markets.
NFTs, or non-fungible-tokens, have been hit the hardest in this latest crypto selloff. NFTs are any digital asset fixed to a token, and saw an explosion of popularity in the digital art market.
The popularity of digital artworks fixed to NFT technology meant many people who previously had never been interested in crypto markets poured their money in.
Australian businesses exposed to the NFT market are NFT marketplace builder ImmutableX, which is down 73 per cent, and video game Illuvium, which is down 86 per cent since the start of the year.
The only types of digital assets that have seen inflows are stablecoins. These are cryptocurrencies that trade in line with another asset like the US dollar or Australian dollar.
Although the market capitalization of Bitcoin has fallen 70 per cent this year, the market capitalization of all stablecoins has only decreased by 11 per cent. Most analysts say this is an indication that money has rushed out of many digital assets, but hasn’t entirely left the ecosystem.
What is causing the sell-off (and is it just crypto)?
There are two main reasons why cryptocurrencies of all stripes have sold off.
The first is a macroeconomic one. For a long time, low-interest rates meant bonds and other “safe” investments yielded very little, so investors were pushed out to equities and sometimes crypto to try and find some returns.
Digital assets are notoriously volatile and subject to market sentiment and momentum, rather than fundamental analysis, so there were many excited traders trying to make money on the movements.
Combined with the rise of lucrative DeFi yields, and a rush of speculation on NFTs, and crypto markets soared over the past few years.
But rising interest rates around the world means investors want to avoid holding risky assets right now.
Since the US Federal Reserve started increasing interest rates in March – the first time in three years – and signaled there would be many more rises, investors have yanked their money out of riskier markets. The US central bank acted again on July 27, lifting rates another 0.75 of a percentage point.
This “risk-off attitude” is visible in the indiscriminate crunch in high-growth technology stocks which have failed as much as 70 per cent.
What is causing so many crypto ‘banks’ to collapse?
The second reason cryptocurrencies are being sold off is the widespread collapse of several large crypto “banks” and hedge funds. Most notably, Three Arrows Capital and crypto lender Celsius, both of which have filed for bankruptcy.
Just like in the global financial crisis, these collapses come down to huge amounts of leverage and borrowing in this latest crypto cycle.
In May, an algorithmic stablecoin called Terra/Luna collapsed. It was meant to remain firmly pegged to the US dollar through a trading mechanism. But the team behind the coin was paying traders 18 per cent interest to keep the coin stable.
Terra/Luna was very widely held as a stablecoin and when it suddenly fell to $0, many businesses were in trouble.
One was Singapore-based Three Arrows Capital. Not only was it heavily exposed to Terra/Luna, but it had also taken out loans it was unable to pay back once the crypto collapse took place.
Another collapsed crypto business was Celsius, which offered customers returns over 18 per cent for depositing their digital assets. Celsius had taken those deposits and traded them in high-risk markets behind the scenes to earn the interest to pay back to customers.
One investment was actually in Three Arrows Capital; an illustration of the market contagion that has crypto investors nervous. Just how many large players are exposed to each other?
It turns out a lot. Greyscale Trust, BlockFi, Voyager are just some of the names that had huge holes blown in their balance sheets when Three Arrows Collapsed.
Another crypto bank, Babel Finance, is also struggling to stay solvent. Turns out Babel was also taking depositor money and trading it without any risk controls behind the scenes.
Australian-founded cryptocurrency exchange Zipmex has been caught up in the turmoil, last month announcing it was trying to claw back $69 million it had slowed to the rocky “bank”.
It’s worth noting these businesses are all centralized organisations. They are run by teams of people who made decisions about how much they wanted to borrow against their deposits.
Unlike traditional stock exchanges, which have automated “circuit breakers” that halt trading if the market starts selling off drastically, crypto businesses couldn’t stop the flow of money out the door in time.
They were also borrowing more and more crypto to turbocharge their returns. They took huge risks and it blew up.
The contagion within crypto markets hasn’t spilled over into other markets, but looking under the hood reveals just how interlinked many of these crypto projects are.
How does this compare to previous crashes?
This is not the first crypto crash. In fact, in the 10-ish year history of bitcoin there have been several 70 per cent falls, as well as an eye-watering 90 per cent fall.
Ethereum, which emerged in 2015 with its cryptographic smart contract blockchain, has also suffered at least two 70 per cent collapses.
During those crashes, it was fairly clear what had caused the sell-offs. It was either a hack, an exchange shut down, regulators were banning crypto-use or the macro picture had investors of all stripes cashing out their investments.
This time round though, there are more complex reasons as to why cryptocurrencies – and there are 19,000 of them – are being sold off.
But sophisticated crypto investors don’t seem particularly worried about the pull-back.
If you have done your homework on the types of projects being developed, and are examining the unit economics on-chain, many investors see a buying opportunity. Just like tech investors in the stock market.
Can crypto bounce back from this?
Like many venture capital-backed or speculative businesses, crypto start-ups have laid off waves of workers to conserve cash.
But at the heart of much of the crypto industry’s “wash-out” is an internal debate, or a re-examination, of decentralized businesses versus centralized ones.
To market observers, the crypto organizations built on-chain using decentralized systems have withstood the widespread carnage.
They say the blockchain-based technology that connects buyers and sellers, or lenders and borrowers, may be experiencing less activity than usual, and their automated yield calculations might be lower, but the technology itself hasn’t broken.
In fact, many investors are pleased the selloff has swept some of the over-hyped, frenzied and unsophisticated investors obsessed with speculation out of the market.
Actress Michelle Rodriguez has revealed she’s very happy with filmmaker Louis Leterrier having taken over the direction of “Fast X” following director Justin Lin exiting the project shortly after it began filming.
Once Leterrier was onboard, he packed the tenth “Fast and Furious” film with a creative team from his native France and Rodriguez tells THR the production is now “like the French takeover, dude”. She’s not complaining though. Remove the opposite:
“Trust me, at the beginning, I was like two weeks in with no director. I’m like, ‘What are we gonna do?’
I have [Leterrier] came with all this energy of love. We haven’t had that in Fast and Furious for a very long time where we get somebody excited who’s a real fan and who really wants to take it places that it hasn’t gone before.
We’ve been at it for 20 years, bro. After all that time, you get jaded and kind of forget what you do it for [until] a director like Louis comes in and reminds you, ‘This is beautiful. Let’s go make magic.’ We’re so lucky to have him bro.”
Letterier was announced as director back in early May, and things seem to have progressed smoothly since Rodriguez confirmed last week she has already wrapped her filming commitments and the whole production should be finished filming by the end of August.
“Fast X” is currently on track for a May 19th 2023 release.
With the weight of the world on her shoulders and a Commonwealth Games gold medal at stake, Georgia Godwin knew exactly what soundtrack she needed to deliver glory.
Holding a handy lead over Ondine Achampong and Emma Spence, and needing only a clean performance, the Australian commenced her floor routine to an instrumental version of Michael Buble’s Feeling Good.
A month after Godwin had contemplated skipping Birmingham altogether amid ankle issues, the Australian hit every beat, and officially snapped England’s run of artistic gymnastics gold medals.
Godwin’s 12,950 on the floor and total score of 53,550 sealed her first Commonwealth Games gold, an upgrade on her all-around silver on the Gold Coast, ahead of England’s Achampong (53,000) and Canada’s Spence (52,350).
Australia’s Georgia Godwin clinched the all-around gymnastics gold by 0.55 points from England’s Ondine Achampong.(AP: Zac Goodwin)
“There’s been a lot that I’ve had to get through. I came into this competition with no expectations, I just wanted to do my best and here we are,” Godwin told reporters.
“That was actually quite difficult for me going into the floor because you don’t want to stuff it up, so that plays on your mind.
“But I just said ‘no, you’ve done this 100 times … so just enjoy it. It’s your last floor routine here. Just enjoy it. Get the crowd involved and smile at the judges.’
“It is a new floor routine. That song is something that’s grown with me.
“Whenever I’m down I always play the song, Michael Buble always somehow manages to make me happy. So it was just the only choice for my new floor music.”
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Godwin was coming off Saturday night’s team silver and admitted she hadn’t slept much before the tight turnaround.
The Queenslander was fifth after scoring 13,300 on the vault first-up.
But an outstanding uneven bars routine delivered 13,550 and lifted Godwin into third, 0,700 off England’s leader Alice Kinsella.
The competition opened up dramatically when Kinsella fell off the beam, failed to complete her routine and went over time.
The 21-year-old was distracted and slumped in a corner of Birmingham Arena after scoring 11,000.
“I did hear the crowd when Alice fell, but I didn’t quite know what was going on,” Godwin said.
“I tried to stay in my own little bubble, focus on what I was doing.”
Georgia Godwin went into the lead in the women’s all-around with her balance beam routine, which scored 13,750. (Getty Images: Laurence Griffiths)
Godwin capitalized, completing a brilliant routine by dismounting with a double somersault in the pike position to earn a competition-high score of 13,750 and take the lead.
“My beam routine, I’ve never quite hit the start score I’ve wanted to and if I’m correct, I did hit it today,” she said.
Achampong also fell, further opening the door for Godwin to seal her triumph.
Fellow Australian Emily Whitehead finished 12th on 47,650.
Godwin will compete in Monday’s vault and uneven bars finals and Tuesday’s beam final.
Elsewhere, Jesse Moore had to withdraw halfway through the men’s all-around final with a shoulder injury.
The 19-year-old is unlikely to compete in Monday’s rings final but could feature in the pommel horse and high bar deciders, on Monday and Tuesday respectively.
Clay Mason Stephens finished 11th on 76,800 and will finish his campaign in Monday’s floor final.
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