The non-farm payroll data for April far exceeded expectations. Will there still be a rate cut this y

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Big events are piling up, 'Crazy Thursday' will unfold in the early morning. Are fellow investors ready?

Good evening, fellow investors~

In the early hours of Thursday Beijing time, US stock investors will face a night packed with significant events—The Federal Reserve interest rate decision, Powell’s last press conference, and earnings reports from four major tech giants all squeezed into these few hours.

Yesterday, US stocks experienced a slight pullback, leaving some fellow investors wondering: What should I do with so many major events happening at once?

No need to panic at all!After reading this, you’ll realize: No need to switch between apps, no need to search the entire web for information, and certainly no need to stay up all night staring at the screen—Futubull's toolkit has already got you fully covered.

Powell’s Last Dance — A carefully selected set of macro data to keep a pulse on the market.

At 2 AM Beijing time tomorrow (April 30), the Fed's FOMC will announce its latest interest rate decision, followed by a press conference hosted by Powell.

This press conference is of great significance—It is very likely to be the last press conference Powell will host as the Fed Chair.His term as chair will expire on May 15, and Trump's nominee, Kevin Warsh, is expected to be confirmed by the Senate before the next interest rate meeting.

The three questions you may care about most:

Will there be a rate hike or a rate cut?

Most likely neither. The market has already fully priced in that this rate will remain unchanged in the range of 3.50%-3.75%. So purely from an interest rate perspective, this meeting won’t have any 'bombshells'.

Then why is it still important?

Every word of Powell's speech will be scrutinized by the market with a magnifying glass. The current backdrop is: the conflict in the Middle East continues, energy prices are being pushed higher, inflation rates are surging, and the rate cuts originally expected this year seem increasingly distant. The market wants to hear what Powell has to say about the future economic outlook.

More importantly,His successor, Warsh, has a completely different style - Warsh has hinted that he might reduce or even eliminate the Fed's regular press conferences and plans to abandon forward guidance. This means that the Fed may become more 'silent' in the future, and the difficulty for the market to obtain policy signals will increase significantly.So tonight's remarks by Powell could be the most detailed policy interpretation investors will get from the Fed chair for a long time.

Will Powell continue to serve?

Although his term as chairman is ending, Powell can actually continue to serve as a Fed governor until January 2028. Whether he stays or leaves is also one of the big suspense points of tonight's press conference.

The market previously speculated that he might "stay on" mainly due to the criminal investigation initiated against him by the Department of Justice – staying in the governor's seat, to some extent, was a form of "soft resistance" against Trump's administration interfering with the Fed. However, the latest news is that the Department of Justice has withdrawn its investigation into Powell, so this "reason to stay" essentially no longer exists.

According to tradition, outgoing chairs usually vacate their governor seats when their successor takes office. Historically, there has been no precedent for any former chair to remain as an ordinary governor after stepping down. Therefore, it is highly likely that Powell will choose to leave gracefully.Tonight’s press conference could very well be his true farewell.

To be honest, the Fed's press conferences contain a lot of information and are in English, which can be overwhelming to go through alone.

But fellow investors have already prepared it for you:

Open Futubull → Market → US Stocks → Economic Calendar/Selected Macro Data

[Selected Macro Data]Here, the core tools related to the Federal Reserve are laid out right in front of you – the Fed's interest rate forecasts and FOMC target rate expectations. The market is betting on whether the next move will be a rate hike or cut and the associated probabilities, all presented in easy-to-understand visual charts, eliminating the need to visit the Fed and CME websites.

Key macro indicators influencing the Fed’s decisions, such as US PCE, CPI, non-farm payrolls, and retail sales, have all been organized, showing historical trends, previous values versus expected values, making trends clear at a glance.

[Economic Calendar] It acts like a "key events alarm clock for the day," clearly laying out what data will be released at what time, along with previous values and market forecasts. For instance, tonight's FOMC decision, Powell’s press conference, and the March PCE data to be released tomorrow evening are all on this calendar.

Moreover, our fellow investor has preparedLive streaming and replays of the FOMC—even if you don’t stay up late tonight, you can open the app tomorrow morning to catch fresh analysis and key highlights from the replay.

The M7’s Big Four releasing earnings reports on the same day — our quick performance updates have got everything covered for you.

After the US stock market closes tonight, four of the 'Magnificent Seven' US tech giants will simultaneously release their earnings reports, namely $Alphabet-A (GOOGL.US)$ 、 $Meta Platforms (META.US)$ 、 $Microsoft (MSFT.US)$ and $Amazon (AMZN.US)$ 。

These four companies have a combined market value of nearly 12 trillion US dollars. If they sneeze in unison, it could give the entire US stock market a cold.Four heavyweight report cards being released on the same night is indeed a rare spectacle.

What is the market most focused on? One word:AI。

These four companies have a combined capital expenditure budget of approximately 650 billion US dollars this year, almost entirely invested in AI infrastructure—data centers, chips, computing power…Specifically:

Google: $175-185 billion, last week just announced a $40 billion epic investment in AI company Anthropic (the parent company of Claude).

Meta: $115-135 billion, strong advertising cash flow, most aggressive investor in AI.

Amazon: approximately $200 billion, CEO says most investments won't pay off until 2027-2028.

Microsoft: expected to be at the $140-150 billion level for the full year.

So the core question the market is focusing on this time is:After spending so much money on AI, is it actually making any profit? Are revenues beating expectations? Will capital expenditures continue to increase? Can margins hold up?

Earnings reports come out with a bunch of English numbers, EPS, revenue, guidance... Feeling overwhelmed?

No worries, fellow investor,Earnings Expresslet me translate it into plain language for you:

Open Futubull → Market → HK/US Stocks → Earnings → Earnings Express

[Earnings Express] Once the earnings report is released, key data are immediately summarized,whether it's a beat (above expectations), miss (below expectations), or inline (in line with expectations),you can understand it at a glance using colors and tags.

Here you can also see:

Popular Preview: Before the release of the earnings report, analysts' forecasts for revenue and earnings per share allow you to get an idea in advance.

Earnings Calendar: Which company releases its earnings report on which day, arranged as clearly as a timetable.

AI insights and historical comparisons: The system automatically analyzes whether this quarter's performance is better or worse compared to previous quarters

No need to jump between various financial websites; Futubull has everything on one page, helping you understand a financial report in three minutes. Even beginners can have the same clarity as professional investors~

Don't want to monitor the market late at night? Advanced orders will keep watch for you

You understand the logic, and you know how to use the tools, but there’s one practical issue –All these major events happen in the middle of the night Beijing time!

The FOMC announcement comes at 2 AM, Powell’s press conference is at 2:30 AM, and the big four earnings reports are released after the market closes... By the time you’ve processed everything, it’s almost dawn!

You can't possibly set an alarm to wake up and monitor the market every earnings season, can you? (You still have work the next day!)

Moreover, the moment earnings reports and Fed announcements are released, stock prices often fluctuate rapidly and sharply. If you’re asleep and don’t act, you might miss a good buying opportunity; if you haven’t set safeguards, a sudden plunge could catch you off guard. This is where Futubull’s advanced order function becomes your AutoPilot.

Open Futubull → Individual stock page → Trade → Select order type

Futubull offers a variety of advanced order types, the two most practical being:

① Stop-Limit Order (STL)

Set a price floor in advance. For instance, if you hold Microsoft and are concerned about an earnings miss causing the stock to plummet, you can set a stop-loss price — when the price falls to this level, the system automatically sells it for you, locking in losses. You can sleep soundly while it keeps watch for you.

② Limit-if-Touched / Take-Profit (LIT)

Conversely, if you're optimistic that Google's earnings will exceed expectations and want to automatically sell at a certain target price to lock in profits, use this. Set the trigger price, and once it hits, execution is automatic—you don’t have to stay up all night staring at the screen waiting for that moment.

The logic behind advanced orders is simple:Plan your strategy in advance, set the conditions, and the system executes them for you.Orders are temporarily stored within Futubull’s system, and when the conditions are triggered, they are automatically submitted to the exchange without requiring you to be online in real-time.

In short, it turns your investment discipline into an automated program.Especially during high-volatility periods like earnings season, emotions can run high. Setting up profit-taking and stop-loss levels in advance is more rational and reliable than manually operating in a groggy state late at night.

The market will always have 'Wild Thursdays' and moments when major events cluster together.But with the right tools, information is no longer noise, and volatility is no longer a source of anxiety. The Futubull toolkit provides full coverage, allowing you to navigate with ease and confidence. Wishing all fellow investors sweet dreams tonight and good luck tomorrow!

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