| | | | | | | Presented By Blockchain.com | | | | Axios Markets | | By Sam Ro ·Sep 08, 2021 | | Today's newsletter is 1,164 words, 4.5 minutes. 💰 of the day: $68,954, the lowest wage an unemployed person is willing to accept for a new job, according to the New York Fed. | | | | | | 1 big thing: A paint maker's warning |  | | | Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios | | | | Big companies continue to misread how global supply chain issues will affect business. One company just admitted it was too optimistic about its forecasts. Why it matters: Better-than-expected earnings have helped drive stock prices to new record highs. - However, more warnings that the business outlook is worse than expected could start sending prices in the opposite direction.
Driving the news: Paint and specialty coatings giant PPG Industries on Tuesday warned that its Q3 sales would be $225 million to $275 million below what it had expected during its July 19 earnings announcement. - Management blamed commodity supply disruptions, equipment parts shortages including semiconductor chips, and transportation issues across the U.S., Europe and China.
- Raw material cost inflation is expected to be higher than previously anticipated. Additionally, management cautioned that the company "continues to assess the full impact of Hurricane Ida, which could include additional supply chain effects."
What to watch: The challenges PPG identified aren't company-specific. Rather, they are external factors that are likely to impact other companies. What they're saying: David Bahnsen, chief investment officer at The Bahnsen Group, tells Axios that he doesn't expect too many more companies to cut their forecasts. But he does expect fewer companies to announce better-than-expected earnings when they announce Q3 results. - "There is no question that with fewer earnings upside surprises than the past two quarters saw, the outlook for companies in the aftermath of their own announcements becomes more Darwinian," he says.
The big picture: It's worth noting that PPG's warning is due to limited supply, not weaker demand. The silver lining to the company's warning is reflected in its statement that "aggregate global economic demand remains robust." - "When supply conditions normalize, the company continues to expect strong sales growth into 2022," the company said.
|     | | | | | | 2. Catch up quick | | BlackRock has raised $1 billion for a mutual fund to be sold to individual investors in China. It's the first mutual fund available in China run by a foreign firm. (WSJ) Ford has poached Apple executive Doug Field. Field, who also worked on developing Tesla's Model 3, reportedly led Apple's effort to develop a car. (Axios) Paypal is acquiring Japanese buy now, pay later firm Paidy in a $2.7 billion deal. (Reuters) | | | | | | | | 3. Corporate America's vax dilemma |  | | | Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios | | | | A growing number of U.S. companies have mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for employees. But in the absence of a federal mandate, there's a wide variance in what's happening — mandates for all, some, or none — with employee demands being put front and center thanks to the Great Resignation, Axios' Kate Marino writes. Why it matters: How companies answer questions about vaccines and return-to-work policies has wide-ranging impacts — on the health of their employees, on where people live, and on the strategic direction of their businesses. - Companies have turned to government health data, internal chief medical officers, partnerships with hospitals and universities, and outside consultants.
- But the biggest factor is plain old employee sentiment. And with the war for talent raging, that sentiment has never held more sway.
What they're saying: "If vaccines don't get mandated [by the federal government], you're pushing it on regions, cities, businesses, to actually make that decision. And I'm not sure they're necessarily the ones with the most data, or they're not experts in what they're making the decision on," Mike Massaro, CEO of digital payments company Flywire, tells Axios. - "Right now we're starting to deal with questions like 'are unvaccinated people more of a risk to a vaccinated person?' But vaccinated people seem to be able to transmit the virus as well. So it's a question of who are you watching out for, and what is the risk?" Massaro says.
- Of note: The CDC stopped gathering comprehensive data on breakthrough COVID infections back in May.
The big picture: Some consulting firms have invested in an area of advisory services that is public health-specific and inspired by the pandemic era we live in. - One example: EY appointed Susan Garfield to a newly created position of chief public health officer this past December. Garfield has worked in public health and life sciences for 25 years.
Keep reading. | | | | | | | | A message from Blockchain.com | | Blockchain.com: A market leader of crypto products | | |  | | | | There are over 75 million Blockchain.com Wallets that have transacted $1T+ in crypto since 2011. Whether you want to trade, earn, custody, or access full-stack institutional solutions, Blockchain.com is a leader in retail and institutional crypto products. | | | | | | 4. Credit scores are still going up |  Source: Experian; Note: Data is based on a statistically relevant sample of Experian's consumer credit database, scores range from 300–850; Chart: Axios Visuals An unexpected pandemic side effect has legs: Average credit scores are still ticking up — to the highest in 13 years, new data from credit-reporting firm Experian shows, Axios' Courtenay Brown writes. Why it matters: America saw the worst recession on record (albeit the shortest). But stay-at-home orders that limited what consumers could spend on paired with stimulus funds that went toward paying down debt helped lift the average credit score — a phenomenon that cut across all generations. Details: The pandemic hasn't interrupted the yearslong march higher for the average credit score, according to Experian's 2021 State of Credit report, which covers Q2. - The median score rose 10 points to 707.
- "[S]core improvements were supported by fewer missed payments, lower credit utilization rates and reduced card balances," the company said in a release.
Details: Average utilization rates fell 1 percentage point to 25%, after declining 5 percentage points in 2020. - Average card balances fell for every generation except Gen Z, which saw balances jump by $115 year over year (they also saw the biggest dropoff in delinquency rates for bills 90+ days past due).
But, but, but: The improvements don't tell the whole story. Millions (some who may not have credit histories) faced financial hardship — and still are. - One example: Over one-fourth of Americans say they are in households that have difficulty paying for usual household expenses, according to the latest Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey.
- Experian didn't break out credit scores by demographics in the report.
The big picture: Pandemic-era programs that played a role in shoring up finances in the past year have dried up. | | | | |  | | | | If you like this newsletter, your friends may, too! Refer your friends and get free Axios swag when they sign up. | | | | | | | | 5. El Salvador enters the bitcoin arena |  Data: FactSet; Chart: Axios Visuals It was a rocky start: Bitcoin suffered a disorderly selloff on Tuesday, alongside most other cryptocurrencies, to mark the day on which it officially became legal tender in El Salvador, along with the more widely accepted U.S. dollar, Axios' Felix Salmon writes. Why it matters: While a 17% daily swing is far from unprecedented for bitcoin, it's not the kind of thing most citizens want from their currencies. Neither is having a payments mechanism that can be unplugged by the government at will. Between the lines: Chivo, the app that El Salvador developed for its citizens to transact in bitcoin, was unavailable for much of the day; President Nayib Bukele said the government had "temporarily unplugged it" in order to deal with demand, per Reuters. - While broad-based bitcoin adoption is still a distant pipe dream in El Salvador, the government has already spent some $25 million on buying up 550 bitcoin.
Go deeper: Felix explained in June why this move could be great for criminal enterprises. - Meanwhile, the Guardian's Sophie Elmhirst has a rollicking read about the implosion of a different crypto-fueled pipe dream, this one involving an 800-foot cruise ship designed by Renzo Piano.
| | | | | | | | A message from Blockchain.com | | Blockchain.com: A market leader of crypto products | | | | | | | | There are over 75 million Blockchain.com Wallets that have transacted $1T+ in crypto since 2011. Whether you want to trade, earn, custody, or access full-stack institutional solutions, Blockchain.com is a leader in retail and institutional crypto products. | | |  | | It'll help you deliver employee communications more effectively. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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