Benzinga - The S&P 500 just entered a new bull market. It’s up 20% from the October 12, 2022 low.
Finally, some good news!
Market
Prices as of 4 pm EST, 6/8/23
Macro Donald Trump has been indicted by a federal grand jury for his handling of classified documents.
- Until yesterday, no former president had ever faced charges brought by the federal government.
- Among the seven counts Trump is charged with are violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice, and false statements.
- He has been summoned to appear in a federal court in Miami, FL on Tuesday.
- While a criminal conviction would disqualify Trump from running for president (again), it would presumably present a major obstacle in his route (back) to the White House.
US household net worth rose by more than $3 trillion in the first quarter.
- This was the largest increase since Q4 2021.
- The rise was due largely to an increase in the value of equity holdings, which rose ~$2.4 trillion over the period.
- Those gains more than offset a ~$617 billion drop in real estate values.
- Consumer credit, meanwhile, rose at the slowest pace in 2 years, rising by an annualized 4.3%.
Applications for unemployment benefits surged by the most in nearly 2 years last week, rising to the highest level since October 2021.
- Initial claims jumped to 261,000, well above the 235,000 consensus forecast.
- One data point does not a trend make, but the new figure broke out of the clear downtrend in place since mid-March.
- While the weekly data is very volatile, it suggests strength in the labor market may be waning.
Stocks Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) is looking to turn generative AI into ARR (annually recurring revenue).
- The company plans to sell subscriptions for new AI services—including its image-generating Firefly—to large business customers.
- As part of the offering—which comes amid a rise in lawsuits recently concerning the image data used in generative AI services—Adobe will help pay damages and provide legal assistance in the event customers are sued for copyright infringement.
- Subscription pricing has not been revealed, but investors welcomed the news as shares rose nearly 5% on the announcement.
Shares of Carvana (NYSE: CVNA) jumped 56% yesterday after the company announced better-than-expected guidance for its Q2 results.
- The company boosted its EBITDA and GPU (gross profit per unit) estimates well above Wall Street’s expectations.
- The improved numbers come not from selling more cars, however, but rather from selling more loans to customers and then dividing the number of cars sold by its gross profit.
- Nevertheless, short sellers have felt the pain, losing more than $1 billion betting against the stock this year.
Investors of both the retail and institutional variety are getting more bullish on stocks.
- Individual investor sentiment—as measured by the AAII bull-bear spread—reached its highest level since November 2021 as bulls outnumbered bears for the first time in 4 months.
- Active portfolio managers, meanwhile, piled into stocks last week at the fastest pace since April 2021.
- According to the NAAIM Exposure Index (chart), active manager exposure to equities is at its highest since November 2021.
- Market breadth also looks to be improving: the S&P 500 equal weight ETF (ARCA: RSP) is on track for its biggest inflow ever this week.
National Association of Active Investment Managers
Energy Oil prices fell yesterday after news of talks between the US and Iran regarding a temporary nuclear deal.
- The alleged deal would involve Iran reducing its uranium enrichment activities in exchange for some relief from sanctions that would allow it to export more crude.
- It would also grant Tehran access to its income and frozen funds abroad.
- However, prices partially recovered after both countries denied the reports.
Earnings
- Yesterday’s highlights:
DocuSign (NASDAQ: DOCU): $0.72 EPS (vs. $0.56 expected), $661 million in sales (vs. $642M expected).
- Overall revenue increased 12% YoY driven by 17% growth in international sales.
- The company issued Q2 and full-year guidance that topped Wall Street’s estimates.
What we’re watching today:
- NIO Inc. (NYSE: NIO)
Top Headlines
- Skip, then hike: Traders’ bets on US Treasury futures point to a 25bps hike by the Fed in July after a “skip” this month.
- In arrears: More than 4% of office loans packaged into securities were +30 days behind on payments in May, the most since 2018.
- Charging standard: General Motors joins Ford in adopting Tesla’s EV charging standard.
- “It’s gone pretty poorly”: Twitter co-founder Evan Williams was “sad” following Elon Musk’s purchase of the social media company.
- Spy base: China and Cuba have allegedly reached a “secret” agreement for the former to establish US eavesdropping facilities in the latter.
- Smoke spreads: Smoke from Canada’s wildfires is making its way through the central and eastern US and temporarily grounding flights.
- US-UK pledge: President Biden and British PM Sunak signed the “Atlantic Declaration”, an economic partnership on AI, clean energy, critical minerals, and support for Ukraine.
- China PPI: China’s producer prices experienced the sharpest YoY drop in 7 years in May.
Crypto
Prices as of 4 pm EST, 6/8/23
- COIN vs. SEC: Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong told the WSJ he plans to challenge the SEC for clarity on crypto.
- Red flag: A recent filing reveals some $70 billion moved by Binance and related entities through Silvergate Bank and Signature Bank from 2019 to this year.
- Halt: Binance.US will halt all fiat withdrawals and transactions as early as June 13.
- Rejected: Cardano is vehemently rejecting the SEC’s claim its ADA token is a security.
- Legislation: A new draft of a stablecoin bill aimed at combining ideas from both sides of the aisle has been released by House Republicans.
Deals
- Agricultural consolidation: Bunge is close to finalizing its +$30 billion merger with Glencore-backed Viterra.
- Gas roadblock: Magellan Midstream’s 4th largest investor plans to oppose the $19 billion takeover by Oneok for tax reasons.
- Space transportation: Firefly Aerospace, a rocket maker founded by an ex-SpaceX engineer, has acquired launch services company Spaceflight.
- AI funding: AI startup Cohere raised $270 million from a group including Oracle, Nvidia, and Salesforce Ventures.
- Keeping up with PE: Kim Kardashian pitched her new private equity fund, Skky Partners, to a crowd of investors at a conference in Berlin.
Meme Of The Day
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