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

Good morning. The uncertain market reaction to the Fed continues, Apple earnings are in focus and the yen has another wild day. Here’s what [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Good morning. The uncertain market reaction to the Fed continues, Apple earnings are in focus and the yen has another wild day. Here’s what traders are talking about. — [David Goodman]( Want to receive this newsletter in Spanish? [Sign up to get the Five Things: Spanish Edition newsletter](. Fed fallout Investors are this morning digesting a Federal Reserve decision that saw Chair Jerome Powell stop short of the hawkish pivot some were expecting, [keeping hopes for a rate cut this year alive](and pushing back against the idea of more hikes. The dollar fell for a second day, while [US futures climbed](after a choppy session yesterday that saw the initial jump after [Powell’s comment]( switch to a loss in the final hour of trading. Today, data on jobless claims and durable goods may prove catalysts for fresh moves. Apple in focus On the corporate front, Apple is likely to be the big story of the day, with the iPhone maker [due to report results]( that will give investors a sense of how it is weathering a sales slump. Apple has had a tough year, captured by a 12% drop in its shares,, and analysts estimate that revenue fell 5% in the March quarter, which would mark the fifth decline in the past six periods. Peloton, Moderna, Coinbase and DraftKings are among other firms reporting Thursday. Web woes Back in the US, a number of e-commerce firms look set for a rough day after some disappointing earnings yesterday. [Doordash](, Etsy and [eBay]( are all falling in pre-market trading in the US — by double digits for the first two firms — as their results fell short of expectations. There’s better news for Qualcomm, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, which is rising [after giving an upbeat forecast](for sales and profit in the current period. Meanwhile, used car retailer Carvana [soared more than 30%]( on its earnings beat. Novo drops In Europe, [Novo Nordisk earnings](took center stage this morning. The firm’s shares are sliding after it said sales of its blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy more than doubled in the first quarter, but the number fell short of analysts’ estimates due to pricing pressure. It added it’s shipping more introductory doses of Wegovy in the US as it grapples with supply constraints and competition from Eli Lilly. Yen, again It’s been another busy 24 hours for the yen, which surged briefly in late New York trading amid another suspected intervention from Japanese authorities, [only to give up some of those gains]( as traders keen to keep selling the currency pushed back. Bank of Japan accounts suggested Thursday there was indeed a [second intervention of the week](bbg://screens/nsn%20SCU2P8T1UM0W) (to the tune of about 3.5 trillion yen) after the Fed’s meeting, but the FX moves signal rising skepticism over the efficacy of the policy. In more evidence of those concerns, the [currency’s top forecaster](is predicting the yen may weaken to 165 per dollar for the first time since 1986. What we’ve been reading This is what’s caught our eye over the past 24 hours. - Bitcoin slump triggers warning of [“trouble ahead”](for markets. - Why the US Treasury will [start to buy back its bonds](. - [Musk undercuts Tesla chargers]( Biden lauded as a “Big Deal” - Ex-SocGen trader Kataria [says he was fired]( for options bets. - [Shell, StanChart jump](in London after profits beat estimates. And finally, here's what Joe’s interested in this morning Have you noticed that CAPTCHAs keep getting harder? You know, the little puzzles that websites sometimes give you where you have to identify all the squares with a crosswalk or streetlight or bicycle, in order to prove you're human. Well, if have noticed it you're not alone because it's true. As computer vision gets better and better over time, the puzzles have had to become harder. [On today's Odd Lots podcast](, Tracy Alloway and I talked to the famed computer scientist and Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn, who was one of the earliest developers of CAPTCHAs (he sold his company reCAPTCHA to Google in 2009). In his view, the era of the CAPTCHA will inevitably come to an end. Computers are getting better and better at seeing. Human image identification is not getting better. So it's basically just a matter of time before there's nothing that a human can see that a bot can't see. Of course, the point of a CAPTCHA is for a user (like someone opening up an email account) to prove they're not a computer. So just proving general humanness. But in his view, with AI, just proving general humanness won't be enough. So the next generation of whatever it is will be about proving that you are a specific human, and not just any human. (This is personally why I've been bullish, or at least open minded to, [those weird eyeball scanning orbs from Worldcoin for years now](.) Anyway, it was a fascinating chat about his work on how computers and humans learn from each other, which is what Duolingo -- which makes the popular language learning app -- is all about. We talked about the two ways his company is using AI. One is that with high quality generative AI, Duolingo can actually incorporate the conversational element of language learning, which everyone regards as crucial, in a way that couldn't be done earlier. Meanwhile the company's own in-house AI model is used to constantly rewrite the app's own pedagogical approach, calibrating lessons to each user. It was one of the rare AI conversations where a CEO was able to talk specifically about how the technology makes the labor force more productive (rather than just vague generalities) and in some cases makes human labor unnecessary. Up until recently, I hadn't realized that Duolingo was public. But not only is it public, it's one of the rare 2021 IPOs that hasn't been a total basket case. [Check it out](. It was a genuinely fascinating chat. And it occurred to me at the end, one thing you hear a lot is how a lot of AI startups are just "ChatGPT wrappers", basically taking OpenAI's tech and then putting it into some new interface. Duolingo is kind of the opposite, starting with its own longstanding base of users, and now increasingly able to plug outside large language models into it. Joe Weisenthal is the co-host of Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast. Follow him on X [@TheStalwart]( Like Bloomberg's Five Things? [Subscribe for unlimited access]( to trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and gain expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. [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. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. 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