AI Progress From Microsoft – Phi-4 Outperforms Human-like reasoner AI Model GPT-4o, Bitcoin Rumor

To gain an edge, this is what you need to know today.

Small Language Model

An enlarged chart of Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Note the following:

France

Moody's has cut France's credit rating.  French stocks and bonds are falling.

China

Markets all across the globe are being negatively impacted by weak retail sales data in China.

Retail sales in China came at 3.0% year-over-year vs 4.8% consensus.

Concern is building that the Chinese consumer is not spending in spite of stimulus measures by the government.

In The Arora Report analysis, investors should note the sharp contrast between U.S. consumers and Chinese consumers at this time.  U.S. consumers are on a buying binge.  Chinese consumers are holding back and are focused on savings.

Magnificent Seven Money Flows

In the early trade, money flows are positive in Amazon.com, Inc., Alphabet Inc Class C , Meta Platforms Inc , NVIDIA Corp , and Tesla Inc.

In the early trade, money flows are neutral in Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT).

In the early trade, money flows are positive in SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 (NASDAQ:QQQ).

Momo Crowd And Smart Money In Stocks

Bitcoin

Over the weekend, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) ran over $106,000 on a rumor that Trump will announce the bitcoin reserve on day 1.

Protection Band And What To Do Now

It is important for investors to look ahead and not in the rearview mirror.  The proprietary protection band from The Arora Report is very popular.  The protection band puts all of the data, all of the indicators, all of the news, all of the crosscurrents, all of the models, and all of the analysis in an analytical framework that is easily actionable by investors.

You can determine your protection bands by adding cash to hedges.  The high band of the protection is appropriate for those who are older or conservative. The low band of the protection is appropriate for those who are younger or aggressive.  If you do not hedge, the total cash level should be more than stated above but significantly less than cash plus hedges.

A protection band of 0% would be very bullish and would indicate full investment with 0% in cash.  A protection band of 100% would be very bearish and would indicate a need for aggressive protection with cash and hedges or aggressive short selling.

It is worth reminding that you cannot take advantage of new upcoming opportunities if you are not holding enough cash.  When adjusting hedge levels, consider adjusting partial stop quantities for stock positions (non ETF); consider using wider stops on remaining quantities and also allowing more room for high beta stocks.  High beta stocks are the ones that move more than the market.

Traditional 60/40 Portfolio

Probability based risk reward adjusted for inflation does not favor long duration strategic bond allocation at this time.

Those who want to stick to traditional 60% allocation to stocks and 40% to bonds may consider focusing on only high quality bonds and bonds of five year duration or less.  Those willing to bring sophistication to their investing may consider using bond ETFs as tactical positions and not strategic positions at this time.

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