DHUnplugged is now streaming live - with listener chat. Click on link on the right sidebar.
Love the Show? Then how about a Donation?
Follow John C. Dvorak on Twitter
Follow Andrew Horowitz on Twitter
Warm Up
- Superbowl teams are set - Eagles and Kansas City (spread +1.5 KC)
- Markets have a very amateurish feel to them - crypto patterns of intraday rush and bust
--- Meme Stocks moving again
- Seems that the Church of Whats Hot Now - back in Biz (AI names)
-- Latest Google, Baidu and Microsoft all announced AI integration today (catnip for traders)
- There is a Sushi Terrorist on the loose
- Hustle Bros are latching on and sucking your wallets
- A new FED word to watch
Market Update
- Blowout Jobs report - what in tar-nation?
- Another fraud uncovered - India
- State of the Union Speech - going after the wealthy...
- Powell speaks - Whipsaw
Golf Fitting this week..
- Pretty interesting technology
- Callaway Paradym X
MARKETS!
- The S&P 500 index rose 1.6% last week with the communication services and technology sectors leading a broad climb amid better-than-expected quarterly results from some companies and a slower pace of rate increases from the Federal Open Market Committee.
- The market benchmark ended the week at 4,136.48, up from last Friday's closing level of 4,070.56. The index is now up 7.7% for the year to date but down 8.1% from a year ago.
- This feels like an attempt to move off bottom like everyone in the pool from March/April 2020. (But this is a different time)
Fed Speak
- There was irrational exuberance
- Transitory inflation
- Green shoots
- quantitative easing
- not thinking about thinking about thinking about...
- Average inflation targeting
- balance outlook
- And Now, introducing the work - disinflation... Powell used dozens of times in last speeches...
Earnings Update
- The slowdown in YoY revenue growth... Tesla: slowest since 2020 Amazon: 3rd slowest in company history Microsoft: slowest since 2017 Netflix: slowest in company history Google: 3rd slowest in company history Facebook: 2nd slowest in company history Apple: slowest since 2016
- BP on Tuesday reported a record profit of $28 billion for 2022 while boosting its dividend in a sign of confidence as it sharply raised overall spending plans and scaled back ambitions to reduce oil and gas output by 2030.
MEME Stocks Moving again
- BBBY (looking at potential bankruptcy) up 100% today.
- AI Stocks on the move
- KOSS, GME, AMC all rocking....
Fed decision and Employment Report?
-- Odds rise after the the BLS employment report
- 500k + new hires (estimates were for +250k)
- labor participation rate rising
- 3.4% unemployment rate (lowest since 1969)
- USD jumps, Rates turn higher
- Thoughts?
State of the Union Speech
- CNBC reports President Biden will call for quadrupling the tax on stock buybacks and a 'billionaire minimum tax' in his State of the Union speech tonight
Earnings and corporate
-Amazon, Google, Apple -all had questionable earnings reports
- Apple showed worst revenue groth in years and years - stock came off then buyers stepped in for some reason
- Amazon was down as AWS missed
- Google (Alphabet) just bad all the way around.
- FORD - ugly outlook, loss and not at all what GM looked like.
- Dell slashing 6,000 jobs (5% of workforce)
----!!! Company up initially on the news, then falls 3% during session
------ ALERT, Job cuts may no longer be seen as a good thing (Investors were rewarding companies)
- HP cutting 6,000 jobs
- Chipotle - Misses on earnings (top and bottom) - guidance soft (slowing growth/comps)
- Zoom cutting salaries for execs by 20%
India
- New discussion
- Hindenburg Research (Short sellers) wrote report of biggest scam and fraud in corporate history about Adani
-- Accused company of stock manipulation, unsustainable use and tax havens
- Adani is India conglomerate whose founder was 2/3 richest person in Asia
- Gautam Adani (founder) and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi are from the same state.
- 50-60% drop in the company values (all associated
- Getting so bad, Parliament was shut down for a couple of days
- $110 Billion in losses since the Hinderburge Report
--- Also of interest is the question about: How did Hindenburg play this as difficult to get direct exposure to companies in Indian market
Call for TikTok Ban
- Governor Abbot (TX) looking to ban on devices conducting state business
- Other states have been making similar statements
- Funny part: every time we hear about ban on TikTok, knee jerk reaction is to bid up SNAP (makes no sense)
AI names still kicking
- ANY mention of AI is brewing up a storm
- Change of name, align with CHATGPT or another name - zoom
- Going to be some great shorting opportunities
AND AI ...
- Isaac Herzog, the president of Israel, became the first world leader to publicly use ChatGPT on Wednesday after delivering a speech partly composed by the AI, the Jerusalem Post reported.
- It is like children with a new toy
- According to Sky News, the AI-written section began: "I am truly proud to be the president of a country that is home to such a vibrant and innovative hi-tech industry."
- Combine this with Deep Fakes - it will be all over
Powell Speaks
- Today's market action was interesting... Powell opens his mouth and markets scream higher.
- I listened - nothing at all was said to make that happen, on fact, seemed pretty dour and no stray from his previous discussions
- Once he finished (he talked about the potential need for a long grind with higher rates), markets turned down hard.. 400 point swing on DJIA, 1.6% on S&P 500
- Listen! People! You are not paying attention!
Hustle Bros
- Newest pitch: ChatGPT coaching and help
- Showing you how to create automated newsletters, write non fiction books, invest in real estate
- Make MILLIONS (essentially sitting on your ass) - No Brainer - guaranteed!
- " You no longer need to develop the skill as long as you have AI"
MUSK
- Found not-liable of the famous "420 secured Tweet"
--- With that out of the way, watch how aggressive he will get -as that seemed like a pretty serious violation
- Now complaining that the last couple of months has been tough on him
- Twitter now trending toward breakeven, rescued it from bankruptcy, while also fulfilling his roles at other companies
- "Wouldn't wish that pain on anyone," he wrote. "Twitter still has challenges, but it is now trending to breakeven if we keep at it. Public support is much appreciated!"
---- Who pays $44 billion for a company that was on the brink of bankruptcy - seems like poor financial management?
- TESLA - raised prices on Model Y after Biden admin tweaked the tax credit availability (stock up)
----- TESLA dropped prices a couple weeks ago - stock up (so doesn't matter, as long as there is news)
Drug Companies - CLIFF
- Pharmaceutical companies that made billions from the pandemic over the past two years selling vaccines and treatments are now up against a steep COVID cliff and investor pressure to spend their windfalls wisely.
- Western drugmakers including Pfizer Inc, BioNTech SE, Moderna Inc, Gilead Sciences Inc , AstraZeneca Plc and Merck & Co are estimated to have brought in about $100 billion in revenue from COVID vaccines and treatments in 2022.
- Company and analyst estimates suggest sales from COVID vaccines could fall by nearly two-thirds this year due to built up product inventories around the world including in the countries that pay the most.
- Strategists are now desirous of these companies to use their gains for consolidation / M&A
And this...
- Sushi Terrorist
- A teenager, dubbed a ‘sushi terrorist’, caused the stock value of a Japanese restaurant to plunge after he was filmed licking the top of a communal soy sauce bottle and contaminating a piece of food on a conveyor belt.
- He also licks the rim of a teacup before placing it back on a shelf and touched a piece of sushi after licking his finger.
- Meanwhile - everyone seems okay eating a piece of RAW FISH or
Flat Earther
- Flat Earthers seem to beleive that Photoshop and CGI is used by NASA to prove earth is a sphere
- Claims that $52 million a day is given to cover up the flat earth reality while there are startving kids in Africa
---- What is going on?
Crypto
- Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, will suspend U.S. dollar deposits and withdrawals, the company said Monday
- "We are temporarily suspending USD bank transfers as of February 8th," a Binance spokesperson told CNBC. "Affected customers are being notified directly." The company said "0.01% of our monthly active users leverage USD bank transfers" and added that "we are working hard to restart service as soon as possible."
- The start of something???
420 Stocks ...
Stocks to watch: CGC, STZ, TLRY, CRON, MJ, NBEV
Love the Show? Then how about a Donation?
Winners will be getting great stuff like the new DHUnplugged Shirts (Designed by Jimbo) -
PLUS a one-of-a-kind DHUnplugged CTP Winner's certificate..
CLICK HERE FOR MORE CHARTS ON TRADING VIEW
CRYPTO LIMERICKS
JCD Score ()
FED LIMERICKS
JCD Score ()