What’s Happening in the Markets: Week of April 19th, 2021 – #stocks chatter

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What's Happening in the Markets: Week of April 19th, 2021
Hello Traders and Investors! An exciting week ahead of us, here is my weekly newsletter which I share every Monday to help prepare you for the week! Feel free to DM me and happy trades!

**Week of 4/19/21**

The S&P500 opened Monday 4/19/21 at 4179.80, just below the previous close of 4185.67 on Friday
4/16/21. Bitcoin is currently trading at 55724.20, down from $60,309.40 last Monday 4/12/21.

Apple (AAPL) and Facebook (FB) prepare to square up over the social media platforms controversial
tracking of consumer data. Facebook, which generates a large portion of its profits from targeted advertising, is known to collect consumer data to deliver the ads it believes will be the most successful. Apple has been in the process of developing what it calls “App Tracking Transparency,” for its devices and announced in January that the feature will be included and enabled by default on all new Apple operating systems. The technology, which was tested publicly in summer of 2020, will prevent applications like Facebook and Instagram from being able to collect user data. Facebook has begun preparations to sue Apple, who is currently in the midst of a lawsuit over App Store payments for the popular online game, Fortnite.

Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke on the issue following statements from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg citing Apple as their, “biggest competitor.” Tim appeared committed to continuing to roll out the technology, saying, “Technology does not need vast troves of personal data, stitched together across dozens of websites and apps, in order to succeed. Advertising existed and thrived for decades without it. And we’re here today because the path of least resistance is rarely the path of wisdom. If a business is built on misleading users, on data exploitation, on choices that are no choices at all, then it does not deserve our praise. It deserves reform.”

Apple will hold its first product showcase of the year tomorrow, 4/20/21. The technology frontrunner is suspected to unveil our first glimpses of consumer-grade Augmented Reality technologies. The product showcase comes on the heels of a great month for the emerging AR industry, which was just the subject of a $20 Billion military contract with Microsoft. Apple is up 0.86% on the market open.

Emerging fitness company Peloton (PTON) traded down 5% on the open following federal regulators warnings against treadmills sold by the company. The Consumer Product Safety Commission released statements April 17th warning parents of children and pet owners to exercise caution after the death of a child who became wedged underneath the machine. At least 40 incidents of injury related to the machine have been recorded since its release.

Reports of Google (GOOG) using foreign tax loopholes to evade taxes have emerged. The company reportedly used the “double-Irish,” loophole to funnel over 100 Billion in profits through Ireland and into Bermuda in 2018 & 2019, allowing the company to collect the profits free of U.S. taxation. The loophole was addressed and abolished by the U.K. in 2015, however the nature of the change to legislation still allows companies established before it’s passing to exploit the loophole. A spokeswoman for Google indicated that the loophole is no longer being used by the company, and that the U.S. taxes avoided by using the loophole would have amounted to approximately 80% of all taxes levied against the profits.

The September 2020 agreement to merge NVIDIA (NVDA) and ARM Ltd. is currently in limbo as U.K. regulators have released statements intervening in the acquisition. The merger, which was negotiated by NVIDIA and SoftBank, is worth approximately $40 Billion. The intervention was released this morning, 4/19/21, and carries with it the stipulation that a full federal investigation be conducted and completed by the end of July 30th, 2021. The state of the deal is uncertain as markets await a press release from NVIDIA.

JP Morgan (JPM) has displayed considerable interest in funding a new professional soccer league in Europe. The European Super League, which was announced on Sunday by a dozen of the world’s largest football clubs, will be established to rival the current European Champions League, and will consist of 12 of Europe’s leading clubs, mostly from Spain and the U.K. A spokeswoman for JP Morgan confirmed in an email that it would be involved in funding the league, but the amount in which JP Morgan will be contributing is still unknown. JP Morgan posted earnings of 12.61 last week and was up 0.5% on the market open.

A relatively low amount of major economic numbers will be released this week. Reporting starts with Jobless Claims at 8:30AM on Thursday, April 22nd. Instead expect a busy week for earnings reports, with many major companies reporting earnings throughout the week.

Some of the larger players releasing earnings include Coca-Cola, on Monday, Johnson and Johnson on Tuesday, Intel on Thursday, and American Express on Friday. Also reporting earnings this week are several of the major travel companies impacted by last year's COVID shutdowns. This includes United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, and Royal Caribbean.

**Some of the companies with earnings this week:**

**Monday, April 19th:**
Coca-Cola Co.
IBM Corp.
United Airlines

**Tuesday, April 20th:**
Johnson and Johnson
Procter and Gamble
Netflix
Phillip Morris
Lockheed Martin

**Wednesday, April 21st:**
Progressive
Fifth Third
Verizon
Chipotle
Equifax
Nasdaq
Discover
Haliburton
Baker Hughes
**Thursday, April 22nd:**
Intel
Blackstone
Snap
Biogen
Southwest Airlines
Credit Suisse
VeriSign
Old Dominion
Tractor Supply
Quest Diagnostics
Boston Beer Company
American Airlines

**Friday, April 23rd:**
Honeywell
American Express
Royal Caribbean

**Numbers this week:**

**Thursday, April 22nd:**

* Continuing Jobless Claims (April 10th).
* Initial Jobless Claims (April 17th).
* Existing Home Sales (SAAR) (March).
* Leading economic indicators (March).

**Friday, April 23rd:**

* Market Manufacturing PMI (April).
* Market Services PMI (April).
* New Home Sales (SAAR) (March).
https://www.reddit.com/r/StockMarket/comments/mu5a43/whats_happening_in_the_markets_week_of_april_19th/

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