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 Warm-Up
- CPI comes in HOT, PPI not as bad
- Retail sales - not a happy number for January
- News on GameStop
- - DOGE is full attack mode (Dismantling)
- The Winner of the ORCL CTP

Markets
- The call it dumb money - ruling again
- More earnings - driving markets
- Buying holding tight - tariffs are not worrisome|
- Intel parts up for grabs?

Retail Sales
- According to reports: Consumers sharply curtailed their spending in January, indicating a potential weakening in economic growth ahead, according to a Commerce Department report last Friday.
- Retail sales slipped 0.9% for the month from an upwardly revised 0.7% gain in December, even worse than the Dow Jones estimate for a 0.2% decline. The sales totals are adjusted for seasonality but not inflation for a month in which prices rose 0.5%.
- Excluding autos, prices fell 0.4%, also well off the consensus forecast for a 0.3% increase.
- A "control" measure that strips out several nonessential categories and figures directly into calculations for gross domestic product fell 0.8% after an upwardly revised increase of 0.8%.

Other Economics
- In other economic news Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that import prices accelerated 0.3% in January, in line with expectations for the largest one-month move since April 2024. On a year-over-year basis, import prices increased 1.9%.
- Fuel prices increased 3.2% on the month, also the biggest gain since April 2024. Food, feed and beverage costs rose 0.2% following a 3% surge in December.
- Export prices also increased, rising 1.3%.

Back to Work
- President Trump was very vocal about people who work from home. Said they they are really not working
- “I happen to be a believer that you have to go to work. I don’t think you can work from home.
- “Nobody’s going to work from home, they’re going to be going out, they’re gonna play tennis, they’re gonna play golf. They’re gonna do a lot of things—they’re not working.”
--- Question: Doesn't President Trump work from home?
-----JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon scorned calls from some employees to soften the bank's five-day return-to-office policy in an animated town hall meeting last week, according to a recording reviewed by Reuters.
- Employees at the largest U.S. bank have complained on internal message boards and chats about losing hybrid working arrangements, and one group launched an online petition urging Dimon to reconsider.

Unions - NOPE
- Amazon workers at a facility near Raleigh, North Carolina, overwhelmingly voted against unionizing on Saturday.
- Of the 3,276 ballots cast, there were 2,447 votes opposing the union and 829 in favor, according to Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment (CAUSE), the group seeking to represent workers. The results still need to be certified by the National Labor Relations Board.
China - Tariffs of their own
- China's finance ministry said Tuesday it will impose 15% tariffs on coal and liquified natural gas imports from the U.S. and 10% duties on crude oil, farm equipment and certain cars, starting Feb. 10.
- The tariffs announcement comes as the additional 10% U.S. tariffs on Chinese exports came into effect on Tuesday stateside.

Speaking of Tariffs
Reciprocal Tariffs - what are they? . Essentially, it's a "tit-for-tat" approach to trade: if Country A charges a 10% tariff on goods from Country B, then Country B will impose a 10% tariff on goods from Country A
- President Trump recently signed a memorandum directing his administration to impose reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trading partners. This means the U.S. will levy tariffs on imports from countries that have higher tariffs on American goods. The goal is to create a "level playing field" and address trade imbalances.
- Wouldn't it be better of all removed tariffs rather than trying to one-up all the time?

In Response
- Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech at a symposium with prominent entrepreneurs on Monday, according to state media Xinhua, signaling a shift toward renewed support for the private sector.
- The meeting sends a "very clear signal of top-level support" to the private sector entrepreneurs
- The meeting could mark "a symbolic turning point for Chinese tech sector after years of heightened scrutiny," said Lynn Song, chief economist at LNG, emphasizing the timing of this meeting underscored Beijing's urgency to cheer up the private sector amid economic malaise and external tariff risks.

Musk and DOGE
- Aides to Elon Musk charged with running the U.S. government human resources agency have locked career civil servants out of computer systems that contain the personal data of millions of federal employees, according to two agency officals.
-"We have no visibility into what they are doing with the computer and data systems," one of the officials said. "That is creating great concern. There is no oversight. It creates real cybersecurity and hacking implications."
- The government efficiency team have been given access to the U.S. Treasury Department’s payment system
- - The system sends out more than $6 trillion per year in payments on behalf of federal agencies and contains the personal information of millions of Americans who receive Social Security payments, tax refunds and other monies from the government.
- AND, when there is pushback......Elon Musk has called to impeach a federal judge in New York, Paul Engelmayer, over an order that temporarily restricts the tech centi-billionaire and his DOGE team from accessing U.S. Department of Treasury payment systems and sensitive data.

Intel
- Intel's rivals Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Broadcom are each eyeing potential deals that would break the U.S. chipmaking icon in two, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.

ONWARD!
- Impressive earnings:
- Luxury carmaker Ferrari on Tuesday reported a significant upswing in full-year net profit, citing a strong product mix and growing demand for personalization.
- Ferrari posted net profit of 1.53 billion euros ($1.58 billion) for the full-year 2024 period, reflecting a 21% increase from the previous year.

Coinbase Earnings
- Coinbase Thursday reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results and its biggest quarterly revenue in three years, strengthened by a raging postelection rally that pushed crypto prices to new high after new high at the end of last year. (Earnings per share: $4.68 vs. $1.81 expected, Revenue: $2.27 billion vs. $1.88 billion expected)
- Total trading volume was $439 billion, up 185% year-over-year. Consumer trading volume rose 224% from the same period a year ago while institutional trading volume increased 176%.
Airbnb
- The online rental platform posted earnings of 73 cents per share on $2.48 billion in revenue. That topped analyst estimates of 58 cents per share of earnings and $2.42 billion in revenue, according to LSEG.
- Revenue increased 12% from a year ago.
- Shares up 14% on the dy (best one day performance for the stock EVER!)

CVS
- The company issued a full-year 2025 adjusted earnings outlook of $5.75 to $6 per share, which was in line with Wall Street's expectations.
-- But CVS did not provide a revenue forecast for the year.
- Earnings per share: $1.19 per share adjusted vs. 93 cents per share expected
- Revenue: $97.71 billion vs. $97.19 billion expected
- Still a big concern moving forward as company relies heavily on Medicare/Medicare Advantage - could see some price negotiations by the government

OOOH - This is amazing! (NOT)
- Last week, video game retailer turned meme stock GameStop is considering investing in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
- GameStop is exploring investments in alternative asset classes, including crypto and in particular bitcoin, three sources said. Shares of GameStop soared as much as 20% in extended trading following the news.
- Comments show that they are reviving this from their 2022 playbook (that they did not follow through on)

Zelle for the WIN!
- Zelle is it safe? (What movie is that from?)
- The firm said Wednesday that its user base jumped 12% to 151 million accounts in 2024, and that the total dollars sent on the platform jumped 27% from the year earlier.
- Growth is being driven as bank customers increasingly use Zelle instead of cash or checks, and as small businesses adopt the payment option.

Thoughts on This?
- President Donald Trump is set Monday to sign an executive order directing the Department of Justice to pause enforcing a law that prohibits American companies to bribe officials of foreign governments.
- The pause will be implemented to examine whether the law puts U.S. businesses at an economic disadvantage to foreign competitors.
- The Bloomberg news service first reported the planned executive order related to the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act.

What Do We Make of This?
- ARM has begun recruiting from its own customers and competing against them for deals as it pushes toward selling its own chips, according to people familiar with the matter and a document viewed by Reuters.
- The UK-based company has sought to recruit executives from licensees, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. And Arm is competing against Qualcomm, one of its largest customers, to sell data center CPUs to Meta Platforms
- Accorind to reports: The tech provider's moves to build out its own chip business could upend an industry that has long viewed the company as a neutral player rather than a competitor, by forcing companies who rely on Arm technology to consider whether they will end up competing against the firm for business.

 

 

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