Elon Musk Gets Sound Advice, Trump Hits Campaign Trail, ChatGPT Faces China Threat And More: 5 Key Stories You May Have Missed From The Weekend

The phrase “lull before the storm” could best characterize the weekend as market participants prepped for a rough week in the wake of the Fed meeting and the impending tech earnings.

Here's a recap of a few major headlines that hit the wire over the weekend:

1. Apple MR Headset A Hit Or Flop? Apple writer and Bloomberg columnist Mark Gurman said in his weekly “Power On” newsletter that the company should create better experiences with its impending mixed reality headset than what’s available on its current product lineups. If $1,000 is shaved off the rumored pricing of $3,000 and the battery life is improved, the headset could avoid becoming a high-profile flop, Gurman suggested.

2. Musk Asked To Take Leaf Out Of Buffett’s Book: Fund manager Gary Black renewed his calls for buying back Tesla Inc. TSLA stock. To impress upon the merits of a buyback, Black shared a screenshot of an article that discussed the advice billionaire investor Warren Buffett gave to former Apple CEO Steve Jobs. The Oracle of Omaha drew parrels between the merits of buying back stock which is trading at a depressed price and buying a dollar bill with 80 cents.

3. Trump At His Animated Best In 2 Low-Key Campaign Meetings: Former President Donald Trump kickstarted his 2024 presidential campaign by speaking at the South Carolina State House and addressing a GOP party leaders meeting in New Hampshire. He took potshots at President Joe Biden for his inept handling of foreign policy.

4. Baidu Ups The Ante In Chatbot Race: Chinese search engine Baidu Inc. BIDU is working on an AI-powered chatbot similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Bloomberg reported. Baidu reportedly plans to integrate it into its primary search services in March. The chatbot will allow users to get similar conversation-like results akin to ChatGPT, the report added.

5. Israel Targets Iran With Covert Drone Strike: Israel executed a drone strike in the Iranian city of Isfahan on Sunday, targeting an advanced weapons system factory and damaging the facility, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. The attack comes in the wake of Israel and the U.S. joining hands to contain Iran’s ballistic missile program.

What Else: A slew of big tech companies is lined up to release their quarterly earnings this week. The market has discounted weak earnings and, therefore, the forward commentaries could dictate sentiment toward these stocks.

Market strategist Ed Yardeni is not optimistic about the sustenance of the current market rally, citing sentiment indicators that do not point to a big breakout from the current levels. He, however, said October 2022 marked the bear market bottom and the S&P 500 Index will likely finish higher for the year.