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Key Fed inflation measure rose 0.6% in January, more than expected (3 min read)
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The PCE price index excluding food and energy, a key inflation measure for the Fed, rose by 0.6% in January and was up 4.7% from a year ago, exceeding market expectations. Including food and energy, headline inflation increased by 0.6% and 5.4% respectively, compared to 0.2% and 5.3% in December. Consumer spending also rose more than expected as prices increased. With all of the numbers suggesting inflation has accelerated, it is putting the Fed in a position where it’s likely to continue raising interest rates.

Stocks closed lower on Friday, ending the worst week in 2023 (2 min read)
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US stocks fell sharply on Friday and wrapped up their worst week in 2023. The S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq were down 2.7%, 3%, and 3.3%, respectively, for the week. The big losses were mostly driven by inflation fears in the market after the Fed’s key inflation metric showed a stronger-than-expected price increase last month, prompting the likelihood of higher rates to follow. An analyst believes that for inflation to decrease, a broader economic downturn or labor market hit is necessary.

Adobe Stock Falls As Feds Move To Block $20 Billion Figma Purchase (2 min read)
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Adobe's stock fell over 7% after the US Department of Justice announced plans to block the company's $20 billion acquisition of Figma, citing antitrust concerns. An antitrust lawsuit could potentially distract and cause execution issues for Adobe's core business. The acquisition would have helped to accelerate Adobe's shift to a cloud-native Creative Cloud suite. Many analysts remained long-term believers in Adobe's stock after the news, but a few have downgraded the company to "market perform" or "neutral."

Luxury EV maker Lucid appears to have a demand problem (3 min read)
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Lucid appears to have a demand problem as it plans to produce only 10,000 to 14,000 cars in 2023, far fewer than analysts had expected. Shares have fallen by 17% since the earnings report. The company’s CEO admitted that not enough of the 28,000 reservations for Lucid's Air sedan are converting to orders, and that they need to focus on amplifying customer awareness. A Bank of America analyst, who was previously bullish on Lucid, recently cut the rating on the stock to “hold” from “buy” for this reason.

6 Vanguard ETFs to See Share Splits (4 min read)
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A notable ETF announcement last week was that Vanguard will enact 2-for-1 share splits on six of its ETFs starting March 14. The impacted ETFs are Vanguard’s S&P Mid Cap 400 and S&P Small Cap 600 suites. The changes essentially means that the number of shares for each fund will double, while the individual shares will see their prices cut in half. This article also highlights other ETF activities that have happened last week, including launches and closures.

Natural Gas ETFs Draw ‘Buy the Dip’ Investors (2 min read)
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Natural gas ETFs are attracting investors, despite a 70% decline in the commodity's price over the past three months. Two of the largest natural gas ETFs, BOIL and UNG, gained 12.6% and 6.5%, respectively, in the past week. Both ETFs have brought in $1.7 billion in new assets so far this year. Gas prices fell by 78% between September 2022 and February, with demand dwindling due to a warm winter in the US and Europe. Nevertheless, some investors are optimistic that summer cooling demand could boost futures later this year.

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Thomas

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