US housing slowdown is a top recession signal: Fannie Mae (2 min read)

Fannie Mae warns that the US housing market signals a moderate recession ahead. Existing home sales have plummeted, particularly in multifamily real estate, due to tightening credit conditions. While the housing sector has exceeded expectations, overall activity is unlikely to improve soon due to affordability pressures from rising rates and high borrowing costs. Economists predict a modest recession starting in the second half of 2023, but a relatively strong housing market could aid in economic recovery by 2024 if mortgage rates decrease.

The Stock Market Usually Goes Up, But Sometimes it Goes Down (3 min read)
​
The Financial Times had a story last week that billionaire investor Carl Icahn's bets against the stock market backfired, costing him nearly $9 billion over the past six years. In an interview, Icahn admitted his mistake and acknowledged the difficulty of timing the market. While market crashes do occur, historical data shows that the stock market generally goes up over time, with positive returns in the majority of periods. This article advises that predicting market crashes is challenging so it's important to prepare for both downside and upside risk instead.

China imposes sales restrictions on Micron as it escalates tech battle with Washington (3 min read)
​
China has banned US chip maker Micron from selling to Chinese companies involved in critical infrastructure projects, citing cybersecurity risks and national security concerns. The move may pose an impact on Micron as the company derives over 10% of its revenue from China. Micron's shares fell about 6% after the news, while Chinese chip makers saw gains. The ban is seen as retaliation against sanctions imposed by the US and its allies on China's chip sector. 

Meta Fined $1.3 Billion for Violating E.U. Data Privacy Rules (5 min read)
​
Meta has been fined 1.2 billion euros by Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) and ordered to cease transferring data collected from European Facebook users to the United States. The fine is the largest in history for such a violation. Meta has been given five months to implement the suspension of data transfers but the company plans to appeal the decision. Negotiations are also underway between the EU and the US for a new data-sharing agreement that could nullify the ruling.

Artificial Intelligence ETF Launches as Controversy Swirls (2 min read)
​
Roundhill Financial recently launched the Generative AI ETF (CHAT) to capitalize on the surging demand for artificial intelligence. The fund’s top holdings are companies that power AI products like Nvidia and Microsoft, but also invest in companies directly tied to the innovation such as C3.ai, China's iFlytek, and SenseTime Group. Despite AI being criticized for its potential negative impact on many industries, the technology is projected to generate $120 billion in global enterprise sales within a decade.

Top ETF Buys for Hedge Funds, Family Offices in 1Q (2 min read)
​
US regional banks and emerging markets were among the top investments for hedge funds and family offices in the last quarter. Hedged funds bought a net of 13.47 million shares of the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE), indicating their confidence in the industry's stability. Meanwhile, family offices favored emerging markets, with the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) being the top buy among that group in Q1. Despite a lower return than the S&P 500, some investors find the lower valuations of emerging market stocks appealing.

That's it for today! You can reply to this email if you have any comments or feedback.

Thanks,
Thomas

No longer want to receive these emails? Click here to unsubscribe.