Today's Scoop:

Hey friends, there will be no scoops on Monday or Tuesday next week. We'll return to the regular schedule on Wednesday, the 15th.🚨

I’m honored to have been elected by over 175 of my peers to sit on the board of JUST Capital to represent the next generation of business leaders advancing stakeholder capitalism. I will be participating in a two-day event for JUST Capital and the board at the Nasdaq.

Look out for me ringing the Nasdaq opening bell on Monday, the 13th, at 9:30 am EST!

- Augustus, Founder & CEO

Now, here's what you need to know today...

1. Investors are worried about banks.

2. President Biden wants to raise taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

3. Layoffs picked up last week.

S&P 500: 3,918.321Mo: -4% | 1Yr: -8% | 5Yr: +42%

The market sank lower today as investors worried about higher rates starting to stress regional banks.

Two different banks warned of stability issues this week. A crypto-focused lender, Silvergate, is shutting down. Tech-focused lender Silicon Valley Bank asked investors for $2B to stabilize its balance sheet. SVB said high interest rates have made lending more costly and stressed its clients, who tend to be less-profitable, high-growth companies. Companies burning through cash means less in their deposit accounts and less for SVB to lend out. No big banks have raised any major red flags, so the concerns might be company-specific.

President Biden proposed higher taxes this week in the administration's new budget proposal. The plan includes a 25% minimum tax for the wealthiest income bracket, a higher capital gains tax on the profits from sold investments, and higher taxes on corporations. This proposal will likely face challenges in Congress.

Layoffs picked up last week more than economists expected. The Labor Department reported initial unemployment claims of 211,000. That's still low, but it indicates some of the big layoff announcements coming through. Investors will be waiting for the official February jobs report tomorrow. [🤓]

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Jobs reports

There are four main reports people watch to understand trends in the labor market.

The main "jobs report" comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on the first Friday of each month (usually). It highlights the unemployment rate, new jobs added, and wage growth.

The Labor Department also releases the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) each month, but on a one-month lag. That report helps us understand how many open positions there are, how many people quit their jobs, and how many were hired.

There's also a monthly private-sector survey from payroll services company ADP that doesn't include government jobs and the weekly initial unemployment claims (a proxy for layoffs) report from the Labor Department.

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