Hello there.
"Go to college," they said. "It’s an investment," they said. Well, the ROI on our degrees is currently looking like an NFT collection from 2021.
Today:
🎓 The "Degree Gap": 42% of Us Are Overqualified + Underpaid
📉 Tariff Turmoil: Why the Dow Just Pulled a Disappearing Act
💳 PayPal is Looking For New Friends
🎭 Winners & Losers
😆 Meme of the Week
📈 AltIndex’s Top Stock Idea for the Week
Before that awful green owl starts nagging us again, let’s get into it.
In partnership with Antimony Resources Corp
The Next Critical Minerals Squeeze Is Already Forming
Over the past few years, one metal surged more than 1,000%. Most investors won't know it. But militaries know it well.
It hardens ammunition, is used in missiles, and is built into fire-resistant materials. Yet North America has almost no meaningful primary production. That's why governments are building reserves.
When defense demand rises and supply is tight, attention tends to follow.
One small North American explorer is drilling a high-grade deposit just miles from the U.S. border.
It's still under $1.
It's still early.
That window rarely stays open long.
Please support our partners!
🎓 Our Degrees Are Now Expensive Wall Decor
If it feels like your LinkedIn feed is just a graveyard of "Open to Work" banners, you aren't hallucinating. Underemployment for recent grads just hit 42%, which is the highest it’s been since the 2020 lockdowns.
The math is bleak, and this isn’t just for about Philosophy majors (sorry y’all 😅 ). Even the "safe" bets like computer science and engineering are suffering. AI is moving faster than curricula can keep up, and entry-level "junior" roles now apparently require five years of experience.
Key takeaways here:
The wage lag: When grads take "survival jobs" (retail, service, etc.), it delays their lifetime earnings peak by years.
A general pivot: We’re seeing a massive shift toward "skill-stacking,” where Gen Z is ditching traditional masters' degrees for hyper-niche certifications in AI prompting or data ethics.
Our take: For better or for worse, networking has never been more important. If you’re looking for a new job, consider reaching out to your friends and family for warm introductions instead of cold job applications alone.
Extra take: And really, the fact that the job market is so tough and expenses are so high leads us back to one thing: we think investing is the way to go when it comes to building wealth and getting ahead.
⚡️ Finance Quick Fix
The Dow tumbled more than 800 points on Monday as Trump's new 15% tariff proposal and AI disruption fears sent volatility spiking above 20 on the VIX.
American Express and IBM shares sank after reports suggested Claude could automate legacy COBOL modernization and reshape financial services workflows.
Oil prices are holding a $10 war premium with Brent above $71 and WTI near $66 as US-Iran tensions and a 9-million-barrel crude draw tighten the market.
Gold climbed above $5,200/oz on Monday as investors fled to safety, while Bitcoin dropped 4% and continues to languish nearly 50% below its October high.
💳 Is PayPal in for a Fire Sale This Spring?
PayPal's stock jumped 5.8% on Monday after Bloomberg dropped the rumor bomb that the struggling payments giant has been shopping itself around to potential buyers. That means this massive public company is looking to potentially sell itself to another company and go private; that’s how bad things are for PayPal right now 😵
They look pretty desperate... Shares are down 85% from their 2021 peak, the company just fired CEO Alex Chriss after some abysmal financial results from last quarter, and it's now trading at seven times forward earnings, which is very low (what are forward earnings?).
Potential buyers are interesting because while PayPal's stock is trading like a dumpster fire, its balance sheet is actually pristine, which creates the kind of opportunity that makes buyout firms drool. All they need to do is fix a few things in how the company runs, or so they tell themselves. Anyway, at least one rival is reportedly eyeing the whole company, while other vultures are picking through the carcass for parts.
Venmo alone could fetch $5 billion, Braintree might go for $10-15 billion, and core PayPal (including buy-now-pay-later and lending) sits around $20-25 billion in a sum-of-the-parts breakdown. American Express and JPMorgan Chase are logical homes for different pieces, though regulatory headaches could kill any deal involving Big Tech acquirers.
The shareholder class action lawsuit filed in mid-February over allegedly misleading growth projections adds another layer of chaos. The suit claims executives oversold the company's Branded Checkout segment while hiding operational dysfunction, causing the stock to crater 20% in a single day in tandem with the disappointing Q4 earnings mentioned above. Incoming CEO Enrique Lores has zero payments experience but plenty of expertise breaking up companies, which is probably not a coincidence.
Whether PayPal gets bought whole, carved up, or just continues its death spiral solo, the endgame feels closer than anyone expected six months ago.
🎭 Winners & Losers
A lot can happen in a week!
Let’s take a quick look at who struck gold and who struck out since our last issue:
🏆 Winners
Apple Inc. (AAPL): +6.37%
Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM): +6.19%
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN): +5.42%
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA): +5.19%
Alphabet Inc. (GOOG): +1.86%
😞 Losers
Walmart Inc. (WMT): -5.03%
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): -3.63%
Tesla, Inc. (TSLA): -3.43%
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A): -1.87%
Meta Platforms, Inc. (META): -0.03%
🫡 Meme of the Week
📈 Stock idea
Analysis provided by altindex.com.
Remember to always DYOR.
Dominion Energy, Inc., headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is one of America's premier producers and transporters of energy. The company provides electricity and natural gas to millions of customers across several states and operates one of the largest natural gas storage systems in the United States. Dominion has a diverse generation portfolio, including fossil fuels, nuclear power, and renewable energy sources like wind and solar. This extensive and diversified generation portfolio allows the company to meet various consumer energy needs and adapt to industry changes and regulations.
The financial data:
Revenue: $4.53B. It increased about 18.82% since the previous quarter and 14.87% since the year before.
Net income: $1.01B. It increased about 32.37% since the previous quarter but decreased 5.45% since the year before.
Price momentum: Positive. The stock is up 6.54% the past month and up 16.45% over the past year.
RSI: Neutral at 37.1 (What is RSI?)
P/E: Normal; 21.56 (What is P/E?)
Alternative data over the past few months:
63% increase in Facebook engagement
9% increase in Linkedin employees
88% increase in X mentions
4% decrease in X followers
6% increase in web traffic
7% increase in Instagram followers
Current price: $63.62
Target price: $73.94
⭐️ What did you think of today's edition?
That’s all for today. Write us and let us know your thoughts on the market, the newsletter, or the weather—we’d just love to hear from you.
Till next time,
— Brandon and Blake of Invested Inc.
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