In partnership with

Bulls, Bitcoin, & Beyond

Market Moves Yesterday

S&P 500 @ 5,127.79 (⬆️ 1.26%)

Nasdaq Composite @ 16,156.33 ( ⬆️ 1.99%)

Bitcoin @ $64,242.60 ( ⬆️ 3.03%)

Hey Scoopers,

Happy Monday! We hope you had a lovely weekend and are excited about today’s newsletter.

👉 Berkshire is reducing its exposure to Apple

👉 What next for Treasury yields?

👉 Bitcoin reaches a billion transactions

So, let’s go 🚀

Market Wrap 📉

Equities jumped sharply on Friday as a softer-than-expected April jobs report boosted hopes that the Federal Reserve could start cutting interest rates soon.

The nonfarm payrolls report indicated the U.S. added 175,000 jobs in April, significantly below the 240,000 jobs expected by economists.

The unemployment rate nudged up to 3.9% in April, up from 3.8% in March. Wage figures were also lower than expected, which is an encouraging sign for inflation.

The report excited Wall Street as traders are now pricing a second rate cut by the end of 2024. There is a 50% chance that the Fed would lower interest rates by 25 basis points in September.

Trending Stocks 🔥

Apple - The tech giant jumped roughly 7% after announcing a buyback program worth $110 billion. It also beat revenue and earnings estimates in Q1, boosting investor confidence.

Live Nation Entertainment - Shares soared by 9% after it beat consensus revenue estimates in Q1. The company emphasized it expects a strong stadium year in 2025 and steady growth in concert attendance.

Amgen - Shares of the biotech company surged almost 11% as the drug maker posted revenue of $7.45 billion and earnings of $3.96 per share, above estimates of $7.44 billion and $3.87.

Berkshire Hathaway’s Annual Event

Berkshire Hathaway held its annual shareholder meeting over the weekend, its first without Charlie Munger, who passed away last year a few days before his 100th birthday.

Warren Buffett also wrestled with the possibility of his own mortality and revealed Berkshire’s succession plan, in which Greg Abel would make investment decisions.

Despite a challenging macro environment, Berkshire Hathway reported an operating profit of $11.22 billion in Q1 of 2024, up 39% year over year. The gain was led by a 185% increase in insurance underwriting earnings that grew to $2.6 billion.

Moreover, Buffett surprised Wall Street after the Oracle of Omaha revealed the company lowered its stake in Apple by 13%. Buffett explained the reduction in Apple’s stake was purely for tax purposes following sizeable gains on the investment. Buffett expects tax rates to move higher due to a ballooning U.S. fiscal deficit.

Apple has trailed the broader markets in 2024 due to slowing iPhone sales and a narrowing market share in China.

Berkshire ended Q1 with a cash balance of $189 billion, up from $167.6 billion in Q4 of 2023. According to Buffett, these funds are parked in Treasury bonds that offer a yield of more than 5% as he does not find any investment compelling enough right now.

Interest Rates Move Lower

U.S. Treasury yields moved lower today, continuing a fall after the April jobs report showed weaker-than-expected payroll growth and an uptick in unemployment rates.

U.S. 10-Year Treasury Yield Chart

The yield on the 10-year fell to 4.4975%, while the two-year yield stood at 4.8056% at the time of writing.

A weaker jobs report should result in lower inflation, providing the Fed with the flexibility to lower interest rates in the near term.

Make Your Money a Multitasker.

With Betterment's expert-built ETF portfolios, you’re automatically diversified across thousands of stocks and bonds at once. These expert-built portfolios are designed to help reduce risk, regardless of what’s happening in the market.

Learn more.

Bitcoin Transactions Surpass 1 Billion

The Bitcoin network just processed its one billionth transaction, 15 years, four months, and four days after the digital asset was created back in January 2009.

Here are a few numbers surrounding this milestone:

• The Bitcoin network has processed an average of 178,475 daily transactions to date.

• The number doesn’t include transactions processed on the Lightning Network, a layer-2 payment protocol that enables faster transactions.

• Daily transactions on Bitcoin spiked around the recent halving event completed on April 20. The network reported a record high of 926,000 transactions on April 23.

• Ethereum has processed more than two billion transactions since launching in July 2015.

Headlines You Can't Miss!

Stock futures inch higher, to continue upward climb

AI scamming will be the next growth industry, says Warren Buffett

Ant Group begins cross-border payments with AliPay+

AI could drive natural gas boom

Jack Dorsey exits the board of Bluesky, a decentralized social network

Chart of The Day

After soaring to multi-year highs in 2022, global inflation has been descending in recent months.

The Fed has held rates for nine months as prices across products remain elevated.

The IMF expects global inflation to fall to 5.9% in 2024 from 8.7% in 2022 on the back of falling energy and goods prices. It also expects global inflation to fall to 3.7% by 2026.

Meme of the Day

Don’t follow us on social yet? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn now.

DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. The newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell assets or make financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.