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Good morning investors! This may not be a very good quarter now that both BTC and major indexes are down.

Today we cover:

• Job data is here.

• Tesla in trouble.

• Investing in gold.

Follow us on Twitter, YouTube, and Discord for more.

📊 Economy and News 

It’s job data time

We’ll be keeping an eye on the March employment report, scheduled for release on Friday. Investors will closely monitor the data to gauge whether the labor market is maintaining its strength, showing resilience despite persisting negative economic sentiment on Main Street, or if there are signs of a sustained slowdown.

It could be another case of “bad-news-is-good-news” on Wall Street if higher unemployment prompts the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.

We know that demand for workers picked up slightly in February in a sign that the job market remains on strong footing, though layoffs also ticked up that month.

According to the Labor Department, there were 8.8 million seasonally adjusted job openings in February, slightly up from the downwardly revised 8.74 million in the previous month.

This figure was roughly in line with economists' predictions. While the number of available jobs remains significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, it has decreased from the record high of 12.2 million in March 2022.

Global hits:

• China and Hong Kong stocks lost nearly $5 trillion in 3 years — more than India’s market cap.

• Global oil price hits seven-month high as Middle East tensions rise.

• Private equity firm Silver Lake to take entertainment company Endeavor private at $27.50 a share.

Reminder: Retirement crisis looms as Americans struggle to save.

📈 Stocks

S&P 500 5,205.81 (-0.72%)
DJIA 39,170.24 (-1.01%)
NASDAQ 18,121.78 (-0.94%)
BRENT CRUDE 89.03 (+0.34%)
* Prices as of Apr 3rd, 12:20 AM UTC

Low deliveries send Tesla down

Tesla fell -5% yesterday after the company reported its first annual decline in sales since the onset of the pandemic. High competition from both Chinese and Western automakers has impacted sales.

The company has reduced prices several times in the last few months to fight increased competition, which is now eating into profits.

The numbers: Despite producing 433,000 vehicles, the company only delivered 387,000 during the period. This figure represents a decrease from the 484,507 cars delivered in the last quarter of 2023 and is also lower than the 422,875 vehicle sales recorded in the first quarter of the previous year.

Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, who has been optimistic about Tesla's stock, stated that analysts had anticipated sales ranging from 440,000 to 414,000 vehicles. Despite his long-term bullish outlook, Ives described the quarter as "a train wreck into a brick wall quarter."

He described Chinese demand as “very soft coming out of the gates for 2024,” and called it one of Tesla’s biggest problems

The overall scenario: Although the demand for electric vehicles (EVs). continues to increase significantly, with US EV sales climbing 40% last year to surpass 1 million vehicles for the first time, the rate of growth has fallen short of expectations.

As a result, some traditional automakers, including General Motors and Ford, have scaled back their EV production targets. In fact, even Apple has stopped work on EV projects.

Some say that US automakers might take more hits due to cheaper Chinese alternatives, which may soon enter more markets.

Not only Tesla: Tesla isn’t the only company to have reported low numbers. General Motors reported a 1.5% decline in first-quarter U.S. vehicle sales compared to a year ago, coming lower than expected.

GM said the decline to 594,233 vehicles sold during the first three months of the year was largely due to a 22.9% year-over-year decline in sales to fleet customers.

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🔐 Crypto

Bitcoin $66,237 (-4.43%)
Ethereum $3,317 (-3.33%)
Total market cap $2.48T (-4.66%)
* Prices as of Mar 3rd, 12:20 AM UTC

A look at crypto

Here’s what’s happening in the world of crypto:

• Bitcoin 5% flash crash leads to $165M in leveraged crypto liquidations.

• A wallet tagged as belonging to the U.S. government moved 30,175 BTCs to what's reported to be a Coinbase wallet late Tuesday morning.

• Bitcoin dropped the most in almost two weeks (-8%), weighed down by cooling demand for dedicated US exchange-traded funds and ebbing bets on looser Federal Reserve monetary policy, now sitting at around $65,000.

• Ethereum’s dip under $3.4k could signal steeper drop.

💵 Personal Finance

How to invest in precious metals Part II

Let’s continue yesterday’s topic and look at a few more ways to invest in precious metals, particularly gold:

Gold futures

This option comes with leverage, which gives you the option to make money quickly. an agreement to buy or sell a certain amount of gold at a later date. The contract itself is what is traded on an exchange.

You will perks such as no management fees and higher liquidity than physical gold but you may have to pay a commission.

Risks: You can lose all or a great part of your investment due to how risky this option is.

Gold ETFs

Those who do not want the risk of gold futures and the trouble of physical gold can buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the commodity.

Some popular options include abrdn Physical Gold Shares ETF, SPDR Gold Shares, and iShares Gold Trust. This option offers very high liquidity as it works like stock with the option to sell any day.

In addition, you can invest in mining companies. This gives you more ways to earn money, i.e.: when gold prices rise, the stock typically goes up. Plus, you might make more money if the miner raises production over time.

💰 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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