Is the stock market back to normal?

March 22, 2025 | Read Online | Subscribe

We finally have some good news:

✅ The S&P 500 broke its four-week losing streak

✅ You can now make March Madness bets on Robinhood

✅ Klarna (buy now, pay later platform) filed for US IPO

DISCLAIMER: The content in this newsletter is not monetary advice; it is for educational and informational purposes only. Stocks can be risky and speculative. Please do your own research before investing.

Week of March 17, 2025

▲ S&P 500	5,667.56	+0.57%
▲ Nasdaq	17,784.05	+0.35%
▲ DOW	41,985.35	+1.27%
▲ FTSE 100	8,646.79	+0.17%
▲ Bitcoin	$84,156.85	+0.09%
▲ Ethereum	$1,977.39	+2.59%

*Stock data as of market close on March 21, 2025. Cryptocurrency data as of 9:00pm ET.

Markets

S&P 500 broke its four-week losing streak 🎉🥳🍾
Bitcoin dipped to ~$81.3k in the early afternoon of Mar 18 and reached its weekly high of ~$86.9k right at midnight on Mar 20.
Fear and Greed Index improved by 2 points. S&P ended the week >200 points below its 125-day moving average but VIX (market volatility) is sitting at just about its 50-day moving average.

Earnings

Mar 20: Micron Technology (MU) Q2 EPS came in 8.3% above expectations, and revenue earnings exceeded expectations by $140M.

View full earnings calendar here.

Economic Reports

Initial jobless claims slightly increased by 2,000 to 223,000 for the second week of March and below market expectations of 224,000.

The central bank cut its 2025 GDP forecast to 1.7% from 2.1% and raised its forecast for core PCE inflation to 2.8% from 2.5%.

📊 CHART

📈 Stock Picks

$HOOD (Robinhood Markets Inc)
📆 Publicly traded since 2021
💰 Specializes in facilitating stock trading
📍 Headquarters in Menlo Park, California

Financial Green Flags

Based on Quarterly Earnings Report:

✅ Beat EPS expectations by 99.1%

✅ Beat revenue expectations by 6.54%

✅ Net income is up 2953% Year-over-Year (not a typo)

✅ Diluted EPS are up 2425% Year-over-Year (also not a typo)

Things to Consider

💡 According to Morgan Stanley, Robinhood's new events contracts business (e.g., markets for March Madness this month and bets on egg prices, job data, and highest daily temp in NYC later on) could add up to $260M in new revenue per year, supercharging its earnings by 14%.

💡 Over the last three quarterly earnings reports, the company has consistently grown its revenue, net income, and EPS. Also, number of funded customers increased by 310,000 in December 2024 alone, demonstrating solid user growth.

The Bottom Line

At first glance, the company's net income and EPS financials look like typos. But nope. They are legit. With growth like that and a clear plan to expand its business into events contracts, Robinhood is positioned to significantly increase its revenue in the short-term and establish itself as a market leader in the long-term.

$KLAR (Klarna)
📆 Founded in 2005 (not yet publicly traded)
💰 Specializes in payment processing for e-commerce
📍 Headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden

Financial Green Flags

Based on financial reports:

✅ Revenue increased by 24% to $2.8B in 2024

✅ Adjusted operating profit was $181M in 2024, up from a loss of $49M in 2023

Things to Consider

💡 Klarna will now be the exclusive provider of "buy now, pay later" services for Walmart, basically stealing the partnership away from competitor Affirm. The company also partnered with DoorDash to let customers "eat now, pay later."

💡 VERY IMPORTANT: Klarna recently filed for a U.S. IPO (initial public offering). The date is not set yet. Based on recent developments, there is reason to speculate that the stock will perform well. However, keep in mind that stocks are very volatile within the first days of them going public. It's good practice to first monitor the stock's performance and then consider going in once the dust settles.

The Bottom Line

It's risky to invest in a stock when it's fresh on the public market, but there is also potential upside. Based on the limited financial data we have access to, the company seems to be in a decent spot. And let's not forget them stealing business from Affirm (pretty alpha of them). We'll definitely be keeping a close eye on this company and might even throw down some cash if a sustained upward trend develops post-IPO

🔊 Acoustics

Researchers from Penn State found a way to guide sound through space so it's only audible in specific locations (imagine listening to music without earbuds and not disturbing anyone around you).

🚀 Aerospace and Propulsion

UK startup Pulsar Fusion revealed its blueprint for a nuclear fusion-powered rocket called Sunbird that can generate exhaust speeds of more than 500,000 mph. This would cut down travel time to Mars to just 4 months.

🤖 Artificial Intelligence

LG's AI Research division released a reasoning model called EXAONE 32B that beat DeepSeek's R1 on a major math benchmark while only being 5% of its size.

🧬 Biotechnology

An Australian man recently achieved a milestone of surviving 100+ days with a BiVACOR titanium artificial heart. The device is designed to pump blood smoothly without mechanical degradation via magnetic levitation.

⚛️ Quantum Technology

Chinese researchers introduced a quantum processor called Zuchongzhi 3.0 that runs one quadrillion times faster than today's best supercomputers. It can complete calculations that would take traditional machines billions of years in just seconds.

Equity Crowdfunding

Invest in Immersed, the startup that's supercharging productivity through spatial computing (extended reality headset) and its AI computer-using agent Curator (investing round closes on Mar 27 @ 11:59 PM ET).

Invest in Timeplast, the company developing water soluble materials that can be programmed to dissolve anywhere from 60 seconds to 60 years after disposal.

Note: If you're serious about investing in any of these startups, do a Porter's Five Forces Analysis first.

Venture Capital

☁️ Nerdio, a company that offers cloud solutions to streamline IT management, raised $500M at a valuation of $1.2B with General Atlantic as the lead investor.

🏢 BuildOps, a company that develops software for commercial services contractors, raised $127M at a valuation of $1B with Meritech Capital Partners as the lead investor.

Insights from Google Trends...

🇮🇱 Search volume for “wiz” shot up by 1,000% on Mar 17 ➡️ This is an Israeli cybersecurity company that got acquired by Google for $32B. Some people are uncomfortable with the fact that the company's founders are former members of Unit 8200, an intelligence arm of the Israel Defense Forces...

💵 Search volume for “$1400 stimulus checks” shot up by 1,000% on Mar 18 ➡️ According to the IRS, single filers may still be eligible to receive the Recovery Rebate Credit, worth up to $1,400, but only if they didn’t file a federal return in 2021 (and if their AGI in 2021 was no more than $75k).

🛩️ Search volume for “F-47” shot up by 1,000% on Mar 21 ➡️ Trump awarded Boeing next-generation fighter jet contract (as expected, Boeing stock jumped 3%).