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Good morning investors! Yesterday was a fifth-straight daily loss for the S&P Index and its longest losing streak since October.

Today we cover:

• The housing market.

• Earnings, including Netflix and Alaska Airlines.

• Using AI to make money.

📊 Economy and News 

Home, sales, prices, and mortgage rates

In March, sales of pre-owned homes declined by 4.3% compared to February, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.19 million units.

Across regions, sales decreased in all areas except the North, which saw a 4.2% increase from the previous month. The West experienced the most significant decline, with sales dropping by 8.2%. Notably, home prices are highest in the West.

Why? Rising mortgage rates are likely the cause of the slowdown. However, inventory did improve slightly, rising 4.7% month-to-month to 1.11 million homes for sale at the end of March.

Although there is currently more supply on the market compared to a year ago, it remains historically low. This scarcity has accelerated the pace of home sales due to heightened competition. Those anticipating a significant drop in interest rates may need to wait longer than expected.

Rates: The average rate for the widely-used 30-year fixed mortgage is currently at approximately 7.5%, marking its highest point since mid-November last year. However, despite this increase, mortgage applications for home purchases saw a 5% uptick last week compared to the week prior.

Prices: The median price of an existing home sold in March was $393,500, up 4.8% from the year before.

Global hits:

• World’s largest sovereign wealth fund posts $110 billion in first-quarter profit as tech stocks surge.

• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ties to U.S. tech company CEOs have helped to boost the country’s and his own profile ahead of national elections that start Friday.

• Google terminated 28 employees after a series of protests against labor conditions and the company’s contract to provide the Israeli government and military with cloud computing and artificial intelligence services.

📈 Stocks

S&P 500 5,011.12 (-0.22%)
DJIA 37,775.38 (+0.058%)
NASDAQ 17,394.31 (-0.57%)
BRENT CRUDE 87.11 (-0.88%)
* Prices as of Apr 19th, 12:20 AM UTC

Netflix reports earnings

Netflix beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates.

Here are the results:

• Earnings per share: $5.28 vs. $4.52 expected by LSEG

• Revenue: $9.37 billion vs. $9.28 billion expected by LSEG

Netflix reported first-quarter net income of $2.33 billion, or $5.28 per share, versus $1.30 billion, or $2.88 per share, in the prior-year period.

The company posted revenue of $9.37 billion for the quarter, up from $8.16 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Also, total memberships rose 16% in the quarter, reaching 269.6 million, well above the 264.2 million Wall Street had expected.

Remember: Netflix will no longer provide quarterly membership numbers or average revenue per user starting next year.

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💵 Personal Finance

Use AI to make money – Part I

There are many ways to ride the AI train. You can invest in AI stocks. But, that’s not your only choice. (Also, the popular AI stocks may be overvalued after run ups this year.)

However, it’s also possible to use AI tools to earn money.

AI can be used to multiply your own capabilities, i.e.: save you time, provide you with an “extra set of hands” to get more accomplished, and even help you generate passive income.

In fact, about 45% of Americans would like to use AI to earn a passive income and an additional 8% are already doing so.

Here’s how you can do it:

Use AI to trade stocks

Hedge funds and other trading operations utilize artificial intelligence at a very high level to gain an advantage in fast-moving markets. But artificial intelligence is also widely used in finance and investing because of its ability to process and analyze information from very large data sets. You can now do it too as AI can be used to perform these tasks:

• Artificial intelligence allows investors to efficiently sort through available data and identify stocks with good potential. Robo-advisors like Wealthfront and Betterment automate the traditional process of working with an advisor to outline investing goals, time horizons, and risk tolerances in order to create a portfolio that meets the needs of the investor.

• You can use AI order entry tools to monitor trade entry and exit. This can greatly reduce the emotional aspect of trading. Also, this option isn't new. It has been there for a while. You can use a computer to decide when to buy or sell a stock, which removes the need to keep a constant eye on your portfolio.

There are a number of AI trading tools to choose from, including names like Trade Ideas, TrendSpider, and BlackBoxStocks. Not all might be right for you though.

💰 Be a Better Investor

👩🏽‍⚖️ Legal Stuff
Nothing in this newsletter is financial advice. Always do your own research and think for yourself.

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