CPI for Feb was roughly where folks thought it would be, albeit a bit hotter. CPI +0.4% in Feb, +3.2% y/y. So, don’t expect a Fed cut next week. It will be a Powell “Mission Almost Accomplished” speech.
A leveraged long Nvidia ETF is generating record trading volumes and inflows, per Bloomberg. At some point these investors will get a hard lesson on 2x leverage.
Sounds like ValueAct did a shakedown of Disney, getting paid millions in fees before getting support for a proxy fight, per CNBC. They managed >$355mm in the co’s pension funds which the board did not disclose when touting Mason’s support. Since 2014, ValueAct has received $95mm in fees. Blackwells uncovered this and shined a light on the situation.
More than 4 of 10 chief audit execs say they’ll use AI this year, per Gartner. All 10 of 10 chief audit execs say they can’t wait to see what goes wrong. OK, that wasn’t part of the survey, but you know it’s true.
Oracle may have been light on overall sales, but folks are cheering the 12% increase in cloud services and license support (driven by AI server demand)—as well as the CEO’s optimism on long-term growth prospects. The co’s cloud revenues were up 25%. They got more biz from MSFT too. Stock is up >10%.
Porsche is talking lower profits, but it still hiked its dividend. Someone tell that mgmt team that they should target maintaining profits and cashflow (or growing them) to do that.
Ikea is going to cut prices as inflation eases. Thank you, Ikea, for doing the right thing. After bumping up prices in 2022, it’s now seeing more customers and sales as it stops riding the supply chain train. Mgmt noted “thinner wallets.”
Southwest is down hard today. It’s cutting capacity and rethinking its 2024 forecast because of Boeing delays. Also, leisure bookings were weaker than expected in 1Q, and so maybe they’re also seeing “thinner wallets” like Ikea.
Guess what happens when you charge 1.5% and others charge 0.3%? They don’t buy your product. That’s what happened to Grayscale’s GBTC bitcoin ETF, with $11bn of outflows to new launches. So, now they’re introducing a “mini” product of the original with cheaper fees.
I guess teenagers are helping keep Kohl’s going, with the bright spot on mgmt’s quarterly call being the Sephora stores inside of their Kohl’s stores. (While it’s a distressing trend, we’ll have to wait to see the implications in a decade). So now they’re launching Babies “R” Us inside of some of their stores. At some point, are you even a Kohl’s?
OPEC’s latest oil supply cuts aren’t doing the job because Iraq keeps pumping above its quota (200k barrels over the daily limit, to be precise).
While we typically stay away from politics in our notes, the potential TikTok ban heading for a House vote on Wed is interesting. Trump was for it, but now is against it because it could help Zuck. Yet the GOP is pushing ahead. But a big Republican donor has an investment in ByteDance and doesn’t want this to go through (and hence the Trump switch). So, we’ll see if US big tech gets a bump this week post vote, or if TikTok survives in its current state.
I don’t have any stock pick based on this, but you have to admit this is interesting. In countries where men do more chores, they have more babies. (Or do they do more chores because they have more babies?) So, if you want another kid, get rolling on that laundry, guys…
The Hang Seng Tech Index is now in a technical bull market, with rallying Chinese stocks sent several benchmarks surging +20% from low points.
The British pound fell after the UK’s jobless rate rose for the 1st time since July to 3.9%, and wage growth slowed. So, maybe the BoE will give them a rate cut. And you should book your trip to London.