🗓️ This Week in The Markets
Macro/Market News
Economic data from March 13 showed Core PCE rising 3.1% year-over-year, slightly above the previous month's 3.0%. Combined with oil prices crossing $120 a barrel earlier in the week, analysts warn that the "stagflation trade" has reopened, potentially trapping the Fed between high inflation and a stalling economy.
The average 30-year mortgage rate rose to 6.11%. This represents the largest one-week jump since April 2025, driven by rising Treasury yields linked to broader geopolitical instability.
Escalating conflict in the Middle East has caused massive volatility in energy markets. Diesel prices jumped 28% to $4.38 per gallon, and supertanker shipping rates from the Middle East to China spiked to a record $423,736 per day.
Company Specific News
Japanese digital payments firm PayPay jumped 19% in its Nasdaq debut. The $880 million IPO valued the company at $12.1 billion, making it the largest U.S. listing by a Japanese company in a decade.
Adobe announced that CEO Shantanu Narayen will retire after 18 years, once a successor is found. Despite shares falling 8% on the news, the company reported strong revenue growth and a rise in recurring revenue driven by AI.
Microsoft has partnered with Anthropic to launch "Copilot Cowork," bringing multi-step task execution into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. The tool coordinates work across Outlook, Teams, and Excel while staying grounded in enterprise security and compliance standards.
🛒 What the Haul?
Out of 454 TikTok hauls analyzed, these companies appeared the most:
Zara - 42 Appearances (9.3%)
SHEIN - 37 Appearances (8.1%)
H&M - 27 Appearances (5.9%)
Hollister - 22 Appearances (4.8%)
Lululemon - 19 Appearances (4.2%)
Target - 18 Appearances (4%)
Brandy Melville - 16 Appearances (3.5%)
Garage - 16 Appearances
(3.5%)
Abercrombie & Fitch - 12 Appearances (2.6%)
Victoria's Secret - 12 Appearances (2.6%)
Ross - 12 Appearances (2.6%)
Alo - 11 Appearances (2.4%)
Edikted - 11 Appearances (2.4%)
Aerie - 10 Appearances (2.2%)
Sephora - 10 Appearances (2.2%)
Bershka - 10 Appearances (2.2%)
Rhode - 10 Appearances (2.2%)
Adidas - 9 Appearances (2%)
Sol De Janeiro - 9 Appearances (2%)
Walmart - 8 Appearances (1.8%)
Aritzia - 8 Appearances (1.8%)
Pacsun - 8 Appearances (1.8%)
Free People - 8 Appearances (1.8%)
TJ Maxx - 8 Appearances (1.8%)
Nike - 8 Appearances (1.8%)
Amazon - 7 Appearances (1.5%)
No Boundaries - 7 Appearances (1.5%)
Skims - 7 Appearances (1.5%)
Juicy Couture - 7 Appearances (1.5%)
American Eagle - 7 Appearances (1.5%)
Gap - 6 Appearances (1.3%)
Bath & Body Works - 6 Appearances (1.3%)
Princess Polly - 6 Appearances (1.3%)
New Yorker - 6 Appearances (1.3%)
Fashion Nova - 6 Appearances (1.3%)
Apple - 6 Appearances (1.3%)
Glow Recipe - 6 Appearances (1.3%)
Disney - 6 Appearances (1.3%)
Summer Fridays - 6 Appearances (1.3%)
Primark - 6 Appearances (1.3%)
Coach - 6 Appearances (1.3%)
Dae - 5 Appearances (1.1%)
Asos - 5 Appearances (1.1%)
Mango - 5 Appearances (1.1%)
Last Month’s Premium Deep Dive is Already Paying Off
Our last deep dive covered the software beneficiaries of the rise of vibe coding, but this week, we’re going to be taking a look at the hardware beneficiaries
Key Takeaways
Lululemon's ($LULU ( ▲ 1.33% )) leopard print hunt, Garage's ($GRGD) "Fig Fantasy" and "Poppet Pink" colorways, and Brandy Melville's "butter yellow" trending shade all show that creators are now shopping for specific colors, not just specific items. Brands that execute seasonal color storytelling are generating collector behavior, same item, multiple colorways, which inflates units per transaction without requiring new product development.
Both Lululemon's ($LULU ( ▲ 1.33% )) "Define" jacket and Garage's ($GRGD) "BBL" flare pants are being described with the same body-shaping language. This isn't a single brand trend, it's a consumer demand signal for figure-flattering, waist-cinching, hip-enhancing cuts that's showing up across price tiers from $26 Garage sweats to $128 Lululemon jackets.
With dozens of items across fashion, beauty, hygiene, and home, Target ($TGT ( ▲ 2.79% )) is capturing the "spring break prep" shopping mission in a single trip. The $8 Butterbliss cami competing against Brandy Melville's basics shows Target continuing to systematically undercut trending brands at scale.
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🤖 This Week in AI
The AI coding startup Cursor is in preliminary talks for a new funding round that would value the company at $50 billion, nearly double its valuation from last fall. This comes as the company continues to expand its marketplace with over 30 new partner plugins.
Google ($GOOG ( ▲ 1.18% )) has embedded its Gemini AI directly into Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive. This update allows the tools to pull cross-app context from a user's files and emails to generate personalized drafts, theme-matched presentations, and automated spreadsheets.
Meta ($META ( ▲ 1.37% )) has postponed the release of its flagship "Avocado" AI model until at least May. While the model outperforms previous versions and Google's Gemini 2.5, internal tests showed it still lags behind the latest leading models from OpenAI and Anthropic.
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