Hey there! My name is Uneesa, and if I had to give myself a Forbes 2-page spread, the headline would read “I love God, women and money.”

Why? Well, other than loving God, women, and money. I want to help as many women as possible take financial control.

Join me as I’ll be holding your hand through the bold, new world of finance, and helping to demystify finance by asking 'WTF is this?'

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💁🏻‍♀️ WTF HAPPENED to me THIS WEEK?

Last week (which wasn’t really last week because I’m still playing catch up with these newsletters), I was on the BBC! BBC Four to be more precise (Dad we made it!!), debating all things faith and finance with professors and lecturers from Oxford and City Uni.

You catch me on BBC IPlayer here.

I came away from it feeling intellectually rejuvenated and inspired to create more stuff for you guys! I’ve spent the last week brainstorming ideas and yes, I will (inshaAllah) be putting out a podcast dedicated to all things MW + Finance. If you’ve got anyone you’re itching to get on the pod, drop me a DM! I’m

So what are the updates?

Is it just me or is September basically the new year? (I’ve clearly been conditioned by the schooling system) It’s given me the impetus to really think about what I want over the coming year iA.

📆 New (academic) year, new me - I’ve decided to reprioritise my goals over the next year as I hope to expand my portfolio. I’ll probably make a separate post about this and how I plan to go about it iA.

💸 FYF Next cohort updates - We’ve just completed our 2nd cohort since its relaunch and it’s been as rewarding as ever, however, it did get me thinking… I recently put out a poll on IG asking whether you’d prefer access at any time and a monthly Q&A. Turns out you do so I’m spending some time putting this together iA. Keep an eye out!

💹 I’m fine-tuning the 4 week investment course (I just wanna give you the best possible course there is out there and my perfectionism is killing me fr) and then I realised (thanks to yet another IG poll) that there’s just as much demand for an 8-10 week course. So, here I am just a Muslim girl standing in front of other Muslim girls telling them investment courses are coming!

I want to make this as accessible as possible iA and so I aim to bring back pay it forward. Anyone is free to donate anything towards this fund, which will act to serve individuals in the community who desperately need financial literacy help.

🗞️ WTF HAPPENED to the stock market?

The S&P500 declined for the fourth consecutive week, albeit by less than 1%, while the Dow saw a larger drop of 1.3%, and the NASDAQ recorded a slight gain of 0.1%. I’ve popped the fear and greed calculator below to showcase the mood of the market at present.

As you can see, investors are acting cautiously, possibly causing price drops, evident in extreme fear across market indicators. There's a high demand for safe assets as people aim to preserve capital amid uncertainty. Interestingly, there's also demand for high-risk junk bonds, suggesting some see potential lucrative opportunities amid the volatility. This highlights the need for balanced and informed decision-making in such uncertain market conditions.

Updates from last week:

Last week's economic updates included a modest increase in the U.S. Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, with an annual rate of 3.9%. Excluding food and energy costs, inflation was at 3.5%. Meanwhile, U.S. mortgage rates hit a 23-year high, impacting the housing market, where new home sales declined by 8.7% in August.

This week's focus is on two key points:

1. US Government Shutdown: Avoiding a government shutdown is crucial for the economy - but unfortunately in 45 days it looks like it’s heading that way. Shutdowns can harm it by increasing unemployment, reducing GDP growth, and raising borrowing costs, costing around $6 billion per week. They also create uncertainty as vital economic data isn't reported, affecting decisions by the Federal Reserve and investors. Small businesses suffer due to halted loan processing, and financial markets are impacted as mergers and IPOs are delayed because regulatory agencies lack staff.

2. Job Market Updates: The upcoming week brings important labor market reports. The August Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) on Tuesday will provide insights into job opportunities and turnover. On Wednesday, ADP releases its National Employment Report for September, focusing on private sector payroll growth. Despite recent Federal Reserve rate hikes, the job market has remained robust, with hiring levels near historic highs.

🧋FINANCIAL TEA

Here’s a roundup of the week’s top stories and things to watch!

BBC News - Boohoo slashes sales forecast as shoppers cut back 

FT - Live news: Nasdaq tumbles 2% as Treasury sell-off accelerates

FT - VCs tell start-ups to delay IPO plans after Arm and Instacart underwhelm

The Guardian - Metro Bank agrees on rescue deal with investors (I’ll be covering this in-depth in my next newsletter!)

Money Tip of the Week
Download Shopmium for selected discounts across all supermarkets in the UK. I’ve used it myself and when used in conjunction with a supermarket loyalty card you can get some pretty good deals!

IT’S GIVING… SADAQAH OF THE WEEK

As some of you may have heard on socials this week, Al-Falah Institute (a Muslim women’s Islamic community centre) in Hayes, London was targeted by criminals. The police were called but failed to arrive citing they were “too busy”. This allowed the vandals to burn the centre down - and now our community needs our support.

This week’s ‘It’s giving…’ particularly hit me as it’s a centre for women to learn, grow and improve their skills - all in the name of Allah.

 You can read more about the incident here, and donate towards rebuilding the spiritual sanctuary for so many Muslim women below.

You can donate via gofundme here or send a transfer directly to the centre here.