Bulls, Bitcoin, & Beyond

Market Moves Yesterday

S&P 500 @ 5,099.96 (⬆️ 1.02%)

Nasdaq Composite @ 15,927.90 ( ⬆️ 2.03%)

Bitcoin @ $62,659.60 ( ⬇️ 0.72%)

Hey Scoopers,

Happy Monday! Here’s what we’re covering today:

👉 Alphabet gains pace

👉 Copper prices are rallying

👉 Stripe restarts accepting crypto payments

So, let’s go 🚀

Market Wrap 📉

Stocks jumped on Friday as indices such as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite notched their best week since November.

In the last five trading sessions, the S&P 500 gained 2.7%, snapping a three-week losing streak, while the Nasdaq gained 4.2%, marking its first positive week in over a month.

Stocks got a boost on the back of stellar results from tech heavyweights such as Alphabet and Microsoft.

Around 45% of the companies part of the S&P 500 have posted results, out of which roughly 80% have surpassed consensus estimates.

Trending Stocks 🔥

Exxon Mobil - The energy giant fell over 2% after it posted Q1 earnings of $2.06 per share, below estimates of $2.20 per share, due to lower refining margins and falling natural gas prices.

ResMed - Shares soared 17% after fiscal Q3 results topped estimates. The medical device company reported revenue of $1.2 billion and earnings of $2.13 per share.

Chevron - The stock gained close to 0.4% as it posted earnings of $2.93 per share in Q1, topping estimates of $2.87 per share.

Alphabet Trades at All-Time High

Shares of Alphabet, Google's parent company, gained close to 10% in a single trading session on Friday, valuing the company at an all-time high market cap of $2.14 trillion.

Alphabet crushed estimates in Q1 as it increased sales by 15% year over year to $80.54 billion. Further, the company approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per share and announced a buyback plan worth $70 billion.

Barclays maintained an overweight rating on Alphabet and lifted its price target from $173 to $200, lauding the company’s balance of driving efficiencies with capital returns.

Oppenheimer is bullish on Alphabet’s accelerating growth in the ad business despite higher spending on artificial intelligence. It raised the target price on GOOGL stock to $205 from $185.

Other investment banks such as Morgan Stanley, Evercore ISI, and JPMorgan also raised 12-month price targets for Alphabet stock.

Copper Prices Have Rallied in April

The rally in copper prices in April has put the red metal on track to see its best month in over three years. Copper prices are up 14% in April, marking its best monthly performance since February 2021, when it surged more than 15%.

Copper Price Chart (Last Six Months)

Analysts have attributed the ongoing rally to supply risks and improving demand prospects for energy transition metals.

Copper demand is considered a proxy for economic health. Moreover, the base metal is crucial to the energy transition ecosystem as it is used to manufacture electric vehicles, wind turbines, and power grids.

Citi expects copper prices to trend higher, touching $10,000 per metric ton by the end of 2024 and rising to $12,000 by 2026.

Stripe Restarts Crypto Payments

Last week, payments giant Stripe announced it would let customers accept cryptocurrency payments, initially starting with the USDC stablecoin.

It will be the first time that Stripe is taking crypto payments since 2018, when it dropped support for Bitcoin due to the volatility of the digital asset.

Stripe re-entered the crypto market in 2022 when it announced payouts in 2022 with Twitter as its marquee customer.

The recent move from Stripe should boost the adoption of cryptocurrencies, given the company’s total payment volume surpassed $1 trillion in 2023, an increase of 25% year over year.

Headlines You Can't Miss!

Japanese yen continues to weaken against the US dollar

U.S. and China to hold first AI talks in 2024

Inflation isn’t going away, says the Fed

Analysts wary of higher oil prices

Crypto trader expects altcoins to soar

Chart of The Day

It seems that a significant share of affordable homes vanished amid COVID-19, leading to the housing supply hitting its lowest record last year.

Soaring home prices and high-interest rates are pricing out homebuyers out of the market. Here are a few numbers that might make potential homeowners nervous:

👉 The number of affordable homes in 2023 fell by 41% to 243,000 properties.

👉 Around 16% of homes were affordable in the U.S., down from 50% in 2013

An affordable listing is defined as one with a monthly mortgage payment of less than 30% of the median monthly income.

It’s evident that housing affordability is growing out of reach as mortgage rates have more than doubled since 2022.

Meme of the Day

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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.