Another Beat for Nvidia
The latest about earnings... U.K. inflation picks up... Real panic and maybe fake threats in Ukraine... Is the end near?... Bitcoin hits $94,000... Why Doc visited a subscriber in Oregon...
The story of the day...
We will get more into today's post-bell earnings report from Nvidia (NVDA) tomorrow. But the quick-and-dirty report as we go to press tonight is that the AI darling beat Wall Street expectations for quarterly revenue by about $2 billion... and expects to keep growing.
The company's record $35.1 billion of revenue was up 17% from the second quarter. Almost $31 billion came from data-center revenue, a line item that more than doubled compared to a year prior thanks to strong AI demand.
Plus, Nvidia is projecting fourth-quarter revenue of around $37.5 billion.
In other words, it was another earnings beat for Nvidia. All is well, they say. More than well, actually. "The age of AI is in full steam," Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang said in announcing the earnings results.
Earlier today, we got an earnings surprise from a top big-box retailer...
Shares of Target (TGT) dropped nearly 22% today after the company missed Wall Street's third-quarter earnings expectations and cut its full-year guidance just a quarter after raising it.
Company executives pointed to weaker sales in "discretionary" items for the performance. As we like to do with the results of major retailers, I (Corey McLaughlin) might note this as a signal for the economy at large – but this time, the signal isn't clear.
The trend could be more isolated to Target than a signal about the overall economy. Target has been cutting prices and coming out with new holiday deals to drive sales, and it could be losing at least some market share to Walmart (WMT) and other rival retailers.
Just yesterday, Walmart announced it beat quarterly earnings expectations...
Its same-store sales grew by 5.5% in the quarter, its general-merchandise sales rose for the second quarter in a row, and it reported that holiday sales are off to a good start. And its groceries and household items continue to sell strongly.
Also today, Delta Air Lines (DAL) reported strong demand and credit-card spending, thanks to a "resilient" U.S. economy. The company forecast about 6% growth for 2025, in line with consensus estimates.
Overall, the major U.S. stock indexes traded lower today. The benchmark S&P 500 changed little, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.1%, and volatility remained above the levels we'd been seeing in recent weeks.
But not all sectors were down. Health care and energy rose by 1%, and gold and bitcoin are also up over the past 24 hours.
The S&P 500, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index, Russell 2000 Index, and Dow Jones Industrial Average continue to trade above both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, technical signals of short-term and long-term trends.
As we mentioned, today's action came ahead of Nvidia's widely anticipated earnings report. We'll have more on that report and the market's reaction in tomorrow's edition.
Inflation rising...
I had one eye on the latest inflation report over in Europe, where U.K. year-over-year inflation rose to 2.3% in October. That's above expectations and up from 1.7% in September. Folks are now talking about how the Bank of England could slow or end interest-rate cuts there.
That's becoming more and more of a conversation here in the U.S., too. Inflation data for the past few months have been roughly in line with the Federal Reserve's supposed 2% annualized goal... the labor market hasn't cratered... and expectations for growth (or inflation) have increased before and after the U.S. presidential election.
As of today, federal-funds futures traders have decreased their odds of a rate cut at the Federal Reserve's next meeting in December over the past week from more than 80% to just above 50%. That doesn't need to be a bad thing, if growth and "official" jobs numbers hold up.
Over in Ukraine...
What spooked the markets yesterday morning – escalation in the war in Ukraine – remains uncertain, though some promise appears to be emerging, too.
A day after nuclear threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin, after U.S. President Joe Biden greenlit the use of U.S. long-range missiles by Ukraine, officials "received specific information of a potential significant air attack" on the U.S. embassy in Kyiv.
According to the Kyiv Independent news outlet...
At the same time, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) warned on its Telegram channel that Russian intelligence services are amplifying the panic by spreading fake messages in messengers and social media about the supposedly upcoming attack.
The agency showed one message about the attack spread in messengers and social media, saying it was "fake and contains grammatical errors typical for Russian psychological operations."
The outlet said Ukrainians were told, "Do not ignore air raid signals – it is safer to wait in a shelter. However, we urge you not to panic." And that while an aerial threat remained, "Russia is carrying out a parallel psychological operation to sow panic," the report continued.
The U.S. closed the embassy today as a precaution.
The situation in Ukraine is clearly sensitive, complicated, and tension-filled. Though at the same time, a promising report emerged today that Putin is open to discussing an end to the war with President-elect Donald Trump. According to global news service Reuters...
Vladimir Putin is open to discussing a Ukraine ceasefire deal with Donald Trump but rules out making any major territorial concessions and insists Kyiv abandon ambitions to join NATO, five sources with knowledge of Kremlin thinking told Reuters.
At least something is on the table. That sounds like a way out of what would become a three-year-long war in February 2025. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also indicated he's open to a resolution and wants to see one next year.
All the while, bitcoin keeps pushing higher...
The postelection, pro-cryptocurrency headlines just keep on coming – and the price of bitcoin, the world's most popular crypto, keeps rising. Bitcoin traded for more than $94,000 today and is now up about 35% since U.S. election night.
Yesterday, reports emerged that Trump is considering pro-crypto lawyer Teresa Goody Guillén to head the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").
Current SEC Chair Gary Gensler has presided over a frequently confrontational and confusing relationship with crypto companies and leaders. Earlier this week, he gave a speech earlier this week that suggested he'll be resigning (including speaking about his job in the past tense). And Trump has previously said he'd fire Gensler on his first day of his second term anyway.
Goody Guillén, meanwhile, is a former SEC attorney who has been representing blockchain firms as a partner at the law firm BakerHostetler. As the crypto-news outlet CoinDesk reported yesterday...
Crypto companies are privately advocating for her to head the regulator based on her experience serving the SEC and opposing the agency on behalf of blockchain companies and traditional Wall Street firms...
Crypto professionals have the Trump team's ear in the selection process following a campaign in which the industry spent over $130 million on the former president and other Republican candidates. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong reportedly met privately with Trump to discuss personnel appointments.
This is exactly the dynamic that our Crypto Capital editor Eric Wade has been talking about in the past few months: how the crypto industry wields a new form of influence on the incoming Trump administration... and would be in a similar position even if Kamala Harris had won the White House.
Crypto stakeholders spent a lot of money donating to the campaign funds of Republicans and Democrats. Trump has floated the idea of creating a national bitcoin reserve, like the U.S. has for oil. Eric was present at a conference in Nashville earlier this year when Trump spoke about the proposal.
Some interpreted it as a political ploy in the run-up to the election, but Eric is confident a strategic U.S. bitcoin reserve is inevitable and will change the course of the markets. As Eric says in a new free presentation...
You may have seen articles about this pop up in the news, but I've asked to address all Stansberry Research readers about this very important financial development. The reason why? Because it's going to have huge implications on the markets and your money.
No matter who won the election, Eric said the framework was already being laid in Washington for this development.
He also said it's going to lead to terrific investment opportunities in cryptos, including six lesser-known names – beyond bitcoin, which is already shattering new all-time highs – that Eric believes have the potential for 1,000% gains ahead.
For more detail, click here to watch Eric's presentation now. (And existing Crypto Capital subscribers and Stansberry Alliance members, feel free to watch as well, though of course you already have access to all of Eric's research here.)
Lastly, today, a message from Doc...
I mentioned yesterday our Dr. David "Doc" Eifrig's options-trading strategy thrives during times of "fear"... and we said that Doc recently flew out to Oregon to meet with one of the many subscribers who've enjoyed success using this strategy...
But I really want you to understand what we're talking about here. I know it can be difficult for folks to wrap their heads around the idea of trading options, and especially for consistent income with a lower risk than owning stocks outright.
So, today, to close things out, we want to let Doc tell you more... about his experience visiting this subscriber, what he learned, and how you can do the same, as Doc first shared in his free Health & Wealth Bulletin last week. Enjoy...
Two months ago, I (Doc Eifrig) did something I've never done before...
I flew 2,600 miles to meet up with and interview one of my subscribers.
It was a chance I couldn't pass up.
This subscriber, a 73-year-old semi-retired man named Steve, lives on an 8-acre property in the foothills of the Cascade Range in Oregon. And he has earned nearly $118,00 in income since he started using a specific trading strategy a few years ago.
His story struck a chord with me, because Steve is not a Wall Street veteran. He didn't go to an Ivy League university like Harvard or Princeton. He's just a hardworking American who wants to take care of his family.
His background is in information-technology development and programming. He was even the head of marketing at a large software firm.
Sure, he's a successful guy. But he has never considered himself rich. And admittedly, he has made mistakes in the market (as we all do).
He lost money during the dot-com bust of the early 2000s and later while trying to trade commodities. He bought Countrywide Financial before it fell 74% in 2005... General Electric (GE) before it tanked 75%... and the list goes on.
But lately, Steve has made as much as $8,000 in a single month... And again, he has earned about $118,000 in profits overall thanks to a trading strategy that I have spent most of my career perfecting.
I first found out about Steve because he sent me a thank-you note one day...
He of course thanked my team and me for all the money our trading strategy has made him. But most of all, he thanked us for giving him financial freedom...
With all the extra cash he has made, he can now take his wife on more trips... pay off his family's loans... offset the rising monthly cost of groceries and bills... and even set up investment accounts for his eight grandchildren.
You see, Steve stumbled upon one of my trading advisories a few years ago. He has been following my work ever since and has even used my strategy to make trades of his own.
Not only has Steve racked up more consecutive wins than me – beating my streak of 200-plus winning trades – he also boasts a win rate of 96% on all his trades. (That's better than my own 95% win rate.)
As you can imagine, when I heard all this, I knew I had to fly out to meet him. So that's exactly what I did.
I got Steve to share his story on camera, to highlight how powerful the trading strategy I developed can be. I used to use this strategy back when I worked at Goldman Sachs to make extra cash for our wealthy clients. And since I joined Stansberry Research, I've made it available to everyday folks like you who aren't among the Wall Street elite.
As you'll hear from Steve, this strategy is easy to learn. Anyone can do it – regardless of experience. And just like Steve, the results of this trading strategy can be truly life changing...
Click here to see my full sit-down interview with Steve.
New 52-week highs (as of 11/19/24): Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box Fund (BOXX), CyberArk Software (CYBR), Electronic Arts (EA), Enterprise Products Partners (EPD), Comfort Systems USA (FIX), GEO Group (GEO), HealthEquity (HQY), iShares Convertible Bond Fund (ICVT), Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), Kinder Morgan (KMI), Cheniere Energy (LNG), ONEOK (OKE), Planet Fitness (PLNT), Toast (TOST), Texas Pacific Land (TPL), Vertiv (VRT), Vistra (VST), and the short position in SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG).
In today's mailbag, more feedback on Dan Ferris' latest Friday essay on "why it's time to hope"... Do you have a comment or question? As always, e-mail us at feedback@stansberryresearch.com.
"Dan Ferris' article in the Digest is interesting reading and thought provoking. I think there can be a middle ground consisting of 'feathering' the cuts in Big Government to accomplish what [Elon] Musk and [Vivek] Ramaswamy want to accomplish without throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Washington bureaucracies are so bloated that hundreds of billions of dollars of waste and duplicity can be cut and/or eliminated without killing the economy. I have faith in Musk, Ramaswamy, and Trump to recognize this.
"Like many things in the stock markets during the past 10+ years, their actions will be like being on a playground teeter totter in which opposing forces seek equilibrium. Trump's economy will also be juiced by getting America back to energy independence and new efforts to make the nation safe including not just increases in the military but such endeavors as building Reagan's Star Wars bubble.
"My goodness, it's amazing to be 78 years old and living in these times! It's like being on one of Elon's rocket ships except this is Trump's rocket!!" – Subscriber Michael U.
All the best,
Corey McLaughlin with Dr. David "Doc" Eifrig
Baltimore, Maryland
November 20, 2024