Good Morning!

It’s Market Byte March!

Today’s article is brought to you by: 95% human and 5% AI

Market Update

📊 Stocks were down slightly yesterday as February officially closed negative. The 3 major indexes (Nasdaq, S&P500, & the DOW) all ended red for the short month.

📉 The DOW turned negative for the year while the S&P500 and Nasdaq are up 3.4% and 10%, respectively. Prediction: all 3 will end the year negative. (definitely not Financial Advice).

Banger Tweet of the Day

Booze Now Pay Later.

Joey B’s Student Loan Program Heads to Court

What: The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday on Biden’s Student-Loan forgiveness plan.

The plan is expected to wipe out over $400 billion in student loan debt, providing $10,000 - $20,000 of relief to over 40 million Americans.

The Court’s Reception: Most of the Supreme Court Justices appeared skeptical of Biden’s main defense - the HEROES act. The supreme court consists of 6 republicans and 3 democrats.

Heroes Act: The HEROES Act (Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students) was made law in 2002 by George Bush. The act gave the Education department the authority to grand waiver or relied to recipients of Financial Aid. It has been invoked multiple times by both parties since the pandemic to pause student loan interest payments.

Lack of Standing: The Biden administration argues that the case shouldn’t have been brought to court at all - they say the case lacks legal standing as those who filed the two cases aren’t harmed by the debt-cancellation.

Tough Battle: It’ll be an uphill battle for the Biden Administration to secure the 5 votes necessary for a majority - the supreme court currently consists of 6 republicans and 3 democrats.

The Supreme court is expected to make a decision by the end of June.

Business Bytes

🛒 Instacart’s Revenue and Profit Climb Ahead of Public Listing (WSJ)

• The grocery delivery company told employees that revenue increased >50% in Q422 compared to Q421, while Gross Profit increased over 80%

• The company’s 2002 full year revenue rose 39% YoY to ~$2.5 billion.

• The company filed to go public in 2022 but has delayed plans due to unfavorable market timing.

🚗 Tesla Plans to Build a New Plant in Mexico (CNBC)

• The President of Mexico stated that the plant will be located in Monterrey, Mexico and will adhere to strict commitments around water scarcity.

📰 Jack Dorsey-backed Twitter Alternative ‘Bluesky’ Hits the App Store as an Invite-Only App (WSJ)

• NEW MASTODON JUST DROPPED!

🏠️ Amazon Employees Will Be Able to Use Stock as Collateral For Home Loans (WSJ)

• Amazon reached an agreement with online lender Better.com to allow employees to put their shares up as collateral when buying homes.

• The Better product, Equity Unlocker, seeks to allow employees to pledge their stock in exchange for a loan for a down payment.

• As stocks carry greater risk than traditional forms of collateral, Better will charge a higher mortgage rate for those pledging stock - roughly 0.25 to 2.5% above market rate.

The CCP

The Chinese Communist Party sent some warning shots at Elon over his comments on the potential Wuhan lab leak.

What was said: The comments from the CCP come after Elon replied to a tweet referring to Dr. Fauci’s apparent involvement in Chinese gain-of-function research.

China’s Response: China warned in their daily paper that Elon might be “breaking the pot of China” - a Chinese saying for biting the hand that feeds you.

Tesla & China: Tesla has a massive factory in Shanghai and is the second largest market for the EV automaker. China is known to be sensitive to disparaging comments and has no problems delivering business consequences in return.

Elon has yet to respond, but we all know how hard it will be for him to stay quiet.

Today’s Challenge: Yesterday’s emails were great to read - thank you! For today’s challenge, compliment someone out of the blue.

Thanks for reading, go out and make today a great one.

Much Love,

Andrew (and AI)