All Eyes On China

CHINA: The Investment World Is Watching

Expectations are high for decisive actions by the Chinese government to address their stock market downturn, with plans to brief President Xi Jinping about the situation as early as Tuesday. After Bloomberg reported that regulators, including the China Securities Regulatory Commission, would discuss market conditions and policy responses with senior leaders, Chinese stocks rallied. The CSI 300 index surged 3.5%, marking its best performance since late 2022. Smaller-cap stocks also saw significant gains, with the CSI 1000 index jumping 7%, the largest increase since 2008.

The outcome of the meeting with President Xi is uncertain, but investors are hopeful for effective measures to reverse the decline that has erased about $7 trillion in value from Hong Kong and China equities since 2021. Efforts to stabilize the market are critical to avoid further damage to consumer confidence, especially before the Lunar New Year holiday.

The day also saw optimistic moves, including Central Huijin Investment Ltd.'s commitment to buy more exchange-traded funds and a surge in foreign investments, with overseas funds adding over 12 billion yuan ($1.7 billion) of mainland shares, the most this year. However, past experiences, such as the 2015 stock market crash, caution that market recovery may not be immediate despite government interventions

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PALANTIR: Dominates Earnings

Palantir Technologies exceeded Wall Street's profit expectations for 2024 and reported its "first profitable year" due to strong demand for its AI products. This caused its stock to surge over 19% after hours. The company's focus on AI has paid off, with its shares nearly tripling in 2023, significantly outpacing the Nasdaq 100's gains.

In the fourth quarter, Palantir secured 103 deals worth over $1 million each, driving a 70% increase in U.S. commercial revenue to $131 million. This growth led to a total commercial revenue of $284 million, surpassing expectations. The company forecasts at least 40% growth in U.S. commercial revenue for 2024, up from 36% in 2023.

Despite the commercial success, growth in Palantir's government business is slowing, with an 11% increase compared to a 23% jump the previous year.

SNAPCHAT: Lays Off Workers

Snapchat will lay off around 10% of its workforce to boost in-person work. The news led to a 3% drop in Snap's stock, closing down 1.8%. This is part of Snap's ongoing layoffs since 2022, where they had significant cuts in August 2022.

Per a regulatory filing, Snap expects to incur $55 million to $75 million in charges due to the layoffs. This move aligns with a broader tech industry trend of job cuts, with nearly 24,000 tech jobs lost in January 2024, including reductions at Meta, Amazon, and Alphabet. Despite challenges, Snap recently ended a revenue slump and initiated a $500 million share buyback, showing financial optimism.

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The Founding of Duolingo

Duolingo, the world's most popular language-learning platform, was co-founded by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker in 2011. Born out of the desire to merge free language education with the power of technology, Duolingo has its roots in Carnegie Mellon University, where the founders met. Von Ahn, already famous for creating CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA, was driven by a vision to provide free education while helping translate the web.

The initial idea was to teach languages while leveraging users' efforts to translate documents online. This innovative approach not only democratized language learning but also made it fun and accessible to millions around the globe. With its gamified lessons, Duolingo broke down barriers to education, making it possible for anyone with internet access to learn a new language. Duolingo continues to grow today, offering courses in over 30 languages to hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

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📊 Borrowers Issue Record Amounts of Debt

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