The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge showed prices rising 0.6 percent in January from the month before and 4.7 percent from a year ago, up from 0.4 percent and 4.6 percent in December. This comes after months of slowing inflation, which have raised expectations on Wall Street that the Fed will ease up on interest rate hikes. The FOMC minutes released this week showed Fed officials acknowledging that inflation is slowing, but not enough yet to change its course on rate hikes. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial sank after the inflation report.
RETAIL ROUNDUP
Both Walmart and Home Depot reported earnings this week, painting an uncertain picture of the retail sector. Shares of Walmart initially fell after the company issued a cautious profit guidance for the year ahead — but then shot back up on the back of strong sales numbers. Shares of Home Depot, meanwhile, fell after the company issued a report showing strong earnings but a disappointing guidance for the coming year. In other words, strong fourth quarters didn't make up for the uncertainty about economic headwinds in 2023.
NVIDIA'S AI BET
Shares of Nvidia shot up 15 percent on Thursday after the chipmaker revealed that it is investing more heavily in artificial intelligence. The company also beat earning expectations, with adjusted earnings coming in at 88 cents per share compared to Wall Street estimates of 81 cents per share. The big takeaway was that Nvidia is partnering with cloud-service providers to offer artificial intelligence-as-a-service to other companies looking for those capabilities.
GOOGLE VS GONZALES
The Supreme Court met earlier this week to hear a case with potentially huge implications for the internet. The case, Gonzalez v. Google, concerns whether websites can be sued for their automatic recommendations of user content. The family of 23-year-old Nohemi Gonzalez, who was killed by Islamic State gunmen in Paris in 2015, argued that YouTube is partly responsible for the killing, as its platform was used for Islamic State recruiting.
Much like all the upheaval shaking the world, the huge swings rocking Wall Street may feel far from normal. But, for investing at least, this is normal.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
