MARKET MOVERS
- AT&T and Verizon agreed to delay by two weeks the rollout of new 5G service after first refusing requests from the U.S. government to delay the Jan. 5 launch. AT&T said in a statement that it agreed to the delay at the request of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Verizon told the Journal late Monday it agreed to the two-week delay that would ensure the new service would go live this month. Read more here.
- Of the six largest US companies, five of them have more cash than long-term debt (and thus have negative net debt positions). $AAPL is unique of the bunch in that it has more debt than cash.
- Today's high real estate prices mean buying appetites will likely falter in 2022 but a crash is unlikely, says Motley Fool's Liz Brumer-Smith. The Fed increasing rates in 2022 will make it more expensive to borrow money to purchase things like real estate. Another sign supply may be tipping in a new direction. Growth will likely slow in 2022 and beyond, but a crash is unlikely. A notable economic event, such as a new fiscal policy, stock market crash, or uncapped inflation rates, could definitely result in a real estate market crash; however, there's no guarantee that would be the outcome.
- Conforming loan limits for mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have jumped in most of the country to $647,200, an increase of $98,950 from 2021’s limit of $548,250. The higher levels are in response to rising home prices over the past year. The new loan limits took effect Jan. 1. The FHFA House Price Index shows that home prices rose 18.05%, on average, between the third quarters of 2020 and 2021. The 2022 conforming loan limits increased by the same percentage, the FHFA reports. Read more here.
- The Biden administration announced plans yesterday to tackle the rising price of meat. The administration says it will steer $1 billion from the American Rescue Plan towards expanding the capacity of independent food processors. They’ve seen that high levels of market concentration in the meat industry in which a small group of players are sort of dominating the sector. The administration is trying to make it easier for smaller producers to compete by giving them grants and making it easier for them to access credit. Source (2:37)
- The Russian government now wants Netflix and other streaming services to include local state TV channels on their platforms. The laws that Netflix must now obey include controversial provisions banning the promotion of extremism” a restriction which has been used against supporters of the anti-Kremlin opposition. Netflix may need to set up an office in Russia. Last November, Russian authorities decreed that other tech giants including Apple, Google, Twitter, and Meta all had to establish a presence in Russia.
- OpenSea was criticized to be anti-decentralization after it froze $2.2 million worth of stolen Bored ape NFTs. Art gallery owner Todd Kramer had his NFT collection stolen from his hot wallet after falling for a phishing scam. Kramer tweeted to OpenSea employees in the company that he was hacked along with the numbers of the apes and mutants that were stolen. OpenSea responded to this by freezing 16 Bored apes and Mutiny NFTs which are no longer able to be traded. OpenSea's intervention wasn't well received because users saw it as going against decentralization, a core tenant of web3.0. Source (52:28)
WHAT TO WATCH
- Ford plans to nearly double production of its new all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup. The plan is to double the annual production capacity of its upcoming electric F-150 pickup to 150,000 vehicles per year by mid-2023, citing strong consumer demand. The increase is a positive sign of demand for the F-150 Lightning as well as electric vehicles in general. This week is the final pre-build phase before transitioning into mass production of F-150 Lightning trucks for retail customers and F-150 Lightning Pro for commercial customers, Ford said. Read more here.
- 1, 2, 3, and 5 year Treasury yields close at their highest levels since the start of the pandemic. The rate hikes are coming, says Charlie Bilello.
- Polkadot is poised for a big 2022, says Motley Fool's Michael Byrne. Deutsche Telekom, Europe's biggest telecom company, bought a significant amount of Polkadot's DOT token as an investment. Furthermore, the telco giant's T-Systems subsidiary will be actively participating in the Polkadot network by running several validators on it. This growing involvement shows that they believe in Polkadot's technology and see it as a growing part of their business going forward. Furthermore, the number of developers working on the Polkadot blockchain exploded over the last year, from about 2,600 twelve months ago to nearly 10,000 today. Read more here.
- If you really have to be invested in the stock market right now, be long low beta stuff and certain sectors of the tech market like Apple for example, says Alfonso Peccatiello of Macro Compass. These high quality cash flow delivering tech parts and not the highly cyclical parts like emerging markets like China and Brazil for example or cyclical stocks like the Russel. He also added that new money is not flowing into crypto at the same pace as before so far and the reason is the credit stimulus has stopped and as the Fed embarks on a tightening cycle, risk free assets will be more appealing in his opinion. Source (14:48)
