Preview of US Stock Market | The three major stock index futures rose together, and tonight the "preferred inflation indicator" of the Fed will hit.

1. Before the market opened on Friday, February 28th, the futures of the three major US stock indexes rose together. As of the time of writing, Dow Jones futures rose by 0.30%, S&P 500 index futures rose by 0.39%, and Nasdaq futures rose by 0.32%. 2. As of the time of writing, the Germany DAX index fell by 0.10%, UK FTSE 100 index rose by 0.27%, France CAC40 index fell by 0.24%, and the European Stoxx 50 index fell by 0.39%. 3. As of the time of writing, WTI crude oil fell by 1.45%, at $69.33 per barrel. Brent crude oil fell by 1.26%, at $72.64 per barrel. Market News: US inflation is out of control again! The latest "preferred indicator" announced by the Federal Reserve is not optimistic. The core PCE price index for the fourth quarter of the US increased by 2.7% year-on-year, higher than the initial report of 2.5%. The core PCE for January, which will be announced on Friday, is expected to increase by 2.6% y/y, with a previous value of 2.7%; overall PCE for January is expected to increase by 0.3% month-on-month, higher than the previous 0.2%. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index is the preferred inflation measure of the Federal Reserve. Various indicators show a rise in prices again, from input costs to wage growth and inflation expectations, highlighting the Fed's intention to temporarily keep interest rates unchanged. Top global billionaire families are collectively selling off shares, cashing out $7 billion in a market turmoil. Some of the wealthiest families globally have recently sold off shares in public companies to cash out on recent gains, earning around $7 billion. The Agnelli family in Italy disclosed plans to sell about 3 billion worth of Ferrari NV shares to expand investments beyond the supercar manufacturer. On the same day, a fund manager from the mysterious Lehman family announced the sale of Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. shares worth about $25 billion. The founding family of Lego applied to sell shares of office services company ISS A/S worth 1.5 billion Danish Krone (2.09 billion USD), while the Rupert family in South Africa similarly sold shares to profit about $1.4 billion. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index shows the total net worth of these four families is $75 billion. Federal Reserve officials unanimously call for "patience," Hamack states interest rates have not reached a "substantive constraint" level. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hamack stated that current interest rates have not reached a "substantial constraint" level, and officials should maintain stability for some time, waiting for evidence that inflation is returning to the target level of 2%. Hamack's message is in line with the views of other Fed officials who spoke on Thursday. While they vary in their cautiousness about economic prospects, none indicated any intentions to cut interest rates in the near future. Hamack also emphasized the importance of monitoring inflation expectations and other indicators in evaluating whether the financial environment aligns with the Fed's efforts to curb price increases. Hamack said on Thursday, "I believe there is space for monetary policy to wait patiently when assessing the future path. This likely means keeping the federal funds rate stable for some time." Doomsday prophet Grantham warns of AI bubble: the frenzy will replay the "railroad tragedy." While artificial intelligence technology is propelling humanity towards a more efficient future, Jeremy Grantham, a long-time doomsday prophet on Wall Street and co-founder of Boston's GMO, holds a different view. He believes that like all world-changing technologies, artificial intelligence will eventually collapse and harm investors' interests. In a recent Merryn Talks Money podcast, Grantham compares the current booming AI technology to the 19th-century railroad expansion in England, calling it "one of the most striking failures," despite a surge in funds pouring into the network that boosted GDP and productivity, "every truly important new technology has a bubble." 86-year-old Grantham is known for making pessimistic predictions before stock market crashes, but his recent forecasts have not been accurate. Fed survey: US workers report productivity growth from using AI. A study conducted by the St. Louis Fed, Vanderbilt University, and Harvard University shows that US workers reported saving a significant amount of work time by using generative artificial intelligence. The paper found that "workers' average productivity increased by 33% per hour after using generative AI." Researchers measured the impact of generative AI on work efficiency based on the workers' usage intensity and level of the technology they perceived as the first nationally representative generative AI survey in the United States. Among respondents who used generative AI last week, 21% reported saving 4 hours or more, 20% saved 3 hours, 26% saved 2 hours, and 33% saved 1 hour or less. Trump's tariff "about face" stirs up the currency market, US Dollar Index sees largest single-day gain in three weeks. After US President Trump confirmed imposing a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico next week, foreign exchange traders have been buying the US dollar. This caused the Bloomberg Dollar Index to achieve its largest increase in three weeks on Thursday, while the Mexican peso and Canadian dollar both dropped after Trump's announcement. On February 27th, Trump announced that the plan to impose tariffs on Mexico and Canada would proceed as scheduled, with a 25% tariff on both countries on March 4th. This is Trump's first significant tariff action in his second presidential term, potentially disrupting global supply chains, rekindling inflation, and slowing economic growth. Stock News: Dell Technologies, Inc. ClassDell Technologies, Inc. Class C's Q4 performance is mixed, with strong prospects for AI server demand. Q4 revenue increased by 7.2% year-on-year to $23.9 billion, below market expectations; adjusted earnings per share were $2.68, beating market expectations. The Infrastructure Solutions Group's revenue for the fourth quarter was $11.4 billion, below market expectations of $11.8 billion. Of this, $2.1 billion came from AI servers, lower than Wall Street's expectation of $2.77 billion. Revenue from the PC division increased by 1% to $11.9 billion, with consumer PC sales declining by 12% while commercial PC sales increased by 5% to $10 billion. Looking ahead, Dell Technologies, Inc. Class C expects an EPS of approximately $9.30 for the fiscal year ending January 2026, excluding certain projects, with revenue ranging from $101 billion to $105 billion. Market expectations are an EPS of $9.24 and revenue of $103 billion.Due to the impact of tariffs, HP Inc. (HPQ.US) Q2 profit guidance is below expectations and plans to lay off over a thousand people. HP Inc. has announced first quarter performance. In the first quarter ending on January 31, revenue increased by 2.4% year-on-year to $13.5 billion, with a 10% increase in commercial computer sales, surpassing analyst average estimates of $13.4 billion. By business segment, sales in HP Inc.'s personal systems department increased by 5% year-on-year to $9.2 billion. However, printing business decreased by 2% year-on-year to $4.3 billion. Due to rising component costs and the impact of tariffs on Chinese goods, the company's profit outlook is lower than expected. The company said in a statement on Thursday that earnings per share for the period ending in April, excluding some items, will be between 75 cents and 85 cents. Analysts' average estimate is 85 cents. Chemical giant BASF (BASFY.US) expects a slight increase in profits this year and plans to cut costs by 2.1 billion. BASF, a chemical giant, expects a slight increase in profits this year, as growth in its agriculture and nutrition sectors helps offset weak demand for chemicals and coatings from the struggling automotive industry. The company said in its financial report released on Friday that EBITDA profits excluding special items are expected to be between 8 billion and 8.4 billion this year, compared to 7.9 billion in 2024. Despite a slight increase in overall sales in the North American region in the fourth quarter, global sales for the company have slightly declined, mainly due to weak economic growth in regions such as Europe. BASF expects all segments, excluding the chemical division, to contribute to this growth. Meanwhile, its petrochemical business will be impacted by fixed cost increases at a new factory in China planned to start operations in 2030. Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN.US) introduces a new quantum computing chip Ocelot, adding a new competitor to Microsoft Corporation Alphabet Inc. Class C camp. Amazon.com, Inc.'s cloud computing division AWS announced the launch of a new quantum computing chip called "Ocelot". Prior to this, tech giants Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOGL.US) and Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US) had launched similar products. Amazon.com, Inc. said in a blog post that the "Ocelot" chip can reduce the cost of implementing quantum error correction by up to 90% compared to current methods. Quantum chips are used for computing tasks and, unlike using traditional binary bits (with values of 1 or 0), quantum chips use quantum bits (qubits), which can be in a state of 1 and 0 simultaneously, allowing quantum chips to significantly increase speed in complex processes such as drug development. Meta (META.US) plans to introduce a paid subscription service for its chatbot Siasun Robot&Automation Meta, AI. Meta Platforms is planning to test a paid subscription service for its artificial intelligence chatbot Siasun Robot&Automation Meta AI, similar to the access to premium versions of its chatbot Siasun Robot&Automation offered by OpenAI and Microsoft Corporation. Sources revealed that the test will begin in the second quarter of this year, but they expect significant revenue from this subscription service to be available only as early as next year. Meta CEO Zuckerberg is seeking to strengthen the company's competitive position in artificial intelligence against OpenAI supported by Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US) and Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOGL.US). Zuckerberg announced in January that the company plans to spend $65 billion this year to expand its artificial intelligence infrastructure. Tesla, Inc. (TSLA.US) plans to offer "driverless" ride-hailing services in California, competing with Uber Technologies, Inc. (UBER.US) and others. Tesla, Inc. is seeking approval to offer ride-hailing services in California, an important step for Musk's company to achieve its goal of picking up paying passengers as its traditional car sales business struggles. According to documents, Tesla, Inc. applied for a "Transportation Network Carrier Permit" from the California Public Utility Commission at the end of last year, which would allow Tesla, Inc. to own and manage its own fleet. This previously unreported application suggests that Tesla, Inc. is working to launch a promised ride-hailing business in the near term, creating a new revenue source and competing with companies such as Uber Technologies, Inc., Lyft (LYFT.US), and Waymo. Musk stated that Tesla, Inc. will launch driverless ride-hailing services in Austin in June and plans to launch in California by the end of this year, but he did not provide specific details. NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) stock falls over 8%! Large options bet: Will it fall another 4%? Concerns about the growth prospects of chipmaker NVIDIA Corporation amidst the AI spending frenzy led the stock to fall over 8% on Thursday to its lowest level in three weeks. Some traders are betting that a deeper decline in the stock is imminent. It was reported that a trader bought over 300,000 contracts on Thursday afternoon, betting that NVIDIA Corporation's stock price will fall to $115 by March 7, which means a decrease of over 4% from Thursday's closing price, and theThe last time it reached this level was in mid-September last year. NVIDIA Corporation announced its fourth quarter earnings for the 2025 fiscal year after the US stock market closed on Wednesday, which still exceeded market expectations but fell short of previous outstanding performances. The guidance for the first quarter of the 2026 fiscal year was mixed. Therefore, bearish bets on NVIDIA Corporation are likely to exacerbate the stock's weakness on Thursday.Upcoming Important Economic Data and Events At 21:30 Beijing time: US January Core PCE Price Index Annual Rate, US January Personal Spending Monthly Rate, US January Core PCE Price Index Monthly Rate. At 22:45 Beijing time: US February Chicago PMI. Early the next day at 02:00 Beijing time: US total oil rig count through the week ending February 28th.