📈 Falling behind

S&P ‘bumps into a wall’, China is falling behind in race to become AI superpower, AstraZeneca withdraws COVID-19 vaccine from global market, Musk’s xAI nears funding at $18 Billion value, and Trumps war on short sellers pays dividends…

Author

Smart Owl
May 09, 2024

Good morning.

The Fast Five → S&P 500 ‘bumps into a wall’, China is falling behind in race to become AI superpower, AstraZeneca withdraws COVID-19 vaccine from global market, Musk’s xAI nears funding at $18 Billion value, and Trumps war on short sellers pays dividends…

Calendar: (all times ET)

  • Today: Initial jobless claims, 8:30a

  • FRI, 5/10: Consumer sentiment, 10:00a

Your 5-minute briefing for Thursday, May 9:

BEFORE THE OPEN

As of market close 5/8/2024.

PRE-MARKET

MARKETS

  • US stocks closed mixed yesterday as investors shook off some pullbacks in tech

  • The Dow rose for a sixth-straight day

  • Bullish bets on European gas prices are a two year high

  • Short bets on British pound are at a 16-month high

EARNINGS

  • Uber fell ~6% after reporting an unexpected net loss due to equity markdowns (link)

  • Airbnb beat on Q1 top and bottom lines but gave weaker-than-expected guidance despite expectations of robust travel demand causing shares to fall ~8% (link)

  • Shopify plunged ~19% despite better-than-expected Q1 earnings and revenue due to sales guidance that represented a slowdown in growth (link)

  • Robinhood rose ~4% after beating Q1 earnings and revenue estimates driven by the recent stock and crypto rally (link)

  • Toyota smashed Q4 earnings estimates on booming hybrid demand but forecast a 20% FY profit decline citing looming investment in suppliers and strategy (link)

  • What we're watching this week:

    • Today: Warner Bros Discovery

  • Full calendar here

NEWS BRIEFING

Citi’s Montagu says fewer investors keen to join stock advance. Treasuries hold losses as $42 billion sale sees tepid demand.

Without easy access to foreign-made, high-powered chips, Chinese AI firms are struggling to catch up to their Western competitors.

  • US wholesale inventories drop by unrevised 0.4% in March (link)

  • Trump war on short sellers pays dividends as ‘DJT’ stock rises (link)

  • India boom drives Asian junk bond sales to five-year high (link)

  • Texas spot electricity prices soared ~10,000% on tight supply (link)

  • PIMCO adds bond exposure outside US on inflation risks (link)

  • Billions in phantom debt is lurking in BNPL services (link)

  • Musk’s xAI nears funding at $18 Billion value soon as this week (link)

  • Sweden becomes second rich nation to cut rates (link)

  • More BOJ board members see need for more rate hikes (link)

  • NYCB remains the cheapest US bank stock among big lenders (link)

  • Wells Fargo named ex-JPMorgan exec Rivas as co-head of CIB (link)

  • Saudi Arabia’s $100B AI fund will divest China if US asks (link)

  • Rents remain final obstacle in inflation fight (link)

  • Google employees question why performance isn’t translating to higher pay (link)

  • AstraZeneca withdraws COVID-19 vaccine from global market (link)

  • French air traffic controllers granted legal right to turn up late for work (link)

CRYPTO

  • FTX customers poised to recover all funds lost in collapse (link)

  • Top crypto options desk QCP gets Abu Dhabi regulatory nod (link)

  • Crypto markets under pressure as $2B worth of altcoin token unlocks and $11B Bitcoin distribution loom (link)

You Can Sponsor this Newsletter details here.​

BULLISH BITES

🍎 Succession: John Ternus, Apple’s head of hardware engineering, is emerging as a potential successor to CEO Tim Cook.

🌪 Vortex: The ‘world’s largest’ vacuum to suck climate pollution out of the air just opened.

💰 Selling out: Gold bars are selling like hot cakes in Korea’s convenience stores and vending machines.

📝 Internal memo: Shein's executive chair tells employees that the days of sourcing products from factories using forced labor are over.

DAILY SHARES

Keep the curation going! Buy the team a coffee ☕️