👏 Jobs Jobs Jobs this week

🫏 But inflation remains stubborn

Get $20 free shares and options rebates for life at ​public.com.​ Use code ALTSCO.

🏡 Tap into home equity without borrowing

This week we're exploring a new alternative asset class that has quietly but swiftly materialized: home equity investing.

Home equity investments (HEIs) provide homeowners a lump sum upfront payment, without loading them up with debt.

​Hometap opens up access to this asset class. Fund managers, insurance companies, family offices and accredited individuals can now get a very unique type of exposure to the US residential real estate market.

Home equity investing is a fascinating concept that hasn’t really existed before — at least not in a broad consumer sense.

Now's the time for the industry to shine, and as you'll see in this issue, Hometap is carving an intelligent path forward.

SPONSOR

📰 Market Headlines

  • PCE printed in line with expectations last Friday, indicating no change in the Fed's plans.

    • PCE (excluding food and energy) was 2.8% on a 12-month basis, up 0.3% from a month ago, matching analyst expectations.

    • “Nothing really super surprising. Obviously not the numbers the Fed wants to see, but I don’t think this is going to catch anybody off guard when they come back to work on Monday”  - Victoria Greene, chief investment officer at G Squared Private Wealth.

  • The March jobs report this Friday will be the biggest headline of the week. It's expected to show 216,000 nonfarm payroll jobs added and unemployment falling to 3.8%. Kalshi tells a different story, with forecasts coming in hotter.

  • Consumer spending surged 0.8% in February, the biggest jump in over a year.

  • The fate of Disney's board will be determined Wednesday following activist investor Nelson Peltz's months-long proxy battle.

  • Someone leaked AT&T data of about 73 million current and former account holders onto the dark web.

🕶️ Market Vibes

🎰 Market Forecasts and Futures

Forecasts via ​Kalshi​, the prediction market.

Kashi is running a market for the film Civil War, which will be released next Friday. Initial reviews put its score at 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. You can bet on a Rotten Tomatoes score over 85% for a 50% return if you don’t think that won’t change as more critics’ opinions trickle in.

😱 Fear and Greed Index

🧠 What do you think?

🎤 What you said last time

Vox Populi, Vox Dei. Fixed income is gone as of tomorrow.

The Final Four is set.

Who cuts down the nets next Monday

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

📈 Trends you need to know

The film Civil War comes out next Friday, and it’s fair to say they’ve nailed the timing.

📊 Stocks

Get $20 free shares at ​public.com​ using code ALTSCO.

Winners and losers

Earnings, upgrades, and acquisitions

  • Last Friday was a market holiday and there were no consequential earnings calls.

  • The first week of Q1 is pretty light on earnings:

    • Monday: Calvin Klein parent PVH

    • Tuesday: Dave & Busters, Paychex

    • Wednesday: Blackberry, Levi's, Sportsman's Group

    • Thursday: Conagra (food conglomerate with products like Slim Jims and Peter Pan peanut butter)

Market movers

  • The U.S. semiconductor industry lobbied for a second round of federal funding and incentives beyond the $52 billion CHIPS Act.

  • The collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge is a "national economic catastrophe" that will snarl supply chains, according to Maryland's governor.

  • Tech layoffs surged in March 2024, with Apple, IBM, Dell among major companies cutting jobs due to cost-cutting measures.

  • The iPhone sales plummeted 33% in China in February.

Ideas, trends, and analysis

🌍 Global Perspectives

  • 🇹🇷 Turkey's opposition claimed significant victories in pivotal local elections, challenging Erdogan's long-standing rule.

  • 🇮🇹 Births in Italy dropped to a record low in 2023, the 15th consecutive annual decline.

  • 🇮🇱 Tens of thousands rallied against Netanyahu's government in Jerusalem, demanding a new election.

  • 🇸🇩 Sudan requires 'immediate action' to avert a catastrophic hunger crisis, according to a UN-backed report.

  • 🇺🇦 Zelensky warned Ukraine faces retreat without US aid, as Congress struggles to pass a $95 billion package.

  • 🇨🇦 The Niagara region declared a state of emergency ahead of a rare eclipse, anticipating massive crowds.

  • 🇧🇬🇷🇴 Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU's Schengen area by air and sea, easing travel for their citizens.

📊 Income

📊 Crypto

  • Crypto investments hit an 18-month high in March at $1.4 billion, powered by a surge in early-stage deals. VC funding jumped 64% month-over-month.

  • Bitcoin exchanges saw nearly $10 billion in BTC withdrawals since the launch of U.S. spot ETFs.

  • Bitcoin could hit $170,000 after April's halving if the Fed cuts rates, ballooning its market cap to $3.3 trillion.

  • Meme token Dogwifhat flipped Pepecoin to become the third-largest meme coin by market cap.

🧠 Errata

  • Trillions of cicadas are set to unleash a cacophony across 17 states, marking their first mass emergence in 221 years.

  • OpenAI unveiled Voice Engine, an AI that can clone voices from a 15-second audio clip.

  • Arizona's governor signed a bill making Pluto the official state planet, standing up for the little guy.

  • A massive fertilizer spill in Iowa killed over 750,000 fish across a 60-mile stretch of river.

📺 What to Watch Today

This looks terrifying.

That’s all for today. Did I miss anything? Smash the reply button to let me know.

Cheers,

Wyatt

*Disclosures: Paid for by Public Investing. Options are not suitable for all investors and carry significant risk. Option investors can rapidly lose the value of their investment in a short period of time and incur permanent loss by expiration date. Certain complex options strategies carry additional risk. Prior to buying or selling an option, investors must read and understand the “​Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options​”, also known as the options disclosure document. If you are enrolled in Public's Options Order Flow Rebate Program, Public Investing will share 50% of our estimated order flow revenue for each completed options trade as a rebate to help reduce your trading costs. Must activate Options Account by March 31 for revenue share. To learn more, see ​Fee Schedule​. US members only.

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