1. Houston, we have a problem.

CPI inflation just officially jumped +0.5% in one month, the largest increase since August 2023.

Core CPI inflation was expected to fall to 3.1%, but instead rose to 3.3%.

Fed rate cut expectations are now out of the window until at least december.

The news sent stocks lower and rates higher. The 10-year yield is now back above 4.60%.

Here’s the S&P 500 heatmap. Only 1 sector out of 11 closed green.

2. Here's how Chinese stocks have done since everybody warned that Chinese stocks were going to crash because of "Tariffs".

China Tech versus China Internet versus China Large Cap year-to-date.

3. AI improvements in customer service will shift labor costs to software costs.

New products from OpenAI and Salesforce are supplementing human customer service representatives cost-effectively.

Even at a fixed cost of $1 per conversation, AI agents could save enterprises significant sums once they can handle 35% of customer service inquiries.

AI agents also should lower onboarding and hiring costs, as well as seat-based software costs, while scaling more easily than human labor.

Source: ARK Invest

4. Commodities are enjoying a strong start in 2025. Here is copper.

5. US Semiconductor production soars as overall manufacturing stagnates.

In 2024, the U.S. semiconductor production index surged by 7.3% year-over-year, while the total manufacturing production index declined by 0.4%.

Over the past two decades, semiconductor production has skyrocketed by 780%, whereas overall manufacturing output has remained largely flat, highlighting the sector’s outsized growth.

6. Trade Desk is down 26% after hours on “disappointing” outlook.

Trade Desk forecast its first-quarter revenue to be at least $575 million, below analysts' average estimate of $591.8 million.

This $60 billion company has revenue growing at 17% YoY for Q1.

This is what happens when stocks are priced for perfection.

Not a subscriber yet?