To The Moon

Here's a full recap:

1. U.S. retail sales grew 0.2% in February 2025, recovering from a 1.2% drop in January but missing the 0.6% forecast. Declines hit seven categories, like food services (-1.5%) and gasoline (-1%), while nonstore retailers (2.4%) and health stores (1.7%) saw gains. Core sales, key for GDP, jumped 1%, beating expectations.

2. $GOOGL Google is negotiating to acquire cloud security startup Wiz for about $30 billion, according to WSJ. Previous talks collapsed last summer at $23 billion due to regulatory issues. If completed, it’d be a major 2025 tech deal, though scrutiny may persist. Wiz collaborates with $AMZN Amazon, $MSFT Microsoft, and Google.

3. $HOOD Robinhood has officially launched prediction markets. CEO Vlad Tenev stated, “Prediction markets are truth machines. We’re starting with politics, economics and sports, and we will continue to broaden the coverage over time. As with any market, they will become better the more liquid they are, and the more people participate.” The company aims to expand into the broader prediction market industry, beginning with sports. This move adds to their recent expansions into credit cards, futures, index options, and more over the past year. Mizhuo reiterated their $80 PT with an outperform today.

4. Deutsche Bank’s Binky Chadha predicts the market downturn will continue as tariff uncertainty erodes consumer and corporate confidence. He sees the $SPX S&P 500 dropping to 5,250, a 6.9% decline from Friday’s close, with positioning still unresolved. Chadha maintains his 7,000 year-end target, anticipating a rebound in 2025 once trade policy clarity emerges.

5. $PLTR Palantir announced multiple new commercial customers after hosting their 6th AIPCon last week including Archer, Databricks, Qualcomm, R1, Saildrone, Walgreens, and more. Today, the company put out a recommendation to the White House on building an AI Action plan. The company warns that while the U.S. leads in AI innovation, it faces growing threats from adversaries like China, urging a bold response to maintain dominance, as outlined in its response to the Trump Administration’s AI Executive Order. Palantir’s recommendations to the White House focused on five areas: modernizing federal AI acquisition, investing in data infrastructure, promoting AI adoption, leveraging existing AI opportunities in government, and sustaining U.S. global AI leadership.

6. $AMZN Amazon is introducing a premium tier to its next-generation Alexa devices, enhanced by Alexa+ AI and edge-processing chips for quicker responses and improved privacy. Panos Panay, the devices chief, insists, “I want perfection in every single product.” The company may expand into AR glasses and wearables soon.