On Wednesday Eastern Time, the three major US stock indexes collectively closed lower. As of the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.25%, the Nasdaq fell 0.59%, and the S&P 500 index fell 0.56%. Spirit fell over 22% after a US judge blocked the merger and acquisition deal between JetBlue and Spirit Airlines on antitrust grounds.
Popular Chinese concept stocks generally fell, with the Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index falling more than 2%, Xiaopeng Motors falling nearly 5%, JD.com falling more than 4%, NIO and Ideal Motors falling more than 3%, and Baidu falling more than 2%.
Global News
Watching the emotions rise to a three-year high! Why are US small cap stocks favored by Wall Street again?
The latest fund manager survey by Bank of America shows that the market's bullish sentiment towards US small cap stocks has reached its highest level in nearly three years: since June 2021, fund managers have predicted for the first time that US small cap stocks will outperform large cap stocks in the next 12 months.
Goldman Sachs predicts that the return on US stocks in 2024 will be slightly below the average level
According to Goldman Sachs' 2024 Global Stock Market Outlook report, the stock strategy team expects a global market stock price (in US dollars) return rate of 8% over the next year, with a total return rate including dividend income of 10%. Considering the trade-off between risk and return, the Goldman Sachs stock strategy team also predicts that stocks will perform slightly better than cash, and believes that the main driving force for the rise of Asian (excluding Japan) stocks will be profit growth, while the rise of Japanese stocks may be mainly due to rising valuations. Considering that the higher than consensus economic growth in the United States and the higher valuations of stocks offset each other, Goldman Sachs Research predicts that the return on US stocks in 2024 will be slightly below the average level.
Amazing prediction! Bank of America Strategist: This round of long-term bull market in the US stock market will continue until 2033
Stephen Suttmeier, a technology strategist at Bank of America, recently pointed out in a report that the current bull market in the US stock market may continue until 2033.
Is it not that difficult to fight inflation in the last mile? FED research: Excessive tightening can easily lead to errors!
Starting from the spring of 2021, the inflation rate in the United States skyrocketed, and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) reached a 40 year high of 9% in mid-2022. With the improvement of supply chain conditions, by the end of 2023, the Federal Reserve's tightening policy has reduced inflation rates to within 1-2 percentage points of the 2% target, while unemployment rates have not significantly increased.
Company News
Great news from Buffy! Acquisition of the largest travel service center operator in the United States
On the early morning of January 17th Beijing time, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway announced that it had acquired the remaining 20% equity of Pilot from the Haslam family, making it a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire. Previously, Berkshire acquired 80% of Pilot's shares for nearly $11 billion, resulting in a valuation of Pilot as high as $13.75 billion (approximately RMB 98.2 billion).
Apple official online price reduction! Is the market slowly recovering and can't sell apples anymore?
On January 17th, Apple's official flagship store online platform saw a price reduction. Starting from midnight, the official flagship store of Tmall's Apple Store has launched a "Spring Festival limited time discount" promotion, with official discounts for all Apple products such as phones, computers, tablets, and headphones. The full range of iPhone 15 is discounted by 1000 yuan, starting at 4999 yuan, which is lower than the 500 yuan price reduction announced on Apple's official website on Monday.
Apple officially launches Vision Pro App Store with millions of apps ready to be launched
On January 16th Eastern Time, Apple announced the official launch of the Vision Pro App Store before the release of its first hybrid reality (MR) head mounted display device, Vision Pro, on February 2nd.
Turn in 61.8 billion yuan! Are multiple major US banks paying for the regional banking crisis due to their dismal performance in the new quarter?
Behind the decline in performance, a special assessment fee for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has appeared in the financial statements of many Wall Street banks. In the fourth quarter of last year, several Wall Street banks, including JPMorgan Chase, paid a special assessment fee of approximately $8.6 billion (equivalent to approximately RMB 61.8 billion) to the FDIC, with the aim of paying for the bankruptcy crisis of multiple regional banks.