MARKET NEWS

90% of S&P 500 companies that reported earnings so far have beaten estimates for earnings per share. This sent stocks higher. This makes 2023 one of the best starts to a year since 2012. The market has truly been a roller coaster as of late, but what do you expect when something exists in the abstract and is dictated by the constantly fluctuating emotions of flawed human beings.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave a speech at the NYSE on Monday saying the Government needs to increase its borrowing limit and cut spending. This speech was meant to reinforce McCarthy’s position that a debt ceiling crisis must be fixed. If Democrats and Republicans can’t decide on a solution to the looming debt problem then the US could default on its debts and the value of the Dollar will plummet. Not good news for anyone except maybe China and Russia.

Bed Bath & Beyond is still struggling. The retailer that was once king cannot even keep its wedding registry customers at this point. Many analysts think BBB will be out of business before the year is up. This may not seem like a big story on the face of it, but a retail giant like BBB going out of business represents a major shift in how we shop and what business models will be sustainable in the future. 

McDonald’s is going premium. The Golden Arches has realized that implementing things like Fresh Beef, More Sauce, and Softer Buns can really boost sales. Once again McDonald’s is putting pressure on the rest of the booming fast food industry to up their game.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is set to pass $1 Billion worldwide. This random Animated movie has completely trumped the highly anticipated Antman and Wasp Marvel Movie. Of course, the critics think differently. Fans give Super Mario a 96% on rotten tomatoes but critics give it only 58%. Fans love it for its family friendliness and critics hate it, pretty much for the same reason. All this means that movies and theaters can succeed if they crank out the family movies we all want and not the preachy woke movies studio executives think we need.

In a bold and just plain stupid move, Germany has closed its last nuclear power plant. The reason, wokeness? Or maybe they just changed their minds about Putin and think they should be more dependent on Russian Oil because Putin just seems like such a nice guy. Nuclear is the way of the future but, its efficiency and safeness simply don’t make enough money for the powers that be. 

Inflation did come in cooler than expected in March. Grocery store prices decreased slightly, marking the first overall decline since 2020. Yet, Rent and hotel costs are on the rise due to people moving and traveling more and more post-pandemic. All this has led to mixed feelings as to whether the Fed will pause rate hikes. Inflation is cooling but not by significant margins.

People don’t care as much about e-commerce as much they did during the pandemic. This has led Amazon, FedEx, and UPS to raise the costs of shipping in various ways. Other retailers like Nike and BestBuy offer free shipping if you sign up for their membership programs, but the cost for these programs is personal data, which many are feeling more hesitant about sharing.

Raw sugar prices have grown by 17% recently but our starting to ease up. Expect this rise in cost to be passed down to you the consumer. A couple more cents for your Diabetes in a can (AKA Pepsi) and another dollar for that value box of 40 Rice Krispy Treats. The price of raw Sugar rose because of a global supply chain fear that Sugar would be in limited supply. Too much rain in Brazil, Export problems in India, too much zeal for sugar futures, and a few other factors have all played a role in the sugar tightness problem.

Venture Capital Funding for the Crypto world has plummeted over the last 12 months. Crypto startups are seeing 80% less funding than they did a year ago. This is all because of the ongoing ripple effect of the FTX collapse. Yet, BTC is up 80% year-to-date (Still nowhere near its all-time highs).

The Government wants 67% of passenger cars sold in the US to be electric by 2032. The government will enforce very strict Tailpipe emissions laws and this will, in theory, force car manufacturers to focus on EVs. Forcing companies to make more EVs is only one step in the very tall ladder that leads to a more Electric car economy. Other harder steps include improving the charging station infrastructure, getting buy-in from the people, and thoroughly proving that EVs from production-disposal are actually better for the environment than Gas powered cars. Disposing of those batteries and the amount of energy it takes to make an EV are true clean energy problems at the moment.

America’s pastime (Sadly I feel I have to clarify I am talking about Baseball) has struggled to bring in new fans for years now. In efforts to draw in new blood, the MLB has implemented rules that will shorten games and many teams are also extending alcohol sales past the seventh inning. Historically you could not get a beer in the 8^th or 9^th innings of a baseball game at any MLB ballpark, but with shorter games, many clubs have decided to change that age-old tradition.

Anheuser-Busch lost $6B+ following the backlash from their deal with a delusional guy pretending to be a woman, Dylan Mulvaney. Bud Light and Nike are two recent companies that sought to appease the woke crowd by partnering with a professional mentally ill person. We will have to wait and see if the conservative shouting mantra of “get woke, go broke” has any teeth.  The woke trends to ruling corporate America are a tragic thing, but we must all remember as Christians to call out the truth and do so in a compassionate way. The people claiming to be trans are only doing so because they have not been loved properly. It is up to us as the representatives of Christ to do our best to love properly!