Market Snapshot: Week of Jan. 24 – 30

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 biggest happenings from these sectors so that you don't have to.

 

Business

Market Snapshot (January 22-26)

Powered by MarketSnacks

Dow Jones: 26,617 (+2.06%)
S&P 500: 2,873 (+2.20%)
Nasdaq: 7,506 (+2.25%)

Market Winners:

• Netflix added 8.3 million subscribers, this is more than any previous quarter for the online streaming company. This increase in subscribers can be a result of Netflix's great original series and everyone's mid-winter series binging routines.
• Facebook admitted publicly that its Newsfeed spreads misinformation and is bad for democracy, their honesty was well received by Wall Street. Facebook announced it plans on introducing a new news feed algorithm that prioritizes "high-quality news sources".
• Despite Toys ÔÇÿR' US closing 180 stores the toy industry will prevail with rumors that toy manufacturer Hasbro is going to buy its major competitor Mattel.

Market Losers:

• Wynn Resorts shares dropped 8.7 percent Monday to $164.60 a share, after several negative Wall Street research reports and sexual misconduct allegations against CEO Steve Wynn surfaced.
• GE needs to get it together as they reported a $9 billion loss last quarter, miscounted last year's revenues and is under SEC investigation for subpar accounting.
• Twitter shares rose Friday on rumors it is going to merge with Salesforce, but then dropped again once The New York Times reported the existence of 48 million fake twitter accounts that influence likes and retweets.

Real Estate

Local:

• December 2017 Report: Luxury Miami home sales posted double-digit gains and existing condominium transactions surged year-over-year in December, according to a new report by the MIAMI Association of REALTORS┬« (MIAMI) and the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) system. Here are some of the highlights outlined in the resort:
  • Luxury ($1 million-and-above) existing Miami condo sales jumped 47.6 percent year-over-year, from 42 to 62.
  • Federal tax reform, which was signed into law Dec. 22, sets a deductions cap for income, sales and property taxes at $10,000. The new cap could lead more residents of states with high property values and state income tax to purchase properties in states such as Florida.
  • Miami existing condo sales ÔÇö which are competing with one of the most robust new construction markets in the country ÔÇö increased 6.5 percent year-over-year, from 1,084 to 1,154.
  • Total sales volume for all properties accounted for $983.5 million last month, up 23.2% from $797.9 million a year ago

Politics

North America:

• President Donald Trump will deliver his first State of the Union address on Tuesday, the hour-long speech to Congress and the nation. Trump's speech comes on the back of a three-day government shutdown, and ahead of a Feb. 8 deadline for deeply divided Republicans and Democrats to agree on how to fund government and overhaul immigration laws.
• Last Monday, U.S Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced President Trump approved tariffs on imported solar cells and certain washing machines. This controversial decision by President Trump received significant backlash from around the world. Both South Korea and China are not pleased by the new tarriffs, with Seoul threatening to file a complaint about the changes and Beijing decreeing that the tariffs were deteriorating the global trade environment.
• The senate race in Texas is heating up Wednesday with Democrat Beto O'Rourke trailing Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz by single digits, 45 -37 percent, according to new internal polling released by a Democratic group whose main objective is keeping corporate money out of politics. O' Rourke, a Democratic congressman from El Paso, vowed not to accept money from corporate political action comities or PACs for his Senate bid.

Sports

North America:

Local:

• After searching multiple sites, including failed bids at PortMiami, downtown Miami and Little Havana, David Beckham and his group of investors have focused on making Overtown work for their MLS debut, Beckham told WPLG. The 25,000-square-foot, $200 million stadium will be built on a nine-acre development site between Northwest Sixth and Eighth streets, north of the Miami River.

USA Gymnastics:

• Larry Nassar, disgraced former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University doctor, was sentenced on Wednesday to between 40 and 175 years in prison, following a week of unsparing statements in courts by his victims. His victims include Olympic gold medal-winning gymnasts Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber. Nassar pleaded guilty to sexual assault charges. ┬á

National Basketball Association (NBA):

• The Milwaukee Bucks surprisingly fired their head coach Jason Kidd Monday afternoon. The decision made by the Bucks front office supposedly devastated their young superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was close with Kidd, and shook up the promising young team.
• Monday night the LA Clippers astonishingly traded their superstar power forward Blake Griffin to the Detroit Pistons, for a handful of role players and a 1^st round draft pick for the upcoming NBA draft.

Australian Open (Tennis):

• This Sunday, Roger Federer won his record-tying sixth Australian Open title. The Swiss tennis player defeated Croatian Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Although the Australian Open has been often considered Federer's weakest Slam, he came out victorious once again.

Entertainment

• Sunday night was the 2018 Grammy Awards music's biggest night of the year. The night was full of thrilling performances by Kendrick Lamar, Patti LuPone, Cardi B and Rihanna. Bruno Mars was the night's biggest┬áwinner, taking home six┬áawards┬áincluding Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year.┬á

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.