What Moved The Markets This Week 📈
Credit Card Delinquencies Hit Record High, U.S. Inflation Hotter Than Expected, Intel and Meta Unveil New Lines Of AI Chips, Tesla Cuts FSD Pricing By 50%, and JPM + BLK + DAL Earnings
Sunday Morning Markets
Trading Week 15, covering Monday, Apr 8 through Friday, Apr 12. Your weekly financial markets update, in less than 5 minutes.
The Week In Review ⏪
US Markets 🇺🇸
CPI comes in hotter than expected
Delinquencies on credit cards hit record high
Biden to forgive another $7.4B in student loans
Earnings from JPMorgan, Blackrock, Delta Airlines
Global Markets 🌏
Iran launches major drone attack against Israel
ECB and BOC hold interest rates steady
China exports plunge on soft demand
Tech ⚡
Intel unveils its Gaudi 3 AI chip
Meta debuts its new generation of in-house chips
TSMC and Samsung win massive U.S. subsidies
Tesla cuts FSD pricing by 50% to $99/month
US Markets 🇺🇸
Credit card delinquencies hit the highest on record according to a new Fed report. Almost 3.5% of card balances were at least 30 days past due as of the end of December, the highest figure going back to 2012.
Consumer inflation comes in hotter than expected for the third straight month as the CPI rose 3.5% in March (est. 3.4%) while core CPI jumped 3.8% (est. 3.7%). Traders pushed the first expected rate cut out to September.
Wholesale prices rose 2.1% for the year in March coming in slightly below estimates. However, Core PPI jumped 2.4%, above estimates and an acceleration from February’s reading of 2.1%.
Biden forgives another $7.4 billion in student loan relief for 277,000 borrowers. The president also rolled out his new massive student loan forgiveness do-over plan for 25 million Americans.
Ford to recall over 40,000 SUVs due to gas leaks that can cause fires. The recall affects Bronco Sports from 2022 and 2023, as well as Escapes from 2022. Ford’s remedy will not include repairing the fuel leaks.
Blackstone to acquire Apartment Income REIT in $10B deal that will grow its multifamily portfolio with 76 new housing communities. A majority of the properties are in coastal markets including Miami, LA, and Boston.
StubHub plans summer IPO at $16.5 billion valuation and will trade alongside Vivid Seats and Live Nation. The company launched in 2000, was purchased by eBay in 2007, and then reacquired by its cofounder in 2020 for $4 billion.
Global Markets 🌏
China's exports contracted sharply in March, highlighting the stiff task facing policymakers as they try to bolster a shaky economic recovery. Exports slumped 7.5% during the month, much worse than the 2.3% expected decline.
Deflation in China continues to be a top issue as consumer prices cooled more than expected in March, while producer price deflation persisted. The report puts pressure on policymakers to launch more stimulus as demand remains weak.
The ECB and BOC both hold interest rates steady and signal that rate cuts could make sense starting in early summer. The Bank of Canada kept its key rate at 5%, while the ECB left its own at 4%.
Iran launches drone attacks against Israel in a major escalation in the conflict between the two nations. Iran accused Israel of executing a strike on its consulate in Damascus and pledged to retaliate.
Bank of England scraps its inflation forecasting model following a long-awaited review by former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke. The central bank will scrap its long-held “fan chart” forecasting system with new tooling.
Microsoft to invest $2.9 billion in Japan to boost its AI and cloud infrastructure. Under the plan, they will install advanced chips at two existing facilities and will create a new research lab focused on robotics and AI.
Musk vows to defy Brazil’s order to ban accounts that were deemed to be propagating hate speech and false information. Musk claims that Justice Alexandre de Moraes has “betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil.”
Tech ⚡
Intel unveils its new Gaudi 3 AI chip which the company claims is over twice as power-efficient as Nvidia’s H100 GPU and can run AI models 1.5x faster. Nvidia currently has an estimated 80% market share of the AI chip market.
Meta debuts its new generation of AI chips as the tech giant rushes to reduce its dependence on Nvidia for its swelling AI compute requirements. Meta said the new chip offers 3x the performance of its first-generation chip.
US awards TSMC and Samsung massive subsidies as the administration aims to onshore semiconductor production. The two firms will each receive up to $6.6 billion to expand their Arizona and Texas facilities.
Tesla cuts price of FSD package in half to $99 a month in the US. The price cut conflicts Musk’s previous statements that the cost of FSD “will continue to rise as the software gets closer to full self-driving capability.”
SEC moves to sue crypto exchange Uniswap after issuing a Wells notice this week. The suspected charges are unknown but many believe they will claim Uniswap is an unregistered exchange trading securities.
Poe introduces a price-per-message revenue model that will allow creators to monetize their bots. The Quora-owned AI platform allows users to sample a variety of models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and others, all in one place.
TikTok-parent ByteDance shows exceptional growth in 2023 with its revenue jumping 50% to a whopping $120 billion and its profits surging 60% to $40 billion, outpacing its Chinese competitors Tencent and Alibaba.
Earnings Reports 💰
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Weekly Poll 🗳️
SMM Product Hunt 🧠
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Week Ahead 📅
Monday
US - Retail Sales (MAR)🇺🇸
US - NY Empire State Manf. Index (APR)🇺🇸
CN - GDP (Q1)🇨🇳
Earnings: Goldman Sachs, Charles Schwab, M&T Bank💰
Tuesday
US - Housing Starts (MAR)🇺🇸
US - Building Permits (MAR)🇺🇸
US - Industrial Production (MAR)🇺🇸
CA - CPI Inflation (MAR)🇨🇦
UK - Employment Report (MAR)🇬🇧
EU - ZEW Economic Sentiment (APR)🇪🇺
JP - Imports & Exports (MAR)🇯🇵
Earnings: Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, UnitedHealth, J&J, Interactive Brokers, Bank of New York Mellon, PNC, United Airlines💰
Wednesday
US - Beige Book🇺🇸
US - Crude Oil Inventories🇺🇸
UK - CPI Inflation (MAR)🇬🇧
EU - CPI Inflation (MAR)🇪🇺
AU - Employment Report (MAR)🇦🇺
Earnings: ASML, Abbott, Prologis, US Bancorp, Discover Financial💰
Thursday
US - Existing Home Sales (MAR)🇺🇸
US - LEI Leading Index (MAR)🇺🇸
US - Philly Fed Manf. Index (APR)🇺🇸
JP - CPI Inflation (MAR)🇯🇵
Earnings: Netflix, TSMC, Blackstone, Intuitive Surgical, American Airlines, Alaska Air, Ally💰
Friday
UK - Retail Sales (MAR)🇬🇧
Earnings: American Express, Procter&Gamble💰
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