1. Market review
U.S. stocks ended lower on Tuesday, with major indexes falling for a second consecutive session. Strong corporate earnings reports failed to boost U.S. stocks, which were already near record highs, to continue rising. The alarming increase in COVID-19 cases around the world, and the high number of new daily infections in the United States, has made the market worried about the prospects of economic recovery. As of the close, the Dow Jones Index fell 0.75%, the Nasdaq Index fell 0.92%, and the S&P 500 Index fell 0.68%.
Before the U.S. stock market opened today, the three major stock index futures were generally down. As of 20:15 Beijing time, Dow futures fell 0.03%, S&P 500 futures fell 0.07%; Nasdaq futures fell 0.26%.
2. News of the day
Can Bitcoin rebound quickly after a sharp fall? JPMorgan warns it may not happen this time
When Bitcoin (BitfinexUSD) experienced such a large decline in the past few times, buyers always returned to the market to buy at low prices to prevent the price from falling further. But this time, JPMorgan strategists are worried. JPMorgan strategists led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou noted that if Bitcoin cannot return above $60,000 in the short term, the momentum signal will collapse. The report notes that Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) and crypto funds have accumulated long positions in Bitcoin futures in recent weeks, and they have also been the driving force behind the liquidation of these positions in the past few days.
U.S. stock market continues to fall, analysts: short-term correction is normal
U.S. stocks are currently in a volatile period, but analysts say this looks like a short-term correction. But corporate earnings season may determine the outcome of this correction, with the S&P 500 closing at 4,134 on Tuesday, down 1.2% from Friday's record high. "This is a quick move lower to alleviate the overbought nature of the market," said Scott Redler, chief strategy officer at T3Live.com. "A normal correction would bring the S&P 500 to 3983-4000, but this is still a healthy level."
Dogecoin soared 450% in ten days, and Musk supported it. Is it a bubble or the second Bitcoin?
In the past week, the price of the new "Internet celebrity" Dogecoin has risen by about 450%, and more and more retail investors have begun to take notice of this powerful cryptocurrency. However, the price of Dogecoin did not continue to rise. Its price fluctuated again after April 17, with a decline of approximately 18% on all mainstream trading platforms for cryptocurrencies. Trading prices stabilized over the next two days.
U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee passes bill to suppress OPEC's "coalition to raise oil prices"
According to a Reuters report on Tuesday, the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on the same day that allows the prosecution of OPEC countries and countries that cooperate with them for "colluding to push up oil prices." It should be noted that there is still huge uncertainty about whether this bill can enter the voting process of the whole house. It is reported that this bill was proposed by Republican Representative Steve Chabot and passed by voice vote at the Judiciary Committee meeting early Tuesday morning. Affected by this news, combined with the sharp decline in European stock markets on Tuesday and the European Food and Drug Administration's confirmation that Johnson & Johnson's vaccine is linked to rare blood clots, U.S. oil and Brent oil futures fell rapidly by about 3% in a short period of time.
Has US economic data peaked? Morgan Stanley: Stock markets and risk assets may face a tougher environment soon
Michael Wilson, chief equity strategist at Morgan Stanley, said in a report recently that the market is about to experience some potentially major turbulence, with rising cost pressures/supply shortages, peak economic data and earnings revisions, and supply exceeding demand, all of which have led to a decline in market quality, capital reduction, and a deterioration in the highly cyclical part. He also reminded that the data peak has passed and the economy is shifting from the early cycle of this round of recovery to the mid-term cycle.
Powell: Inflation not expected to last
According to the latest news, Powell wrote in a letter to senators on April 8: "We will not allow inflation to significantly exceed 2%, nor will we allow inflation to exceed 2% for a long time. But I need to emphasize that we are fully committed to achieving the dual goals: maximizing employment and stabilizing prices." He also said in the letter: Low inflation restricts the Fed's ability to offset economic shocks with loose policies, and after a decade of ultra-low inflation, the Fed now aims for inflation to be moderately higher than 2%. A repeat of the high inflation seen in the 1960s and 1970s is not currently expected, but if it happens, the Fed has the tools to deal with it. Powell previously said at a House of Representatives hearing that inflation is expected to rise this year, but the impact will not be large or lasting.
UBS: Global auto industry sales cannot double, making it difficult to push up industry valuations
Gong Min, a Chinese automotive industry analyst at the Global Research Department of UBS Investment Research, said that China's automotive industry currently has three major trends, including the counterattack of electric vehicles by traditional car manufacturers, the rise of brands, and the participation of technology giants. He pointed out that the Chinese market is the most dynamic and active in terms of industry activity, freshness, launch, etc. Europe, on the other hand, is dominated by traditional car companies such as Volkswagen and Renault. The advantage is that they can increase capital investment and accelerate industry development. However, at the same time, the future return on investment will be marginally diminishing, and competition within the industry will also intensify. Technology giants are directly involved in car manufacturing or technical cooperation, but it is expected that products will take time to develop and will take at least three years to join the market. Competition will not be too obvious in the short term. Although the valuations of new forces have soared, the actual sales volume and profit margins of the global automobile industry cannot double, so the possibility of pushing up the industry valuation is low unless the automobile industry has different business realization opportunities.
New coronavirus infections surge, Japan declares a state of emergency, and India's epidemic gets out of control
At around 8 pm on April 20, Beijing time, news suddenly came from Japan that Tokyo would seek the Japanese government to declare a state of emergency. The situation in Japan is even more severe than that in India. According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Health of India, as of 8:00 local time on April 20 (10:30 Beijing time), there were 259,170 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in India in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 15,321,089. Global stock market turmoil intensified, with European and American stock markets falling.
The uprising of European football giants failed
In the early hours of this morning, Beijing time, due to fierce opposition, six Premier League football clubs including Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham announced their withdrawal from the European Super League. Subsequently, the league announced its suspension, marking the end of the uprising for the European football giants to establish themselves.
3. Well-known US stocks
Apple Spring Conference: AirTag arrives as scheduled, colorful iMac is the biggest surprise
At 1 a.m. on April 21, Apple held its annual spring new product launch conference, launching new products such as the purple iPhone 12, tracker accessories AirTags, and Apple’s new generation iMac. Among them is the iMac. The addition of the M1 chip was expected. Unexpectedly, it also came with a major facelift. The big black frame that people have been calling for for many years is gone. Colorful colors seem to be the traffic secret that Apple has recently found. There are 7 colors, and there is finally one that suits you. In addition, the keyboard with TouchID and so on are small surprises.
PayPal (PYPL) mobile payment app Venmo supports the purchase and sale of digital currencies such as Bitcoin starting today
According to reports, PayPal’s mobile payment application Venmo will allow users to buy, hold and sell Bitcoin and other digital cryptocurrencies. Analysts say the move will help push cryptocurrencies into the mainstream. Venmo said that starting Tuesday, it will allow users to invest in four different digital currencies with a minimum spend of $1. The four digital cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. In addition, users can share their cryptocurrency purchases with friends through Venmo’s social feed.
Netflix (NFLX) first-quarter paid subscriber growth falls far short of expectations
Streaming media giant Netflix released its first-quarter earnings after the market closed on Tuesday. Netflix's first-quarter earnings per share were US$3.75, compared with market expectations of US$2.97; revenue was US$7.16 billion, compared with market expectations of US$7.14 billion. The company said that in the first quarter, there was a net increase of 3.98 million paid streaming users, and the market estimate was a net increase of 6.29 million; in the second quarter, it is expected to have a net increase of 1 million paid streaming users, and the market estimate was a net increase of 4.44 million. Netflix expects second-quarter earnings per share of US$3.16, compared with market estimates of US$2.67, and revenue of US$7.3 billion, compared with market estimates of US$7.38 billion.
Citigroup (C) will exit personal banking business in 13 markets but does not rule out the possibility of more business divestitures
Citibank CEO Fraser recently stated in a program that Citibank is planning to withdraw from personal banking business in 13 markets including mainland China, South Korea, and Australia, in order to focus on more competitive businesses such as private wealth management. CEO Fraser said: "Citibank's top priority in the next ten years is to increase asset returns, shorten the gap with peers, and become a winner in the industry." It is reported that exiting the personal business still requires the completion of multiple internal reviews. The possibility of more business divestitures cannot be ruled out, and there is still more information to be verified and released.
ASML's Q1 net profit increased by 240% year-on-year, and the new EUV order amount was 2.3 billion euros
Data show that the company's Q1 net sales were 4.364 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 79%, which was 2.441 billion euros in the same period last year; net profit was 1.331 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 240%, which was 391 million euros in the same period last year. Basic and diluted earnings per share were 3.21 euros and 3.20 euros respectively, compared with 0.93 euros in the same period last year. The value of new orders in Q1 was 4.74 billion euros, including 2.3 billion euros in EUV orders; the value of new orders in the previous quarter was 4.238 billion euros. Gross profit was 2.352 billion euros, compared with 2.212 billion euros in the previous quarter; gross profit margin was 53.9%, compared with 52.0% in the previous quarter.
Regulators ask Credit Suisse (CS) to provide information on Archegos-related share sales
In recent days, Swiss and U.S. regulators have asked Credit Suisse to provide more information on additional stock sales related to the collapse of Archegos Asset Management, people familiar with the matter said. Selling the underlying shares could result in additional losses beyond the $4.7 billion the bank disclosed earlier this month, but any additional losses would be small compared with previous amounts. Credit Suisse has been seeking to sell about $4 billion in shares related to Archegos since disclosing the losses, with the most recent sale last week. Regulators require information on the stock sale and potential losses, as well as how the bank manages its exposure to Archegos.
Wedbush analyst: Apple (AAPL) will reveal its car-building plans within 3-6 months
According to reports, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said that Apple is expected to disclose its self-driving car project that has been kept secret in the next 3-6 months. Ives said Apple won't actually release a car that consumers can buy until at least 2024. But before that, Apple will release some information about the vehicle. He believes Apple will reveal its car-building plans this summer. At the same time, Ives said Apple needs to "find partners."
4. Famous Chinese Profiles
Xpeng Motors (XPEV) official Weibo: Cumulative orders for Xpeng P5 exceed 10,000 models
Xpeng Motors' official Weibo: As of 15:16 on April 21, 2021, the cumulative orders for the Xpeng P5 exceeded 10,000, becoming the most popular model booked by Xpeng Motors.
Bilibili (BILI) discloses patents related to “real-time chat” to increase screen space utilization
According to the Tianyancha APP, on April 20, Shanghai Huandian Information Technology Co., Ltd., an affiliate of Station B, disclosed a patent for "a real-time chat method". The application date was August 2016, and the public number was CN106059909B. The present invention optimizes the current display format of messages arranged according to the timeline, increases the utilization of screen space, reduces the user's operation of constantly scrolling up due to the excessive number of messages, and improves the user experience.
The9 (NCTY) signed a legally binding term sheet to invest in Canadian Skychain mining custody company
The9 announced that it has partnered with Canadian Skychain Technologies Inc. The company (referred to as "Skychain") has signed a legally binding investment term sheet. The9 is expected to invest a total of 4 million Canadian dollars in Skychain, mainly for the construction and operation of Skychain's digital currency mining project in Bertel, Manitoba, Canada. The new power supply scale of the project is expected to be 12 megawatts. After the mine is completed, Ninetowns plans to deploy its digital currency mining machines here.
JD.com (JD) joins hands with OPPO to upgrade strategic cooperation
JD.com and OPPO signed a strategic cooperation agreement, including the short-term goal of achieving a 170% year-on-year growth in the OPPO brand’s transaction volume on JD.com in 2021, and the medium- and long-term goal of achieving a compound annual growth rate of 100% in the OPPO brand’s transaction volume on JD.com within three years.
Li Xiang, CEO of Li Auto (LI): If the car manufacturer cheats on ADAS technology, it is recommended to stop production and sales qualifications
Li Xiang, CEO of Li Auto, posted on Weibo that he proposed the following regulatory requirements to government regulators regarding ADAS and brake failure issues: 1. Models with ADAS must be equipped with a driving recorder as standard; 2. When recording, the screen must simultaneously display whether ADAS is running; 3. In addition to the display of ADAS operating status, the corresponding basic working status of the accelerator, brake, steering, etc. in ADAS status should also be displayed. Human driving also displays these working statuses. Technically speaking, there is no difficulty, but it provides relatively important evidence, reducing the difficulty for car owners to obtain evidence and the probability that manufacturers feel they have been wronged. If a car manufacturer cheats here, it will directly stop production and sales.
5. Financial forecast
New US stocks
DV | Listed UiPath | Listed SkyWater | Listed NEUROPACE | Listed
US stock earnings report
Verizon | ASML before the market | Before the market
Important Economic Agenda & Data
