💰 Maniac Minute: Hertz Rises From The Dead

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Good morning, Maniacs!

Google’s in hot water (again), Tesla’s back in the spotlight, and more than 120 S&P 500 companies are on deck to report. It's earnings-palooza—and forward guidance is the main event.

Plus, we’ve got Ackman betting on a rental car zombie, a pill that could change the weight-loss game, and a fresh batch of ETF ideas to level up your portfolio.

Oh, and scientists may have found life 124 light years away. Is it time to diversify off-planet?

Let’s dive in!

Market Recap 📈

The market limped into Easter weekend after another rough stretch for stocks.

All three major indexes dropped—dragged down by weak earnings, rising China tensions, and a scary chart pattern: the death cross. That’s when the 50-day moving average dips below the 200-day, flashing a bearish warning sign.

We’ve now seen it in both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. History says more downside could follow… but let’s not panic just yet.

Gold, meanwhile, keeps racking up wins with another all-time high. And digital gold? It’s either holding up nicely or floundering around $85,000, depending on who you ask.

Treasuries remain in the crosshairs as Powell and Trump square off.

The Fed chair wants to wait for clarity (he’s famously patient—sometimes too much). Trump wants rate cuts now to ease tariff pain and strengthen his negotiating hand before inflation picks up.

Across the pond, the European Central Bank cut rates for the seventh time in a year. But here in the U.S., the hard data is still solid: retail sales surprised to the upside, and jobless claims remain low.

Unfortunately, the soft data (i.e. sentiment) has traders pricing in something worse.

The S&P 500 has dropped ~19% from its peak this year, but that’s still less than every recession drawdown since 1973. So Morgan Stanley’s Mike Wilson believes the selloff is “probably not complete” if a slowdown becomes reality.

Nothing’s certain yet. But with futures flashing red again this morning, momentum clearly isn’t on our side.

Big Tech Has Spent Billions Acquiring AI Smart Home Startups

The pattern is clear: when innovative companies successfully integrate AI into everyday products, tech giants pay billions to acquire them.

Google paid $3.2B for Nest.
Amazon spent $1.2B on Ring.
Generac spent $770M on EcoBee.

Now, a new AI-powered smart home company is following their exact path to acquisition—but is still available to everyday investors at just $1.90 per share.

With proprietary technology that connects window coverings to all major AI ecosystems, this startup has achieved what big tech wants most: seamless AI integration into daily home life.

Over 10 patents, 200% year-over-year growth, and a forecast to 5x revenue this year — this company is moving fast to seize the smart home opportunity.

The acquisition pattern is predictable. The opportunity to get in before it happens is not.

INVEST BEFORE BIG TECH MAKES THEIR MOVE

_{Past performance is not indicative of future results. Email may contain forward-looking statements. See US Offering for details. Informational purposes only.}

Winners & Losers 🚀

In classic 2025 fashion, this week’s biggest losers were last week’s winners—perfectly capturing the head-spinning whiplash investors are dealing with. Plus, a car rental stock went vertical and a weight-loss pill took center stage.

Winners

1. Hertz ($HTZ) – Market Cap: $2.5B (+111.3%)

Hertz shares more than doubled after Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square revealed a 19.8% stake in the beaten-down rental car giant. $HTZ ( ▲ 44.31% ) has been bleeding cash, slashing its fleet, and losing investor confidence.

But Ackman sees a $30 price target, citing rising vehicle prices from tariffs and a proposed Uber partnership to boost utilization. Whether he’s right or just loud, the market is suddenly paying attention.

2. Eli Lilly ($LLY) – Market Cap: $754.3B (+14.7%)

Eli Lilly made the weight-loss wars even juicier. The company’s latest obesity drug just cleared late-stage trials and matched Ozempic’s effectiveness, without the needles or cold storage.

The new pill helps suppress appetite and regulate blood sugar, and makes treatment far more accessible. With the obesity market expected to top $45B by 2032, $LLY ( ▲ 14.3% ) is looking like the frontrunner.

Losers

1. UnitedHealth ($UNH) – Market Cap: $415.4B (-24.2%)

UnitedHealth just had one of its worst weeks ever. A brutal earnings miss and slashed guidance erased over $100B in market value. The culprit? Soaring medical costs, as Medicare Advantage patients sought care at nearly double the expected rate.

CEO Andrew Witty called the results “unusual and unacceptable.” The drop in $UNH ( ▼ 22.38% ) , which was trading above $900, dragged down the entire Dow. That’s what happens when share price, not market cap, drives index weightings.

2. Nvidia ($NVDA) – Market Cap: $2.48T (-8.6%)

Last week’s MVP is this week’s cautionary tale. Nvidia shares slid after the company disclosed a $5.5B revenue hit from new export controls on AI chips made for China.

Its custom H20 chips are now effectively banned under tightening trade rules, putting a major dent in international growth. Just like that, $NVDA ( ▼ 2.87% ) shed over $200B—reminding investors that Chinese exposure of any kind remains a risk factor.

Smarter Than SPY? Here’s Your ETF Cheat Sheet 🧠

You know the classics—SPY, VOO, QQQ. The “vanilla” ETFs that track major stock indexes.

But ETFs go way beyond that, offering exposure to bonds, commodities, currencies, and niche strategies that can help you diversify or get tactical.

Below are some lesser-known ETF types and what they’re built for. These are not recommendations—but examples meant to show just how broad your toolkit can be:

🏦 Bond ETFs
These hold baskets of government, corporate, or municipal debt—offering income and lower volatility than stocks. Think $BND ( ▼ 0.22% ) for broad bond exposure or $LQD ( ▼ 0.14% ) for investment-grade corporate bonds.

🛢️ Commodity ETFs
Want to play gold, oil, or wheat without buying the physical stuff? Commodity ETFs like $IAU ( ▼ 0.48% ) for gold or $USO ( ▲ 2.55% ) for oil give you direct exposure to price moves, often via futures.

🌎 International ETFs
Looking to diversify beyond the U.S.? ETFs like $VEA ( ▲ 1.08% ) for developed markets or $EEM ( ▲ 0.77% ) for emerging markets give you exposure to global economies, both stable and fast-growing.

💡 Smart Beta & Factor ETFs
These ETFs focus on specific strategies like low volatility, high dividends, or momentum—without being full-blown active funds. Examples include $USMV ( ▲ 0.23% ) for low-vol, $VIG ( ▲ 0.41% ) for dividends, and $MTUM ( ▲ 0.33% ) for momentum.

📈 Leveraged & Inverse ETFs
Built for short-term trades. Leveraged ETFs like $TQQQ ( ▼ 0.29% ) aim to 3x the daily return of the Nasdaq 100, while inverse funds like $SH ( 0.0% ) bet against the S&P 500. They’re powerful—but risky if held too long.

🏭 Sector & Industry ETFs
Want to bet on a theme without picking stocks? $XLK ( ▼ 0.54% ) tracks tech, $XLE ( ▲ 2.26% ) covers energy, and there’s an ETF for all 11 S&P 500 sectors—plus more niche industries like robotics or cannabis.

🏢 Real Estate ETFs
REIT-focused funds let you tap into the property market without owning buildings. $VNQ ( ▲ 1.5% ) and $SCHH ( ▲ 1.52% ) offer exposure to residential, office, and industrial real estate, with built-in dividend income.

Bottom Line
ETFs aren’t just for playing the S&P. Whether you’re hedging, diversifying, or swinging for the fences, there’s probably a ticker for that. Just make sure you know what you’re buying—especially if it uses leverage.

Worth The Read 📚

📈 Someone turned $2.5M into $70M in 60 seconds. A perfectly timed options bet hit minutes before Trump’s tariff pause post, yielding a 28x return and raising suspicions.

🪙 Americans now say they need $1.26M to retire. But nearly half worry they’ll run out of money, especially with Social Security’s future in doubt.

🥤 Which brands are best positioned in a trade war? New tariffs hit Pepsi harder than Coke thanks to differences in supply chains. There are surprising ripple effects in toothpaste and jeans, too.

📺 Netflix is now “the cleanest story in tech.” It crushed earnings, guided higher, and reminded investors that not every company is vulnerable to tariffs.

🧠 Bill Gates says AI will replace “most things” in 10 years, including doctors and teachers.

👽 The strongest evidence of alien life yet was just discovered on planet K2-18b,124 light years away. A Cambridge team detected life-linked gases in concentrations thousands of times higher than Earth’s.

Take From the Rich, Give to the People, Big Data’s Robinhood

Big tech uses our data to pad their pockets. Facebook alone makes $42B a year. But modern-day Robinhood, $MODE, allows everyone to share in the profits. 45M+ users and $60M+ in revenue later, Mode prepares for an IPO.

Invest before 5/1 price change.

_{*An intent to IPO is no guarantee that an actual IPO will occur. Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.modemobile.com.
*The Deloitte rankings are based on submitted applications and public company database research.}

The Week Ahead 🔍

Earnings season heats up this week. With two Magnificent Seven giants reporting—plus dozens of heavyweights across defense, healthcare, and semis. Expect stocks to sink or swim based on forward guidance in this new tariff-heavy regime.

Monday

• No major reports

Tuesday

• Earnings from Tesla, SAP, Novartis, GE Aerospace, Verizon, RTX, Intuitive Surgical, Danaher, Chubb, Lockheed Martin, Elevance Health, Northrop Grumman, Moody’s, 3M, Capital One, and Kimberly-Clark

Wednesday

• Earnings from Philip Morris, IBM, AT&T, Thermo Fisher, ServiceNow, Boston Scientific, NextEra Energy, Texas Instruments, Boeing, GE Vernova, O’Reilly Automotive, General Dynamics, and Chipotle

• March New Home Sales (est. 0.68M)

• April S&P Flash U.S. Services PMI (est. 53.0)

• April S&P Flash U.S. Manufacturing PMI (est. 49.3)

Thursday

• Earnings from Alphabet, Procter & Gamble, T-Mobile, Merck, Pepsico, Union Pacific, Gilead Sciences, Sanofi, Comcast, Fiserv, Bristol-Myers, Intel, Southern Copper, Barclays, PG&E, Freeport-McMoran, Keurig Dr. Pepper, Deutsche Bank, Valero, and Southwest Airlines

• March Durable Goods Orders (est. 1.8% MoM)

• March Existing Home Sales (est. 4.12M)

Friday

• Earnings from AbbVie, Colgate-Palmolive, Schlumberger, and Phillips 66

That’s it for today! If you made it this far, you’re exactly why I do this.

All I ask for? A little feedback. Your comments, questions, and suggestions help me improve—and shape future editions.

Just hit reply or leave a quick review below. It helps more than you know.

Keep stacking,
The Money Maniac 💸

DISCLAIMER: The information provided in this newsletter is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets. All opinions expressed are those of the author and are subject to change without notice. Please do your own research or consult with a licensed professional before making any investment decisions.