Spotify shares pop 12% on strong user growth (2 min read)
Spotify stock jumped 12% after reporting better than expected Q4 earnings with 489 million monthly active users and 205 million paid subscribers, up 20% and 14% respectively from last year. The company exceeded its earlier Q4 revenue forecast of 3.2 billion euros, boosted by a 14% growth in ad-supported revenue. Despite the positive earnings, Spotify recently announced a 6% global workforce cut affecting 600 employees due to the current economic environment.
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GM shares surge after record earnings and new stake in lithium company (3 min read)
General Motors reported a much stronger than expected fourth-quarter profit, lifting full-year results to record levels for the second straight year. GM earned adjusted earnings of $3 billion in the quarter, far better than forecasts. The company also said it is buying a $650 million equity stake in Lithium Americas to access raw material for EVs. GM aims to build 400k EVs by mid-2024 and 1 million annually by 2025. Shares of GM surged more than 8% after the news.
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IMF raises growth outlook, sees inflation past peak (4 min read)
The IMF increased its outlook for global growth this year, now expecting 2.9% growth, 0.2% higher than previous October forecast. The IMF sees a resilient global economy despite the pandemic and Ukraine crisis, but cautions of risks to the downside. The body sees global headline inflation peaking in 2022, but underlying core inflation remains elevated. The IMF is more optimistic about US growth than the Fed, forecasting 1.4% growth in 2023, with the Fed forecasting 0.5%. The IMF cautions against the US debt limit and the possibility of a recession.
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S&P 500 caps best January in four years (2 min read)
The US stock market rose on Tuesday due to strong earnings and positive inflation data that showed the employment cost index slowed in Q4. The stock market has had a positive start to 2023, with the S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq up over 6%, 2%, and 10% respectively. A positive January may indicate a continued upward trend for the stock market, as the S&P gained 30% on average for the year when it rose over 5% in January after a negative year.
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Move Over, ChatGPT. AI-Powered ETF Outperforms This Year (3 min read)
The AI Powered Equity ETF (AIEQ), which uses IBM's Watson supercomputer to pick its portfolio, has outperformed the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) this year. AIEQ is up 13.5% YTD compared to VTI's 6.7%. AIEQ is a concentrated bet on the US stock market, with only 114 securities in its portfolio. In addition to standard market data, AIEQ also uses unstructured data such as tweets and earnings calls. Over the long term, AIEQ has underperformed VTI, but it has improved this year due to its machine learning capabilities, which continue to evolve.
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Osprey Claims Grayscale Misled Investors in Latest Suit (3 min read)
Osprey Funds has filed a lawsuit against Grayscale Investments, alleging deceptive practices. Osprey is competing with Valkyrie Funds to take over management of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which manages $14.6 billion in assets. The case is considered a major escalation in the effort to convert the trust into the first spot bitcoin ETF. A Grayscale spokeswoman called the lawsuit "frivolous." Grayscale faces another suit from Fir Tree Capital Management and its parent company, Digital Currency Group, is also facing legal battles.
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That's it for today! You can reply to this email if you have any comments or feedback.
Thanks,
Thomas
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