Hey there. It's financial expert, Nicole Lappin. And I'm Magnify, your AI investing assistant. We're working together on this new podcast, Money Assistant, where we talk to people about their money problems and then help them create an actionable plan to solve them. If we take a look at how that will impact future of Paola, she will be dead free in under six years and have a million dollars in retirement. How does that sound? Wait, what? Meet Money Assistant, premiering September fourth, wherever you got your favorite podcast. I'm Nicole Lappin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. It's time for some money rehab. Here's our weekly roundup of the biggest headlines on Wall Street and how they affect you and your finances. We're getting close to the end of the year, and that can be a time of movement in the stock market. Generally, it's a good time for the markets with people doing a lot of holiday shopping and profits generally going up. Some investors call this time period the Santa Claus Rally, but it's also the end of the financial year, which also has real tax implications for businesses and investment funds.

This is their final shot to make big moves in 2023. That's exactly the energy that's coming out from our first story, the possible Macy's buyout. Bridgewater Capital Management and Art House Management, as well as some other large investors have offered to buy out Macy's and take the company private. The Macy's company is not just Macy's stores, by the way, it's also Bloomingdale's and Blue Mercury. Plus, not only does Macy's own these brands, it also owns the physical properties where they operate. So the speculation is that the offer was made not because investors think the future of retail is brick-and-mortar department stores, but rather that real estate investors like Ark House want the properties where the stores are located. The Macy store in New York City, for example, just that single physical property is valued at three billion dollars. Historically, taking retail brands private, though, hasn't really worked out well for the brands. When was the last time you actually went to a radio shack? Payless, shoes, sports authority? All three brands went under or online only after being bought out by private equity. The offer to buy out Macy's is for $5.8 billion. This comes out to 21 bucks a share.

Last week, the stock was trading at about 17 bucks a share, but has rallied on the news. So while the buyout could mean a payout for investors, it could also mean a big shake up for one of the oldest and most recognizable brands in the United States. But not all stories coming out on Wall Street this week are wins. Companies related to pet care are struggling right now because with more people returning to working outside of the home, pet adoptions are down from last year, and the number of animals arriving in shelters is at a three-year high. While this is so tragic for the animals involved, it has also hurt the bottom line of retailers like Chewy and Petco. Chewee has lowered its revenue outlook, cut jobs, and its share price has dropped 46 %. Petco shares are also down 63 %. Both companies are struggling despite the overall strength of the market. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is meeting this week, and this is a meeting where they're going to release their projection materials. This only happens every other meeting, and the materials project or guesstimate the Fed's expectation for the coming two months. It's widely expected that the Fed will hold rates steady this time, but this show is dropping the morning of the 13th, and their report is coming out in the afternoon.

So that means you might already know the outcome. Lucky you. That's a quick check on the equity markets. Let's look at the crypto market. Right now, the crypto market is also pretty strong. The strength this month seems to have originated from general overall optimism about potential legal changes in the US that could make Bitcoin and perhaps other digital currency more accessible to retail investors, like for example, the approval of a Bitcoin ETF. Bitcoin will also have in the spring. That happens every four years. And what it means is that the amount of Bitcoin that can be mined will be cut in half. Let's double-click on that. Bitcoin is a limited asset. There's a fixed number that can be created, which makes the asset more valuable. There will only be 21 million bitcoins and over 19 million bitcoins have already been mined. So as time goes on, the number of bitcoins that can be created, halfs, which makes the demand go up because the rules of economics is you want what you can't have. So as time goes on, the number of bitcoins that can be created, halfs, which makes the demand go up. And because of the rules of economics, you want what you can't have.

Into this landscape, Jamie Dimon, the J. P. Morgan CEO and chairman testified before Congress last week and said that if he were the government, he would ban crypto. Well, no, he is not the government. He is a high-profile financial figure. And the fact that he's speaking out against crypto could sway Congress to slow their approval of Bitcoin and other digital assets. Also in the financial sector, Wells Fargo is in the headlines again, this time for more shady mortgage business. Let's remember, just one year ago, Wells Fargo paid a $3.7 billion fine for illegal activity, including foreclosing on homes where owners were up to date on their payments. This time, Wells Fargo is under scrutiny for discriminatory mortgage practices. While the baseline interest rate on mortgages is standard industry-wide, banks have some discretion to adjust the rate based on perceived risk of the borrower. They can even offer pricing exceptions that lower the interest rate for an individual borrower by as much as 75 basis points or 0.75 %. That translates to $3,000 on a $400,000 house. The Consumer Protection Bureau found that Wells Fargo and several other banks were most likely to give these pricing exception benefits to men, especially white men.

The Bureau has filed official paperwork with the bank, requiring them to investigate and rectify the situation. Wells denies any wrongdoing. The cherry on top this week is a massive of ruling in the Epic Games versus Google Battle Royale. Epic Games makes Unreal Engine one of the bigger games in the video game creation tools. It helps users craft the physical worlds where the game takes place. One of the games created on Unreal Engine is Fortnite. Fortnite was massive when it first launched pre-pandemic. It had weird dances. It had crazy accessories for characters, and it was free-to-play. Six years after the game first launched, there have been 500 million accounts created to play. This November, 100 million players logged on. That is a huge number, considering that for the last three years, Fortnite hasn't been available on mobile devices. As I said, Fortnite is free-to-play. Epic Games makes its money from in-game microtransactions. So if you want your character to look a certain way, or if you want to unlock other special in-game rewards, you have to pay for that. On platforms like Android and Apple, Epic has always struggled to maintain control over Fortnite and its revenue stream.

On August 13th, 2020, Epic Games hard launched a way for Fortnite players to buy in-game extras directly without having to go through either Apple or Google Store. Epic Games did not tell Apple or Google that they would be launching this feature, and it appeared as a game update. Once Apple and Google found out, they were not thrilled to say the least, because both stores take a percentage of sales made on their platforms. It was followed by a pair of lawsuits from Epic games against Apple and Google claiming that they were engaging in antitrust behavior. Epic then pulled its games from both platforms, and there's more tea. The Apple trial happened first as a bench trial, meaning that it was decided by a judge. Epic lost. In that case, the judge decided that the crux of this issue was mostly about microtransactions in Fortnite, which isn't really antitrust territory, which is what Epic was angling for. But the Google case, argued before a jury, was very different. The focus was on apps generally not game economies. During that trial, Epic's legal team produced secret deals between Google and other game developers, as well as documents that it made clear that Google was particularly concerned about Epic games.

In a matter of hours, the jury sided with Epic Games, so this means that Epic can sell its game and all the other extras directly to consumers. This could mean a revenue cut for Google and potentially Apple if consumers can download games directly from their creators to avoid paying fees to the platform it's hosted on. How this is all going to play out remains to be seen, but this shakeup is much bigger than just Fortnite and Epic Games. For today's tip, you can take straight to the bank. Earlier in the episode, I talked about the pricing for mortgages, but you don't even need a bank or a loan officer to approve you to get a lower rate. So if you're buying a home and you're looking to get a lower rate, talk to your lender about the possibility of buying down points. Money Rehab is a production of Moneynews Network. I'm your host, Nicole Lappin'. Money Rehab's executive producer is Morgan LaVoy. Our researcher is Emily Holmes. Do you need some money rehab? And let's be honest, we all do. So email us your money questions, moneyrehab@moneynewsnetwork. Com to potentially have your questions answered on the show, or even have a one-on-one intervention with me.

And follow us on Instagram @moneynews and TikTok @moneynewsnetwork for exclusive video content. And lastly, thank you. Seriously, thank you. Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself, which is the most important investment you can make. Hey there, it's financial expert, Nicole Lappin, and I'm Magnify, your AI Investing Assistant. We're working together on this new podcast, Money Assistant, where we talk to people about their money problems and then help them create an actionable plan to solve them. If we take a look at how that will impact future of Paola, she will be dead free in under six years and have a million dollars in retirement. How does that sound? Wait, what? Meet Money Assistant, premiering September fourth, wherever you got your favorite podcasts.