Tale of the Tape

Good evening, everyone, and welcome back to the grande casino!!! 🎲 🎰

Every major index inched higher. The Dow and S&P 500 surged to another all-time high while the Nasdaq settled less than 0.5% off its February record. The small-caps stumbled up 0.4% and maintained yesterday’s range. Will the Russell rip or dip? Place your bets… 

Here’s a daily chart of the Russell 2000 ETF $IWM:

Real estate rallied 1.9% while tech and healthcare turned up 1.7%. Utilities lept 1.11% as $XLU closed at its highest price since March 2020. Financials finished flat— energy dropped 0.8%. 

The crypto craze continues. 🤪 Bitcoin barely budged— Ethereum flew through 2,500. Doge streaked for the third day this week. The crypto spent the day Trending on Stocktwits as it surged 50+%. 🤯

It’s not just crypto that’s going crazy, either. Wood has been wild. 🦁 Lumber futures have lept 1,000 points since the March 2020 low.  

Check out the monstrous monthly chart:

$COIN crumbled another 1.68%. The stock stopped at $322— will it hold yesterday’s $310 low?? Nobody knows. 🤷‍♂️

The 10-year treasury yield tumbled 6.6% as $TNX closed at its lowest level since March 11.

Dell and Nvidia both broke out to new all-time highs. $DELL dashed 6.71% while the semiconductor stock soared 5.6%.

Here are the closing prints: 

S&P 500	4,170	+1.11%
Nasdaq	14,038	+1.31%
Russell 2000	2,257	+0.42%
Dow Jones	34,035	+0.90%

Retail’s Big Boom

What happens when you lock up everyone in the United States, give them $1,400, then let everybody run free? 

A retail spending boom, that’s what. 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 Last month, retail sales skyrocketed 9.8%. Here’s a bit from Eddy Elfenbein at Crossing Wall Street: 

The critical bar and restaurant industry saw a 13.4% surge, thanks to the increasing relaxing of restrictions as Covid vaccines accelerate to a pace of more than 3 million a day. Sporting goods spending was the highest percentage gainer at 23.5%, followed by clothing and accessories at 18.3% and motor vehicle parts and dealers at 15.1%.

March’s retail sales report was another sign that consumers overall are willing to spend, even though increasing amounts of stimulus checks are going towards savings rather than spending.

Also— jobless claims hit a pandemic low of 576,000 compared to last week’s 769,000. Still not great, but it’s a step in the right direction. 🤷

Hear Shake’s take on tonight’s episode of After Hours here. 🌌

Bezos Made Us Cry

Amazon just shared its 2020 Letter to Shareholders. And we have to say, Bezos’ last letter is a tear-jerker. 

The billionaire starts off reminiscing about his hopes in 1997 to establish an “enduring franchise.” He discusses the company’s road to generating its $1.6T in shareholder wealth— Bezos even features a full letter from a family thanking Amazon for its financial and technological innovations. 

Cute. ❤️

Jeff’s most important lessons? The billionaire emphasizes “creating more than you can consume,” customer-centric ideals, employee health, eco-friendly business practices, and the importance of individuality. The letter ends with a quote: 

To all of you: be kind, be original, create more than you consume, and never, never, never let the universe smooth you into your surroundings. It remains Day 1.

That’s something we can get behind. 🥰 Read the full letter here. 

Gambling 🤝 NFL

“That’s one small step for the NFL, and one giant leap for sports leagues.” —Roger Goodell (probably).

As sports betting is steadily legalized in more states, leagues like the NFL explore new opportunities. Today, the NFL announced a tri-partnership with Caesars Entertainment, DraftKings, and FanDuel. These three companies will be the first “Official Sports Betting partners of the NFL.”

The partnerships will last five years and, according to sources close to the NFL, the deal’s total value is ~$1B.

Here’s what DraftKings had to say:

The way fans consume sports years from now will look drastically different, and it will be due in part to forward-thinking collaborations like our expanded relationship with the NFL today as an Official Sports Betting Partner and the exclusive Daily Fantasy Sports Partner,” said Jason Robins, CEO, chairman and co-founder, DraftKings. “We share the same vision as the NFL on fan engagement and believe this agreement will lead to new innovations that will ultimately enhance both the product on the field and on the screen.

What do you think? Do you bet this will work? 🏈 😉

$100k For 644

Lionel Messi is good at scoring goals. He’s so good, in fact, that he’s scored more goals during his FC Barcelona career than any other player in soccer (football) history. 🏆 ⚽

Messi set this record on December 22nd, 2020, when he scored his 644th goal against Real Valladolid. The Messi-ah has even surpassed soccer legend Pelé.

Consequently, soccer fans worldwide have anxiously awaited Adidas Nemeziz Messi 19.1s, the cleats Messi wore to score his record-setting goal. The shoes sport a vivid orange/yellow color scheme and feature the monogrammed names of Messi’s wife and children.  

The cleats will be auctioned off at Christie’s, where experts expect the shoes to fetch more than $100k.

Might as well take a look if you’re looking for some new boots. Let’s hope you’re a size 10 like Messi. 😉 

Earnings Round-Up

Bank of America — $BAC

Bank of America beat on both top and bottom lines after decreasing its provision for credit losses by $4.7B. The bank increased noninterest income by 19%.

Here are the numbers: 

EPS: $0.86 vs $0.66 est.
Revenue: $22.9B, +0.2% YoY growth

Here’s what CFO Paul Donofrio had to say:

Because of the responsible way we have operated the company over many years, coupled with government stimulus and strong customer liquidity, we were able to report improved asset quality metrics, and lower credit costs.

Citigroup — $C

Citigroup beat estimates today as higher revenues in ‘Investment Banking and Equity Markets’ helped offset lower interest rates.

Here are the numbers:

EPS: $3.62 vs $2.60 est
Revenue: $19.3B, -7% YoY growth

Jane Fraser, Citi’s CEO, commented:

It’s been a better-than-expected start to the year, and we are optimistic about the macro environment. We are committed to serving our clients through the recovery and positioning the bank for a period of sustained growth.

Delta Airlines — $DAL

Delta missed estimates on both the top and bottom lines, but remained optimistic for Q2 if “recovery trends hold.” 🙏

Here are the numbers:

EPS: $-3.55 vs $-3.17 est
Revenue: $4.15B -51% YoY growth 

Here’s what Delta CEO Ed Bastian had to say: 

A year after the onset of the pandemic, travelers are gaining confidence and beginning to reclaim their lives. Delta is accelerating into the recovery with our brand stronger and more trusted than ever before.

UnitedHealth Group — $UNH

Here are the numbers: 

EPS: $5.31 vs $4.42 est
Revenue: $70.2B, 9% YoY growth

CEO Andrew Witty said this in the press release:

The unique combined capabilities of Optum and UnitedHealthcare and the unwavering commitment of our people continue to help advance the way care is delivered, improving results for those we serve and shareholders.

Earnings This Week

Be sure to know when your stocks report earnings. Here’s the earnings calendar. 

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