Hot News

• Retail sales in the USA for February were lower than expected! Nasdaq Futures surged briefly and turned positive.

Retail sales in the USA for February increased by 0.2% month-on-month, less than the expected increase of 0.6%, with the previous value revised from a decrease of 0.9% to a decrease of 1.2%. As of the time of writing, Nasdaq Futures surged briefly and turned positive.

• Quantum Computing concept stocks continued to rise in Pre-Market Trading, with QUBT up nearly 24% and QBTS up over 13%.

• Growth Tech stocks showed mixed performance in Pre-Market Trading, with NVIDIA and Intel both up over 1%.

• The NVIDIA GTC conference is coming up, and it is expected to reverse the downward trend of Technology stocks.

From March 17 to 21 local time, $NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$ The annual GTC conference will be held in San Jose, California, USA. Wedbush Analyst Dan Ives believes that this NVIDIA GTC conference will be a "turning point" for USA Growth Tech to reverse its weakness, expecting the conference to shift investors' focus back to the "AI revolution and high technology spending," which is likely to stimulate a rise in NVIDIA's stock price. As of publication, NVIDIA's stocks were up more than 1% in Pre-Market Trading, having risen more than 5% on the previous trading day.

• Intel's stocks were up more than 1% in Pre-Market Trading, with the new CEO planning a complete overhaul of the chip design and manufacturing Business, and restarting AI work.

According to sources, $Intel (INTC.US)$ The new CEO plans a comprehensive reform of the chip design and manufacturing Business, intends to restart AI work, and produce chips at an annual pace. Further layoffs are also planned to reduce redundancy. As of publication, Intel's stocks were up more than 1% in Pre-Market Trading.

• MINISO's stocks were up nearly 3% in Pre-Market Trading, with CICC optimistic about its revenue growth and profitability in Q4.

$MINISO (MNSO.US)$ USA Stocks were up nearly 3% in Pre-Market Trading. According to reports, MINISO is set to release its 2024 Q4 and full-year Earnings Reports on March 21. CICC previously pointed out that every year in Q4 is the peak season for the company’s overseas Business, with the 4Q24 launch of the Harry Potter IP products synchronized globally for the first time, achieving hot sales in multiple regions around the world. The firm is optimistic about the revenue growth and profitability in Q4 2024.

• The focus of "Reevaluating Alibaba": Alibaba Cloud in the era of AI.

Goldman Sachs expects that around 80% of the 380 billion capital expenditure will be used for AI servers, as related capital expenditures increase. $Alibaba (BABA.US)$ It is expected to achieve revenue growth of over 20% in fiscal years 2026 and 2027. According to a communication meeting held by UBS Group with Alibaba's management, in the short term, Alibaba Cloud's profit focus will be on the B2B side, providing MaaS solutions through its QWen model, and leveraging the cross-selling advantages of existing cloud products. In the long run, the application of AI agents is expected to further enhance profit margins.

• The demand for AI servers is promising! Morgan Stanley is bullish on Dell Technologies with a potential increase of nearly 60%.

Recently, JPMorgan invited Paul Frantz, Vice President of Investor Relations, to attend an investor conference and released related research reports. $Dell Technologies (DELL.US)$ In the research report, Morgan Stanley provided insights on Dell Technologies' AI server business, stating that the company's AI server business is expected to bring revenue and profit growth. Morgan Stanley has given Dell Technologies a stock rating of 'Shareholding', with a target price of $150, which allows for nearly a 60% upside compared to the stock's closing price of $95.67 last Friday.

Global Macro

• The Federal Reserve's interest rate meeting makes a stunning appearance: How will Powell respond?

The Federal Reserve will announce its interest rate decision and the latest dot plot at 2 AM Beijing time on Thursday. Federal Reserve Chairman Powell will hold a press conference half an hour after the announcement. The market widely expects the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged, but investors are focused on the possibility of interest rate cuts later this year and hope to find signals of the Federal Reserve's readiness to act from the meeting. At that time, Powell will face a tricky task: to assure investors that the economy remains robust while also conveying the message that policymakers are ready to take action when necessary.

• The rebound in U.S. stocks started last Friday! Morgan Stanley's Wilson: But without Trump and the Federal Reserve, a reversal is unlikely.

Recently, Mike Wilson, Morgan Stanley's chief U.S. equity strategist, stated that a tradable rebound has started since last Friday, and the market adjustment may have come to an end, but this rebound is more likely to be a tradable one rather than a sustained bull market. Wilson indicated that unless the 'Trump 2.0' agenda begins to provide growth momentum (tax cuts, deregulation, reduced market crowding out effects), or the Federal Reserve cuts rates again, the performance of U.S. stocks is unlikely to reverse.

• A 40x leverage position opened with 0.45 billion USD! A Bitcoin whale's short position has sparked enthusiasm across the industry.

On the afternoon of March 16, Eastern Time, a trader named 0xf3f successively invested over ten million dollars to short with 40x leverage. $Bitcoin (BTC.CC)$ As of now, the trader's Bitcoin short position has reached 0.45 billion USD, equivalent to 5,410 Bitcoins. The entry price for the Bitcoin short position is 83,923 USD, and the liquidation price is 85,936 USD, with accumulated unrealized profits reaching 3.4 million USD.

Pre-Market Trading Top 20 by transaction volume.

Macro calendar reminders for the USA stock market.

(The following are all in Beijing Time)

22:00 USA March NAHB Property Market Index

22:00 USA January Business Inventory Monthly Rate

Editor/Somer