⚡️ Walmart's coming for Amazon

Walmart won over a new league of bargain hunters | Japan's economy fared worse than expected | [Finimize](   TOGETHER WITH     Hi {NAME}, here's what you need to know for May 17th in 3:13 minutes.   🐦 The early bird gets the worm – or in this case, the best deal. Our [Modern Investor Summit]( is the biggest event of its kind for retail investors, attracting speakers including Jamie Dimon, Ray Dalio, and Cathie Wood. [Get in touch about speaker slots before May 31st, and bag the early-bird price]( Today's big stories - Results from bellwethers Walmart and Deere gave mixed signals about the US economy - Maybe everything you know about inflation is wrong – [Read Now]( - Japan’s economy dipped by more than expected, putting the central bank in the hot seat To The Window, To The Walmart [To The Window, To The Walmart] What’s going on here? Walmart announced better-than-expected quarterly sales and profit on Wednesday, as Americans tried to make their grocery bills [Get Low](. What does this mean? Walmart’s “comparable sales” – measured only in the stores open this time last year – were 3.9% higher last quarter than a year ago, beating the 3.4% that analysts had predicted. And the company didn’t just have its regular customers to thank, although they did pay more visits to their favorite retailer. Walmart also won over new shoppers, including high-income earners exploring their thrifty sides. That helps explain why the grocery giant upped its expectations for the entire year. Investors felt the call to go shopping, sending the stock up after the results. Why should I care? Zooming in: Seeing double. Ecommerce rival Amazon is a triple threat, aiming to deliver quality at manageable prices, and fast. That playbook has been working well for Walmart, too. After adding more products to its website and trimming down delivery times, its ecommerce businesses made 22% more quarterly revenue than the same time last year. Walmart has even built up a high-margin advertising business, similar to Amazon’s moneymaker, which picked up 24% last quarter from a year ago. The bigger picture: The canaries in the coal mine are singing different songs. Huge companies like Walmart are known as “bellwethers” for the US economy: their success or failure tends to indicate the general spending patterns of millions of Americans. Thing is, Walmart’s good news was canceled out by another bellwether. Deere & Co slashed its annual profit forecast for the second time this year on Wednesday. The world’s biggest farm equipment manufacturer blamed dwindling demand for tractors, a knock-on effect of falling crop prices. That suggests parts of the US economy are slowing down, which could encourage the Federal Reserve to cut rates to prop them up. You might also like: [What Walmart and others can learn from Amazon.]( Copy to share story: [( 🙋 [Ask a question](mailto:questions@finimize.com?body=Ask us a question: Where are you writing from? Let us know and we'll mention it when we reply.&noapp=true&subject=To The Window, To The Walmart&utm_campaign=daily-global-17-05-2024&utm_source=email) Analyst Take This Little-Known Theory Will Turn Your Inflation World Upside-Down [This Little-Known Theory Will Turn Your Inflation World Upside-Down]( [Photo of Stéphane Renevier, CFA] Stéphane Renevier, CFA, Analyst Central banks and interest rates can influence [inflation]( in the short term, sure. But according to a little-known theory, government debt – and whether the public expects it to be repaid – determines its path over the long haul. And with governments spending more than they earn, and the cost of paying interest on the debt it builds going up and up, you may want to keep a close eye on that. That’s today’s insight: [how this little-known inflation theory actually works, and what it says will happen next](. [Read or listen to the Insight here]( SPONSORED BY STREETBEAT Make college more affordable with every investment you make College is only getting more expensive. In fact, 77% of US families say it’s too pricey for them. No wonder: the average cost of undergraduate tuition and fees at private nonprofit colleges was over $41,000 for the last academic year. So Streetbeat - which offers a range of investment tools in [stocks, crypto, and AI-powered investing]( – has launched its Tuition Rewards Program, where subscribers earn points that [take dollars off the cost of tuition](. Now with Streetbeat, you can earn [up to 25% off at over 450 prestigious US private colleges and universities]( for your kids, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and godchildren – the points never expire. The savings don’t stop there: [sign up with code “Finimize”](, and you’ll get a [seven-day free trial]( of unlimited access to AI-powered investment tools and strategies, as well as [bonuses up to $5,000](. [Find Out More About The Program]( Streetbeat, LLC ("Streetbeat") is an SEC-registered investment adviser. All investing involves risk, including the possible loss of money you invest, and past performance does not guarantee future performance. Any historical returns, expected returns or probability projections are hypothetical and may not reflect actual future performance. See Terms and Conditions at [Streetbeat.com](. When you support our sponsors, you support us. Thanks for that. If you want your brand featured here, [get in touch.]( Not A-Yen [Not A-Yen] What’s going on here? Data out on Thursday showed that Japan’s economy shrank by more than expected last quarter, as the yen slipped against the US dollar once again. What does this mean? Japan’s economy was 2% smaller last quarter than at the same time a year ago – a worse outcome than the 1.5% decline economists had predicted. That has a lot to do with the fact that consumer spending – which makes up more than half of Japan’s economy – has fallen into its longest downturn since 2009, with folk shelling out a lot less than expected last quarter. Why should I care? For markets: Retail isn’t therapeutic right now. The yen has weakened against the dollar, hitting a 34-year low earlier this year. That means the country’s shoppers get less value for their money in international markets, so buying the same amount of food and energy from abroad hurts their bank balances a little more. On top of that, the Bank of Japan pulled interest rates out of the negatives in March, increasing them for the first time since 2007 and making it more expensive to borrow money. And at the same time, inflation-adjusted Japanese wages have been falling for two years straight. No wonder the country’s slimming shopping lists. The bigger picture: A weak yen isn’t all bad. Analysts estimate that Japan’s finance ministry has spent around $59 billion to prop up the currency. And after this week’s US inflation data made a stateside rate cut look more likely, the yen picked up a little against the dollar. (Lower interest rates tend to mean a lower currency, remember.) Mind you, not everyone will want to see the end of the lull. Japan’s tourism industry should benefit from overseas vacationers jumping at the chance to get more bang for their buck with every bullet train trip, anime café meal, and cup of matcha. Plus, the country’s exporters might be more popular since their wares will look cheaper to buyers abroad. You might also like: [Why BlackRock is big on Japan.]( Copy to share story: [( 🙋 [Ask a question](mailto:questions@finimize.com?body=Ask us a question: Where are you writing from? Let us know and we'll mention it when we reply.&noapp=true&subject=Not A-Yen&utm_campaign=daily-global-17-05-2024&utm_source=email) 💬 Quote of the day "You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance." – Franklin P. Jones (American columnist) [Tweet this]( SPONSORED BY STRATIPHY The Stratosphere is calling Hedge funds hoard their secrets, financial advisors take fees, and DIY strategies are built for coders. [Stratiphy breaks the mold](, packaging up AI-powered systematic investing tools – the type that some of the best-performing hedge funds use – into a tidy, clean app. All you need to do is set your goals and parameters, and you’ll receive frequent signals that enable you to follow your own strategy with an [optimized risk-adjusted portfolio](. The UK’s newest FCA-authorized retail investment manager, [Stratiphy]( already boasts hundreds of test users and letters of intent from eager business customers worth around $10 billion. And not only can you “[join the Stratosphere](", but you can invest in it: on a mission to empower millions to become their own wealth manager, [Stratiphy is crowdfunding now](. [Find Out More About Stratiphy]( When you support our sponsors, you support us. Thanks for that. If you want your brand featured here, [get in touch.]( 💸 Back and better Investors who’ve been fretting about [company profit]( can finally breathe a sigh of relief. The US’s biggest companies are collectively on track to deliver their most [expectation-smashing quarterly earnings]( in two years. Of the 459 companies in the S&P 500 that have already reported their results, 59% have surpassed sales forecasts and 78% have beaten earnings expectations, according to Bloomberg. [Here's what that means for you](. [Read The Quicktake]( 🎯 On Our Radar 1. Motherhood is the hardest job in the world. Yet, [women are still penalized]( in the workplace for having kids. 2. ESG investing isn’t just a feel-good theory. Here’s how you could [put principles into practice](.* 3. The hunt is on. There isn’t long left to [find the rarest bitcoins](. 4. Meet the hospitality industry's disruptor. [This newly public company]( is reinventing travel for nomads.* 5. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. The City of Angels is [losing its creative spark](. When you support our sponsors, you support us. Thanks for that. 🌍 Finimize Live 🤩 Coming up soon... All events in UK time. 🏔️ [Gaining An Edge Beyond ETFs](: 8pm, June 19th 🤑 [How AI Can Help You Invest Like The Wealthy](: 5pm, June 25th 🚀 [2024 Modern Investor Summit](: 2pm, December 3rd ❤️ Share with a friend Thanks for reading {NAME}. If you liked today's brief, we'd love for you to share it with a friend. You stay classy, {NAME} 😉 We’d love to hear your thoughts. [Give feedback]( Want to advertise with us too? 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