Breakfast | Bank of America retail investors have been reducing their holdings of US stocks for seven consecutive weeks, with reports suggesting that Apple's M4 chip is expected to be launched next year

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Overnight Morning Market

Tech stocks continue to weigh on the US stock market, with all three major indices falling to their lowest levels in a week, collectively declining for two consecutive days. As the end of the quarter approaches, the market is mainly affected by end-of-quarter portfolio adjustments and asset allocation rebalancing.

Regardless of how the four trading days of this week unfold, it is already certain that the three major US stock indices have risen for the fifth consecutive month in March. The S&P 500 index is set to achieve a five-month consecutive increase for the first time since 2013, marking the second year since the early 21st century to achieve this feat. Currently, the S&P has risen by nearly 10% in March, and if it rises by more than 10%, it will achieve a rare feat that has only occurred five times since 1950: consecutive quarterly gains of over 10%.

Tesla rose by 2.9%, Meta fell by 1.4%, Apple fell by nearly 0.7%, Microsoft fell by nearly 0.3%. Nvidia fell by nearly 2.6%, Arm fell by over 7%, Seagate Technology rose by over 7%, Micron Technology rose by 1.4%. Super Micro Computer (SMCI) fell by 1.7%, Astera Labs fell by nearly 2%. Reddit rose by nearly 9%. Shockwave Medical rose by over 10%, with The Wall Street Journal reporting that Johnson & Johnson is in negotiations to acquire the company.

Former US President Donald Trump's company, Trump Media, surged by 58% on its first trading day after the merger, triggering a circuit breaker after significant volatility during trading hours, and closing with a 16% increase.

Most popular Chinese concept stocks continued to decline. Nio, Bilibili fell by over 2%, Baidu fell by nearly 2%, JD.com fell by over 1%, XPeng fell by nearly 0.4%, Alibaba closed slightly higher, Li Auto rose by nearly 0.5%, Pinduoduo rose by 0.2%.

Blue Chips and Hot Stocks

Shorting Trump Media Company (DWAC) has become one of the most difficult trades in the market, but short sellers are still coming in

Short sellers of Trump Media & Technology Group have lost $158 million in market value since the beginning of this year, facing financing costs of over 150% annually, and the volatility of the stock and the possibility of retail investors banding together may make them pay an even higher price. Many are betting that the stock will plummet in the near future."

GameStop (GME.N) reported revenue of $1.79 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, below market expectations of $2.05 billion, compared to $2.226 billion in the same period last year.

Gurman: Apple's M4 chip expected to launch in the first quarter of next year

Renowned tech journalist Mark Gurman stated that Apple is already developing a new MacBook Pro with the M4 chip. An AI processor roadmap drawn by Canalys shows that Apple is set to launch the M4 series chips in the first quarter of 2025, with a focus on AI capabilities.

Apple's iPhone shipments in China dropped by approximately 33% in February

Apple: Worldwide Developers Conference to be held from June 10th to 14th

Apple is expected to announce its artificial intelligence strategy at the developer conference on June 10th, with the AI strategy expected to be at the forefront and center of the iOS 18 upgrade.

Insiders deny Apple has reached an AI cooperation agreement with BaiduAccording to The Information: Tencent will provide some important programs for Apple's Vision Pro headset.

General Motors CFO: Expected to achieve a target of 200,000 to 300,000 electric vehicles.

Leapmotor: Plans to open 200 overseas sales outlets by 2024, aiming for sales of over ten thousand.

Market news: Moody's may downgrade Boeing's "Baa2" rating.

Media: Walmart, 7-11, and Chick-fil-A are testing new drone delivery technology.

Visa and Mastercard have reached a settlement agreement of about $30 billion, intending to limit the fees charged to merchants for credit and debit cards, with some of it possibly being passed on to consumers. This antitrust settlement is one of the largest in U.S. history and, once approved by the court, will resolve litigation claims dating back to 2005.

Zhihu CEO Zhou Yuan: Accelerating profitability is the top priority of the company's 2024 strategy. The most important tasks are optimizing cost and expense structures, followed by continuously improving operational efficiency in the business process. The company will accelerate the development of AI application scenarios this year.

Gaoxin Retail has appointed Shen Hui as the Executive Director and CEO of Gaoxin Retail. Lin Xiaohai has resigned as CEO of Gaoxin Retail and has been reassigned within the Alibaba Group.

Ant Group has withdrawn from the Zhijiang Resort area, spending over 1.5 billion last October to acquire land next to its headquarters.

Alibaba has withdrawn its Cainiao IPO application and will buy back issued shares at a valuation of $10.3 billion, offering to acquire all the shares owned by minority shareholders and employees for a total amount of $3.75 billion.

Alibaba's Joseph Tsai responds to recent intensive exits from non-core asset investments: will continue to improve capital efficiency

"We believe that in the current and foreseeable market conditions, capital market transactions cannot optimize shareholder value. Reform will make decision-making more flexible and efficient." In the future, we will continue to improve capital efficiency and enhance shareholder returns.

Alibaba's Joseph Tsai responds to withdrawing the Cainiao listing application: "Regulators have not had any impact, it is entirely our decision."

"At present, there is no market environment that releases value to shareholders through capital market transactions (at least in the Asian market). Currently, the market is sluggish, lacking liquidity, and it is meaningless to push forward." The offer price reflects a Cainiao valuation of $10.3 billion. After the Alibaba board confirmed that this price could reflect fair value, the offer was approved.

Alibaba's Joseph Tsai: Withdrawing the Cainiao listing application is a strategic consideration. Alibaba's primary goal is very clear, to win in the e-commerce field. To achieve this, we need to regain market share and drive business growth. It is necessary to achieve deep integration between Cainiao's operations and the group's e-commerce business.

Cainiao launches a second entrepreneurship bonus incentive plan to increase employee income certainty

In addition to receiving a normal year-end bonus in April 2025, Cainiao's formal employees will also receive an additional bonus of the same amount in August 2025. Employees who are not incentivized by monthly or quarterly bonuses will also have corresponding plans

Chips and Artificial Intelligence

Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China: Will moderately advance the construction of 5G, computing power, and other infrastructure.

Adobe and Microsoft collaborate to bring new AI-powered features to marketers working in Microsoft 365 applications.

Media: SK Hynix plans to invest $4 billion in building a chip packaging factory in Indiana, USA.

Virtual Currency

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) of the United States accuses KuCoin of operating an illegal digital asset derivatives exchange.

Startups

UK artificial intelligence startup Stability AI undergoes management changes, with CEO Emad Mostaque announcing his resignation on Friday evening. He was originally a hedge fund manager. Stability AI was founded in 2019, headquartered in London, UK, and claims to be the "world's top open-source generative AI company." In August 2022, they released the open-source text-to-image tool Stable Diffusion.

IPO Opportunities

Intelligent driving company Horizon Robotics plans to list in Hong Kong: with revenue of 1.55 billion yuan last year and a gross profit margin exceeding 70%.

Macro: Taking You Around the World

Chip stocks are becoming expensive, and the US stock market rally faces greater risks

The price-to-sales ratio of the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has reached 8 times, the highest level in at least 20 years. In comparison, the price-to-sales ratio of the S&P 500 index is around 3 times. Compared to broader benchmark indices, the chip index is higher than the level reached during the peak of the 2000 Internet bubble. Max Wasserman, Senior Portfolio Manager at Miramar Capital, said, "The current high P/E ratios of large chip stocks will make the US stock market more vulnerable to selling pressure."

Bank of America: Last week, the only net inflow of client funds into US stocks was for company stock buybacks

In the week ending March 22, Bank of America's institutional, retail, and hedge fund clients were net sellers of US stocks, with company stock buybacks being the only net inflow. Purchases were entirely for US companies buying back their own stock. Retail investors reduced their holdings of US stocks for the seventh consecutive week, hedge funds for the third consecutive week, and institutional clients for the first time in six weeks.

China has resorted to the dispute settlement mechanism of the World Trade Organization regarding measures related to new energy vehicle subsidies under the US "Inflation Reduction Act."

Octopus Card officially enters mainland China, available for public transportation in 336 cities

Starting from March 26, the "Octopus Card" for public transportation in both mainland China and Hong Kong is officially available. Passengers holding this card can use it for public transportation in over 336 cities in Hong Kong and mainland China. The card is initially denominated in Hong Kong dollars, with a stored value limit of HKD 3,000. In mainland China, it can be automatically converted to RMB for payment, facilitating travel and consumption for Hong Kong residents heading north and mainland residents heading south to Hong Kong