Analysts were bummed that Costco didn’t announce a membership fee hike, while consumers across the US were relieved. With the stock up over 66% LTM, giving a little back today won’t be a problem for those of us who believed in the power of Kirkland when others didn’t. Target told us consumers feel stretched, so let’s not bash these guys for making strategic decisions we don’t like when they have all the data. Instead, we should read into it, no?
That’s the labor data today, per Reuters. The US jobless rate hit a 2-yr high in Feb, but hiring is still solid. Part of the unemployment increase was due to folks entering the workforce but not finding a job right away. So, co’s have a bit more power now to say “no” to your demands for pet massages and Fridays off. Service sectors led the job growth, which makes sense since people shifted spend from goods to services. Layoff announcements in Feb hit their highest level for the mo since 2009, per CNBC, so let’s not get too cocky here with the strong US market until we see 2024 unfold.
Gold is lovin’ the labor data this morning and continuing its party.
It’s not just the “bro” showing bias when hiring…OpenAI’s GPT shows racial bias. For example, for a financial analyst, it wanted Asians. For HR, it looked for women. Black people suffered the most bias. You don’t need a new Netflix stand-up to get the picture. But, you may rethink your kid’s name in this new-AI context, right? I wonder what they’ll rank True, Aire, Psalm, North, Saint, etc.
He’s pretty confident that they’ve got the whole “managing inflation and not messing up America” situation down pat, so they’ll be cutting rates this year, per the FT.
US-hated co Huawei and its partner SMIC relied on US tech to make its advanced 7-nanometer chip last year, supposedly…which means that China can’t really be self-sufficient yet. It needs foreign components and equipment. That’s why they’re raising > $27 bn for its largest chip fund to counter US curbs (and probably our pressure on other countries’ companies, per our note earlier this week).
Get this. Japan’s household spending was down -6.3% annually in Jan (the most in roughly 3 yrs) but annual wage negotiations are pointing to big gains in pay. So, seems like they’re pocketing cash, not spending it. Their household spending fell by the most since Feb 2021. Maybe they saw what happened here when our rates went up and learned that stuff is going to cost more. A lot more.
US mortgage rates were down for the 1st time in 5 weeks, per Bloomberg. 70% of US banks suffered a drop in profits by -44% in 4Q23, per Reuters. The biggies had to pay up with fees dealing with bank failures last year.
The UK has to “find” tens of billions in spending cuts or raise taxes, per the Guardian. So, be nice to your UK friends. Sounds like they haven’t bottomed yet. The London Times is saying that savers took their money out of equities.
Lilly’s Alzheimer’s drug is facing further delays as regulators want to check its safety more. It’s a pretty big surprise, since most folks thought they’d rule on approving the drug in a few weeks. The process will delay things by a few months, it sounds like.
Your teen may get cranky, and not just because they lost an hour. At least 1 in 3 Americans use TikTok, and politicians actually have found 1 thing they agree on. They might have never seen TikTok, but they hate it. It’s Chinese and influences young people’s minds (and collects their data). They’re trying to put the legislation through to make parent ByteDance sell the co. If not, they’ll Huawei-it (put restrictions on it). How to play this? GOOG and META should benefit.
Remember to lose an hour this Sunday and feel more sluggish, if you live in an affected state for daylight savings. Your mornings will be darker, and evenings lighter. So, it is harder to fall asleep AND wake up. So, maybe wait an extra second before you blast your car horn.