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Good Morning Everyone! Twitters new CEO is rumoured to be Linda Yaccarino. But since she’s associated with The World Economic Forum I don’t think she will get the job. Why don’t we hire Enola instead?

AI Frenzy Accounts for All of S&P 500 Gain in 2023, SocGen Says

• The investing frenzy around artificial intelligence has been so strong that without it, US stocks would be down for the year, according to Societe Generale SA strategist Manish Kabra. “The AI boom and hype is strong. So strong that without the AI-popular stocks, S&P 500 would be down 2% this year.”

• Much has been said about the crowding of capital and returns around the Megacap tech companies this year. Sustainable rallies need more widespread participation. We haven’t had that yet.

Yesterday, bears focused on PACW’s deposit outflow and the rising initial claims number, while bulls talked about the softer-than-expected PPI prints

• This morning, both the headline and core PPI increased 0.2% in April; headline was below consensus expectations, core was in line.

• Yesterday, Initial jobless claims for the week ending May 6th jumped 22,000 to 264,000, breaking out to the upside of the range this series has occupied since early March

The Lack of a Debt Ceiling Resolution is Causing Some to Panic:

• Debt ceiling meeting between Biden and congressional leaders, originally scheduled today, is delayed until next week

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon revealed his bank has a war room already set up to prepare for further turmoil. He also urged Republicans to ignore Donald Trump’s calls to permit a default in pursuit of their goals.

• Americans are left to wonder what Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s options are if no deal comes by June 1 and the government starts to run short of cash.

• Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the only good outcome in the current US debt standoff is for Congress to raise the ceiling. “What global markets and American households and businesses need to see is that we have a Congress that is committed to paying the bills. If Congress fails to do that, it really impairs our credit rating”

• A protracted showdown will make the central bank’s job much harder as it tries to assess the impact of bank-sector turmoil which is leading to tighter credit conditions.

Elon Musk on Thursday said he has chosen a new CEO for Twitter, and planned to step aside from the role in a matter of weeks.

• Musk is in advanced talks with NBC Universal’s chairman of Global Advertising and Partnerships Linda Yaccarino to take on the job, according to a person familiar with the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations.

• Finally, he can go back to focus on sending rockets into space and electrifying mass transit instead of micromanaging the bird app.

Brookfield Seeks to Insure Investors That The House of BAM Isn’t On Fire

• “When you own 7,000 properties, it is impossible not to make a few mistakes,” Flatt said in a letter to investors Thursday that accompanied first-quarter results. “But we have always prided ourselves on being an extremely responsible borrower, and our reputation in the capital markets sets us apart.” 

• On The quarter:

  • Revenue $23.30 billion, +6.5% y/y

  • Total assets $456.74 billion

  • Net income $424 million

• Despite continued positive momentum fundraising + a strong investment track record, investor focus instead seems solely on BN’s Real Estate investments.

• Brookfield Corp. Chief Executive Officer Bruce Flatt sought to quell investor concerns about commercial real estate, saying its properties are soundly financed and that higher interest rates will have little adverse impact. 

• Time will tell on this, as many have called out CRE as the “ticking time bomb”

Icahn Gets Hit Again as Bonds Fall, Lawsuits Pile Up:

• Icahn Enterprises bonds dropped in high-yield secondary trading Thursday after Hindenburg Research issued another critical report saying it is short the firm’s debt.

• Icahn’s 5.250% bond due May 2027 declined 5 cents on the dollar to 79.5 cents as of 4:18 p.m. New York time, according to Trace data

• The company’s 6.250% bond due May 2026 fell 4.75 cents on the dollar to 85 cents

• Three other bonds also fell by at least 2.5 cents on the dollar

• Hindenburg Research said Carl Icahn’s investment firm failed to disclose enough in response to questions raised in its critical report

US could start buying oil for reserve after June sale, energy secretary says:

• U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told lawmakers on Thursday her department could start repurchasing oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) after completing a congressionally mandated sale next month.

• “That congressionally mandated sale of 26 million barrels will be completed by June, and it’s at that point where we will flip the switch and then seek to purchase,” Granholm told lawmakers in a hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives.

• The Biden administration last year conducted the largest ever sale from the SPR of 180 million barrels. That and other sales last year have pushed the level of the reserve to about 372 million barrels, the lowest since 1983.

📊 Here are some of yesterday’s highlights:

JD 3.49%↑ JD.com Jumped on Stronger Revenue and CEO Change:

• JD.com shares rise as much as 8.2% in Hong Kong after the e-commerce firm said finance chief Sandy Xu will take over as CEO. Analysts said the personnel change suggests a strategy shift as the firm struggles with competition from PDD Holdings and ByteDance.

• 1Q earnings beat is “sizable,” which shows JD Retail’s profit potential

• Net revenue 242.96 billion yuan, +1.4% y/y, estimate 240.49 billion yuan (Bloomberg Consensus)

• Adjusted earnings per American depositary receipts 4.76 yuan vs. 2.53 yuan y/y, estimate 3.59 yuan

• Adjusted Ebitda 9.50 billion yuan, +57% y/y, estimate 7.81 billion yuan

• Adjusted operating margin 3.2% vs. 1.9% y/y, estimate 2.61%

👀 What we’re watching today:

• $TTM Tata Motors Tata Motors

• $CPG Crescent Point Energy Ordinary Shares (Canada)

• $SPB Spectrum Brands Holdings

• $EMBC Embecta Corp.

• $SHCO Soho House Class A

• $DDL Dingdong (Cayman) Limited American Depositary Shares (Each Two Representing Three Ordinary Shares)

• $HUMA Humacyte

• $AIRS Airsculpt Technologies

• $ADAP Adaptimmune Therapeutics PLC – American Depositary Shares

• $BAER Bridger Aerospace Group Holdings

• $AUGX Augmedix

• $NRT North European Oil Royality Trust

• $CAAS China Automotive Systems

• $FORA Forian

• $LGVN Longeveron

• $IMPL Impel Pharmaceuticals

• $DCTH Delcath Systems

• $LFMD Lifemd

• $ACXP Acurx Pharmaceuticals

• $RGF Real Good Food Company – Class A

• $NYC American Strategic Investment Co. Class A

• $AMS American Shared Hospital Services

• $BFRI Biofrontera

• $BPTH Bio-Path Hldgs

• $OXBR Oxbridge Re Holdings Limited –

Full earnings here.

Money Markets: Money market assets hit new all-time high as rising short-term rates lure investors away from bank deposits

Debt Ceiling: Debt ceiling standoff prompts investors to sell companies with outsized reliance on government contracts

Liquidity: Emergency liquidity borrowing from Fed little changed in latest week

Banks: FDIC proposes big banks pay a special assessment to cover bank-bailout costs

Meme: CoinDesk Turns 10 – 2020: The Rise of the Meme Economy

Fees: Crypto Trader Pays $120K in Fees to Buy $156K of Meme Coin Four

BRC-20: Bitcoin’s ‘BRC-20’ Explosion Sends Users Scrambling for Options, Including Lightning

PEPE: ‘Smart Money’ Traders Reduce Pepecoin Holdings by $3M as Meme Coin Mania Cools

MakerDAO: MakerDAO unveils AI-fueled roadmap to new blockchain

Check out GritCRYPTO for more.

Mining: Newcrest extends exclusivity period for Newmont’s $20 bln buyout offer

Auto: Renault wants to bring other strategic investors to Ampere and Alpine – CEO

Energy: Saudi Aramco sees slowed progress on planned IPO of trading unit – sources

Industrials: Italian steelmaker Feralpi invites banks to pitch for IPO role –sources

Energy: Australia’s Allkem tops ASX 200 on $10.6 bln merger with Livent

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