Today's Scoop:

Hey friends, Happy summer solstice! For those in the Northern Hemisphere, go enjoy the longest day of sunshine all year.

Here’s what you need to know today…

1. Policymakers still think they might raise rates more this year.

2. Bitcoin’s surging on hopes for regulatory approval for an index fund.

3. China’s pouring money into electric vehicles.

S&P 500: 4,365.69
1Mo: +4% | 1Yr: +16% | 5Yr: +58%

The market drifted lower today without many significant drivers. The next big economic and corporate updates start after the end of the month.

Policymakers still think they might raise interest rates again this year, according to new remarks from the Federal Reserve Chairman. Last week, the Fed decided to pause its most extreme policy in decades aimed at restricting the economy: raising interest rates by 5% in twelve months. So far, it looks like it has been effective at slowing business activity enough to stop the breakneck surge in prices of everything from homes to eggs and cars. If inflation picks up again, expect higher rates and more expensive borrowing.

Bitcoin’s price has surged by almost 20% in the past week as investors build hope for the first-ever Bitcoin index fund. Last week, the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, filed for regulatory approval for a Bitcoin ETF. Assuming BlackRock knows something, several other asset managers also filed applications this week. Thirty other attempts at approval have already failed.

China’s pumping more money into electric vehicles. The government announced $72B in tax breaks for people buying electric vehicles. It’s the biggest subsidy yet for the biggest EV market in the world.

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• Netflix wars with Disney over top talent

• Ford opens its first-ever carbon-neutral factory [🤓]

• General Motors is still investing in diesel and gas engines

• Tesla wins the plug standard

• FedEx suffers from online shopping slowdown

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Carbon Neutral

More companies are setting net-zero emissions and carbon-neutral targets to reduce their impact on climate change and minimize the volume of harmful greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere from their operations, supply chain, and products. While the terms are often colloquially interchangeable, they have slightly different meanings.

Carbon neutral means the company removes as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it emits yearly. Net-zero takes it a step further, broadening from just carbon to all greenhouse gases like methane or sulfur dioxide and restricting the use of carbon offsets. This means net-zero companies must reduce their emissions, not just counteract them by purchasing financial instruments that direct money to carbon-negative projects like tree planting.

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