Good morning. US stock futures rose in Tuesday morning trading as investors weighed a potential slowdown or pause in Federal Reserve interest rate hikes and looked ahead to a busy week of earnings.

"Beware of the investment activity that produces applause. The great moves are usually greeted by yawns"

Warren Buffett

Top News

US legislature battles over oil

• The White House is arguing that Republican-supported bills critical of the administration's energy policy will end up raising fuel costs for Americans.

• House Republicans have tabled a bill to be voted on later this week that would tie releases of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to increased drilling on federal lands and offshore.

Lagarde: ECB to stay the course on inflation fight

• European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said the ECB is focused on returning inflation to its target of 2%, pointing to more significant interest rate increases in coming meetings.

• "It is vital that inflation rates above 2% do not become entrenched in the economy" Lagarde said while delivering a speech in Germany.

Microsoft doubles down on AI investment

• Microsoft is investing $10 billion in OpenAI, the company whose artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT has quickly amassed user buzz since its release in November 2022.

• The new support, which builds on Microsoft's 2019 $1 billion investment, is intended to give Microsoft access to some of the most popular and advanced artificial intelligence systems.

"I Can’t Wait to File My Taxes”...Said No One Ever

Let’s face it, nobody enjoys doing their taxes. It’s time-consuming, hard, and can get $$$!

That’s why we’re excited to tell you about FreeTaxUSA.

FreeTaxUSA makes filing your taxes quicker, easier and free-er.

It’s free to file federal returns, it’s free to import your prior tax year filing and pick back up where you left off, and if you’re self-employed, it’s free to file your federal self-employment returns!

Whew... that's a lot of free stuff.

And the best part is, State filing only costs $14.99 and that includes customer service support, tax extensions and covers all major tax situations!

The taxman will soon be knocking again, so click here to sign up with FreeTaxUSA and experience quicker, easier, and free-er taxes.

*Thanks to our sponsors for keeping this newsletter free

In Other News

Meet the new bad guys: egg smugglers

• As egg prices spiked 60% year over year in 2022, so have the attempts by smugglers to bring them across the US-Mexican border.

• In the El Paso border area, US Customs and Border Protection has reported a 108% surge in the number of egg and poultry seizures between Oct 1 to Dec 31 of last year.

Even taxes are bigger in Texas!

• According to the Texas Oil and Gas Association, the Texas oil and natural gas industry paid a total of $24.7 billion in taxes and royalties in 2022, the highest oil and gas taxes in the state's history.

• President of the Texas Oil and Gas Association Todd Staples said the tax revenues go towards funding a range of state public interests in the state such as education.

Apple revs VR offering

• Apple is reported to be in talk with half a dozen media partners including Walt Disney to develop virtual reality content for its mixed reality headset.

• The headset, which has been created in partnership with Sony, will feature two high resolution displays for the VR experience and external cameras for augmented reality "pass-through mode" according to a report from Bloomberg.

Key Economic Events

• Tuesday - No Major Economic Events

• Wednesday - No Major Economic Events

• Thursday - US GDP Annualized Q-o-Q

• Friday - U. Of. Mich. Sentiment

Notable Briefs

• Follow these 9 tips to get ready for tax season!

• Here's why most people fail at budgeting

• Everything you need to know about trust funds!

• We're hiring! Apply here to join our team!

• Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here.

• Want to advertise in Daily Market Briefs? Go here.