Market Snapshot: Week of Jan. 15 – 23

We believe that knowledge is power and we want you to have more of it. The best realtors can engage their customers in conversation on a wide-range of topics, from business trends and shifting political landscapes to the latest happenings in the world of sports, art, and pop-culture. We've summarized the most significant incidents from these sectors so that you don't have to.

Business

Market Snapshot (January 16^th-19th)

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• Dow Jones: 26,072 (+1.05%)
• S&P 500: 2,810 (+0.88%)
• Nasdaq: 7,336 (+1.05%)

Market Winners:

• Last Wednesday, Apple announced it would add $350 billion in value to the United States' economy over the next five years by bringing back home $252 billion in foreign profits. This is all thanks to the new tax rate.
• Papa John's CFO announced he will leave the pizza chain to join Jack-in-the-Box also this past Wednesday. Despite Lance F. Tucker's departure shares rose 8%. Papa John's stock plummeted 34% in 2017 due to slowed sales growth
• Mall staple Abercrombie Fitch's stock rose after announcing their gender-neutral kid's line. The "Everybody Collection" will include 25 styles of camo, bright and pink shirts and jackets in standard sized for kids ages 5-14. Abercrombie is not the first to do so, H&M launched unisex denim last year, and Target dropped all gender references on its kid's section in 2015.

Market Losers:

• General Electric's stock has already plummeted down 45% in the last year. If that wasn't enough, they silently revealed a $6.5 billion liability it owes on the long-term insurance business it exited over ten years ago.
• Cryptocurrency holders felt a sting as they watched Bitcoin almost half in price at one point to below $10K last week. Bitcoin was not the only cryptocurrency affected Litecoin, Ripple and Ethereum also suffered double-digit losses. The Bitcoin Bubble has not popped, governments are just flexing their muscles and reminding us that they like to regulate things, like money. 

Other Market News:

• Overnight Sunday, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.2 percent, while Japan's Topix index closed 0.1 percent higher as the yen slipped towards the end of the session. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index was unchanged at 5:40 a.m. S&P 500 futures were 0.2 percent lower, the 10-year Treasury yield was at 2.650 percent, and gold was slightly higher.

Real Estate

Local:

• Amazon, the world's largest online shopping retailer is opening their second HQ in the States. Last Thursday they announced on Twitter that our very own Miami has advanced to the next step in their HQ2 decision process.  Amazon started with 238 possible cities and is now down to a shortlist of 20.
• Yotel, a British chain of airport and city hotels well known for its small, cozy, affordable rooms outfitted with high-tech, luxury features are jumping into the condo-hotel game by introducing one of its hybrids, YotelPad, here in Miami. The 30-story tower will be located at 227 NE Second St. and will offer 250 Yotel-branded hotel rooms and 208 condos. The project is helmed by Aria Development Group, and the Kuwait-based AQARAT real estate company prices start at $250,000.

Politics

North America:

• The three-day government shutdown ended Monday after President Trump signed the stop-gap spending bill, extending government funding until February 8. The government shutdown because Senate Democrats and Republicans failed to reach an agreement on how to continue funding our burdensome government, Democrats did not want to vote to reopen the government unless they received a commitment from Republicans stating that they'd get a chance to vote on immigration legislation and help the "dreamers."
• According to a POLITICO analysis of court documents, government letters, public testimony and reports from the media reveals that the investigation into the 2016 election now may involve hundreds of individuals in Washington, Moscow and around the globe. To check out the interactive analysis click here.

Sports

North America:

National Basketball Association (NBA):

• The Miami Heat defeated the Charlotte Hornets 106-105, in the final seconds of Saturday night's game. It was a tied game at 105 to 105, when Hornets Center Dwight Howard fouled heat Center Kelly Olynek with less than a second left in the game. Kelly Olynek made one of his two crucial free throws to help the Heat overcome the Hornets. The Heat are currently one game behind Lebron James' Cleveland Cavaliers for the 3^rd Spot in the Eastern Conference.

Nation Football League (NFL):

• This past Sunday was the AFC and NFC Championship games, deciding who will face each other in Super Bowl LII Sunday, February 4, 2018. In the AFC Championship game, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots came back late in the fourth quarter to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-20, this will be Tom Brady's eighth Super Bowl appearance. Philadelphia displayed that they're ready for a Super Bowl appearance beating the Minnesota Vikings 38-7 in the NFC Championship game.

Entertainment

• James Franco's name wasn't called when Oscar nominations were announced today, Tuesday, amid inappropriate sexual behavior accusations against the young actor. Franco was looking to receive a nomination for his performance in The Disaster Artist.
• The Academy has also decided to deviate from its usual picks for this upcoming 90^th Oscars as it praised Guillermo del 'Toro's out of the ordinary film, The Shape of Water with 13 nominations. The film follows a mute, isolated woman who works as a cleaning lady in a hidden, high-security government laboratory in 1962 Baltimore. Her life changes forever when she discovers the lab's classified secret.

Quote of the Week

All the opinions expressed by Juan Artiles in this newsletter are solely his opinions. You should not treat any opinion expressed by his as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy, but only as an expression of his opinions.