MARKET MOVERS
- The Fed’s favorite inflation measure rose 4.9% in April. A sign that price increases could be slowing. The core personal consumption expenditures price index rose 4.9% from a year ago in April, in line with estimates and a deceleration from March. Personal income rose slightly less than expected, but spending beat estimates as consumers tapped savings. The spending was fueled in part by higher wages.
- U.S. household spending rose in April. Consumer spending rose by 0.9% in April and incomes increased 0.4%, the Commerce Department said Friday. But adjusted for inflation, disposable income was flat during the month, showing that wage increases are struggling to keep up with price rises. The report showed consumers spent briskly on goods and services while the leisure and travel industries are seeing stronger demand. Read more here.
- US goods-trade gap shrinks by most since 2009 as imports drop. Imports fell amid lockdowns in China while exports increased to a record. The shortfall narrowed by 15.9% to $105.9 billion last month, following a record level in March, Commerce Department data showed Friday. The figures, which aren’t adjusted for inflation, compared with a median estimate for a gap of $114.9 billion in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Read more here.
- Home sellers are lowering their prices at the fastest clip since 2019. Nearly one in five home sellers dropped their price during the four-week period ending May 22. The same four-week period saw 13% fewer “homes for sale” browser searches on Google, and a 12% year-over-year drop in home tours and other related services from Redfin agents.
- Pending home sales hit the slowest pace in nearly 10 years. Pending home sales took a 3.9 percent drop from March 2022 to April 2022, marking the sixth consecutive month of declines amid climbing mortgage rates. All of the major four geographic regions saw year-over-year declines, while the Midwest was the only region that posted a month-over-month increase.
Read more here. - Solana just topped Ethereum in daily NFT sales volume for the first time. Solana edged out Ethereum with $24.3 million in sales to Ethereum's $24 million for the day. It's thanks in large part to the release of a high-profile project called the Trippin' Ape Tribe. That project also surpassed all other individual NFT collections in sales for the day at $14.5 million. Read more here.
- TikTok has been disrupting the online entertainment landscape. 22 billion minutes have been spent on TikTok while only 9.6 billion minutes a year were spent watching Netflix. You don't have to make a decision when using TikTok. People usually spend 10-20 minutes a day choosing what to watch on Netflix. On the other hand, the only decision people have to make on TikTok is to tap the app, and then all decisions will be made for you by the app. Source(19:39)
- The latest new home sales data is the definition of stagflation. Josh Brown says transactions are falling off a cliff but prices remain stubbornly high, based on the data. In April, new home sales dropped 16.6% month-over-month and the month's supply of homes jumped to 9& from 6.9% in March. At a low, we were at a 2-months low in inventory. Meanwhile, pending homes sales is down 3.9%. Source(1:12:48)
WHAT TO WATCH
- Gasoline demand is dropping. Data examined by investment bank Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. shows that gasoline demand has fallen 2.7% on a four-week average, worse than the four-week average drop of 1.2% recorded a week ago. The average four-week demand is also down 6.1% from 2019, worse than it was last week. Demand is only up 72,000 barrels per day since the end of February.
- Goldman says it’s time to be a stock picker with energy stocks. Energy stocks are outperforming this week, month, and year, and Goldman Sachs believes investors need to be selective going forward. They see a strong dispersion in the future. Goldman likes ConocoPhillips among super majors, Phillips 66 within refiners, and Halliburton within oilfield services companies.
- Musk increases commitment in takeover bid to $33.5 billion. Musk is in talks with Twitter founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey and others to help finance, or roll their shares over, to complete the deal. In a letter to investors backing the holding company that Musk is forming to take Twitter private, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO expressed his commitment to completing the deal.
Read more here.
