Stocks ended the shortened week on a mostly strong note. The S&P 500 edged up 0.1% on Thursday, and Dow Jones Industrial Average also gained 0.1%, or 47 points. The Nasdaq Composite ended the day down 0.1%. The 10-year Treasury yield edged lower, settling at 4.192%. All three stock indices had a strong quarter, with the S&P leading the pack with a 10% increase, marking the index's best start to the year since 2019.
Stocks Ups and Downs
Estee Lauder was the best performer on the S&P 500, rising 6.3% after BofA Securities raised the stock to "buy" with a $170-a-share price target.
Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group slid 6.4% after a steep rally in the first two days of trading. Based on a tweet on X this morning, "Bond King" Bill Gross may have cashed in on the stock's volatility, and Heard Editor Spencer Jakab has some ideas on how he might have done so. Columnist James Mackintosh lays out a few ways Mr. Trump might cash in on his highly-valued stake in the company.
RH shares jumped 17% on Thursday after the company reported worse-than-expected results post-market close on Wednesday but gave hopeful guidance based on its new furniture catalog launches. Stock and bond markets will be closed for Good Friday, but investors will want to keep their eyes on the PCE index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, which comes out that day. Here’s what elseI have heard on the Street: Disney Delivering Shareholder Value
Disney has a strong board with a clear vision. Vote now for Disney’s 12 nominees.
Fortune Favors Early Movers in America’s Property Crunch By Carol Ryan
Many people dream of buying property when prices crater, but not everyone has a strong enough stomach for the risks. Small, private buyers are more likely to get the timing right than lumbering institutional investors. Commercial property values have fallen 21% on average since the Fed began raising interest rates two years ago, Green Street’s Commercial Property Price Index shows. With rate cuts now on the horizon, real estate watchers are waiting for signs that it is time to pounce. There will be “a six to eight-month window” to find the best deals, according to Doug Middleton, a vice chairman at real-estate firm CBRE. The field is wide open for anyone brave enough to buy because institutional investors like pension funds have stepped back. They were behind 18% of all U.S. property deals last year, according to MSCI Real Assets, which is a third below their normal share of activity. Real-estate investment trusts have also hit the brakes.
Super Micro’s AI Boom Carries a Big Price Tag By Dan Gallagher
Super Micro Computer, more commonly known as Supermicro, made a big splash when it joined the S&P 500 last week. Even before being added to the index, its stock had more than tripled since the start of the year and risen by more than 1,000% in the past 12 months. That far and away beat anything else on the index, including AI titan Nvidia. The surge isn’t without some justification. The $3.7 billion in revenue that Supermicro reported for its fiscal second quarter ended December was a record and double what the company reported in the same period last year. It also beat Wall Street’s consensus forecast by 21%—the largest beat the company has delivered in at least five years, according to data from FactSet. Analysts expect Supermicro’s revenue to top $20 billion in the fiscal year ending in June of 2025—four times what the company was producing just two years ago. But for Supermicro, servicing that growth comes at a high cost.
In Brief
Take-Two Interactive isn’t exactly changing the game with its acquisition of the studio behind the “Borderlands” franchise. But it does help the videogame publisher spread its bets a bit more, writes Dan Gallagher. Trump Media & Technology Group, better known by its brand-new ticker symbol, DJT—the initials of majority owner and former President Donald J. Trump—might have been too tempting of an opportunity for "Bond King" Bill Gross, writes Spencer Jakab.
Today's Markets News
FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years. Why Gasoline Prices Are Rising Faster Than Usual This Year. Bonds Got Relabeled. Now Millions of Americans Get Higher Electric Bills.
📅 What's Coming Up
Friday will bring the latest reading of the personal consumption expenditure index, the Fed's preferred inflation measure. U.S. stock and bond markets will be closed for Good Friday. This newsletter will resume publication on Monday.
Daniel Silva
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