Good Evening. Stocks fell for the sixth week in a row on Friday, as investors weighed hopeful words from Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding diplomatic talks with Ukraine against a weaker-than-expected reading on consumer sentiment in the United States.
The S&P 500 index dropped 1.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.7%. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2.2%. Despite the fact that all three indexes started the day in the green, stocks lost some of their early gains in the middle of the day after a new report showed that consumer sentiment in the United States deteriorated more than expected in early March, with consumers’ inflation expectations reaching their highest level since 1981.
NFT
Mike Winkelmann—the artist known as Beeple—sold an NFT titled EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS for $69 million at Christie’s one year ago today. The sale was a landmark moment for the digital assets that have surged in prominence, and it remains the largest ever for an NFT (and notoriety).
NonFungible.com issued a new NFT study yesterday that looks at the market in the year when “stacking apes” became a word that meant more than balancing orangutans on top of one another.
- NFT sales reached $17.7 billion in 2021, up 200 times from $82.5 million in 2020.
- The average NFT price increased by more than 1,500 percent from $49.18 in 2020 to $807.52 in 2021.
- Do you like to speculate a lot? In 2021, NFTs were owned for an average of 48 days, down from 156 days in 2020.
Despite the fact that 2021 was a banner year for NFTs, they are now in a bear market (or a deflating bubble, pick your poison). Sales in February 2022 were down 40% from January, while sales in the previous week were down 29% from the week before.
Meanwhile, Beeple has a physical show in Manhattan, however the paintings will be sold as NFTs as well.
EARNINGS
Rivian (RIVN) stock dipped by 8% on Friday after the electric vehicle firm reported fourth-quarter revenues that fell short of analyst projections and provided a production outlook that fell short of some analyst expectations.
According to Bloomberg data, the company earned $54 million in the fourth quarter, which was less than the $64 million predicted. Meanwhile, adjusted losses per share of $2.43 were higher than the expected loss of $2.05 per share.
Rivian expects 25,000 automobiles to be produced in 2022 for the entire year. Dan Ives, a Wedbush analyst, predicted that 40,000 units would be produced in 2022.