Must-read before the US stock market： the three major stock index futures fell, and LI rose more than 7%
[Pre-market performance]
() US stock news As of press time, Dow futures dominated by blue chips fell by 0.17%; S&P 500 index futures fell 0.08%; Nasdaq 100 index futures, which are dominated by technology stocks, fell 0.03%.
Popular Chinese stocks rose before the market.
European stock markets fell. As of press time, the German DAX index rose by 0.08%. The French CAC40 index fell by 0.41%; Britain’s FTSE 100 index fell 0.36%.
In terms of commodity foreign exchange, as of press time, Brent crude oil fell 0.65% to $81.09 per barrel.
[Financial News]
The U.S. economic expectations in 2024 have been greatly raised, and options trading highlights the concern of raising interest rates.
Economists have lowered their forecasts for the US recession again, because they expect that a strong job market and strong consumer spending will support stronger economic growth in the short term. Bloomberg’s latest monthly survey of economists shows that the annual growth rate of the US economy is expected to reach 2.1% this year due to the growth of household demand and government expenditure, which is higher than the 1.5% expected last month. Respondents now expect that consumer spending (accounting for two-thirds of GDP) will increase by more than 0.5% each year in the next two years compared with last month’s forecast. Although forecasters generally expect that the American economy will lose some momentum after the major events in 2023, the still strong labor market and the fading inflation continue to support basically stable household demand. Given this continued resilience, respondents now expect the unemployment rate to peak at 4.1% later this year, lower than the 4.2% expected last month. They also predict that by 2026, American employers will add more jobs.
[company news]
LI rose more than 7% before the market, and its fourth quarter performance exceeded expectations.
LI rose more than 7% before trading. LI’s fourth quarter performance exceeded expectations. The net profit in the fourth quarter of 2023 was RMB 5.75 billion, an increase of 2068.2% compared with RMB 265 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 and an increase of 104.5% compared with RMB 2.81 billion in the third quarter of 2023. The total revenue reached RMB 123.85 billion (US$ 17.44 billion), and the annual delivery reached 376,030 vehicles. The gross profit margin of vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2023 was 22.7%, while it was 20.0% in the fourth quarter of 2022 and 21.2% in the third quarter of 2023.
Stellantis plans to sell as many as 500 thousand cars in Europe in the next three years
Stellantis, a French-Italian joint venture car manufacturer, said on Monday that it has reached a multi-billion euro framework agreement with Ayvens, a leasing and fleet management company, and plans to sell as many as 500,000 cars in Europe in the next three years. According to Stellantis, according to the agreement, the subsidiaries of Ayvens will purchase these vehicles for their long-term rental fleets all over Europe, and the first delivery is expected to start in the first half of 2024.
GM returns to French market with luxury electric car Cadillac Lyriq.
American carmaker General Motors launched the luxury electric car Cadillac Lyriq in France on Monday, which is another expansion after the company returned to the European market last year and a test of whether pure online sales will attract wealthy car buyers.
The account of MicroStrategyX was hacked, and some users were cheated for a total of $440,000.
According to encryption security analysts, the X account of MicroStrategy, a listed company with the largest number of bitcoins in the world, was hacked, and some people were tricked into giving money to the attackers.
Ford Motor Company suspended the shipment of electric pickup F-150 due to quality problems.
Due to undisclosed quality problems, Ford Motor Company suspended the shipment of electric truck F-150Lightning. According to a statement, Ford Motor Company said that it stopped shipping the electric truck on February 9 in order to "ensure the quality". Ford did not specify when the model will be delivered to dealers again, but the automaker pointed out that it has started selling gasoline trucks.
Alcoa bid $2.2 billion for Alumina, an Australian friend.
Alcoa, an alumina producer, has entered exclusive acquisition negotiations with its Australian joint venture partner AluminaLtd, after the company made a $2.2 billion takeover offer. Alcoa said on Monday that it had offered 0.02854 shares of Alcoa for one share of Alumina, which was 13.1% higher than the share price on February 23rd. Alumina’s board of directors said that it planned to support the takeover offer if the two sides reached a final agreement after further discussion. Alcoa also agreed to acquire a 19.9% stake in Alumina from AllanGray Australia, the largest shareholder of Alumina.
Berkshire Hathaway bought the remaining 20% stake in the truck gas station Pilot for $2.6 billion.
According to the annual report disclosed on Saturday, Berkshire Hathaway, led by Warren Buffett, bought the remaining 20% of the truck gas station giant PilotTravel Centers for $2.6 billion last month, after the two sides reached a settlement on the price issue.
Chuanbotong is close to selling end-user computing services to private equity giant KKR for $3.8 billion.
According to informed sources, Broadcom, a chip maker, is close to selling its end-user computing (EUC) business to private equity giant KKR for $3.8 billion. It is reported that the two sides may announce the deal as early as Monday.