February 11 (Saturday)

Latest Morning Briefing Executive Summary: Financials, Cruise Lines & AI Search
The stock market’s strength since October has been a beckoning beacon for the capital markets: IPOs have revived, bond markets have calmed, and bond issuance has picked up. It may be halcyon days for the capital markets if investors in the shares of alternative fund managers are correct. These bellwethers of capital markets activity have outperformed the S&P 500 dramatically since September. … Also: Consumers are spending on travel again—sparking earnings recoveries for Royal Caribbean and the S&P 500 Hotels, Resorts & Cruise Lines industry generally. … And: AI is poised to transform search, but market dominance may be up for grabs.
(subscribers’ link)

YRI
Daily Markets Overview
Replay of Dr. Ed’s webinar on February 6.

Markets
S&P 500 Turns In Worst Week So Far This Year | W
Why Investors Are Piling Into Funds That Promise Not to Beat the Stock Market | W
Russia to Cut Oil Output in Response to Western Sanctions, Pushing Up Prices | W

Central banks
The Federal Reserve must back off interest rate hikes | MSNBC
Fed’s Harker says small rate hikes on table, opens door to cuts next year | R

US
What’s happening with home prices as mortgage rates fall | C
For Remote Workers, These U.S. Cities Are Great Places to Live | W
Overpacking, shrinkflation may affect your Valentine’s Day gifts | C
U.S. posts $39 billion January deficit after pension fund bailout | R
Fed’s Inflation Fight Pushes Up Cost of U.S. Debt | W
IRS issues state rebate guidance for taxpayers urged to delay filing | C
 
Layoffs
Where Are Layoffs Declining the Most? States Near the Nation’s Capital | W
Tech Layoffs Hit H1B Visa Workers Hard | W
Yahoo to Lay Off 20% of Workforce | W

China
China’s Sany Heavy Industry moves closer to Frankfurt listing | R

Europe
French Protests Against Macron Expected to Draw Hundreds of Thousands | W

Geopolitics & trade
U.S. shoots down second ‘high altitude object’ days after Chinese spy balloon | C
U.S. Blacklists Chinese Companies It Links to Balloon Program | W
U.S. Poised to Further Tighten Technology Exports to China After Balloon Incident | W

Industries & companies
Financials: Risk Panel Discusses Possibility of New Rules for Nonbanks | W
Media: Amazon is the latest threat to Facebook as ad targeting suffers | C
Movie theaters: AMC’s new plan: Get used to paying more money for better movie tickets – Vox
Retail: Clothing Companies Lean on Retailers to Help Ease Inventory Glut | W

Technology
The AI Boom That Could Make Google and Microsoft Even More Powerful | W

Crypto
After ‘Crypto Bowl,’ Super Bowl LVII Will Be a Crypto Bust | W
What investors need to know about crypto ‘staking’ | C