March 17: Tesla downgraded, Robot Touches women inappropriately, Bitcoin surpasses gold/silver (Recap ep269)

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In this week’s recap, Marcello informs us that the Tesla stock was downgraded due to converns volume by Wells Fargo; In a controversial moment at the unveiling of a ‘male’ humanoid robot in Saudi Arabia, dubbed Inapp, the machine apparently touched a female reporter inappropriately; Bitcoin’s meteoric rise continues as it surpasses gold in investor portfolio allocation, according to JPMorgan. Additionally, Bitcoin now ranks as the 8th largest asset in the world, overtaking silver, and has also surpassed the Swiss Franc to become the 13th largest currency globally.

Tesla stock fell 4.54% on Wednesday at $169.48, after Wells Fargo downgraded the electric vehicle maker to underweight from equal weight, noting risk to volume as price cuts are having a diminishing impact. Shares of Tesla are down -32.49% in the past 3 months, -31.79% in 2024 & -7.96% y/y, with a market cap of $565.43B.
Prices for 2 of the world’s most important mined commodities are diverging quickly, with copper now rallying above $9,000 a ton, as supply cuts hit the market & iron ore sinking as demand headwinds mount. Copper has surged 5% this week, ending a months-long spell of price inactivity, as investors focused in on risks to supply at mines & smelters. Tentatively, traders are also more open to the idea, that the worst of a global downturn is in the past, particularly for metals like copper, that are increasingly used in electric vehicles and energy renewables.
On Thursday, Cocoa’s May dated futures hit a new record of $7,489 per metric ton. Cocoa is now up more than +16% on the week, on pace for its 10th weekly gain in 11 weeks. The commodity is also on track for its best week since Feb. 23, when cocoa gained 17.13%. Adverse weather conditions and an onslaught of the cacao swollen shoot virus propelled cocoa prices to a new record high this morning. Rising cocoa prices have hurt chocolate confectioners such as Hershey, which is down nearly 20% in the past 12 months versus the S&P 500′s 31.5% gain.
U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Statistics reported that February’s producer price index (PPI), a measure of wholesale inflation, rose +0.6% last month, amid a surge in the cost of goods like gasoline & food, which could well fan investor fears, that inflation was picking up again. A +1.2% jump in the prices of goods accounted for nearly 2/3 of the increase in the PPI. Goods prices were driven by energy products, which surged +4.4% after declining -1.1% in January. Excluding food & energy prices, core PPI climbed +0.3% in February. Economists had expected a +0.3% gain for headline PPI & a +0.2% increase for the core reading.
JP Morgan & Chase, the largest bank in the United States & the world’s largest bank by market capitalization as of 2023, fell -1.78% on Thursday at $187.97, after the Federal Reserve announced the bank was fined almost $350M. The U.S. central bank explained that JPMorgan was hit with $348.2M in fines by a pair of U.S. bank regulators. The punishments are tied to a program to analyze firm & client trading for misconduct, that has been deemed insufficient. The stock is up +10.51% in 2024 & +49.41% y/y, with a market cap of $551.25B.
Shares of California based Fisker collapsed -51.94% to $0.15 on Thursday, following a report, citing people familiar with the company, who said the electric vehicle developer hired restructuring advisors for a potential bankruptcy filing. The stock is down -91.15% in 2024 & -97.41% y/y, with a market cap of $172.49M.
The Bank of Japan is expected to move toward ending its negative interest rate policy by April, contingent on annual wage negotiations. Japanese government bond yields rose Monday, while the yen strengthened. Japan’s 2-year government bond yields hit a 13-year high on Monday, amid speculation that the Bank of Japan will soon tighten monetary policy. The yield on the 2 year JGB rose to +0.2% on Tuesday, having last reached this level in January 2010. The yield on the benchmark 10 year JGB also climbed to 0.778%, its highest level since November 2023.

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