Consumers are looking more miserly than expected into the year-end, according to Wall Street channel checks. Nearly across the board, analysts are voicing concerns on consumer belt-tightening, coupled with a shift away from goods consumption. While e-commerce spending was noted as on the rise nominally, as reflected in Adobe Black Friday sales data, inflation dampens enthusiasm on that front. Meanwhile, retail sales data overall indicates brick-and-mortar spending is slowing substantially as well.

Global coal use is on course to increase by 1.2% to hit a record high this year, according to a report from the International Energy Agency.  The rising price of natural gas  has prompted a wave of fuel switching away from gas, pushing up demand for more price competitive options – namely coal.  The IEA report painted a picture of uncertainty moving forward – essentially, the price of gas will drive coal demand.

The metaverse has become the hottest concept ever in the history of exchange traded funds — despite steady media coverage suggesting there has been little interest in the “sub-theme”. A total of 35 metaverse-badged ETFs have launched globally since the first rolled off the conveyor belt in June 2021, according to data from Morningstar. This exceeds the number for any other “sub theme”, according to Morningstar classifications, ever, trumping the 32 for internet ETFs, 29 for blockchain ones, 23 for cloud computing and 22 for cyber security.