🚀 Fed Hesitant to Lower Rates

Market Overview
Read time 1.4 minutes

Year To Date Performances:

1. At their recent meeting, Federal Reserve officials expressed growing concern about inflation and were hesitant to lower interest rates. Minutes from the April 30-May 1 Federal Open Market Committee meeting showed uncertainty about when to ease policy, as inflation remained higher than expected. The Fed's target is 2%, but recent data showed price increases above this level. Some officials indicated a willingness to tighten policy further if needed. The committee unanimously voted to keep the benchmark short-term borrowing rate at 5.25%-5.5%, its highest since July 2023. Since the meeting, inflation signs showed slight improvement, with April's consumer price index at a 3.4% annual rate. However, consumer sentiment surveys reflected growing concerns about inflation, particularly among lower-wage earners.

2. Amazon is set to upgrade Alexa with generative AI and will introduce a monthly subscription fee to cover the technology costs. Later this year, Amazon plans to release a more conversational version of Alexa to compete with new AI-powered chatbots from Google and OpenAI. The subscription will be separate from the $139-per-year Prime membership, though the price hasn't been decided yet. Amazon declined to comment on this development. When Andy Jassy became CEO in 2021, priorities shifted, and Alexa became less central, with Jassy reportedly expressing disappointment with Alexa’s current capabilities.

3. Raise Venture Capital in 2024. Get the course helping top founders raise venture capital. The materials in this course are used by founders pitching a16z, Sequoia, YC and more while raising tens of millions! Get the course now for just $199. *

4. Headlines

   1. The Nasdaq hit a night high on Friday.

   2. The US Justice Department has started an antitrust suit against Ticketmaster’s parent company Live Nation.

   _{* This is sponsored content.}

Are you looking to grow your business? Here is how I can help:

📢 Promote your startup to 2,000+ VCs including investors from a16z, YC, Techstars, Rarebreed, Sequoia and more.

📱 Book a Strategy Call to get 1:1 feedback on your pitch, pitch deck and/or fundraising strategy. (If you need general startup advice, then reply to this email, and I’ll let you know if/how I can help.)

📺 Access FundraiseOS, the ultimate fundraising course with video lessons and practical worksheets helping with everything from deciding how much to raise to understanding a term sheet.

💸 Promote your product or service to 100,000+ entrepreneurs.

🌐 Connect with me on LinkedIn or X (formerly Twitter) to get access to new content about startups, fundraising, venture capital, and more every day.

Onwards and Upwards,

Liam Gill