Must Read
Roundup Technology and Finance News.
#1. Investors dumped $68.1B into cash funds in the week ending on Wednesday, signaling growing concern over further Fed rate hikes and persistent inflation. At the same time, investors drew $7.4B from equities funds, led by a $10.4B drawdown of U.S. stocks over the past four weeks. While U.S. stocks had an explosive start to the year in January, Wall Street became timid throughout February.
Q: Should investors withdraw their money from equities and place it in cash funds? Share your thoughts at prudentj2.com.
#2. Amazon is shutting down eight Go stores across NYC, San Francisco, and Seattle as part of a broader pullback on spending for grocery and physical retail projects. The Go convenience stores, first debuted in 2016, allow customers to purchase their items without waiting in a checkout line. Investors responded favorably to the latest austerity measure from the everything store, with Amazon stock closing 3% higher today.
#3. After a stellar 2022, Citadel's flagship Wellington fund is keeping pace with the broader market, posting gains of 2.8% in 2023, compared to the S&P 500's 3.4%. Last year, Citadel boasted a 38% gain, showing up its main competitor, Millenium, by 3-to-1.
#4. Meta announced significant price cuts for its Quest VR headsets, with the Quest 2 price going from $499.99 to $429.99 and the Quest Pro dropping from $1,499.99 to $999.99. Reality Labs, the Meta unit responsible for its VR work, lost $13.7B in 2022, meaning the price cuts are likely an attempt to drive more revenue for the division. Shares of Meta rose 6% following the announcement.
#5. LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman is stepping down from OpenAI's board, so he is free to invest in companies using OpenAI's technologies without the appearance that his position at the nonprofit is "leading to differential economic advancement." Microsoft, which now boasts a close relationship with OpenAI, acquired Reid's company LinkedIn for $26.2B in 2016.
#6. As Google continues to play catch-up to Microsoft's AI-powered Bing, its recent all-hands meeting showed that even its employees are confused by its ChatGPT-competitor Bard AI. "I just want to be very clear: Bard is not search," said the product lead working on Bard in response to a question from Google's employee forum. Wall Street has punished Google parent Alphabet by sending its stock 9% lower in the month since Bard's messy rollout.
#7. Salesforce stock has had a hot start to 2023, up more than 38% year-to-date, fueled by a ~12% surge on Thursday. The stock's midday run, which ended as its best single-day rally since August 2020, was driven by the company beating top- and bottom-line earning expectations for its fiscal fourth quarter.