By Louis Navellier. Originally published at ValueWalk.
In his Daily Market Notes report to investors, while commenting on the markets demanding a beating, Louis Navellier wrote:
The Market Is Demanding A Beating
Today, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) is up 1.7% on a beat on top & bottom including very strong trading gains. Likewise, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is up 2.7% for the same reasons, as is Citigroup (NYSE:C) + 1.9%. Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), however, missed on the top line due to weaker mortgage lending and is down 6.5%. UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) beat top & bottom and raised full-year guidance; the stock is up 1.2%.
Q1 2022 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
So far, the market is demanding beating estimates along with a solid forecast to get a modest price rise and is punishing any disappointments with a material price cut.
Next week, a more diverse group of companies will report. Overall positive results are likely, with more challenging trends expected in the 2nd quarter, and along with pent-up consumer travel plans this summer, the earnings season should boost overall market levels by demonstrating that growth is still likely despite higher interest rates and simmering inflation.
Stagflation fears are already higher than they’ve been since 2008 and if earnings trends reduce that concern, it should drive a new bullish leg in market trends up the Wall of Worry.
Elon Musk Offers To Buy All Of Twitter
The colorful news of the day is Elon Musk making an offer to buy all of Twitter (NYSE:TWTR). It’s unusual in that his first offer is stated as his final offer and that if refused he will reconsider his 9.1% (largest shareholder) holding of the stock. This puts the board in a very awkward position to be apparently unable to shop the offer. The $43 billion offer at $54.20 a share is not being taken seriously by the market with the stock going no higher than $48.50 and now below $47. Tesla (TSLA) shares are off 3.3% with the assumption that Musk would have to fund a lot of the Twitter offer by selling Tesla shares. Elon keeps things colorful.
Interest rates have fully recovered yesterday’s drop and is putting pressure on tech names once again. Gold and crypto are moving sideways, as are crude oil & natural gas.
The Ukraine situation is not getting any better, with Sweden and Finland’s request to join NATO due to concerns over a more aggressive Russia getting a response from Putin that he would be forced to deploy nukes along the 800-mile Finland border if they join NATO.
On the Covid front, the CDC has extended the wearing of masks on public transportation and Shanghai remains largely under lockdown. Covid booster shots are still being promoted in the US.
Rest up over the long Easter weekend; this should be a very interesting earnings season and present many opportunities before the Fed puts in their expected 50bps Fed Funds hike next month.
Coffee Beans
In 2021, $15.2 million was spent by Meta Platforms on Mark Zuckerberg’s personal security, plus a pre-tax lump sum of $10 million for additional security costs for his family, and $1.6 million for the use of private jets – for a combined total cost of $26.8 million. Source: Statista. See the full story here.
Updated on
Sign up for ValueWalk’s free newsletter here.
