Good morning. US stock futures slipped in Friday morning trading as inflation concerns continue to rattle investors.

"The best way to manage volatility is to have a strategy that you can stick with. If you believed in it, it wouldn't matter how poorly it did for a while"

Cliff Asness

Top News

Fed exec: Don't rule out recession risk

• Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said that the Federal Reserve's decision to increase interest rates could lead to a recession, despite it not being part of the current baseline forecast nor the desired outcome of the central bank.

• "We may have a mild recession - I can't rule that out" Mester said as she shared remarks on the US economy.

EU clamps down on tech giants

• Alphabet's Google, Meta Platforms and Twitter were informed of stricter online content regulations by the EU due to their monthly user numbers surpassing the EU threshold.

• The new rules, known as the Digital Services Act, labels companies with more than 45 million users as very large online platforms and subject to obligations such as risk management and external and independent auditing.

Retail investors pile into stocks

• As US equity markets have surged at the beginning of 2023, individual investors have been purchasing stocks at a record-breaking pace.

• Over the past month, retail investors funneled an average of $1.51 billion each day into US stocks, the highest amount ever recorded, according to data from research firm VandaTrack.

In Other News

SEC goes after crypto platform

• Terraform Labs and its founder/CEO Do Kwon have been accused by the US Securities and Exchange Commission of defrauding investors.

• "We allege that Terraform and Do Kwon failed to provide the public with full, fair and truthful disclosure as required for a host of crypto asset securities, many in unregistered transactions" SEC Chair Gary Gensler said.

Wanna buy a soccer club?

• Qatari investors are preparing an initial bid of $6 billion for Manchester United, in anticipation of a competitive bidding process for the English football powerhouse.

• Manchester United is one of the biggest names in world sports and has been the subject of increasing takeover speculation since it was reported that the Glazer family, its current owners, were interested in selling their stake.

Another recall...

• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) declared that Tesla will be recalling 362, 758 vehicles due to safety issues with its Full-Self Driving beta software.

• NHSTA said the recall would affect certain 2016-2023 Model S, Model X, 2017-2023 Model 3, and 2020-2023 Model Y vehicles equipped with Full-Self Driving Beta software or pending installation.

Key Economic Events

• Friday - Fed's Barkin Discusses The US Labor Market

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