Stifel Bits

February 8, 2023

The Appetizer

“Good morning, guys. I’ll get to the point right away. I’m retiring. For good.”

  • Legendary NFL Quarterback Tom Brady

Now, on to the numbers. Drum roll, please …

  • 50 basis points: What traders are pricing in for future rate hikes in 2023.
  • 3,659,289: The number of babies born in the U.S. in 2021, up 1% from 2020. This represents the first increase in births since 2014.
  • $4,438-$35,841: The price range for Super Bowl LVII tickets on ticket resale platforms such as StubHub and Ticketmaster.
  • 0.4”: The amount of snow that fell in Central Park last Wednesday. This was the latest snow to arrive in a winter season since records began in 1869.
  • 6 millimeters: The diameter of a highly radioactive capsule that fell off a truck in Western Australia. Despite the search area for the capsule being 870 miles long, the capsule was found.
  • 83: The number of World Cup wins by American skier Mikaela Shiffrin – a new women’s record. Three more wins ties the men’s record.

Dig In
Net Zero: What is it?

If you haven’t heard “net zero” in the news, you may be living under a rock. Kidding! Net zero is a term that comes up often as companies and governments announce goals to reduce carbon emissions in an effort to curb global warming. But what does it actually entail?

As you know, burning fossil fuels produces greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, that trap heat in the atmosphere. That’s a problem. Realistically, we rely so heavily on fossil fuels for energy, plastics, and other materials that eliminating emissions may be nearly impossible.

That’s where net zero comes in: It’s a balance of removing as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as we put into it. Strategies for achieving net zero emissions include a combination of reducing fossil fuel use by switching to alternative energies and capturing carbon from the atmosphere both naturally – planting forests and farms – and technologically.

The carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) space is growing, and it could be huge. In fact, Exxon believes it could be a $4 trillion industry by 2050. We’ll be watching closely to see how this shakes out!


Weekly Specials

We’re in for another six weeks (now five) of winter, according to Punxsutawney Phil. The rodent celebrity saw his shadow on Groundhog Day last week, indicating spring is still a ways off. Lucky for us, Phil’s predictions have been right only 40% of the time since the tradition started in 1887.

Are you ready for some footba … er, puppies? The 19th annual Puppy Bowl takes place this Sunday before the Super Bowl. The event raises awareness for pet adoptions and features 122 dogs from rescues and shelters across 34 states. If you’re not a dog person, that’s okay – the “Kitty Halftime Show” may be for you.

After aggressively raising interest rates throughout 2022, the Federal Reserve (Fed) raised interest rates by just a quarter point last week. Fed officials believes a slower pace should give them time to assess how the moves are working out. However, before anyone celebrates a win over inflation, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell indicated a couple more hikes are on the way.

ChatGPT caused quite the stir at schools and colleges recently. Now its maker, OpenAI, has launched a tool called AI Text Classifier to help teachers detect when their students have used AI to do their homework. OpenAI cautions that the tool isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty good at detecting if long passages were written by a human or a machine.


Corporate Lunch

Follow the Leader … Ford announced its plans to cut prices on its electric Mustang Mach-E, shortly after Tesla announced a similar plan, meaning all of their Mach-E models will not be profitable on a per-unit basis.

Spotify is officially the first streaming service to pass 200 million paid subscribers, capturing 30% of the global music streaming market, while Apple Music holds 15%.

After 54 years, Boeing ended production of the 747 with the last flying off this week. The last one delivered has a decal next to the nose in remembrance to Joe Sutter, who is considered by many as the “father” of this famous aircraft.

Exxon posted a $56 billion net profit for 2022, taking home about $6.3 million per hour last year, and setting not only a company record, but a historic high for the Western oil industry.

E-commerce giant Amazon released mixed earnings with a revenue beat but missing both earnings per share and first quarter guidance. With a net loss of $2.7 billion, it marks the company’s largest annual loss on record.

Disney’s Splash Mountain is officially closed, and the demand for mementos is going strong. Some are even buying the water from the ride, but you know what the regulars say, Disney water is just…different.

Later this year, there will no longer be Showtime, as it will be merged into Paramount+, making it a multiplatform brand in the streaming space.

Everyone likes a good comeback story: Peloton shares jumped after the company posted subscription revenue growth outpaced hardware sales. The stock is now up 86% year to date.

Google is asking its employees to test potential ChatGPT competitors, including a chatbot called “Apprentice Bard.” Can’t they just ask ChatGPT to build a new chatbot?

drawing of a table setting

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