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By Staff Reporters

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Meta confirmed chief business officer Marne Levine is stepping down after 13 years with the company in order to “recharge and prioritize some quality time with family” before beginning her “next professional chapter.” She’s the third female C-suite leader to leave Meta in recent years, following chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg’s exit in 2022 and global ad chief Carolyn Everson’s in 2021.

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Cathie Wood has steadily reduced ARK Invest’s position in Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) over the last four months. Between November 2022 and January 2023, her flagship ARK Innovation ETF (NYSEMKT: ARKK) completely exited its stake in the microchip stock. So far in February, Wood has also significantly trimmed the positions of Nvidia held by two other ARK Invest ETFs. ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (NYSEMKT: ARKF) still owns 48,272 shares of the stock. ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (NYSEMKT: ARKW) still owns 81,054 shares. After the sales, Nvidia ranks as the 22nd- or 23rd-largest holding in both of these ETFs. Wood’s activity isn’t because Nvidia isn’t performing well. Actually, the stock has soared close to 50% so far in 2023. Several stocks that she has bought this year haven’t delivered comparably impressive gains. So, she is likely just taking gains.

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U.S. equities kicked off the holiday-shortened week by posting sharp losses. Uncertainty regarding the Fed’s future rate hike decisions appeared to pressure market sentiment, as investors grapple with recent hot inflation data and Fedspeak. Retail companies headlined the earnings calendar, as Dow member Walmart bested profit projections and raised its annual dividend, while Dow component Home Depot beat estimates and increased its quarterly dividend, but issued some disappointing guidance. And, Amazon corporate employees will be paid up to 50% less in 2023 due to its falling share price, the WSJ reported. Amazon’s pay packets rely heavily on stock awards, making them vulnerable to price fluctuations. The tech giant is laying off 18,000 employees, its largest ever job cuts, amid weakening economic conditions.

The economic calendar showed manufacturing activity increased but continued to contract, while services activity rose more than expected into expansion territory. Additionally, existing home sales declined in January as the median existing home price continued to rise.

Treasury yields were noticeably higher, and the U.S. dollar gained ground, while crude oil prices were slightly lower, and gold fell. Asia finished mixed, and Europe was mostly lower, as international investors digested some mixed global manufacturing and services sector reports.

Finally, SoftBank Group Corp. founder Masayoshi Son increased the amount of stock pledged as collateral to financial institutions to 175.25 million shares, or about 35% of his total stake in the Japanese conglomerate.

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