UPDATE

🌤️ Happy Wednesday

Good afternoon. We hope your week got off to a great start and you are enjoying hump day. At this moment, you are exactly halfway through the week! 🐪

Did you know today is National Urban Beekeeping Day? Bees play a vital role in pollinating flowers and crops, which helps support our diet. How can you cheer on bees today? Look into planting more bee-friendly flowers in your backyard or window-sill garden. Those bees will be sure to thank you!

Read time: 3 minutes

WEEK IN REVIEW

📈 Market Performance

S&P 500 (5-day), via Google Finance

Last week was a continuation of increasing S&P valuation. The week began with the index sitting just shy of the 4,500-point mark. By mid-Thursday, the S&P started climbing consistently, which continued throughout the week. This rally totaled a 1.75% increase by the time of reporting.

Analysts are wary of predicting that this growth will continue for the rest of 2023. Despite inflation seeming to subside slightly (discussed further below), Wall Street still seems to keep inflation and interest rates among its top concerns.

What’s more, as the market heads into earnings season, many companies could see a drop in their earnings which could drop their share prices—and by extension—decrease S&P value. Some estimates predict a “6.5% year-over-year drop in earnings” for S&P 500 companies. (Source: Forbes Advisor)

🧊 Inflation Cooling?

Shortly after releasing last week’s issue, Midsummer Earnings, the FED came out with its June Inflation report. To break this down, let’s define a key term: Consumer Price Index. CPI is the “average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services” (Source: BLS).

The CPI is tracked closely by the Federal Reserve every month. In May, for example, the CPI rose 4%, meaning a market basket was 4% more expensive. Last week, however, the FED reported that the CPI rose 3%, 1% down from the previous month. While prices are still increasing, which generally hurts Americans, they are going up at a slower rate. This change could signal that the interest rate hikes used to combat inflation are working. (Source: NY Times)

📦 Amazon’s New Wheels

Amazon Rivian Van by Jay8g, via Wikimedia Commons

On the off-chance you diligently watch your Amazon orders as they arrive straight to your doorstep, you might have noticed that some delivery trucks look different. Perhaps you think they look more sleek or futuristic, and you aren’t wrong. This change is thanks to a partnership with EV company Rivian Automotive (RIVN).

Amazon started rolling out these customer electric delivery vans last summer but now has a fleet of around 5,000 on the road. The new vans aren’t just electric: they boost dozens of new features that increase visibility, safety, and Amazon system integrations. You can read more about the vans here: About Amazon.

Unfortunately for Rivian, the increased fleet size for Amazon hasn’t translated to a stock increase. The company’s share price is down around 22% from last year when the program roughly began. If, however, the Amazon and Rivian partnership can achieve the goal of more than 100,000 electric delivery vans, RIVN stock may see a long-term payoff.

ONE MORE THING

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