Top Story
Stocks Gained as Market Entered New Quarter, Non-Farm Payrolls Came in Below Expectations
• US stocks rose Friday as investors shook off concerns tied to a potential economic downturn. Equities rallied during the afternoon to move all three major indexes into the green. Oil prices fell with both Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate seeing their price per barrel move lower.
• As the second-quarter gets underway, the first three months of 2021 saw the market post its first negative quarter in two years. Broadly speaking, high inflation, a rising-rate environment, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are weighing on investor sentiment.
• US employers added 431,000 jobs in March, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.6%. The number came in below the 490,000 forecast by economists, and significantly lower than February’s 750,000 growth in non-farm payrolls. Overall, the economy added 1.7 million jobs in the year’s first-quarter.
What to Be on the Lookout for Today
• February’s factory orders are set for release. The number grew in January, which surprised experts. The Commerce Department says factory sales rose by 1.4% in the year’s first month, and the December figure was revised upward to an increase of 0.7%, after originally being reported as a decline of 0.4%.
• The revised number of core capital equipment orders are also due for February. In January, orders for automobiles and civilian aircrafts fell, contributing to an overall decline in the number of core capital equipment orders. Orders for durable long-lasting goods like toasters also fell.
The Week Ahead at SoFi
Join us for a Q&A session about money negotiations, investing, and more. Then get valuable info about student financing. Plus, tune in to this week’s Your Next Dollar livestream.
A Few Headlines That Should Be on Your Radar
Watch for this week’s economic data, which includes factory orders, wholesale inventories, and the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting minutes. All of these will be closely watched by Wall Street as investors look to gain insight into things like retail spending, overall growth, and inflation. While the Fed has made it clear more rate hikes are coming, some economists wonder if the prospect of slowed growth could lead the central bank to show more caution in its approach. Meanwhile, this week’s earnings reports include a company who’s hoping for good news from Congress. Read more >> GameStop (GME) announced a stock-split plan that was well received by investors. The company’s share price spiked on the news, and buoyed other “meme” stocks such as AMC Entertainment (AMC) and Hycroft Mining (HYMC). Following similar strategies announced by Tesla (TSLA), Amazon (AMZN), and Google (GOOGL), GameStop has requested shareholder approval to split its stock. A meeting date has not yet been set. Could a stock dividend be part of the company’s plans? Read more >> After shutting down its own streaming platform last year, WWE (WWE) is finding success working with some of the industry’s biggest players. Wrestlemania was broadcast on Peacock (CMSA), and now there’s even more non-wrestling content on the way. A Spanish-language comedy series is coming to Netflix (NFLX) in Mexico, while a dramatized miniseries concerning Vince McMahon’s 1994 indictment and acquitial is also in development. For WWE, it could mean product diversification and brand growth, all while the world’s streaming platforms have a voracious appetite for new content. Read more >> Retirement doesn’t mean an end to investing. Here’s a look at smart strategies and investments to keep your financial plan healthy in your golden years. A lot of personal finance advice is about saving for retirement. But the need for saving and investing doesn’t stop once you’re done working; seniors also need to maintain a sound investment strategy during retirement. Read more >>Not-So-Breaking News
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Production of Chinese electric vehicles seems to be ramping up, as EV startups Nio, Xpeng, and LiAuto all saw their deliveries increase in March from February. This comes despite a recent increase in COVID-19 cases in China, as well as resulting lockdowns for testing. Raw material costs have also been spiking recently.
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Congress has launched a formal investigation into the deadly collapse of an Amazon (AMZN) warehouse in Illinois, which resulted from a tornado last year. The House Oversight Committee is closely examining the ecommerce giant’s labor practices and demanding information on the tragedy be provided.
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Canadian security and software provider BlackBerry (BB) missed analyst expectations for revenue in the fourth quarter, with executives saying growth was flat within its cybersecurity division. The slowdown in automobile production, due to the chip shortage, is also a factor given BlackBerry provides software and operating systems for vehicles.
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Meta Platforms (FB) saw four members of its Meta AI project depart for other positions in the last few months. Rivals say the company’s London office lost most of its top researchers within about six weeks’ time. Reports indicate the departing employees developed a number of breakthrough systems used within both Facebook and Instagram.
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Chinese authorities are reportedly in the process of providing US regulators with full access to auditing reports, which would allow China-based companies to remain on US exchanges. The issue has weighed on US-listed shares recently, and a number of American depositary receipts, or ADRs, surged as a result of the news.
Financial Planner Tip of the Day
"Whether it’s in a wallet or bank account, cash money means something. It’s liquid, which means a person can get to it whenever they need to and the returns don’t fluctuate. That stability comes with the drawback of purchasing power. Cash investments don’t keep up with inflation."
Brian Walsh, CFP® at SoFi