Week Ending March 28th, 2024 

Market Moves 

• A market upswing. The markets started the week with a bang on Monday, sending the S&P 500 to a two-week high while the Dow Jones Industrial Average tacked on nearly 600 points. In fact, it was the S&P 500 index’s best Monday since the last bear market came to a screeching halt in 2022. US stocks have now risen for a third day in a row.
• Tariff concerns still linger. Uncertainty about the scope of Trump's upcoming tariffs has investors weary, as more duties are due on April 2, but the president has said he “may give a lot of countries breaks." On a bright note, tech stocks Nvidia and AMD took a breather from their tariff-related fears, gaining 3.1% and 7%, respectively on Tuesday. Investors piled into stocks after the Trump Administration displayed a willingness to tone down the tariff threats a notch, and that was all this headline-driven market needed to hear. 
• Consumer confidence has hit a low. Consumer confidence reflecting where Americans believe the U.S. economy is headed has hit a 12-year low, according to the Conference Board’s monthly confidence index. Worse, a Deutsche Bank survey revealed that the probability of an economic recession has hit 50%. 
• OpenAI made a big announcement. The company behind the famous ChatGPT chatbot, has revealed that it will now be adding images to ChatGPT. OpenAI Founder Sam Altman called the technology incredible, saying that it sets a “new high water mark” in allowing creative freedom.
• iPhone maker Apple is making an aggressive push into generative AI and large data sets. Reports were revealed of a $1 billion order for Nvidia’s AI chip sets. It’s about time. Apple is making the investment as it struggles to upgrade its AI-powered Siri technology, which is facing continued delays.
• Facebook and Instagram could soon cost money if you don't like ads. Mark Zuckerberg’s company is reportedly planning to charge users $14 for ad-free subscriptions on the social platforms as a way to drum up more revenue.
• GameStop gained 6% on crypto news. Shares rose more than 6% in post-market trading after the company released its quarterly results and said it will add bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset.
• Copper prices hit a high. Copper prices climbed closer to all-time high levels on Tuesday as indications of more measured Trump administration tariffs extended the industrial metal's rally this year.
• Trump media soared 6% on deal with Crypto.com. Shares were up 6% on Tuesday after the company announced a partnership with Crypto.com to launch a series of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and products.
• Carvana received a Morgan Stanley upgrade. Carvana stock jumped 5% on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas forecast that the used car online platform has the potential to become the "Amazon of auto retail."
• Tesla sales tumble in Europe. More trouble for Tesla in Europe and the UK. Sales fell by 49% in the continent.
• Boeing saw a modest jump. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that the plane maker is pushing President Trump's Justice Department to allow it to withdraw a guilty criminal plea agreement it reached with the Biden administration.
• Home prices are growing. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index jumped 4.1% from a year earlier, just ahead of December’s 4% gain, data released Tuesday showed.
• Oil went lower. Oil dipped, halting the longest rally in almost three months, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy agreed to implement a partial truce.
• The Advanced Durable Goods report for February comes out at 8:30 a.m. ET. Tariff preparations are likely to send industrial orders from Canada to the U.S. into contraction territory. 
• On Friday, personal income and spending data for February comes out at 8:30 a.m. Inflation remains a challenge for consumers, so economists are not holding their breath for any positive surprise.

_____________________________________________________________

I would tell anyone who wants to understand what's going on in markets ... that markets thrive on predictability, and they thrive on uncertainty," 

- Gary Cohn, former director of the National Economic Council and current IBM vice chair.

_____________________________________________________________

Most Active Stocks

• GameStop Corp. (GME)
• United Parcel Service (UPS)
• Merck & Co. (MRK)
• DatChat, Inc. (DATS)
• Ford (F)
• Tesla (TSLA)
• Meta (META)
• Palantir Technologies (PLTR)
• Carvana (CVNA)
• Nvidia (NVDA)

Weekly Notables

Berkshire Hathaway Employee Scores $1M Win in March Madness Bracket Challenge

For the first time in almost a decade, a Berkshire Hathaway employee claimed Warren Buffett’s $1 million grand prize for his company’s NCAA bracket contest. The anonymous employee from aviation training company FlightSafety International, a subsidiary of Buffett’s Berkshire, won the annual internal bracket contest after correctly calling 31 of the 32 games in the first round of March Madness.

Kroger Countersues Albertsons 

U.S. grocery chain Kroger has countersued grocery chain Alberstons this week, following the collapse of their proposed $25 billion merger in December. The latter had terminated the merger immediately after courts blocked it and sued Kroger, alleging a breach of contract that led to the deal falling apart. “Albertsons’s misconduct shockingly came to light in the middle of the antitrust trials under government cross examination of Susan Morris, Albertsons’s recently promoted CEO designate,” Kroger said 

Online pet food and supply retailer Chewy is likely to register an increase in both top and bottom lines when it reports fourth-quarter fiscal 2024 results on March 26, before the market opens today. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly revenues is pegged at $3.2 billion, which indicates a 13.1% increase from the year-ago period. The consensus mark for fiscal 2024 top line is pegged at $11.81 billion, which indicates an increase of 6.1% from the year-ago level.