🗞️ Ai Robots & Hurricane Milton

GREETINGS!

🔔 In today’s email:

🤖 Musk Unveils Cybercab; Tesla’s RoboTaxi Future
💧 UPDATE: Hurricane Milton aftermath

🚨 Key Story:

🌀 Milton Lands in Florida, Spawns Tornadoes and Rain

-Mike

FINANCE

A lot of uncertainty about the economy is in the air, and as consumers and investors we are here to provide quick insights on top news about the market.

This week highlighted some big key moments such as Consumer Price Index (CPI), Tech stocks, and more.

Markets: The S&P 500 and the Dow have reached new all-time highs once again mid-week. Whether this upward trend continues for a third day could depend on the Fed’s announcement on consumer price index inflation report for September, which may impact future decisions on Fed rate cuts.  As of Friday morning, Wall Street markets ticks slightly up after CPI expectation and jobless claims from the Feds.

Economy: Yesterday, the Fed released the latest inflation data (CPI) along with their expectations. This data tells us about the change in inflation as well as the way the economy moves.  September's inflation was hotter than expected, increasing by 0.2% month-over-month, while the year-over-year rate continues to trend toward the Fed's 2% target. In contrast, core CPI—which excludes food and energy—rose to 3.3%, up from 3.2% in August. Fed governor Austan Goolsbee responded to the situation, stating that, "The overall trend over the past 12 to 18 months indicates that inflation has significantly decreased, and the job market has cooled to a level we consider close to full employment."

Technology Stocks:

Google: On Tuesday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it is considering recommending the breakup of Alphabet's Google, following a federal court's determination that the company has maintained an illegal monopoly to uphold its status as the leading search engine. What does this mean? DOJ in the initial case—deems a breakup necessary, Google may have to divest from its other businesses, such as Google Chrome and Android. However, many legal experts are skeptical about the likelihood of a breakup, viewing it as a drastic measure. Looking ahead, Mehta is expected to issue his ruling by August 2025, though Google will likely appeal, leading to a prolonged legal battle.

NVIDIA: Morgan Stanley analysts are increasingly optimistic about Nvidia Corp. after engaging with the company’s management team, signaling strong and sustainable demand. Their positive outlook is contributing to Nvidia's stock approaching new record highs—and possibly exceeding them.

The analysts pointed out that Nvidia's Blackwell chip lineup is already sold out for the next year, indicating that customers placing orders now won't receive their shipments until late 2025.

Tesla: Last night Elon Musk finally unveiled the rumored Cybercab driverless model and the future of RoboTaxi.  The highly anticipated event showcased 20 Cybercabs and 30 autonomous Model Y cars. Musk announced his expectation to launch fully unsupervised self-driving in California and Texas "next year," with production of the Cybercab set to begin in 2026. He also mentioned that the vehicles would be available for purchase for under $30,000.  Personally, it is never wise to invest solely in expectations, but this news is a breakthrough. Savvy investors are always looking for the next “Amazon” stock that can change the world and this might be worth considering.

Overall: What does this mean for consumers? It's crucial to be prepared for anything. Financial experts recommend having a 6–12-month emergency fund. When it comes to investing, it's vital to focus on long-term outcomes. It can be daunting to read daily economic headlines, and letting the emotions dictate decisions that can hinder progress. As a wise investor once said, “It is better to have time in the market than to time the market.”

QUICK BITE

UPDATE: Hurricane Milton aftermath

Less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene took the lives of at least 230 people and caused an estimated $47.5 billion loss to homeowners, Hurricane Milton landed bringing its own set of damages. Collin Rugg, Co-Owner of Trending Politics, reshared footage of an industrial dumpster that got tossed on the roof of a Florida home in Palm Beach Gardens. These dumpsters weigh about two and six tons according to Rugg. 

It isn’t the winds but the waters that make hurricanes as deadly as they are. Hurricane Helene set a record with a 7.8ft storm surge. Milton was expected to beat that with a 10-15 ft surge. Fortunately, Milton died down before making landfall and consequently didn’t reach projections. Still, as the footage shows, the surges remained powerful. 

Up against 25 foot waves and 75 to 90 mph winds, a man spent the night clinging to an ice chest in the Gulf of Mexico. A Coast Guard helicopter rescued him. Some are titling this the most dramatic rescue of Milton especially since the man had little besides a life jacket to keep him afloat.

KEY STORY

Milton Hits Florida as Category 3, Spawns 38 Tornadoes and Record Rainfall

Before making landfall on Wednesday, 8:30 p.m. south of Sarasota, Florida, Hurricane Milton was expected to be a once-in-a-century hurricane. It was, but not in the way originally predicted. 

With sustained winds of 160 miles per hour, Milton barreled towards Florida as a Category 5 hurricane. Besides 2005’s Hurricane Wilma, Milton gained speed faster than any of Florida’s hurricanes since 1950. 

However, on its path, Milton ran into winds which weakened the storm. Hadn’t it been for this, Milton most likely would have made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane. Instead, it landed as a Category 3 around 120 miles per hour and somewhat fortunately not directly on Tampa. 

That said, the winds Milton encountered before making landfall also birthed the perfect conditions for tornadoes. Floridians reported 38 tornadoes caused by Milton. This number may not compare to the 118 hurricanes from Ivan in 2004 (the most ever from a hurricane); to Bery, which birthed 65 confirmed tornadoes across states, or to the twisters that killed 42 people in Florida in 1998. However, Milton stood out because of how many tornadoes it brought in less than 10 hours. Thus, even for Florida, the state with the most tornadoes per square mile (50 on average per year), Milton caught some off guard. 

Milton also produced one-in-1,000 year rains. On October 8, it was predicted Milton would cause eighteen inches of rain throughout counties across Florida’s Peninsula and the Keys. Milton did just that and a bit more. In one hour, St. Petersburg saw 5.09 inches of rain. In any given year, there’s only 0.1% of that happening. Because of this and the tornadoes, millions were in a flash flood zone and millions more experienced power outages. 

Additionally, Milton was responsible for 16 confirmed deaths. Joe Biden pre-deployed 1,000 Coast Guard members who assisted with hundreds of rescues and caution remains as according to the National Hurricane Center, floods are still expected throughout Florida. As far as if Florida will get a break from hurricanes, Floridians should have time to repair and rebuild. The NOAA says Milton was the 13th named storm of the hurricane season and forecasts 17-25 more for the rest of the year. However, at this time the National Hurricane Center is not monitoring any of these storm systems near the U.S.

HEADLINES
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FROM THE EDITOR

You’re a special kind of person if you reached the end of the road here. :)

-Mike