Salutations,

Raw materials and geopolitical relationships seem to be dominating the news cycle lately. Lots of jitters and plenty of fear mongering.

The veil of peace-via-globalization is a gossamer cover for a world seeking to test its balance of power.

Realpolitik is reflected in oil, and currencies. Let’s slide in 🛝

Focus 👁️

LVMH beat Q1 revenue estimates on a 17% rise in sales thanks to a strong post-lockdown China rebound and strong (but slowing) growth in other regions
___

Other Corporate Earnings worth watching: 

BlackRock, Citi, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan

Markets are eager to see if earnings reveal signs of contagion or problems at larger institutions supposedly unaffected by the Silicon Valley and First Republic bank fall-out.
___

New vehicle prices fell below retail price for first time in 20 months

JPMorgan says: MDs back to office full-time

The Swiss parliament rejected Switzerland's $120B Credit Suisse rescue package

Banks that provided $30B liquidity to First Republic will set aside $100M for potential losses

Walmart raised $5B by selling bonds

Macro | Big Picture 🌎

Apple triples its India iPhone output to $7 billion, in a shift away from China

A breakdown in the US-Saudi oil pact gives Russia the upper hand

A fresh, but mild, Covid wave is rippling across Asia

Japan's SoftBank sold an additional ~$7.2B worth of Alibaba shares as it moves to sell its position in the company

Technology 🤖

Warner Bros. & Discovery unveiled their combined streaming service ‘Max’ as the streaming wars rage on.

Musk said Twitter is roughly breaking even in BBC interview

Digital Assets ⚡️

Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC) rally breaking $2000 and $30,000, respectively

Small accounts aka “Shrimps” have bought 1bn of BTC in the last month

Chart(s) Du Jour 👨🏻‍🍳

Meme Digestif ☕️

Have a great day!