Markets Report: Week of November 15, 2021

NFTs had another banner week. Trading volumes on OpenSea soared (+38%), and Bored Ape Yacht Club continued to convert new zealots. Volume for the collection mooned another +263% as more celebrities dove headfirst into the rocketship. With growth in the space also comes social scrutiny: research emerged in the past week that more than three quarters of NFT sales go to male creators.

Celebs & Bored Ape Yacht Club

• Timbaland announced virtual entertainment company Ape-In Productions that will "promote Bored Apes as successful artists in the metaverse." (Variety)
• Jimmy Fallon jumps on board the NFT trend with purchase of Bored Ape #599 for 46.8 ETH, equivalent to a quarter million dollars. 
• Universal Music Group plans to create virtual Bored Ape band, Kingship, proving Damon Albarn and the Gorillaz to be the ultimate trendsetters.

While trading volume increased last week, the top three largest coins lost value (BTC -5.46%, ETH 4.76%, BNB -5.17%), and total crypto market cap slipped -6.13% to $2.74T. The light selloff continued into this week, with Bitcoin and Etherum both down under a percentage point at time of publication.

Trending Crypto Stories

• Internet sheriffs deliver crypto scammers to justice in the wild Web3 west.
• Real identity of Satoshi Nakamoto could be revealed due to Florida lawsuit over crypto asset. 
• Correlation doesn't equal causation when analyzing Bitcoin as an inflation hedge.

Investors moved away from stocks last week in favor of assets like gold (up 5% in the past month) that have historically been safeguards during inflationary times. And while inflation is up, so is consumer spending—Home Depot and Walmart both reported higher sales in their earnings report. So far, stocks are trending up this week on the positive retail news. 

And in case you missed it, EV maker Rivian went public last week in the biggest IPO since Facebook in 2012.

More on stocks

• Mattress company to be acquired by fried chicken joint in the oddest marriage of 2021.
• Activist investor buys in and drives Dollar Tree price up.
• Disney drops after unsatisfactory earnings. 
• Tesla's down after Musk's spectacle of a sell off.
• Gigantic corporations are splitting up, and so far the market doesn't care. 
• Bipartisan infrastructure bill passes, a positive sign for construction and EV stocks.

The food's hot right now. Late-stage salad startup Sweetgreen goes public this week at a planned valuation of $2.5 billion. On startup exchange Republic, island-inspired fast-casual joint Hawaiian Bros sold out $2.5 million in funding. This week, foodtech startup Miso Robotics is closing a $2 million Series D round. Shares are available with a minimum investment of $950.

Card indexes were flat on the week, with all but soccer moving less than 1% (Basketball +0.61%, Baseball +0.42%, Football -0.42%, Soccer -1.50%, Hockey -0.18%). It's possible that the market is stabilizing toward the end of the year after growing more than +250% through the first six months (PWCC 500), with cards setting records at auction nearly every month. This week, shares of a Serena Williams rookie card go live for purchase on fractional investing platform Rally.

In industry news, sports card investing platform Alt closed $75 million in Series B funding and announced plans to expand to other asset classes. With card companies Topps and Fanatics both planning to go public soon, there's no shortage of investor interest in the space.

Fine wine trading platform LiveTrade published research this week that showed Italian wines (+20%) outpaced growth versus wines from the Bordeaux region of France (+14%) over the past year, indicating a new sector for investors to investigate. In industry news, wine and spirits investing platform Vint raised $1.7 million in seed funding to grow their business, which enables both accredited and non-accredited investors to buy into high-grade alcohol.

In the public markets, Diageo stock is up 10% in the past two months as it bets big on China, pouring (pun intended) $75 million into a new distillery in the People's Republic.

• Gold & Commodities: Gold soars +6% in the past month (in the world of gold, yes, that is soaring). Inflation fears persist, and some financial advisors recommend you up your gold allocation.
• Impact Investing: The trend gets trendier (in a good way). NYTimes reports that business schools are expanding their curriculum to offer more courses focused on ESG investing topics: environmental, social and governance. And The Atlantic dropped this long read that reminded us ESG is more than marches and turtle-saving; it's supply chains, paperwork and autocratic decision-making.
• Farmland: In addition to stable returns, there's another argument for investing midwest farmland: human connection. In offering news, farmland investing platform Acretrader is listing Mareeba Avocado Orchard for new investment—an Australian farm raising $8.3 million to expand production of guac fodder. 
• Sneakers: Top three most popular sneakers on StockX by most sales in prior 72 hours were Jordan 12 Retro Royalty Taxi (down 7.28% w/w), Jordan 12 Retro Royalty Taxi GS (down 21.76% w/w), and Nike Dunk Low Georgetown (down 1.45% w/w) with top prices for these three averaging at $275.
• Art: Sotheby's announced plans to accept Ethereum for live bids, starting first with a Banksy piece.