Happy Friday, Folks!! 😎

Tale of the Tape

Happy Friday, folks!! TGIF 🙏

The markets were mixed to close the week. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq nestled lower. Meanwhile, the Russell 2000 and Dow dashed ~0.35%.

Financials was the strongest sector— $XLF flew 1%. Utilities and industrials both inched up 0.5%. Consumer discretionary and tech tumbled 0.5%. 

Despite dropping 0.55% during today’s session, the Nasdaq-100 ETF $QQQ closed the week on a positive note. 💚 See the weekly charts below. 

It was a wild wild week for crypto. Today, Bitcoin broke below 36,000 while Ethereum leaked to 2,120. 🤠

Nvidia gapped up ~2.5% on news of a 4-1 stock split. Stockholders will approve the announcement during Nvidia’s 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders set for Thursday, June 3. 

$SPCE continued the race. Virgin Galactic galloped another 6.36% to close at its highest price in the last month. 🚀

Roblox ripped your face off as the stock broke out to blue skies. $RBLX traded ~31.5M shares— Roblox’s 3rd-heaviest volume day since its March 10 debut. Here’s the daily chart:

Upstart has gone up for 6 straight days. The stock settled ~$10 off its all-time high. 🤗

Here are the closing prints:

S&P 5004,155-0.08%
Nasdaq13,470-0.48%
Russell 20002,215+0.34%
Dow Jones34,207+0.36%

Weekly Candles 🕯

Y’all made it through another wild wild week. Grab a drink while we rip through some weekly charts! 🍻

The Nasdaq Composite was the only major index to march higher. Are growth and tech back?? Time will tell… 

Energy got stuffed at former highs. $XLE tumbled 2.5% and failed to fly through its former February 2020 high. 

Gold gained 2% on the week. SPDR Gold Shares $GLD has galloped for 7 straight sessions. Here’s the weekly chart:

Ethereum flopped 40% as the crazy crypto came in from 3,600 to 2,100. Will 2K act as support?? Place your bets… 

We got electric news from the EV space as Ford unveiled its latest and greatest…

The F-150 Lightning. ⚡️

$F flew 12.5%, $TSLA tumbled 1.5%. Check out this ratio chart featuring $F vs $TSLA:

Here’s a look at Ford’s weekly:

Shopify sailed 12.82% as the stock surged higher every day this week. 💪 $SHOP is still 16% off its February all-time high:

The Future of Construction? 🏗️

Warren Buffett’s latest move? Berkshire Hathaway’s New York firm MiTek just partnered with Danny Forster & Architecture to enhance modular construction. 

Modular construction (for those of you who don’t know) is the off-site construction of buildings. Parts of buildings are assembled in ‘modules,’ and then reassembled at a building’s actual construction site. 

The partnership will serve Berkshire Hathaway’s Modular Activation Platform (MAP) as the two companies work to clear obstacles hindering widespread modular construction. Shipping costs, building leaks, and other barriers make modular construction cost-prohibitive. 

MiTek’s solution includes pre-assembled kits with shippable room parts that contractors can easily build. MiTek VP Todd Ullom said: 

Communities across the country desperately need housing, and that is a need that modular can answer… collaborating with municipal authorities and MWBE-certified contractors to get it done.

Could pre-assembled rooms be the solution to a post-COVID housing boom?? Who knows, but we have a feeling Warren Buffett’s the man for the job. 👍 Check out these pre-made rooms: 

Bitcoin’s Wild Week

Bitcoin’s rollercoaster week isn’t over yet, apparently. 🎢

China just disclosed its crackdown on cryptocurrency mining to control financial risks. The Financial Stability and Development Committee of China said tighter regulation is necessary to protect the country’s financial system. 

Aaaauuuuuch. 😥 Throughout the day, Bitcoin dropped by more than 8.5%. #ChinaFUD trended on Twitter.

China is a hub for crypto miners, and they use massive amounts of energy solving complex math problems to verify cryptocurrency. The news is a shock for Chinese miners and Bitcoin users. 

China’s restriction comes one day after US officials pledged tougher supervision of Bitcoin users conducting “illegal activity, broadly including tax evasion.” US authorities clarified that documentation must be submitted on crypto transfers of $10,000 or more (just like cash).

What. A. Week. 😪

Earnings Round-Up

John Deere dropped earnings early this morning. The tractor company beat on both its top and bottom lines, and raised guidance. Terrrrrrific!! 🚜

Here are the numbers

EPS: $5.68 vs $4.59 est
Revenue: $14.06B, +30.4% YoY

Chairman and CEO John C. May commented:

With another quarter of solid performance, John Deere closed out the first half of the year on a highly encouraging note. Our results received support across our entire business lineup, reflecting healthy worldwide markets for farm and construction equipment. Our smart industrial operating strategy is continuing to have a significant impact on performance while also helping customers do their jobs in a more profitable and sustainable manner.

While the company is clearly performing at a high level, Deere expects to see increased supply- chain pressures through the balance of the year. We are working closely with key suppliers to secure the parts and components that our customers need to deliver essential food production and infrastructure. Despite these challenges, Deere is on track for a strong year and we believe is well- positioned to unlock greater value for our customers and other stakeholders in the future.

$DE dashed +1.28% on the day. 

Blockchain and Fine Wine🍷

As of late, blockchain appears to be the future of work, money, education, etc. That list now also includes the wine industry. 😅  

The fine wine industry faces a ton of fraud, like bottle adulteration, tampering, mislabeling, etc. Blockchain technology digitally eliminates fraud to combat these issues.

Blockchain tracks when and where wines are opened, wine shipment damages, etc. Essentially, blockchain’s function as a digital ledger ensures wine quality and distribution. 

Decentralized recordkeeping also makes it difficult for anyone to manipulate data on fine wine. Cheers to that!🍷

Links That Don’t Suck

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