Coffee With Greta: Crypto Shock

DJIA Futures: +65 (+0.2%)

SPX Futures: +4 (+0.1%)

NASDAQ Futures: +8 (+0.1%)

Good morning friends!

Futures are slightly higher as traders look ahead to Friday’s jobs report.

Let’s get right to it!

Silvergate Liquidating

Silvergate Capital (SI) shares are plummeting 36.7% ahead of the open after the crypto banking giant announced it will shutdown operations and liquidate Silvergate Bank.

Silvergate is the second-largest crypto banking firm in the U.S. with just over $11 billion in total assets. 

The company said in a statement, “In light of recent industry and regulatory developments, Silvergate believes that an orderly wind down of Bank operations and a voluntary liquidation of the Bank is the best path forward.”

According to the company’s liquidation plan, all deposits will be fully repaid.

Cryptocurrencies are dropping following the announcement.

Bitcoin is down 1.4% in the past 24 hours to $21,700 with Ethereum down 1.0% to just over $1,500. 

Weekly Jobless Claims Jump

Weekly jobless claims jumped more than expected last week. 

The Labor Department reported 211,000 Americans filed initial claims for unemployment benefits. 

That was up by 21,000 from the previous week and higher than 195,000 expected. 

It was the highest level of claims since late December. 

Continuing claims rose by 69,000 to 1.72 million vs 1.66 million expected.

That was the highest level since January 2022. 

Etsy Drops On Double-Downgrade

Etsy (ETSY) shares are dropping 4.4% in premarket trade after the e-commerce marketplace got a double-downgrade from a key analyst group.

Jefferies double-downgraded the stock to underperform from buy today. 

The firm said it sees the stock tumbling 25% as consumer spending slows in the months ahead. 

Jefferies cited the need for Etsy to spend more on marketing as that turnover happens among consumers.

LoanDepot Slides On Earnings Miss

LoanDepot (LDI) shares are tumbling 7.4% ahead of the open after missing Q4 expectations on the top and bottom line. 

Here’s how the mortgage lender’s results compared to analysts’ estimates:

• Loss per share: $0.46 vs $0.27 expected
• Revenue: $169.7 million vs $190.9 million expected

Revenue dropped by $104.5 million in the quarter as mortgage activity slowed sharply due to higher rates. 

The company also said it reduced total expenses by $91.4 million from Q3, driven primarily by lower staffing levels. 

LoanDepot ended 2022 with $864 million cash on hand.

In Case You Missed It

• Job openings fell less than expected in January as the labor market remains hot. The Labor Department’s job openings and labor turnover survey (JOLTS) shows there were 10.8 million vacant jobs at the start of the year. That was down by 410,000 from December but higher than 10.6 million expected. The number of openings still outnumbers available workers by 1.9 to 1. 
• The Fed released its latest Beige Book survey of conditions on Wednesday. That survey showed economic activity beginning to slow across the country. Nationwide activity increased only slightly in the latest survey. Six of the 12 Fed districts surveyed reported little or no change in economic activity while the other six reported modest growth.