Welcome to the Weekly Market Review. This section is dedicated to providing Moomoo CAB members with the core investment news and insights of the week, as well as a preview of major events that will impact the market in the coming week.

Macro trend

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that with the improvement in economic conditions, the rate cut will slow down.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated that the economy now looks better than it did when the central bank started cutting rates in September, which means the Federal Reserve can lower borrowing costs more slowly.

Powell said at Wednesday's New York Times DealBook summit: "We want to send a strong signal that if the labor market continues to be weak, we will support it." According to the PMI data released by S&P and ISM on Wednesday, prices in manufacturing and services continued to rise in November. However, prices did not rise as estimated.

Despite ongoing contraction, the US manufacturing PMI saw improvements in November 2024.

The US ISM Manufacturing PMI rose from 46.5 in October to 48.4 in November 2024, exceeding the forecast of 47.5. The reading suggests another moderate contraction in manufacturing. New orders rebounded after seven months of contraction (50.4 vs 47.1), production (46.8 vs 46.2), employment (48.1 vs 44.4), and inventories (48.1 vs 42.6) contracted less. In addition, price pressures eased (50.3 vs 54.8), the supplier delivery index indicated faster deliveries (48.7 vs 52). "Demand remains soft as companies prepare for 2025 plans, benefiting from the end of the election cycle. Production slowed in November, consistent with soft demand and weakened backlogs. Suppliers continue to have capacity with slight improvement in delivery times, but some product shortages have reappeared," said Timothy Fiore, chairman of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.

Job vacancies in the US increased in October 2024, surpassing expectations.

In October 2024, the number of job vacancies increased by 372,000 to 7.744 million after a decrease in September to 7.372 million, higher than the market's expected 7.48 million. Job vacancies in professional and business services increased by 209,000, lodging and dining services by 162,000, and information by 87,000, while federal government job vacancies decreased by 26,000. In terms of regional distribution, job vacancies increased in the South (486,000) and West (133,000), but decreased in the Northeast (-195,000) and Midwest (-52,000). Meanwhile, there was little change in the recruitment and total number of departures at 5.3 million. Among departures, resignations (3.3 million) and layoffs (1.6 million) remained stable.

Fund Flows.

The total market cap of the USA stock market reached $60 trillion, nearly double the combined total of all Asian and European stock markets ($33 trillion).

Bitcoin surged to over 0.1 million US dollars due to support for cryptos and comparisons with gold.

President-elect Donald Trump nominated crypto advocate Paul Atkins as SEC Chairman, while Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell likened Bitcoin to gold in a recent Wednesday speech.

These announcements caused Bitcoin to surge above 0.1 million US dollars, marking an increase of over 5% in 24 hours. Stocks related to virtual currency also saw a rebound, with MicroStrategy rising over 8%, Coinbase and Riot Platforms both rising over 6%.

Bitcoin now surpasses gold by the largest margin in history.

Company news.

Apple's stock price hits a new high, reclaiming the number one spot in market cap. Is a new 'super product cycle' about to begin?

On Monday, Apple closed up 0.95%, with the stock price rising to $239.59, hitting another all-time high. The market cap has surpassed $3.62 trillion, reclaiming the top spot in global market cap, leading Nvidia by about $200 billion. Apple has seen a cumulative increase of 25.06% this year.

As 2024 comes to an end, Apple will continue to expand its product line in 2025. Apple will launch a lineup of heavy-duty products next year, including iPhone SE, iPad, MacBook Air, and a new smart home central hub.

Lululemon has raised its full-year performance expectations, easing the weakness in the American market with overseas sales.

Influenced by strong international sales, Lululemon Athletica Inc. has raised its full-year performance expectations, indicating that this high-end activewear brand is successfully resisting the impact of emerging competitors and controlling the slowdown in consumer spending.

Currently, the company expects revenue for the fiscal year to be between $10.45 billion and $10.49 billion, higher than the previous estimate of $10.38 billion to $10.48 billion. In the third quarter, Lululemon achieved strong comparable sales growth in the international market, while the Americas market saw a decline.

Comparable sales in the third quarter increased by 4%, reversing the trend of slowing growth for three consecutive quarters. CEO Calvin McDonald is optimistic about revitalizing demand by expanding product categories and incorporating more casual styles. The company's strategic plan aims to achieve an annual revenue of $12.5 billion by 2026 through accelerated international expansion, increased online sales, and expanding the range of menswear products.

OpenAI plans to attract investments by modifying its "AGI" agreement with Microsoft.

OpenAI is discussing a modification to a clause that currently prevents Microsoft from accessing its most advanced models after developing "Artificial General Intelligence" (AGI) in the company. This is aimed at unlocking potential investments worth billions of dollars in the future.

AGI is defined as "highly autonomous systems that surpass humans in the most economically valuable tasks". Under the current agreement, once OpenAI creates AGI, Microsoft's access to this technology will be revoked. The decision on achieving AGI will be made by OpenAI's board of directors.

According to sources, OpenAI is considering removing this clause from its company structure. This change would allow Microsoft to continue investing and access all OpenAI technologies after developing AGI. A final decision has not yet been made, and the board of directors is still discussing various options.

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