Investor's Playbook

📖Today’s Agenda

• Stock Market : Apple's Market Value Expected to Surpass $3 Trillion by the End of 2023 Following a Surge of Over 50%

• Entrepreneurship : TOP 3 AI TOOLS OF THE WEEK

• Personal Finance : Exploring the Transition to Freelancing in 2024: Essential Questions to Consider

📈Stock Market

Apple's Market Value Expected to Surpass $3 Trillion by the End of 2023 Following a Surge of Over 50%

The iPhone maker muscled its way through challenges abroad and at home, but still managed to keep its valuation near record high.

Apple stock (AAPL) is on track to close out a blockbuster year. The iPhone maker soared to a fresh record high, battled headwinds from China resulting in falling revenue, and more recently, got its permission back to sell some of its Apple Watch models after a patent battle.

Through all that, Apple retained its crown as the world’s most valuable company with a $3 trillion price tag. In 2023 alone, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company added more than $1 trillion to its market cap, soaring 54% since January. Ahead of the final trading session for this year, shares are floating around $193 a piece, 2% shy of record.

Investors are already shifting their attention to the company’s December quarter earnings figures. Slated for release on February 1, the update is expected to show Apple earned $2.09 per share on revenue of $123 billion, or an annual growth of 11%, and 5%, respectively.

Dow Jones Achieves Record Closing Peak of 37,710, S&P 500 Rises 12 Points from All-Time High

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) added 53 points on Thursday, or 0.1%, to close at a new all-time high of 37,710 points. The record lifted the Dow’s year-to-date performance to a 14% increase. Broadly, stocks got their mojo back this year after a battering 2022 coupled with doom and gloom predictions for 2023.

The 30-stock index was joined in the green yesterday by the S&P 500 while the Nasdaq Composite slipped under the flatline. The S&P 500 inched higher by just 1 point and everyone is now watching to see if the broad index can shatter its record on the final trading day of 2023. It needs 12 points to climb to unseen highs after gaining 25% on the year.

Outpacing its two peers, the Nasdaq Composite boasts a 44% rise for 2023. Investors chased AI-fueled pumps and big tech stocks were the biggest winners of the artificial intelligence bonanza this year. The banking sector, on the other end, took a beating early on with the collapse of a number of regional banks.

🎯Entrepreneurship

TOP 3 AI TOOLS OF THE WEEK

1. Solvo.ai

TEXT TO DATA / DATA TO TEXT

Solvo.ai utilizes Machine Learning to provide users with a suite of features such as data analysis, text analysis, data visualization, and text creation capabilities. Solvo.ai can help to better understand customer feedback, increase operational visibility, and utilise data visualisation to create more meaningful analysis.

2.Datomize

DATA TO MODEL

Datomize is an AI-powered data generation platform that helps data analysis and machine learning engineers make the most of their analytical datasets. It extracts behavior from existing datasets to generate the analytics datasets needed to have a more accurate picture of reality and make better decision-making.

3. GlossAi

VIDEO TO VIDEO

GlossAi is an ideal production, videography, and social media tool. It helps increase efficiency, saves time, and enables you to create professional-looking content tailored to the platforms you use. With GlossAi, you can create high-quality video content in no time. It effortlessly transcribes, translates, analyses, and creates text and design assets - everything you need to make your content stand out.

💸Personal Finance

Exploring the Transition to Freelancing in 2024: Essential Questions to Consider

The start of a new year tends to inspire people to make different financial decisions. And one decision you may be toying with is whether to continue working as a salaried employee or venture out on your own into the world of freelance work. Being self-employed has many benefits, but there are also some drawbacks to consider. If you're serious about potentially going freelance in 2024, ask yourself these questions to see if it's a good idea.

1. Do I have plenty of savings?

When you go freelance, you give up a steady paycheck. In exchange, you sign up for a variable income, which could also mean some months of no income. If you're contemplating a move to freelance work, check your savings account.

Generally speaking, it's a good idea to have enough money in the bank to cover three to six months of essential expenses. That's your basic emergency fund. But if you're looking to go freelance, it could pay to save well beyond that point in case it takes you a while to find work, or in case you start off strong but then suffer through a dry spell.

2. Will I struggle without paid time off?

Another nice thing about working for an employer is that you'll usually be entitled to paid time off. So when there's a national holiday, for example, you're not expected to work.

When you're a freelancer, there's no such thing as paid time off. Rather, you need to build that time off into your schedule. But that's not always easy to do. Also, consider that if you have children, you may run into issues if their school is closed for vacation periods but you're not eligible for paid time off and therefore have to work.

3. Will my quality of life really improve?

Many people convince themselves that going freelance is apt to lend to a better quality of life. After all, you can set your own hours and make your own schedule. That could mean being there to meet your kids at the bus stop rather than having to hire a babysitter, and being home to walk your dog at lunchtime instead of paying for a dog-walker.

But while freelancing might enhance your life in some ways, it might make your life worse in others. If you're constantly worried about money due to your inconsistent pay, that's not a great way to live. And if you're never able to take time off because you feel pressured to accept every project you're offered, well, that's not good either.

You may be thinking seriously about going freelance once 2024 arrives. But think about whether the freelance lifestyle is really for you and your finances. Better yet, talk to people who already live it and get their take. That might give you the insight you need to arrive at the right choice.