COVID-19 is a fearsome and relentless enemy. The disease caused by the novel coronavirus has infected more than 2.2 million people worldwide, and nearly 150,000 have died.Efforts to combat the pandemic are having severe economic ramifications, including millions of job losses and devastating damage to countless businesses.

Yet hope remains.

An army of doctors, scientists, and researchers around the world are working tirelessly to find a cure. Optimism is growing that an effective treatment for COVID-19 will be found soon. And the financial markets have begun to recoup their losses as investors look ahead to an eventual economic recovery.

So now could be a good time to consider investing some money in the stock market. Even if the markets pull back again, investing in great businesses tends to be a very wise and profitable decision, particularly over the long term.

If you're fortunate enough to have $10,000 to invest, here are three stocks that can help you grow your money into a fortune.

Image source: Getty Images.

Perhaps no company is better positioned to capitalize on the current environment than Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN). With many traditional brick-and-mortar retailers forced to close their stores due to social distancing directives, the online retail giant has served as a lifeline for people in need of food and other vital supplies. Amazon, in turn, is enjoying booming sales during the COVID-19 crisis.

Moreover, many people are shopping on its website for the first time. Once they experience Amazon's incredible selection of goods, low prices, and convenient delivery options, these new online shoppers are likely to remain loyal customers.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a valuable partner for the countless businesses now forced to manage their workforces remotely. Its Azure infrastructure platform powers many businesses' cloud-based operations. Additionally, Microsoft's Office 365 applications -- which include cloud-based versions of its popular Word and Office software -- make it easier for people to work from home.

Importantly, with more than $60 billion in net cash on its fortress-like balance sheet, Microsoft has the financial strength to weather even a severe coronavirus-driven recession. The technology titan also generates bountiful cash flow, including over $10 billion in cash from operations in the second quarter alone. Microsoft is committed to passing a sizable portion of this cash on to investors via a steadily rising dividend, which currently yields 1.1%.

Software giant Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) is enjoying higher demand for its digital transformation services, and that's likely to continue after the pandemic as well as more businesses seek to transition their operations to the cloud to better enable remote work and a more broadly distributed workforce.

In addition to being the global leader in customer relationship management software, Salesforce also provides best-in-class tools that allow businesses to aggregate and analyze data from a wide variety of sources. Global spending on services that enable the digitization of business products and practices will reach an astounding $2.3 trillion by 2023, according to market research firm IDC. This massive market offers plenty of room for expansion, even for a $140 billion enterprise like Salesforce. Investors who buy shares today should be well rewarded as this software star fulfills its tremendous long-term growth potential.

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Coronavirus Market Rally: Where to Invest $10,000 Right Now - Motley Fool

The escalating coronavirus pandemic has ushered in a new era of stock market volatility, as investors come to terms with consecutive history-making daily swings. But it has also shone a spotlight on a promising investment opportunity one that's been winning the hearts of millennials.

Sustainable investments those focused on companies with strong environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) principles outperformed their conventional counterparts in the first quarter of 2020, even as the outbreak sent markets crashing.

In the first three months of the year, 70% of sustainable equity funds recorded returns in the top halves of their broad-based peer group, according to investment research firm Morningstar. Of those, 44% scored within the top quartile. When the full extent of the pandemic became clear in early March,ESG-aware companies outperformed other stocks by up to 5.7%, HSBC found.

To be sure, sustainable funds still suffered heavy losses amid last month's downturn. However, the losses were notably lower than that among traditional funds. Morningstar's head of sustainability research, Jon Hale, said that has a lot to do with the underlying principles of ESG-focused companies, which place customers and employees at the fore.

"It's very simple, really companies truly focused on the well-being of their workers and customers are able to make the right decisions more quickly in a major crisis like this one," Hale toldCNBC Make It.

That focus on doing right has been gaining traction over recent years as traditional capitalism, which positions shareholder returns above all else, has fallen out of favor. In its place has emerged a new term: Stakeholder capitalism, which attributes equal value to all stakeholders, from customers to employees and suppliers.

Environmental, social and corporate governance principles are central to that. Yet, the ESG category has failed to take off broadly due to assumptions that sustainable values mean lower financial returns.

In a 2019 study, Morgan Stanley foundeight in 10 individual investors were interested in sustainable investing, though just over half (52%) were actually pursuing them over concerns of a financial trade-off. Among millennials, those figures were even higher, with 95% interested and two-thirds (67%) actively investing in sustainable products.

However, the tide could be turning.

Last year,shares of the 100 companieson Barron's "America's Most Sustainable Companies" list returned 34.3% on average, beating the S&P 500's 31.5%.

The latest Morningstar stats now provide investors a "more complete picture" of how ESG stocks perform in a downturn, Hale said.

Samantha Azzarello, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, said that uptick could be accelerated by the coronavirus as investors both institutional and millennial become more "accountable" for which companies they back.

"From a moral and societal perspective, the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted to many people how we are all in this together," said Azzarello. "How companies are built to respond to the crisis and support customers, employees and communities at large is very front and center right now."

Those shifts could drive up demand for the burgeoning investment category, particularly among millennials, Arturo Tabuenca, founder of ESG investment firm EarthFolio, told CNBC Make It.

"An overwhelming percentage of millennials are interested in ESG investing," he said. "That makes perfect sense when you consider these young investors have experienced two major economic downturns in the last 12 years: One governance-related and the other social/health-related."

Those interested in ESG investments should start by understanding the options available, said Tabuenca. Some ESG funds, for instance, proactively work toward certain ESG goals while others simply exclude negative ESG behaviors.

What is true for investing more broadly is also true for ESG.

Samantha Azzarello

global market strategist, J.P. Morgan Asset Management

Next, figure out your preferred fund type, noted Elson Goh, head of investment for Singapore at St James' Place Wealth Management.

"There are many funds which can offer investors opportunities, and some of these arise from a shift to a more sustainable world the transition to clean energy, advancement in health care technology and the mitigation of climate change, to name a few," said Goh.

Finally, be sure to diversify your portfolio, noted Azzarello. These days, you can access the vast majority of asset classes, from equities to bonds and alternatives, via ESG products. Alternatively, you can opt for a mix of ESG and non-ESG options.

"Regardless of the type of investment strategy chosen, what is true for investing more broadly is also true for ESG," she said. "We want to be diversified.".

Don't miss:'Once in a decade' opportunity: Financial experts' advice for investing in the market downturn

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Correction: This article has been updated to reflect Samantha Azzarello's correct title.

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The coronavirus downturn has highlighted a growing investment opportunity and millennials love it - CNBC

David Iben put it well when he said, Volatility is not a risk we care about. What we care about is avoiding the permanent loss of capital. When we think about how risky a company is, we always like to look at its use of debt, since debt overload can lead to ruin. We note that Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) does have debt on its balance sheet. But the more important question is: how much risk is that debt creating?

Debt and other liabilities become risky for a business when it cannot easily fulfill those obligations, either with free cash flow or by raising capital at an attractive price. Ultimately, if the company cant fulfill its legal obligations to repay debt, shareholders could walk away with nothing. While that is not too common, we often do see indebted companies permanently diluting shareholders because lenders force them to raise capital at a distressed price. By replacing dilution, though, debt can be an extremely good tool for businesses that need capital to invest in growth at high rates of return. The first thing to do when considering how much debt a business uses is to look at its cash and debt together.

Check out our latest analysis for Johnson & Johnson

As you can see below, Johnson & Johnson had US$27.7b of debt at December 2019, down from US$29.4b a year prior. However, it does have US$20.0b in cash offsetting this, leading to net debt of about US$7.72b.

The latest balance sheet data shows that Johnson & Johnson had liabilities of US$36.0b due within a year, and liabilities of US$62.3b falling due after that. Offsetting these obligations, it had cash of US$20.0b as well as receivables valued at US$14.5b due within 12 months. So it has liabilities totalling US$63.8b more than its cash and near-term receivables, combined.

Since publicly traded Johnson & Johnson shares are worth a very impressive total of US$400.8b, it seems unlikely that this level of liabilities would be a major threat. However, we do think it is worth keeping an eye on its balance sheet strength, as it may change over time.

We measure a companys debt load relative to its earnings power by looking at its net debt divided by its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and by calculating how easily its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) cover its interest expense (interest cover). The advantage of this approach is that we take into account both the absolute quantum of debt (with net debt to EBITDA) and the actual interest expenses associated with that debt (with its interest cover ratio).

Johnson & Johnson has a low debt to EBITDA ratio of only 0.27. But the really cool thing is that it actually managed to receive more interest than it paid, over the last year. So theres no doubt this company can take on debt while staying cool as a cucumber. Fortunately, Johnson & Johnson grew its EBIT by 2.4% in the last year, making that debt load look even more manageable. Theres no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Johnson & Johnsons ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you want to see what the professionals think, you might find this free report on analyst profit forecasts to be interesting.

But our final consideration is also important, because a company cannot pay debt with paper profits; it needs cold hard cash. So the logical step is to look at the proportion of that EBIT that is matched by actual free cash flow. Over the last three years, Johnson & Johnson recorded free cash flow worth a fulsome 91% of its EBIT, which is stronger than wed usually expect. That positions it well to pay down debt if desirable to do so.

Johnson & Johnsons interest cover suggests it can handle its debt as easily as Cristiano Ronaldo could score a goal against an under 14s goalkeeper. And thats just the beginning of the good news since its conversion of EBIT to free cash flow is also very heartening. Zooming out, Johnson & Johnson seems to use debt quite reasonably; and that gets the nod from us. While debt does bring risk, when used wisely it can also bring a higher return on equity. Theres no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet far from it. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. Weve identified 3 warning signs with Johnson & Johnson , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

At the end of the day, its often better to focus on companies that are free from net debt. You can access our special list of such companies (all with a track record of profit growth). Its free.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.

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Is Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) A Risky Investment? - Simply Wall St

Acorns is an app that helps users invest extra money by rounding up purchases to the nearest dollar and then automatically investing that spare change.

Investing money is far from people's top concern right now, as the coronavirus outbreak continues and as millions in the US havefiled for unemployment benefits.

But the pandemic will end someday, and that means people will need to plan financially for that future. For people who can afford to do even a little bit, investing and saving should still be top of mind, says Noah Kerner, CEO of Acorns. His company's micro-investing app -- which costs $1, $2 or $3 per month, depending on your financial goals -- helps users invest extra money in exchange-traded funds by rounding up purchases to the nearest dollar and then automatically investing that spare change. It's available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

"Invest regularly," Kerner says. "No matter what, even if it's a very small amount, try to keep going. That's why we focus on spare change. Just try to do a little bit so that you can keep the momentum going and you can keep benefiting from compounding."

Even if you're not investing, online management tools like Acorns can help you sort through and prioritize expenses. Other apps that can help you manage, save and invest your money include Mint, Toshl Finance and You Need a Budget. These tools can be especially helpful in a time when millions of people face financial insecurity -- and may even be without a paycheck. For others, they're an important way to start saving for the future.

Kerner says Acorns has seen an increase in users since the market plummeted. He suspects that in a time of crisis, people realize they haven't saved and invested enough. Events like this can serve as a wakeup call to change those habits.

To mitigate the economic damage of the coronavirus, the US government passed a $2 trillion economic stimulus package that includes payments of up to $1,200 to taxpayers, but that still might not be enough to help those who lost their jobs.

Kerner shared steps that people should take at a time like this. Here's an edited transcript of our conversation.

Q: What should people be prioritizing right now when it comes to spending and saving?Kerner: Focus on essentials. Focus on saving and investing as much as you can. Take advantage of opportunities to earn some extra money when you spend through different rewards programs.

If someone didn't have an emergency fund before all of this, what can they do now?Take advantage of all the government stimulus programs that are coming out and follow them closely. There's a break on taxes so that you can file and pay your taxes later.

Noah Kerner

We have 350 brand partners that invest in your Acorns account when you shop with them. So every time you get your tank filled up at Chevron, Chevron invests into your Acorns account as a reward for shopping. If you get your groceries delivered, our partners will invest in your Acorns account as a reward for shopping. So find all those ways to maximize expenses and save as much as possible while you spend.

What are the most important money saving practices or tips people should keep in mind?If you need cash, you should try to dip into your checking account or savings account first before you touch your investment account or your retirement account. If you absolutely need the cash and you don't have a choice, then you have to do what you have to do. But I would say, given that we know approximately every eight years there's a recession, this is why saving and investing small amounts of money regularly is so important. You have to be prepared for those times so that you don't have to touch your investment money, so that money can keep growing.

Don't give into panic, and remember that this too will pass. It's so important to stay as calm as you can.

Acorns CEO Noah Kerner says it's important to keep money invested and stay focused on the long term.

Why is it important to invest, especially now?You should start investing as early as possible in your life, because the earlier you start, the more you can benefit from compounding. Warren Buffett calls it "the eighth wonder of the world." It's this mechanism whereby your money grows on top of itself because of compound returns. The way to think about it is if you started investing $5 a day at 18 years old, by 65, that could be $1.5 million, because of compounding. Now, the actual amount that you would have invested would be an order of magnitude less than that.

Every downturn in history has ended in an upturn. For me, that's the most important message during this time to remember. The reason the economy has dropped so sharply is because we have a global pandemic happening. But that doesn't change the fact that the fundamentals of our economy are good and strong. Going all the way back to the beginning of the market, even though there have been periods where the market's dropped 50% or 60%, every downturn in history has ended in an upturn. You have to stay focused on the long term. You have to stay patient.

What would you say to younger people who might brush aside the importance of saving and investing?Take in what's happening right now, and don't forget it. When the dot-com bubble happened ... and when the Great Recession happened in 2008, everybody felt it. And everybody said the same things: "This is unprecedented. I'm never going to forget this moment." And then time passes and people forget.

When there's a sale in fashion, people go and buy things. When the market is on sale for 30% to 35%, that's when you get in.

What are some of the major mistakes people make about saving during a crisis?They pull their money out while the market's going down or after the market's gone down. They lock in losses.

Let's imagine you have $100 in the market, and the market goes down 30%. You have $70. You didn't lose that money. You only lose that money if you pull it out, and then you've lost $30. If you keep it in, and use history as a barometer, that $70 dollars will go back up over $100 and then way past that.

I always hear, "I lost so much money." No, you didn't. You only lose the money if you pull it out.

Now, sometimes people are in really tough circumstances and they have to pull it out. But if you prepare for these times, if you save and invest small amounts of money regularly, then there's a potential that you won't be in that position.

Noah Kerner

How has budgeting changed in recent years? Has there been a sizable shift in priorities or new obstacles?Budgeting has long been a laborious task. A lot of our products are trying to help automate that process as much as possible. The movement is to eliminate the need to think about budgeting because it's incredibly laborious and difficult.

We're about to roll out a feature as part of our product called Smart Deposit. If you use our debit card checking account products and you move your direct deposit paycheck over to Acorns, we will automatically allocate a percentage of that into retirement, investment and savings accounts for you.

What other lessons can new investors learn from this crisis?Don't watch the market obsessively. Try to shut it off and just repeat those words to yourself: Every downturn in history has ended in an upturn. If you have the extra cash to invest, keep it invested and stay focused on the long term.

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Investing in U.S. shale producer Occidental Petroleum could be one of Warren Buffetts worst decisions as Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. | Image: AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian

Warren Buffett has previously advised that when you find yourself in a hole the best action is to stop digging.

This advice apples to Berkshire Hathaways (NYSE:BRK.A) investment in Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY). Berkshire Hathaway has about a 2% stake in the shale-oil giant.

In 2019, Berkshire helped Occidental finance an acquisition deal for a rival. The equity financing deal has now taken a turn for the worse after the shale giant offered Berkshire discounted stock in place of $200 million in quarterly dividends.

Occidental obtained $10 billion in equity financing from the investing conglomerate. The terms included a dividend yield of 8% on the preferred stock. This amounts to $800 million a year for Buffetts firm.

Under Occidentals current proposal, Berkshire Hathaway stands to gain if OXY stock appreciates.

But what happens if the current trend continues? So far, the signs arent good.

Year-to-date, Occidental Petroleum has plunged from around $45 to $12, a depreciation of about 70%.

The chances of the stock rising with oil prices still depressed are slim, which means Berkshire Hathaway could end up hurting for the foreseeable future.

A fall in oil demand of 20 million barrels per day is expected in April. The depressed demand is expected to continue until normalcy returns to the global economy. Until then, downward pressure on oil prices is going to continue.

Currently, Brent crude futures are trading under $30 despite a historic deal to cut production announced over the weekend. The only hope for OXY to get out of this is more protectionism and government aid.

In the lead-up to the announcement of the oil deal, Brent crude futures reached nearly $35 per barrel. The global benchmark has since fallen to around $28 a barrel.

For prices to rise to a level that Occidental can extract crude profitably, deeper production cuts are required.

The damage record-low oil prices are having on U.S. shale is unsettling. According to Reuters, shale producers have abandoned drilling new wells as they put off maintenance.

Some producers have partially shut production as the measures put in place to fight COVID-19 drastically reduced travel and manufacturing. Storage for the crude is also running out and some producers may be forced to sell well below costs. Refiners are also asking producers to cut their deliveries.

U.S. jobs will also be lost, with Rystad Energy estimating 240,000 oil-related positions to be cut in 2020.

Occidental has already acknowledged that it might not survive without the governments assistance. Last week, CEO Vicki Hollub urged employees in an email to pressure U.S. lawmakers to offer liquidity to the energy industry.

The email also asked employees to seek congressional assistance in accessing the Asian markets. Additionally, they were asked to lobby the government to buy more oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Clearly, OXY has set aside all pretensions that this is a free market economy. Warren Buffett may be an avowed capitalist but his shale oil investment is looking more like a dud. Unless the government steps in to help.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.

This article was edited by Sam Bourgi.

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Only Protectionism & Government Aid Will Save Warren Buffetts Oil Stock Investment - CCN.com

TheIRS started depositing coronavirus stimulus checksinto some Americans' bank accounts this week.

Individuals will receive up to $1,200, married couples will get up to $2,400 and $500 will be added for every child.

There are income restrictions: If you earn more than $75,000 as an individual or $150,000 as a couple, the total amount you're eligible to receive starts to decrease. If you earn $99,000 or more as an individual or $198,000 as a couple, you aren't eligible to receive a stimulus check.

If you're struggling to make ends meet, this money should first and foremost be used to cover essential bills and any debt obligations you may have. Next, you should use it to build up an emergency fund big enough to cover three to six months' worth of expenses.

But if you're able to cover your necessities and your emergency fund is fully stocked, "save it or invest it for the longer term," says certified financial plannerKelly Crane. "Equities are a bargain now."

Andrew Westlin, acertified financial planner at Betterment,agrees. "This is a great time to be investing money into the stock market, especially if you're younger and have a long time horizon," he says. He advises starting with retirement accounts: Max out your 2019 individual retirement account or Roth IRA, if you haven't already, or get a head start on your 2020 contributions.

The deadline for making 2019 IRA contributions has been extended to July 15th (the date your 2019 income tax returns are now due).

This is a great time to be investing money into the stock market, especially if you're younger and have a long time horizon.

Andrew Westlin

certified financial planner

While periods ofvolatility can be a good time todipyourtoeintothemarket, it's important to remember that investing always comes with risk. Experts recommendcontributing consistently by investing a fixed sum regularly over a long period of time. It's a strategy calleddollar-cost averagingand ensures that you won't sell low and buy high when the market is volatile.

You'll also want abalanced, diversified portfolio, which means having your money invested in different types of assets, like stocks and bonds.

Look into low-costindex funds, whichWarren Buffett recommends. Index funds hold every stock in an index such as the S&P 500, including big-name companies such as Apple, Microsoft and Google. Because this type of fund is highly diversified, it stays relatively constant and avoids some of the risk that comes with picking individual stocks.

And remember, you're investing for the long term. Don't plan on touching any money you put into the stock market for many, many years.

Don't miss:Many Americans will get $1,200 stimulus checkshere's the best way to use it depending on your financial situation

Check out:The best credit cards of 2020 could earn you over $1,000 in 5 years

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The coronavirus stimulus checks are arrivinghere's who should invest the money, according to experts - CNBC

When it comes to building a solid investment portfolio, diversification is key. When you own many different types of financial assets, you reduce your exposure to the risk and volatility that may befall a particular asset class. Dont take our word for it. Thats Modern Portfolio Theory 101. The only problem is that diversification is a relative term. For a long time, the only assets regular investors actually had access to were publicly traded stocks and bonds. If you really wanted to diversifysay by investing in the private real estate marketyou had to be a billion-dollar institution or a so-called high net worth individual. But luckily, thanks to technological innovations and subsequent changes to SEC regulations, this is finally starting to change. Today, innovative FinTech companies like Fundrise are providing everyday investors with Real Estate investment opportunities that were previously reserved for the wealthy and well connected.

Traditional portfolios are based on something called pooled fund investing. This is when money is collected from a large number of investors and used to create one massive investment portfolio, which is managed by professional money managers. The most common types of pooled funds are mutual funds, hedge funds, pension funds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). All of these investment vehicles allow individual investors to achieve greater growth and stability than they would ever be able to achieve on their own. Thats a good thing. However, by law, these types of pooled funds can only invest in publicly traded securities like stocks and bonds. And because these assets are so closely related, they dont provide adequate diversification.

For a long time, institutional investors and high net worth individuals have solved this diversification problem by adding private market real estate investments to their portfolios. However, this option wasnt available to smaller investors. The technology required to break real estate investments up into smaller pieces did not exist, which meant you had to be able to write some pretty big checks to get in the game.

But now, things have changed. And companies like Fundrise are democratizing private real estate investing.

Fundrise is an online investing platform that lets you diversify your portfolio by investing in the private real estate market. When you invest with Fundrise, its a lot like investing in a traditional ETF, only instead of putting your money in a pool of public stocks and bonds, youre putting it into Real Estate Investment Trusts or eFunds, which are simply portfolios of private real estate assets. These portfolios of real estate assets are handpicked by Fundrises real estate experts for their ability to produce revenue, and they include everything from single family rental houses to multi-building apartment complexes.

In addition to diversifying your investments, a Fundrise portfolio also has the benefit of offering way better returns in exchange for reduced liquidity. When you invest in publicly traded securities, you can sell your assets at any time, but you can expect an annual average return of just 8.2 percent. When you invest in private market real estate with Fundrise, you have to commit to a 3 to 7 year investment horizon, but in exchange you can expect an annual average return of 12.3 percent.

The best thing about Fundrise, however, is that its open to just about anyone. You dont need a credit check. You dont need to meet any net wealth requirements. If you can afford the minimum $500 investment, youre in.

So whether youre just starting out, or youre looking to modernize your existing portfolio, you need to talk to your financial advisor about private market real estate and investing platforms like Fundrise. It could unlock a whole new world of financial possibilities.

Futurism fans: To create this content, a non-editorial team worked with an affiliate partner. We may collect a small commission on items purchased through this page. This post does not necessarily reflect the views or the endorsement of the Futurism.com editorial staff.

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Partnerships Thanks to This Innovative Fintech, Real Estate Investment Is Easier Than Ever - Futurism

Bradley Tusk has carved a unique path in the VC investment landscape: A longtime political and communications operative, he has built a track record for Tusk Ventures by going after highly regulated industries, rather than shying away from them.

Whether it is ride-hailing, sports betting, cannabis or myriad other regulated sectors, Tusk takes the approach that laws are ultimately malleable, and if a service is popular, its users can mobilize to effect change.

Given his unique perspective, it was great to have him join us this week in an Extra Crunch Live call our new initiative here at TechCrunch to bring tech-world thought leaders right to your screens.

In our conversation, Tusk talked about edtech, telemedicine, cannabis, mobile voting, biotech, pandemics and the future of regulated industries in this dastardly economic environment. Weve transcribed a handful of his answers to our and our readers questions and have embedded the entire video below the fold.

Weve edited his written answers for clarity and brevity.

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Bradley Tusk on starting a company and seed investing in the coronavirus era - TechCrunch

China is rapidly catching up to the United States with regard to blockchain-related investments, according to a recent report put together by New York-based research firm CB Insights.

The researchers found that the East Asian country accounted for 22% of blockchain investments in 2019, compared to 31% for the U.S. This represents a significant improvement for China when compared to 2015, when it had a meager 2% while the U.S. was getting 51% of total funding.

Headlined by the trade dispute of 2019, competition between the U.S. and China has intensified in recent years. Thats unsurprising considering theyre the two largest economies in the world. At best, however, the findings of this CB Insights report only suggest that U.S.China competition is intensifying in the blockchain space as well. It doesnt give a clear picture of which country is ahead in blockchain development.

In addition, given that there is a slew of conflicting blockchain investment reports out there, its difficult to say for sure just what proportion of global blockchain investment goes to either country. For instance, according to CB Insights, 2019 saw a global investment volume of about $2.8 billion, down from $4.2 billion in 2018.

Earlier in this year, Xinhua Chinas state-run financial media firm and financial data platform Rhino Datareported that Chinese investment deals came in at around $3.44 billion (24.4 billion Chinese yuan) across 245 deals in 2019. This represents a 40.8% drop in investment volume when compared to 2018, the report stated.

Experts say that the majority of the investment in China originates locally for now, but they expect more foreign funds in the near future. Kevin Shao of Bitrise Capital Partners told Cointelegraph that:

Currently, the main investors are mainly domestic venture capital institutions and individual investors as early stage investors. However, we believe that with the increasing internationalization of Blockchain technology, the percentage of foreign investment institutions will increase over time.

There arent any readily available reports focused solely on how much blockchain investment happened in the U.S. last year, but again, the figures from CB Insights mostly show that the blockchain scene in China is picking up. Instead of looking at the figures, it might be worth considering the actual events, including the governments stance, talent distribution and enterprise involvement to obtain a feel for how blockchain competition is shaping up between the two countries.

In October 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping publiclysupported blockchain technology by urging the country to take blockchain as an important breakthrough independent innovation of core technologies and to accelerate its development. According to blockchain accelerator Consensys, China has over 500 registered blockchain projects, with most of them led by the government.

As part of its support for blockchain, the People's Bank of China the countrys central bank is working to launch a digital yuan, which will be powered by a centralized blockchain. According to reports, the central bank has completed the essential development of the digital currency and is now in the process of drawing up legislation for its circulation.

The Chinese governments stance, led by President Xis speech, has had two effects on the blockchain development scene in the country. First, it has outlined the future path of the industry. Second, it has made mainstream the status of blockchain and promoted its orderly development, thereby opening more opportunities for new players to enter. Qi Qi, the CEO the of blockchain incubator B-Labs, told Cointelegraph:

On the capital side, domestic traditional funds are more willing to get involved, especially paying attention to the field of industrial blockchain, which is a big breakthrough for traditional funds and the blockchain industry itself.

Simon Li, a founding partner at Chain Capital, also told Cointelegraph that the Chinese government is actively embracing the blockchain and will use it in the government affairs system to create many application scenarios.

The U.S. government has a somewhat more cautious approach to blockchain. While a few government agencies mostly military are exploring the use of blockchain in the country, its still hard to say the government is particularly pro-blockchain, and this might limit the flow of blockchain investment in the country. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Sukhi Jutla, the co-founder of MarketOrders a blockchain platform for the jewelry industry said:

Although the U.S. is still a key leader when it comes to blockchain investments, it cannot compete with China. The US is hindered by regulations that are slow and dont keep pace with the innovations of technology. China is able to move with speed as their governments allow them the space to do what they need to do.

Jutla added, Many companies are bogged down by uncertainty and the threat of being sued as the regulations cannot keep pace with the fast-moving technology. Last year, Congress asked Facebook to stop advancing the cryptocurrency project Libra without proper supervision. The Securities Exchange Commission also continues to block Telegrams plans to launch its TON project. Still, the country has no clear plans for developing its own blockchain-based digital money.

The availability of talent is next to governmental influence as a determinant factor of investment flow, and experts believe the U.S. is ahead of China in the area of technical personnel. Kevin Ren, a founding partner at Consensus Lab, told Cointelegraph that despite the Chinese government being outwardly more supportive of blockchain, the U.S. has the edge thanks to the availability of talent:

Due to the shortage of technical personnel and infrastructure, China's current level of development in the area of blockchain still lags behind that of the United States. For example, the blockchain 3.0 project, such as Polkadot, Cosmos, etc., which currently leads the technological trend of blockchain, is mostly still a U.S. project.

Li also believes the U.S. has superior technical prowess. In a conversation with Cointelegraph, he said that there is still a certain gap between our technical level and that of the United States, but China sees great improvements in recent years, and the gap gets gradually narrowed.

China is famed as one of the countries where the adoption of new technology picks up the fastest. A 2018 report titled Me, My Life, My Wallet published by accounting giant KPMG found that consumers in China tend to be more receptive to new technologies, ahead of other top markets including the U.S., the United Kingdom and others.

This is evident in the area of mobile payment, where China leads the rest of the world in adoption. Ren believes that this readiness to pick up new technologies will give China the edge over the U.S. in the mid- to long-term, saying:

China's population base and netizen base, its ability to accept new things (Internet enterprises have completed user education through mobile payment and online shopping), and the constant supply of talents are the kinetic energy for China's blockchain to make great progress.

Brian Platz, the co-founder of Fluree an American company that builds blockchain-based databases told Cointelegraph that Chinas competitive advantage goes beyond its technology-receptive populace. According to Platz:

China may be leading in terms of adoption of digital and mobile payments, but that's only a piece of the blockchain pie. China is also heavily investing in enterprise blockchain infrastructure noting a clear thesis that blockchain technology can provide value across a variety of contexts. This is a powerful combination of adoption one that the U.S. should take seriously and accelerate plans to compete.

However, citing the opportunity for private enterprises to innovate more rapidly, Platz whose company is backed by Steve Cases venture capital firm Revolution believes that the U.S. can be the leader ahead of China in the blockchain scene, adding:

One clear advantage the US does have over China is the opportunity for private enterprise to freely innovate at a rapid pace. It's time to double down on enterprise blockchain efforts, garner support from the government, and build a competitive blockchain industry here in the US.

It has been widely reported in recent years that the majority of blockchain-related patents are held by Chinese entities. Technology news website The Next Web reported in March 2019 that Chinese entities had published 790 patents, while the U.S. had published 762. These figures represented the total, all-time patent publication by these countries.

However, the publication of patents in China appears to be dominated by a few entities, given that the number of U.S. enterprise players invested in blockchain is significantly more than that of China. The business publication Forbes recentlycompiled a list of the top 50 enterprises that have invested into blockchain, and the list is dominated by American firms across different sectors.

To be on the list, the company had to be generating at least $1 billion in annual revenue or have a valuation of at least $1 billion. American companies took up 58% of the list with 29 entries, while only four Chinese companies were featured.

The answer to who is ahead in blockchain development between China and the U.S. depends on who is asked and how they best see the application of blockchain in reality. The two economic giants are following different development paths, with blockchain advancement in China spearheaded by the government and development in the U.S. spearheaded by corporate enterprises.

According to Shao, blockchain development in the two countries is evolving in different directions, making it difficult to declare a clear leader. He stated:

Compared to the United States, China is taking a different path and we cannot compare which path is better or more advanced at the time. China's blockchain industry is focusing on governance, finance and civil fields. But in the financial-related fields, the Chinese government is more cautious and strict compared to the U.S. government.

James Wo, the CEO of U.S.-based Digital Finance Group, also believes that the two countries are approaching blockchain development differently. He said:

I think they have different directions. U.S. cares more about solving infrastructure-level problems including interoperability, scalability etc. While China cares more about the usage of blockchain.

On the other hand, the CEO of B-Labs believes that both China and the U.S. are at the forefront regarding blockchain technology, but the narrative should be that of cooperation:

All the issues that have happened recently make us realize the meaning of a community of shared future for mankind, and aware that global technological cooperation is an essential element for building such a community, in the way from R&D, patents, talent cultivation and beyond.

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Chinese Blockchain Investment on the Rise, but Comparison to US Is Apples to Oranges - Cointelegraph

In 2016, Steve Adcock quit his six-figure job and retired at 35. His wife, Courtney, left her 9-to-5 a year later and joined him in early retirement. They did it by saving up to 70% of their combined income, which ranged from $200,000 to $230,000 a year.

For the past few years, the couple have been living off their investment dividends and capital gains in the market. That is until recently, when the coronavirus pandemic sent the markets into a tailspin.

Now, they're living off of their emergency fund, which has enough money to last them three years, and reinvesting the dividends. Still, their net worth has plummeted: "We're down about $200,000 from our highs," Adcock tells CNBC Make It. Their portfolio was at a high of $1.2 million in February 2020.

The couple, who live in an 800-square-foot solar home in Arizona, isn't panicking. The pandemic hasn't yet affected their long-term plans, says Adcock: "Our goal has always been to maintain a lifestyle where we never run out of money in early retirement through living a sensible and low-cost lifestyle, and that definitely hasn't changed."

In the meantime, though, they've tweaked their budget and investing strategy as the coronavirus pandemic continues to create uncertainty.

Steve and Courtney Adcock retired in their 30s

Courtesy of Steve Adcock

For starters, they're spending a lot less money. "A big part of our budget is discretionary spending, like restaurants, alcohol, home improvement stuff," says Adcock, who estimates that half of their budget in retirement goes toward "fun expenses."

Since March, they've eliminated nearly all of their discretionary spending. "We don't go to restaurants, mainly because they are closed," Adcock says. "We buy less alcohol. We aren't ordering as much stuff on Amazon. We keep our expenses to what we need and save the rest for later, once things get back to normal."

While they would normally spend between $45,000 and $50,000 a year, "our current budget puts us more at $30,000 a year, or $2,500 a month. We anticipate this lower budget going forward until things change for the better."

They've also changed their investing strategy. "We are now automatically reinvesting all of our dividends into buying more stocks," says Adcock. "Before the pandemic, we took our dividends as a part of our living expenses, but not right now."

Because the market is down and stocks are "on sale" right now, he sees it as a good time to invest. Rather than living off the dividends, he's putting that money into the stock market and drawing down from his emergency fund for everyday expenses.

Adcock is optimistic that the market will rebound over the next few months, as are other money experts. If it does bounce back, "we're hoping to have enough stock in the market to enjoy a nice recovery," he says.

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Early retiree's net worth dropped $200,000 due to the pandemichere's how he's changing his budget - CNBC