📈 Higher for longer

Powell signals rates will be higher for longer, the biggest Wall Street banks book gain, gold shining ‘bright like a diamond’, DOJ sues Ticketmaster, Live Nation over ticketing monopoly, and Bitcoin halving is likely this week…

Author

Smart Owl
April 17, 2024

Good morning.

The Fast Five → Powell signals rates will be higher for longer, the biggest Wall Street banks book gain, gold shining ‘bright like a diamond’, DOJ sues Ticketmaster, Live Nation over ticketing monopoly, and Bitcoin halving is likely this week…

Calendar: (all times ET)

  • THU, 4/18: Jobless claims, 8:30a

Your 5-minute briefing for Wednesday, April 17:

BEFORE THE OPEN

As of market close 4/16/2024.

PRE-MARKET

MARKETS

  • US stocks wobbled to a mixed close yesterday as investors weighed a resilient economy against persistent inflation

  • US yields hit new five-month highs

  • Bullish options bets on oil surged to a record after Iran's attack on Israel

EARNINGS

  • Morgan Stanley reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings thanks to a resurgence in IB and growth in its wealth management (link)

  • Bank of America beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates on the back of strong interest income and IB activity but warned of souring loans from consumers whose finances are worsening (link)

  • Johnson & Johnson beat Q1 profit estimates and narrowly outpaced drug sales expectations (link)

  • UnitedHealth Group shares rose ~5% after reporting better-than-expected Q1 earnings and revenue despite fallout from a cyberattack (link)

  • United Airlines shares jumped 6% after reporting a smaller-than-expected adjusted loss and revenue that beat estimates and forecasting above-estimate Q2 earnings resolving concerns of delivery delays (link)

  • What we're watching this week:

    • Today: ASML

    • Thursday: TSMC, Netflix, Blackstone

    • Friday: American Express, P&G

  • Full calendar here

NEWS BRIEFING

If inflation persists, the Fed can keep rates steady for “as long as needed," he says.

Plain old trading picked up the slack at Wall Street banks.

  • Market fear signals are flashing red as stocks pull back from record highs (link)

  • Dollar steady, yen fragile after Fed comments dash rate cut bets (link)

  • Oil prices dip as demand concerns outweigh Middle East supply fears (link)

  • Biden admin partners with states to protect airline customers (link)

  • Gold is shining ‘bright like a diamond’ and could hit $3,000, says Citi (link)

  • US funding rates rise modestly on tax outflows, Treasury supply (link)

  • Bitcoin halving is likely this week (link)

  • DOJ to sue Ticketmaster, Live Nation for alleged monopoly over ticketing industry (link)

  • IB bounceback powers big US lenders (link)

  • Investors are most bullish in over two years (link)

  • US banking giants continued to cut employees in Q1 (link)

  • Hedge funds reduced bearish bets in US Treasuries (link)

  • Repeat offenders made up 40% of US corporate defaults in 2023 (link)

  • US manufacturing output increased in February and March (link)

  • BlackRock’s CEO said AI will boost productivity and worker pay (link)

  • Boeing fired lobbying firm that helped it navigate 737 crashes (link)

  • Samsung overtook as Apple as top phone maker (link)

CRYPTO

  • Crypto exchange Crypto.com is seeking to expand its headcount by 1.4k (link)

You Can Sponsor this Newsletter details here.​

BULLISH BITES

📈 Curious: What if Fed rate hikes are actually sparking US economic boom?

🐝 The buzz: Airchat is Silicon Valley’s latest obsession.

🤖 In training: Is there enough text to feed the AI beast? This Stanford study made headlines this week...

DAILY SHARES

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