5 Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day: Americas

Good morning. US stocks look set to return to gains, Donald Trump gets a paper boost to his fortune and Bitcoin is back above $70,000. Here’ [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Good morning. US stocks look set to return to gains, Donald Trump gets a paper boost to his fortune and Bitcoin is back above $70,000. Here’s what’s moving markets. — [Sam Unsted]( Want to receive this newsletter in Spanish? [Sign up to get the Five Things: Spanish Edition newsletter](. Back to gains US stock futures are pointing to a higher open after the record-setting rally, turbocharged last week by optimism about Federal Reserve rate cuts, halted on Monday. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures are both rising, after 0.3% declines in the two benchmarks yesterday. There’s still a [degree of caution]( in the market ahead of key data releases still to come this week and with growing concern about a [disconnect between earnings expectations and share prices](. Trump’s paper boost Trump Media & Technology Group [has jumped in premarket trading]( following the completion of its merger with Digital World Acquisition, the most high-profile blank-check deal in the US market for years. The deal will give the group, the parent company of Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform, much-needed capital and will provide a paper windfall for the former president as he faces a series of legal and financial woes. Some investors [took a loss voluntarily]( by pulling out of the deal. China meetings Some US executives in China are [extending their stay in the country]( after receiving invites to a meeting on Wednesday with a top leader, widely anticipated to be Premier Xi Jinping. Efforts by China to counter the downbeat narrative about a structural slowdown in the economy have been given a boost by chief executives in the country, [including Apple’s Tim Cook](. Bitcoin above $70,000 Bitcoin has maintained its [rise back above $70,000](, with enthusiasts appearing to shrug off the outflows from exchange-traded funds seen last week. The swing that the digital coin took on Monday also happened [during US rather than Asian hours](, an increasingly frequent occurrence which appears to have followed the rollout of the ETFs in the US market. The crypto market is also getting ready for the [highly-anticipated halving]( event for Bitcoin this year. Coming Up… Durable goods, consumer confidence and manufacturing data is all on the slate for the US today, though the line up of speakers from the Federal Reserve goes quiet after a trio on Monday, including Lisa Cook emphasizing the need for a [“cautious approach”]( to cuts. The earnings calendar is quiet, with spices and seasonings maker McCormick up to bat. Keep an eye on gambling companies too after FanDuel-owner Flutter Entertainment’s results showed strong trading around the Super Bowl and expectations for [a surge in US profit](. What We’ve Been Reading This is what’s caught our eye over the past 24 hours. - The challenge facing the [next CEO of Boeing](. - Baltimore’s [Francis Scott Key Bridge]( collapses. - Adam Neumann and partners [make a bid for WeWork](. - US short-seller [wants an apology]( from Hong Kong regulators. - Shohei Ohtani says he has [never bet on sports](. And finally, here's what Joe’s interested in this morning There isn't a lot of top-shelf economic data coming out this week. However, there are a number of perhaps second-tier numbers to watch. Today we're going to get fresh regional survey data from the Philly Fed, Richmond Fed, and Dallas Fed. We're also getting another look at Consumer Sentiment. Here's the whole table of what to watch for. Speaking of surveys, yesterday we got the latest Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index, [which is always fun to read for the commentary section](. It's something I've highlighted a bunch of times here. Overall the comments are kinda scattered. Not great. Not gloomy. Kind of consistent with a lot of the economic noise. One thing that stood out were sort of vague allusions to political uncertainty and the election. Here's four of the comments. - "We kept thinking orders would pick up in the first quarter, but they have not. In fact, they've gotten even fewer and farther apart. Is it election uncertainly, a lack of peace overseas, money still being too expensive, or is it just a wet blanket over the entire economy? We don't know, but we're anxious to get some momentum going into the second half of the year." - "Election, energy and interest rate uncertainty makes business planning difficult." - "Political discussions about taxes are extremely dishonest, and future proposed increases to taxes will further reduce U.S. manufacturing competitiveness globally. I find it very insulting and disingenuous when medium-sized companies are called out as not paying "our fair share" of taxes. Currently, if you look at our total tax paid versus our total profit, we are taxed at over 60 percent as a medium-sized manufacturing company. We can't expand employment, technology and innovation to compete with China with higher taxes." - "We are seeing general business activity slowing and competition increasing. We generally see this trend as business slows and our competitors become more hungry. However, we think that the third and fourth quarters will be better as the political landscape hopefully improves." It's definitely true that there's something grim about election seasons, and it's still a long way to go until November. Whether that's actually having an impact on business is kind of unclear. Maybe it's just something that people want to say is on their minds, in the absence of a clear economic narrative. Follow Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal on X [@TheStalwart]( [Bloomberg Markets Wrap: The latest on what's moving global markets. Tap to read.]( Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Five Things to Start Your Day: Americas Edition newsletter. 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