๐ฅ๐จโ๐ผ Labor Market is ON FIRE (again)
Happy Wednesday all,
Ok, I tried the Apple Vision Pro demo at the Apple Store the other day. It was incredible. There were points during the demo I felt like I was actually immersed in an environment that was completely foreign. At one point I was at the top of a Norweigan mountain looking down at Geirangerfjord, and everywhere I looked was the environment, that it was hard to believe that I wasnโt there. Still though, at $3499 + tax, plus all the accessories youโd have to buy, itโs a really steep price tag for something that is just a โnice to haveโ. Holding off on this purchase for now, but I can see how this product will be the Gen 1 of what the future may look like.
We have some fantastic videos out on the YouTube channel right now, I hope you get a chance to watch them, and todayโs newsletter is packed with some great stories.
Enjoy this weekโs Hump Days!
- Humphrey, Rickie & Tim
๐ Eye-Catching Headlines
โ๐ป First Bank of Canada rate cut seen in early April (WSJ)
๐จโ๐ป Tech layoffs just keep coming as sector resets for AI (WSJ)
๐ท๐บ Tucker Carlson set to interview Vladimir Putin (CNBC)
๐ป Meta is trouncing Snap in digital ads - hereโs why (CNBC)
๐ Xi to discuss China stocks with regulators as rescue bets build (Bloomberg)
๐ช Why Americans are so down on a strong economy (WSJ)
๐ ESPN, Fox and Warner team up to create sports streaming platform (WSJ)
โ๏ธ Boeing 737 in Alaska Air accident was missing bolts, U.S. says (Bloomberg)
๐ช Bitcoin spot ETFs are starting to see slowing investor interest (Bloomberg)
The Weekly Brief
1. Job Growth of 353k Blows Past Expectations as Labor Market Stay Hot (WSJ)
According to data reported by the Labor Department, employers added 353,000 jobs last month, nearly double what economists surveyed by WSJ expected.
Interestingly, the S&P 500 rose 1.1% following the report, indicating that investors have become more confident that a strong labor market is sustainable rather than a problem that could contribute to inflation.
The strong jobs data likely means the Fed holds rates where they are at the next March meeting as officials wait for more evidence that inflation is continuing to move downward.
After officials raised rates to the highest level in more than 20 years, the economy has grown at a surprisingly brisk pace.
The Fedโs preferred inflation gauge was 2.6% in December, not far from the 2% target.
2. Senate Releases $118B Bipartisan Aid Proposal for Israel, Ukraine, Border Security (CNBC)
Senators released the details of their $118.2B bipartisan aid proposal, and here is what the bill requested:
$60.1B for Ukraine aid
$14.1B for Israel
$20.2B to improve security at the U.S. border
Smaller pockets of funding for humanitarian assistance in war-torn regions and defense operations in the Red Sea and Taiwan
The new proposal adds $13B in border security funding, an area of focus that Republicans have been very critical of the Biden administration for its handling.
The president has come out supporting the bill and urged Congress to come together to pass the bipartisan agreement swiftly.
The bill also includes a term that gives Biden โnew emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes too overwhelmed.โ
3. Meta Finally Figures Out How to Sell the Metaverse (WSJ)
Meta saw its share price jump 20% following strong Q4 results, including a significantly boosted share buyback and the companyโs first-ever dividend.
Following Facebookโs change to Meta, the company boosted its capital expenditure budget by 80%.
Even while investors fled from the jump into AR/VR, Meta poured money into building its data center, servers and gathering components for AI.
Zuckerberg said on the earnings call that he expects to have about 350,000 of Nvidiaโs expensive and hard-to-come-by H100 chips by the of the year.
Investors note Metaโs reduced cost structure (following thousands of layoffs), improving ad revenue growth, and shareholder-friendly moves, such as the dividend, as reasons to trust Meta moving forward.