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Good evening, Bull Sheeters. This is Fortune finance reporter Rey Mashayekhi, filling in for Bernhard on this Easter Monday with a special PM edition of the newsletter.
While most major exchanges in Europe and Asia were closed Monday for holidays, the U.S. markets (which were closed Friday) made up for lost time and went gangbusters from the opening bell—surging on the back of last week’s robust jobs report and bullish new services sector data.
Markets update
- Monday saw new record closing highs for the Dow, which climbed 374 points (1.1%), and the S&P 500, which rose 1.4%. The Nasdaq picked up 1.7%. Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report, which saw the U.S. economy gain 916,000 jobs last month, and surging services sector activity helped fuel the optimism.
- GameStop is looking to capitalize on its Reddit-fueled stock rally by issuing up to 3.5 million new shares—though that news sent the video game retailer’s stock reeling.
- Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen made her case for a global minimum corporate tax rate in a speech Monday, while President Biden defended his proposal to raise U.S. corporate taxes to pay for his massive infrastructure plan.
- Hertz has selected a private equity-backed proposal that would see the bankrupt car rental company exit Chapter 11.
- Popular audio-chatting app Clubhouse has allowed retail investors to put their heads together via “digital trading floors.”
Europe
- The European bourses had Easter Monday off.
- Credit Suisse is reportedly considering changes at the top as the Swiss financial giant reels from losses tied to the Archegos and Greensill fiascos.
- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says “Step 2” of the U.K.’s economic reopening is set to proceed as planned next week—though it’s too early to say whether Britons will be able to travel abroad this summer.
- Goldman Sachs is reportedly set to welcome back hundreds of employees at its London office this week.
Asia
- In Tokyo, the Nikkei gained 0.8% as investors welcomed the positive economic data out of the U.S., while South Korea’s KOSPI ticked up 0.3%. Markets in Hong Kong and mainland China were closed for the Qingming Festival.
- A flurry of companies have canceled IPOs on Shanghai’s STAR Market—which launched as China’s answer to the Nasdaq—amid heightened regulatory scrutiny after tech giant Ant Group’s botched listing.
- Hong Kong is curbing its long-held corporate transparency rules, a move that the city’s government says is aimed at protecting privacy but which opponents say will enable corruption.
- China’s new digital yuan promises to be a gamechanger in Beijing’s bid to take on the dollar—one that will give the Chinese government unprecedented new tools to monitor its economy.
Elsewhere
- Gold dipped slightly as equities rallied.
- The dollar also slipped.
- Bitcoin climbed above $59,000 as its market capitalization held above $1 trillion.
- Crude oil slid more than 4% as OPEC+ agreed to ramp up production, with Brent settling above $62/barrel.
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That’s all for now; please be sure to check out today’s reads below, and have a pleasant evening. You’ll be back in Bernhard’s hands tomorrow.
Rey Mashayekhi
@ReyM12
Rey.Mashayekhi@Fortune.com
As always, you can write to bullsheet@fortune.com or reply to this email with suggestions and feedback.
Today's reads
The Oracle speaks. Two reads on the Fortune site today spotlight the investment philosophy of the “Oracle of Omaha” himself, Warren Buffett. First, Shawn Tully takes a look at the so-called “Buffett Indicator,” and how the S&P 500’s ongoing rally could signal an impending pullback. Also, Rey Mashayekhi spoke with Buffett about the enduring appeal of Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor—the book that introduced the world to “value investing,” and which Buffett says changed his life.
$10 billion down the drain. The New York Times examined the spectacular downfall of Bill Hwang’s Archegos Capital Management, spotlighting how the veteran investor’s private firm imploded on the back of a bad bet on ViacomCBS.
The thrill is gone. The heady days of stimulus-flushed retail investors fueling the market for “meme stocks” are waning, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cites data indicating a sharp drop in trading activity among non-professional investors.
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Market candy
$1,300
That is the “long-term bull case” for Tesla’s share price, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives. It’s been a rocky 2021 for the Elon Musk-led carmaker, which has seen its stock pull back after a historic 2020 rally—but Ives thinks “skyrocket[ing]” demand for electric vehicles justifies a $1,000 price target in the next 12 months, and a $1,300 target beyond.
