Amazon's Peloton Bid

MARKET MOVERS

• Biden renews Trump tariffs on imported solar panels for 4 years. The President seeks to boost US manufacturing of clean energy infrastructure. They would also continue to exempt the double-sided panels from levies and doubled the number of solar cells from 2.5 gigawatts to 5GW of generating capacity, giving some relief to utilities and power producers worried about panel costs. Read more here.

• Chip shortage forces Ford to cut production of F-150, Bronco, and other important vehicles. Ford is cutting vehicle production next week of several key products. The cuts come a day after Ford significantly missed Wall Street’s earnings expectations due to supply chain issues, sending shares to tumble 9.7% on Friday. The cuts signal the chip shortage continues to linger.

• Saudi Arabia’s Aramco raises oil prices as crude surges. They increased all grades for its main market of Asia in March. The company raised its key Arab Light oil for the region by 60 cents from February to $2.80 per barrel above the benchmark it uses. U.S. prices were increased by 30 cents. Its rise has come as global consumption remains strong despite the spread of omicron.

• Microsoft is the most immune from any long-term issue amongst big tech, says Chamath Palihapitiya. It's an enterprise business now. Politicians generally don't tend to care about enterprise businesses. They have enormous longitudinal growth ahead of them, and they are able to do things on the margins specifically around M&A to keep building their business with very little oversight. Source(47:40)

• The House passed the controversial COMPETES Act in a mostly party-line 222–210 vote on Friday morning. The package will accelerate U.S. production of critical semiconductor chips, strengthen the supply chain to make more goods in America, turbocharge research capacity to lead the technologies of the future, and advance global competitiveness, while supporting strong labor standards and human rights, among other key provisions. Read more here.

• Cruise Robotaxis opens up for the SF public in limited quantities. They announced a $1.3 billion raise from Softbank. They're starting with a small number of users. California DMV gave crews a permit to test fully driverless vehicles. Right now, it's going to be free. They demonstrate the cars at night to show how advanced their driverless technology is now. Source(11:22)

WHAT TO WATCH

• Amazon is weighing a bid for Peloton. Amazon has been speaking to advisors about the potential of acquiring Peloton. The report noted other potential acquirers were circling but specified that no deal was imminent. Should there be a transaction, it could be significant, given Peloton’s market value of around $8 billion—down sharply from its high around a year ago of some $50 billion.

• Group of Crypto DAOs plans Sushi takeover. In a proposal posted on Sushi’s forum Wednesday, DeFi bank Ondo Finance is proposing that a slew of DAOs band together to take over some parts of the governance of Sushi. If Sushi’s community favorably responds to the “temperature check,” the group will submit a more formal proposal.

• Apple is preparing low-cost iPhone, iPad for March launch, according to a report. The launch would be Apple’s first since October 2021, when it revealed new MacBook Pro laptops. It’s expected to be a virtual live stream launch. The updated iPhone model could have the same design as the SE but a faster processor and 5G support. The new iPad is expected to be an updated version of the iPad Air. Read more here.

• The U.S. Economy is in the 7th inning of recovery, says Peter Boockvar. This is in the sense that, usually you have a recession and you have 8-10 years of runway and growth. There are so many late-stage characteristics. With the unemployment rate at 4%, that's sort of a late-stage with inflation, he said. Source(18:40)