DHUnplugged #687: No Stopping Now

Those margins - not a pretty look.

Trouble in Airlines Space while the love for Apple remains.

More Stimulus but hidden in the details.

Announcing a new Closest to The Pin.

PLUS we are now on Spotify and Amazon Music/Podcasts!

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Warm Up

-  Trouble in Airlines Space

- Apple Love Remains

- More Stimulus - Hidden in the Details

- BULL TAKE OFF - No Stopping Us Now - Right? (Overconfidence?)

Market Update

- Bitcoin - Sub $40k on Monday - Why?

- Chatter IPO on the  way (again)

- New Highs for markets - Pulled by a few stocks

- And on The Margin - A Margin Crunch

- Rates moving up - VIX moving down

DONATIONS - HEY it is 2024!

NEW HIGHS - A New Bull Market has just been declared. Out of the  BEAR as we eclipse the previous high set in 2022.

Airlines

- JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines on Friday said they are appealing a federal judge's ruling issued earlier this week that blocks the two carriers' planned merger on antitrust grounds.

- JetBlue had planned to buy Spirit for $3.8 billion in a deal struck in the summer of 2022. A federal judge on Tuesday, however, barred that combination, saying it would eliminate the budget carrier and mean higher prices for cost-conscious consumers.

- Spirit  drop 62% last week - trying to recover a bit

- BUT, if Sprint fails - doesn't that mean that the elimination of a budget carrier could mean higher prices for cost conscious consumers?

---- They will appeal, give concessions and win.

---- Spirit up 90% since low last week

Bitcoin Sinking

- Bitcoin sub $40,000 on Monday as the sell-off continues

- Blaming it on selling of the GrayScale and beig bought in NEW Sppot ETFs

- Thought question: If Selling Apple in Fidelity and Buying in Schwab - does that impact share price?

Banks Suing The Fed?

- Big banks have hired one of the country’s top trial lawyers and are preparing to sue the Federal Reserve — a nearly unthinkable challenge — if sweeping new industry regulations aren’t watered down.

- Eugene Scalia, the son of the former Supreme Court justice and a well-known conservative litigator, is quietly drawing up a lawsuit seeking to block the proposed rules on behalf of the Bank Policy Institute, a trade group that represents JPMorgan, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, and others, people familiar with the matter said.

- It would be the first time in recent memory that the industry has sued the Fed, and a departure from standard halls-of-power persuasion efforts that try to avoid antagonizing its chief regulator.

More Airlines

- The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has recommended that airlines operating Boeing 737-900ER jets inspect door plugs to ensure that they are properly secured after some operators reported unspecified issues with bolts upon inspections.

- Regulators have stepped up scrutiny on Boeing after a Jan. 5 mid-air panel blowout on an eight-week-old Alaska Airlines MAX 9 jet that left a gaping hole in the aircraft. Boeing has sought to contain the damage, appointing an independent advisor to examine quality control in its manufacturing processes while numerous planes remain grounded.

- In its new "Safety Alert for Operators," the FAA said that some airlines had conducted additional inspections on the 737-900ER mid-exit door plugs and had noted "findings with bolts during the maintenance inspections."

Apple -

- Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab ended Samsung Electronics' 12-year run as the largest seller of smartphones in the world, after commanding a 20% market share in 2023, according to a report from International Data Corp.

- Samsung ended the year with a 19.4% share, followed by China's Xiaomi, Oppo and Transsion,