Latest News
See the latest news and get GPT analysis of articles
In Wyoming, Bill Gates moves ahead with nuclear project aimed at revolutionizing power generation 2024-06-10 18:30:59+00:00 - Bill Gates and his energy company are starting construction at their Wyoming site for a next-generation nuclear power plant he believes will “revolutionize” how power is generated. Gates was in the tiny community of Kemmerer Monday to break ground on the project. The co-founder of Microsoft is chairman of TerraPower. The company applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in March for a construction permit for an advanced nuclear reactor that uses sodium, not water, for cooling. If approved, it would operate as a commercial nuclear power plant. The site is adjacent to PacifiCorp’s Naughton Power Plant, which will stop burning coal in 2026 and natural gas a decade later, the utility said. Nuclear reactors operate without emitting planet-warming greenhouse gases. PacifiCorp plans to get carbon-free power from the reactor and says it is weighing how much nuclear to include in its long-range planning. The work begun Monday is aimed at having the site ready so TerraPower can build the reactor as quickly as possible if its permit is approved. Russia is at the forefront for developing sodium-cooled reactors. Gates told the audience at the groundbreaking that they were “standing on what will soon be the bedrock of America’s energy future.” “This is a big step toward safe, abundant, zero-carbon energy,” Gates said. “And it’s important for the future of this country that projects like this succeed.” Advanced reactors typically use a coolant other than water and operate at lower pressures and higher temperatures. Such technology has been around for decades, but the United States has continued to build large, conventional water-cooled reactors as commercial power plants. The Wyoming project is the first time in about four decades that a company has tried to get an advanced reactor up and running as a commercial power plant in the United States, according to the NRC. It’s time to move to advanced nuclear technology that uses the latest computer modeling and physics for a simpler plant design that’s cheaper, even safer and more efficient, said Chris Levesque, the company’s president and chief executive officer. TerraPower’s Natrium reactor demonstration project is a sodium-cooled fast reactor design with a molten salt energy storage system. “The industry’s character hasn’t been to innovate. It’s kind of been to repeat past performance, you know, not to move forward with new technology. And that was good for reliability,” Levesque said in an interview. “But the electricity demands we’re seeing in the coming decades, and also to correct the cost issues with today’s nuclear and nuclear energy, we at TerraPower and our founders really felt it’s time to innovate.” A Georgia utility just finished the first two scratch-built American reactors in a generation at a cost of nearly $35 billion. The price tag for the expansion of Plant Vogtle from two of the traditional large reactors to four includes $11 billion in cost overruns. The TerraPower project is expected to cost up to $4 billion, half of it from the U.S. Department of Energy. Levesque said that figure includes first-of-its-kind costs for designing and licensing the reactor, so future ones would cost significantly less. Most advanced nuclear reactors under development in the U.S. rely on a type of fuel — known as high-assay low-enriched uranium — that’s enriched to a higher percentage of the isotope uranium-235 than the fuel used by conventional reactors. TerraPower delayed its launch date in Wyoming by two years to 2030 because Russia is the only commercial supplier of the fuel, and it’s working with other companies to develop alternate supplies. The U.S. Energy Department is working on developing it domestically. Edwin Lyman co-authored an article in Science on Thursday that raises concerns that this fuel could be used for nuclear weapons. Lyman, the director of nuclear power safety with the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the risk posed by HALEU today is small because there isn’t that much of it around the world. But that will change if advanced reactor projects, which require much larger quantities, move forward, he added. Lyman said he wants to raise awareness of the danger in the hope that the international community will strengthen security around the fuel. NRC spokesperson Scott Burnell said the agency is confident its current requirements will maintain both security and public safety of any reactors that are built and their fuel. Gates co-founded TerraPower in 2008 as a way for the private sector to propel advanced nuclear energy forward to provide safe, abundant, carbon-free energy. The company’s 345-megawatt reactor could generate up to 500 megawatts at its peak, enough for up to 400,000 homes. TerraPower said its first few reactors will focus on supplying electricity. But it envisions future reactors could be built near industrial plants to supply high heat. Nearly all industrial processes requiring high heat currently get it from burning fossil fuels. Heat from advanced reactors could be used to produce hydrogen, petrochemicals, ammonia and fertilizer, said John Kotek at the Nuclear Energy Institute. It’s significant that Gates, a technological innovator and climate champion, is betting on nuclear power to help address the climate crisis, added Kotek, the industry group’s senior vice president for policy. “I think this has helped open people’s eyes to the role that nuclear power does play today and can play in the future in addressing carbon emissions,” he said. “There’s tremendous momentum building for new nuclear in the U.S. and the potential use of a far wider range of nuclear energy technology than we’ve seen in decades.” ___ The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Extended power outage that hit Puerto Rico angers and worries many during heat advisories 2024-06-10 18:28:45+00:00 - COAMO, Puerto Rico (AP) — Towns in central and southern Puerto Rico are struggling to emerge from a prolonged power outage that forced authorities in the U.S. territory to activate an emergency response team on Monday and request food distribution to those in need. The outage occurred more than a week ago, leaving tens of thousands of clients without power after a transformer that twice exceeded its useful life collapsed. Officials with Luma Energy, which operates transmission and distribution for Puerto Rico’s power authority, have said repairs could take more than a month. The announcement sparked widespread anger, especially since the outage has disrupted water service and comes amid daily excessive heat warnings, with the Atlantic hurricane season just starting. Some politicians are demanding that Gov. Pedro Pierluisi declare a state of emergency. “The people of Santa Isabel, Coamo and Aibonito cannot endure another day without electricity,” Puerto Rico Sen. Héctor Santiago Torres said on Monday, referring to towns in the Caribbean island’s central and southern regions. “This situation is unsustainable.” More than 40% of Puerto Rico’s 3.2 million people live below the poverty level, and not everyone can afford generators or replace costly electric appliances damaged by the outages. “My fridge broke because of the voltage issues, so I had to throw away all the spoiled food,” said Carmen Franco, 68, as she spoke over the roar of generators in the southern town of Coamo, where she joined dozens awaiting a free lunch on Saturday. Officials had transformed a music school into a huge kitchen as people cooked rice and chicken, delivering hundreds of lunches to hard-to-reach areas in the town, where nearly a fifth of the population is over the age of 65. “Clearly, we are not prepared for this,” Coamo Mayor Juan Carlos García Padilla said of the ongoing outages. He told The Associated Press that residents already are struggling with a high cost of living. “They don’t have anything left over to save.” One resident, Carlos Ávila, 51, said he struggled to reach his cardiologist over the weekend to get a prescription sent to the pharmacy because phone lines were down as a result of the power outages: “I’ve been waiting over a week to get my blood pressure prescription refilled.” Chronic power outages have plagued Puerto Rico ever since Hurricane María struck in September 2017 as a Category 4 storm and razed the island’s already fragile grid. But the most recent outage has persisted longer than most. Puerto Rico relies on power plants that use coal, petroleum and natural gas to generate about 97% of the island’s electricity, and efforts to switch to renewable energy are slow-going. In addition, a federal control board that oversees the island’s finances has challenged the net-metering policy, which compensates solar-equipped households for their contributions to the grid, arguing it undermines the independence of energy regulators. Solar advocates warn the challenge could hinder the adoption of rooftop solar and battery systems, especially for low-income communities, jeopardizing the island’s progress towards its renewable energy goals. No ruling on the legal challenge has been issued. Madelyn Vives, a 52-year-old caretaker and mother of two, said the outages hit Puerto Rico’s older population the hardest. Her father, who can’t walk, lives in a home that she’s been visiting more often to bring him food. “I try to grab as many lunches as I can to feed my family, but if I get just one, it goes to my father,” she said.
South West Water owner’s boss should lose all bonuses after Devon parasite outbreak | Nils Pratley 2024-06-10 18:12:00+00:00 - Here’s a rarity: a chief executive turning down an annual bonus two years in a row out of solidarity with the suffering customers. But when the company is Pennon Group, owner of South West Water, the operation currently knee-deep in a diarrhoea and vomiting outbreak in Devon caused by polluted water, Susan Davy had little real choice. She cannot expect applause for leading “from the front” and “living our values”, as she described her decision to turn down £237,000 in cash. In fact, the question is why she still thought it appropriate to collect £298,000 under her separate long-term share-based scheme. That award sent her overall pay up from £543,000 to £860,000, a figure that may cause stomach pain across the south-west, not just in the coastal town of Brixham, where the parasite cryptosporidium was found in the system. A year ago, she saw the short- and long-term schemes as a job lot and waived both. If anything, the case for surrendering both elements of variable pay should have been more compelling this time because an outbreak of illness is bad even by the standards of the modern water industry. There was no explanation of the different logic in the annual report. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Business Today Free daily newsletter Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion A deeper question is why the bonus issue even arose in the first place. Why wasn’t it automatically reduced to zero in current circumstances? The answer lies with the usual suspect – the fact the standard “balanced scorecard” of objectives for an executive includes so many elements that it is hard to miss them all. In Davy’s case, the formula spat out a ratio of 46.5% of maximum, which the remuneration committee cut to 38.5% after applying its “discretion framework in respect of South West Water’s environment and pollution performance”. Come on though, outsiders will still be baffled as to why the committee’s discretion could be so minor (and so precise). Even ignoring the parasite outbreak, South West Water is still falling substantially short on the Environment Agency’s most important annual measure: the company got two stars, when four is the aim, under the latest industry-wide environmental performance assessment. Nor is it the case that Pennon’s shareholders are having a better time. Yes, they got a £127m dividend even as the Devon outbreak was in full swing, but the share price has roughly halved during Davy’s four years as chief executive. Not for the first time, one must ask what is the point of these “balanced scorecards” if they produce unbalanced outcomes that miss the wider picture. In a month’s time, Ofwat, the sector’s economic regulator, will unveil its first view of the English and Welsh water suppliers’ business plans for the next five years, including the company-by-company increases in bills to fund greater investment. Bill rises are inevitable and South West Water is looking for 30%-ish, which may be at the lower end of the industry’s range but will still come as a shock to many customers. Davy should have read the room: if it was right to turn down short- and long-term awards last year, it was right to do so again. Half measures don’t cut it.
Law Enforcement Unit Is Formed to Crack Down on Illegal E-Cigarettes 2024-06-10 17:26:24+00:00 - A multi-agency coalition of law enforcement agents will begin tackling the unruly market of illegal e-cigarettes, under pressure from antismoking groups, lawmakers and the tobacco industry urging federal authorities to stop the flood of vaping devices favored by adolescents. The Justice Department and the Food and Drug Administration announced the new effort, which is expected to target fruit- and candy-flavored vapes containing high levels of addictive nicotine. The new coalition would include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Marshals Service; the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Postal Service, tapping into federal laws that could include significant fines and jail terms. “Unauthorized e-cigarettes and vaping products continue to jeopardize the health of Americans — particularly children and adolescents — across the country,” Benjamin C. Mizer, the acting associate attorney general, said. Until now, enforcement efforts have largely involved warning letters and limited penalties issued by the F.D.A. to various vendors like gas station and convenience store owners, ordering them to stop selling the items.
California pension fund opposes 'ridiculous' Elon Musk pay package at Tesla 2024-06-10 17:23:00+00:00 - The head of a massive California pension fund told CNBC on Monday that he is voting against the revised pay package for Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The vote this week is to effectively reinstate a 2018 pay package that was struck down by a judge in January. California State Teachers’ Retirement System Chief Investment Officer Chris Ailman said the fund opposed the pay package previously and will do so again. “We’ll pay him 140-times the average worker pay. How about that deal? I think that’s more than fair. This pay package is ridiculous,” Ailman said on “Squawk on the Street.” CalSTRS held just under 4.7 million shares of Tesla as of June 30, 2023, according to its website. CalSTRS has owned a stake in Tesla since before it went public, Ailman said. Tesla was then headquartered in California but moved to Texas in late 2021. Musk’s pay package consists of performance-based stock options worth roughly $50 billion. CalSTRS is not the only major shareholder opposed to the proposal. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has also come out in opposition. Ailman said the fund does not plan to sell its Tesla shares but that he does think the valuation for the stock is too high. “Even if these cars had AI in them, they are not worth 60-times earnings. That is absurd,” Ailman said. In addition to Tesla, Musk also helms social media company X and rocket company SpaceX, among others. The billionaire has indicated that he might focus more on his other projects if the Tesla pay package is rejected. Ailman said he does not want to see Musk completely walk away from Tesla, but added that Musk should let some professional managers handle more day-to-day operations at the electric car company. “He needs to focus in on, either on cars, either on X or on going to Mars. And I think his heart really is in going to Mars,” Ailman said. As of April, CalSTRS managed more some $333 billion in assets.
Nvidia 10-for-1 stock split puts share price within reach of more investors 2024-06-10 16:50:00+00:00 - Shares chipmaker Nvidia Monday are trading at a fraction of what they were last week, as the result of the company's 10-for-1 stock split, which went into effect at the close of trading on Friday. The move gives each investor of the AI titan nine additional shares for every share they already own. Shares declined slightly to $119.77 shortly after the market open on Monday. Nvidia's stock price has more than doubled this year after more than tripling in 2023 and it's now the third most valuable company in the S&P 500. The meteoric ride allowed Nvidia to briefly surpass Apple last week as the second most valuable company in the U.S. Nvidia surpassed $3 trillion in market value. The chipmaker has seen soaring demand for its semiconductors, which are used to power artificial intelligence applications. The company's revenue more than tripled in the latest quarter from the same period a year earlier. Nvidia, which has positioned itself as one of the most prominent players in AI, has been producing some eye-popping numbers. Here's a look: Nvidia's total market value as of Wednesday. Earlier this year, it passed Amazon and Alphabet to become the third most valuable public company, behind Microsoft ($3.168 trillion) and Apple ($3.029 trillion). The company was valued at around $418 billion two years ago. That's the one-day increase in Nvidia's market value on Wednesday. Companies often conduct stock splits to make their shares more affordable for investors. Nvidia's stock closed Wednesday at $1,224.40 and it's just one of 11 companies in the S&P 500 with a share price over $1,000. Revenue for Nvidia's most recent fiscal quarter. That's more than triple the $7.2 billion it reported in the same period a year ago. Wall Street expects Nvidia to bring in revenue of $117 billion in fiscal 2025, which would be close to double its revenue in 2024 and more than four times its receipts the year before that. Nvidia's estimated net margin, or the percentage of revenue that gets turned in profit. Looked at another way, about 53 cents of every $1 in revenue Nvidia took in last year went to its bottom line. By comparison, Apple's net margin was 26.3% in its most recent quarter and Microsoft's was 36.4%. Both those companies have significantly higher revenue than Nvidia, however.
California is sitting on millions that could boost wage theft response 2024-06-10 16:08:58+00:00 - SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — As lobbyists for businesses and labor groups negotiate with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration on how to amend a unique California labor law that allows workers to sue their bosses, the two sides seem to agree on at least one puzzling reality. The law, known as the Private Attorneys General Act, generates millions each year for a state fund reserved for enforcing state labor laws, including those against wage theft. But despite rising worker complaints of labor violations and severe understaffing hampering the state Labor Commissioner’s Office’s response, California leaves much of the money untouched. The money comes from the state’s cut of the settlements and fines that businesses pay in response to these lawsuits. For years, the fund has grown faster than lawmakers and Newsom have directed it to be spent, according to state budget documents. In 2022-23 they left $197 million in the fund unspent; the 2023-24 budget leaves $170 million. The state draws from the fund each year for portions of the Labor Commissioner’s budget, as well as other agencies. And the fund has paid for some worker outreach and enforcement. Those programs include $8.6 million in recent grants to 17 local prosecutors to pursue criminal charges in wage theft cases, and a pandemic-era partnership with community groups to inform workers in 42 different languagesabout workplace rights. But the fund’s single biggest use in the past five years has been to shore up the state budget. In 2020, the state borrowed $107 million from the labor fund for other uses. In April, an early budget deal between Newsom and legislative leaders allowed the state to borrow another $125 million as they sought to reduce a record shortfall. Neither of these loans need to be repaid until at least 2027. The administration has proposed to leave $119 million in the fund unused in the 2024-25 budget it’s negotiating with lawmakers this month. They’re seeking to cover the remaining $28 billion shortfall. The fund’s use has frustrated businesses and labor groups alike, who say the state should spend much more of the money to help the Labor Commissioner’s Office hire or retain more staff needed to process a record number of workers’ wage theft claims. In response to questions from CalMatters, Department of Industrial Relations spokesperson Erika Monterroza wrote in an email that the loans are not unusual during budget deficits and only come from money that’s not being used. She said $7.6 million from the fund is already allocated this year to processing wage claims. But the department has struggled to fill those new positions. A state audit released in May found the staff shortages are caused in part by a slow hiring process and salaries that are lower than some comparable state and local government jobs. Monterroza said it’s out of her department’s hands whether the money could be used to increase salaries or speed up hiring, saying that must be bargained with state employee unions. Newsom’s office declined to comment, referring questions to the department. The fund is also part of the negotiations between business and labor on potential changes to the Private Attorneys General Act to take a business-backed measure to repeal the law off the November ballot. Recent polling suggests voters support a legislative fix over a ballot measure. The sides face a June 27 deadline for the Legislature to approve changes. If a deal is reached to avert the costly ballot measure, it is likely to address how to spend the enforcement fund. “The Labor Commissioner’s Office has hundreds of millions currently available,” said Kathy Fairbanks, a spokesperson for the coalition of employers sponsoring the ballot measure. “We strongly support using these funds to quickly hire and train staff to help resolve employee claims.” Between 30,000 and 40,000 workers a year file wage theft claims with the office. The state audit found chronic understaffing has led to a backlog of 47,000 cases, and the claims regularly take six times longer than the time state law allows to resolve. Lorena Gonzalez, leader of the California Labor Federation and a former state Assemblymember, said labor groups have advocated in past budgets to allow Labor Commissioner Lilia García-Brower to use the money to address the backlogs. “Obviously we have a crisis and we have been asking and pushing the Legislature and the governor to beef up spending, to hire up,” Gonzalez told CalMatters. “We were having a hard time getting attention. It’s one of many examples that it’s not a priority to process wage theft claims.” The Assembly’s current and former labor committee chairpersons, San Jose Democrat Ash Kalra and Hayward Democrat Liz Ortega, both declined to comment through spokespersons. Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, a Los Angeles Democrat who leads the Senate labor committee, could not be reached for comment last week. California Chamber of Commerce CEO Jennifer Barrera also said she supported using available money to increase staff. Still, an agreement for the state to appropriate the funds depends on broader negotiations about the scope of the PAGA law. The two-decade-old state law allows the Labor Commissioner’s office to outsource the role of suing employers over alleged labor violations to private attorneys, with a worker standing in as plaintiff on behalf of the state and their coworkers. Most suits are brought over wage theft claims, according to a UCLA Labor Center report. Business groups have pushed to repeal it for years, arguing it primarily enriches lawyers while subjecting businesses to frivolous cases over technical violations. Their ballot measure would direct cases back to the Labor Commissioner’s Office, where Fairbanks said workers stand to keep more money if they win individual wage theft claims. Labor advocates say that would only worsen the backlogs at the Labor Commissioner’s Office, and take away an option for workers to bring workplace-wide suits against problem employers. Gonzalez said even if the enforcement funds are spent on beefing up Labor Commissioner staff, the law should still stand. The May state audit concluded the office would need nearly 900 employees to efficiently process all wage claims. That’s almost triple the positions currently approved for the office — and a third of those are vacant. “The Labor Commissioner itself is not equipped to handle all the cases we’re seeing in California today,” Gonzalez said. “We’re not fine with taking away the right of employees to sue.” ___ This story was originally published by CalMatters and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Facebook owner Meta seeks to train AI model on European data as it faces privacy concerns 2024-06-10 15:52:39+00:00 - LONDON (AP) — Meta wants to use data from users in privacy-conscious Europe to train its artificial intelligence models, the social media giant said Monday as it faces concerns about data protection while battling to keep up with rivals like OpenAI and Google. The company, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said that in order to better reflect the “languages, geography and cultural references” of its users in Europe, it needs to use public data from those users to teach its Llama AI large language model. Meta’s AI training efforts are hampered by stringent European Union data privacy laws, which give people control over how their personal information is used. Vienna-based group NOYB, led by activist Max Schrems, complained last week to 11 national privacy watchdogs about Meta’s AI training plans and urged them to stop the company before it starts training Llama’s next generation. AI language models are trained on vast pools of data that help them predict the most plausible next word in a sentence, with newer versions typically smarter and more capable than their predecessors. Meta’s AI assistant feature has been baked into Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp for users in the U.S. and 13 other countries, but notably not Europe. “If we don’t train our models on the public content that Europeans share on our services and others, such as public posts or comments, then models and the AI features they power won’t accurately understand important regional languages, cultures or trending topics on social media,” Stefano Fratta, global engagement director of Meta’s privacy policy, said in blog post. “We believe that Europeans will be ill-served by AI models that are not informed by Europe’s rich cultural, social and historical contributions.” Fratta said other companies including Google and OpenAI have already trained on European data. Meta won’t use private messages to friends and family nor content from European users who are under 18, he said. Since May 22, the company has sent 2 billion notifications and emails to European users explaining its plans and linking to an online form to opt out, Fratta said. The latest version of Meta’s privacy policy is set to take effect on June 26, indicating that training for the next model will start soon after.
New details emerge about Israel's deadly hostage rescue — and how it almost fell apart 2024-06-10 15:42:00+00:00 - RAMAT GAN, Israel — New details emerged Monday about the rescue of four hostages — a high-risk operation that proved to be Israel's most successful of the eight-month war, but that brought death and horror to the central Gaza refugee camp where they had been held by Hamas. The surprise daytime raid reunited Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 21; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 40, with their families, sparking emotional scenes of celebration and relief in Israel. For Jan's family, the joy was tempered by grief following the death of his father on Saturday morning. In the Nuseirat refugee camp, Palestinian families mourned after at least 274 people, including dozens of children, were killed during the raid, according to local health officials. The Israeli military acknowledged there were casualties, but estimated the number was less than 100 and said it did not know how many were Hamas fighters. NBC News could not independently verify the death toll. An Israeli commando was also killed, the Israel Defense Forces said. And on Monday the IDF confirmed to NBC News that a vehicle carrying the three male hostages broke down during the rescue operation while under militant fire. Commandos were forced to hastily load the hostages into a separate vehicle under fire before driving them to a waiting helicopter, the IDF said. The rescue may have been perilously close to going badly wrong, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enjoyed a rare moment of triumph in the wake of its success. He quickly faced global outrage over the scale of the raid's destruction in Gaza, however, as well as division at home following the resignation of a key rival from his war Cabinet and renewed concern from the families of remaining hostages. Witnesses told NBC News' crew in Gaza of the bloody intensity of the surprise Israeli assault, while the IDF described how the precarious operation unfolded. 'We have the diamonds' Among the hostages rescued on Saturday was Argamani, whose kidnapping during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks was captured in video that was shared around the world. She was seized alongside her boyfriend, Avinatan Or, who is believed to remain held in Gaza. In a news briefing following the raid, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israeli forces launched their operation during the daytime to give them a greater element of surprise. The United States provided intelligence in support of the rescue operation, according to a U.S. official with knowledge of the matter. The apartment Argamani was held in was about 200 meters (or about 220 yards) from the one where the three other hostages were kept, Hagari said. The two apartments housed civilians in buildings with roughly three to four stories and families living in them, Hagari said, adding that both apartments also had armed guards inside. The IDF launched raids on both apartments simultaneously, Hagari said. He did not expand on how Israeli forces made their way into the heart of Nuseirat.
Labour election victory would be ‘net positive’ for markets, says JP Morgan 2024-06-10 15:36:00+00:00 - A Labour election victory will be a “net positive” for financial markets, strategists at the US bank JP Morgan have said, in an analysis that underlines the appeal of Keir Starmer’s “centrist platform” to the City of London. A majority for Labour would benefit banks, builders and supermarkets, analysts led by JP Morgan’s head of global equity strategy, Mislav Matejka, wrote in a note to clients published on Monday. The US investment bank said Labour’s policies would be “modestly pro-growth, but crucially with a likely cautious fiscal approach”. Analysts at MUFG, a Japanese investment bank, separately said that a landslide victory for Labour would be “most positive for the pound” because it would end political instability, raise expectations of higher government spending, and potentially help usher in a more constructive relationship between the UK and EU after Brexit. Starmer is firm favourite to become the next UK prime minister, according to polls. Labour’s turnaround since the 2019 general election has been marked – including in the ousting of former leader Jeremy Corbyn and the watering down of previous spending commitments. It has also included a concerted, years-long “smoked salmon offensive” by Labour to try to charm big business. “We believe the market impact will be net positive,” they wrote. “The current Labour party is occupying a centrist platform, and the perception of policy paralysis is set to move behind us. “Labour agenda is modestly pro-growth, but crucially with a likely cautious fiscal approach. Our economists believe that, given the lack of fiscal space, Labour will likely focus on supply-side reforms to help improve economic growth.” More than half of the 268 respondents to a Bloomberg News poll published on Monday of readers and users of its financial markets terminal said a Labour win would be the best result for the pound. Derek Halpenny and Lee Hardman at MUFG wrote last week that Labour’s spending plans were “unlikely to fuel investor concerns”. They wrote that the party is likely to learn the lesson of the Conservative party under Liz Truss, whose premiership rapidly spiralled into chaos after financial markets took fright at unfunded tax cuts. The pound fell under Truss to its lowest ever level against the US at $1.0327, compared with $1.27 on Monday. Labour has promised to stick to fiscal rules, including not borrowing to cover day-to-day government spending and cutting net public debt as a proportion of GDP over a five-year forecast period. Halpenny and Hardman wrote: “There’s nothing bold here, no shift in fiscal frameworks and Labour are essentially committing to the same fiscal constraints that are in place now.” Matthew Ryan, the head of market strategy at the financial services firm Ebury, wrote on Monday that the prospect of a Labour government was “actually buoying sterling” in comparison with the euro, which has been hit by uncertainty over how much power far-right parties will control after European elections and Emmanuel Macron’s decision to call a snap election in France. Broadly, the strategists at JP Morgan favour the domestically focused FTSE 250 share index of medium-sized companies listed in London over the blue-chip FTSE 100, which has more of an international focus. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Business Today Free daily newsletter Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion JP Morgan’s verdict on Starmer’s Labour stands in stark contrast to its dislike of Corbyn’s policies, including nationalisation of several industries. In 2019, JP Morgan said a Labour government “would weigh heavily” on the minds of foreign investors. Nevertheless, not all big business would welcome a Labour government in 2024, JP Morgan said, citing the promised nationalisation of the train network and proposals to increase taxes on energy companies. Water companies are also likely to face increased regulation, but other utilities could benefit from spending on net zero energy infrastructure. The pound hit a 22-month high against the euro on Monday as the single currency was hit by Emmanuel Macron’s surprise decision to call snap parliamentary elections in France. Sterling reached €1.1847, for the first time since August 2022. Macron’s shock move also hit stocks in Paris, where the CAC 40 index fell more than 2% at one stage, and closed down 1.35%. Germany’s Dax finished the day 0.35% lower, after German chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition suffered losses in the EU elections. French bond prices also weakened, which widened the gap between Paris and Berlin’s borrowing costs. France’s 10-year bond yield (the interest rate on the bond) jumped to 3.23%, the highest since last November, up from 3.115% on Friday night
Lyft Stock Gap and Craps on Bold 2027 Guidance at Investor Day 2024-06-10 15:30:00+00:00 - Lyft Today LYFT Lyft $15.08 -0.52 (-3.33%) 52-Week Range $8.85 ▼ $20.82 Price Target $18.04 Add to Watchlist Rideshare operator Lyft Inc. NASDAQ: LYFT made bold 2027 growth projections for its Investor Day, which caused shares to gap up to $17.29 initially but failed to sustain the move. The number two rideshare provider in the country is trying to close the gap with its number one competitor, Uber Technologies Inc. NYSE: UBER. Both computer and technology sector companies have turned profitable on an adjusted basis. The duopoly dominates the rideshare industry, with UBER holding a 76% market share in the United States. Get Lyft alerts: Sign Up Lyft Looks to the Future On June 6, 2024, Lyft provided financial targets for 2027 while reaffirming its 2024 guidance for its Investor Day. The company expects gross bookings to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15% from 2024 to the full year 2027. Adjusted EBITDA margin, measured as a percentage of gross bookings, is expected to be around 4% in 2027. Free cash flow conversion, measured as a percentage of adjusted EBITDA, is expected to be higher than 90% annually between 2025 and 2027. LYFT is Having Trouble Breaking Out of the Daily Descending Triangle The daily candlestick chart on LYFT shows a descending triangle pattern. The descending trendline formed at the $20.82 peak and has capped each bounce attempt at lower highs connecting to the flat-bottom lower trendline at $15.27. The Investor Day financial update with 2027 targets helped to gap the shares, but they soon crapped back down into the triangle range again. The daily relative strength index (RSI) is stalled at the 42-band. Pullback support levels are at $14.90, $13.37, $12.21, and $11.36. Lyft Reports a Solid Q1 2024 Earnings Report On May 7, 2024, Lyft reported a Q1 2024 EPS of 15 cents versus 6 cents consensus estimates, beating by 9 cents. Net loss was $31.5 million compared to $187.6 million in the year-ago period. Net loss included $78.5 million in stock-based compensation and payroll tax expense. Gross bookings rose 21% YoY, ahead of its guidance of $3.5 billion to $3.6 billion. Adjusted EBITDA was $59.4 million, compared with $22.7 million in the year-ago period and above its $50 million to $55 million previous guidance. Lyft provided 188 million rides in the quarter, up 23% YoY. Active riders rose 12% YoY to 12.9 million, indicating improvement in rider retention. Lyft Drivers Receive at Least 70% of Rider Fares Lyft assured drivers they would receive at least 70% of the rider fare each week after external fees. The program launched in February and is having positive impacts. Nearly 75% of its drivers confirmed they now have a better understanding of their earnings. Lyft's Women+ Connect Ride Feature Lyft's Women+ Connect ride rollout received extremely positive feedback. This program enables female passengers to request female drivers. Women and non-binary activations increased 24% YoY. This continues to be one of the company's most successful initiatives. Lyft's Positive Cash Flow Forecast for 2024 Lyft provided guidance for Q2 gross bookings of $4 billion to $4.1 billion. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $95 million and $100 million, and an adjusted EBITDA of approximately 2.4%. Full-year 2024 ride growth is expected in the mid-teens, with gross bookings slightly higher than rides YoY growth. Full-year adjusted margins are expected to be around 2.1%. The company is on track to generate positive cash flow for the entire year. They expected 70% of adjusted EBITDA to convert to free cash flow for the full year 2024. Lyft’s Advertising Business is Growing Lyft Media revenues grew 250% YoY, with 50% of its business coming from repeat customers like Comcast Co. NASDAQ: CMCSA NBCUniversal. New customers added in the quarter include Zillow Group Inc. NASDAQ: ZG and Mastercard Inc. NYSE: MA. Lyft CEO David Risher commented, “According to our third-party brand measurement firm, Lyft Media ad campaigns have 7 times the impact relative to the norm, on-brand perception, and purchase intent. Lyft MarketRank™ Stock Analysis Overall MarketRank™ 4.03 out of 5 Analyst Rating Hold Upside/Downside 19.6% Upside Short Interest Healthy Dividend Strength N/A Sustainability -0.37 News Sentiment 0.70 Insider Trading Selling Shares Projected Earnings Growth Growing See Full Details Our video ads, which were new this quarter, also generated more than 10 times the ad industry's typical click-through rate. And in Q1, we added new partners, including Nielsen and Oracle Advertising, for their ad measurement and data enrichment solution for targeting, helping us deliver even more value for our customers.” Lyft Gets 4 Upgrades After Investor Day On June 7, 2024, Lyft received upgrades from four different analysts. Bank of America Securities, Gordon Haskett, and Loop Capital all upgraded their ratings to a Buy, with a price target of $20. Fox Advisors upgraded shares to Overweight from Equal Weight. Lyft analyst ratings and price targets are on MarketBeat. Before you consider Lyft, you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Lyft wasn't on the list. While Lyft currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
Chrysler recalls more than 211,000 SUVs and pickup trucks due to software malfunction 2024-06-10 15:27:21+00:00 - NEW YORK (AP) — Stellantis-owned Chrysler is recalling more than 211,000 SUVs and pickup trucks in the U.S., due to a software malfunction that could disable the cars’ electronic stability control systems. The recall covers certain model year 2022 Dodge Durango, Ram 2500 and Ram 3500 vehicles. According to documents published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, these cars may experience a malfunction in their anti-lock braking control module — which could cause stability control, a key safety feature, to fail and increase the risk of crash as a result. As a remedy, dealers will update the anti-lock braking control module software for free. Notification letters to dealers and owners are set to be mailed out July 26, the NHTSA notes. It’s unclear if the update will be available for all impact owners before then. Stellantis advises customers with questions or concerns to contact their dealers or Chrysler’s recall assistance center. In a statement, a Stellantis spokesperson noted a “routine review of customer feedback” led to a company investigation that discovered the software problem impacting certain vehicles. To date, Chrysler is unware of any related injuries or accidents — but “urges customers to follow the instructions on their recall notices,” the spokesperson added. Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler expects a total of 211,581 vehicles — produced in select periods ranging between April 2021 and December 2022 — have this defect in the U.S. That includes 524 Ram 3500s, 157,890 Ram 2500s and 53,167 Dodge Durangos, per the NHTSA report. Some “similar vehicles” not included in this recall were produced before or after suspected periods impacted and/or have different anti-lock braking control module software, the report notes. Drivers can confirm if their specific vehicle is included in this recall and find more information using the NHSTA site and/or Chrysler’s recall lookup. Beyond the U.S., an estimated 17,462 vehicles will be subject to recall in Canada, in addition to 2,313 in Mexico another 5,023 in certain markets outside North America, Stellantis’ spokesperson said.
'Stay tuned,' Black Keys drummer says on reasons for tour downgrade and management split 2024-06-10 15:20:00+00:00 - The drummer for rockers the Black Keys hinted Monday that an explanation for the band's recent troubles is coming. In a post on X, Patrick Carney gave a short message to fans: "We got f---ed. I’ll let you all know how so it doesn’t happen to you. Stay tuned." The note follows a round of headlines for the Ohio-born duo that have signaled turmoil. Late last month, the band announced it was canceling its planned tour of arenas in favor of more intimate venues — though dates for the new shows have yet to be announced. Then last week, the band said it had split with a management team led by entertainment executive Irving Azoff. The news, first reported by The New York Times, was confirmed by Azoff to Variety, who called it an “amicable parting.” The Black Keys had been with Azoff and another manager, Steve Moir, since 2021. A representative for Azoff said he had no comment. A representative for Moir did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Azoff is best known as the manger of the Eagles and the former CEO of Ticketmaster and former chairman of its parent company, Live Nation. Another Azoff-connected group has been directly implicated in the U.S. Justice Department's anti-monopoly suit against Ticketmaster and Live Nation. In their complaint, federal prosecutors named Oak View Group, a live entertainment advisory service, as having a relationship with Live Nation that unduly influenced the market. Azoff cofounded Oak View, though is no longer listed as an executive there. He is not directly named in the Justice Department's suit. In addition to the Eagles, Azoff has also managed legendary artists like Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, Journey and Bon Jovi. Over the years, he earned a reputation for the bare-knuckle tactics in negotiating on behalf of the groups and artists he represents. The L.A. Times has reported that Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker said they’d hired Azoff because he “impressed us with his taste for the jugular … and his bizarre spirit.” And at their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Eagles co-founder Don Henley said, "As I’ve said before, he may be Satan — but he’s our Satan."
Jury deliberations begin in Hunter Biden's criminal trial after prosecutors cite 'overwhelming' evidence 2024-06-10 15:10:00+00:00 - WILMINGTON, Delaware — Jury deliberations began Monday in the federal criminal trial of Hunter Biden after prosecutors laid out what they described as “overwhelming” evidence against the president's son as he faces gun charges. The panel deliberated for about an hour in the late afternoon before being sent home for the day. Abbe Lowell, the attorney for Hunter Biden, urged the jury to find his client not guilty, arguing prosecutors had only offered “speculation or conjecture” — and not hard evidence — that his client was using drugs in the days around when he purchased a Colt Cobra revolver at a Wilmington gun store. Prosecutor Leo Wise maintained there was a mountain of evidence he was an active addict at the time, including in Hunter Biden's own book. “The evidence was personal, it was ugly, it was overwhelming,” Wise told the jury, recounting the evidence special counsel David Weiss's office had laid out since the trial started last week. Wise also seemed to acknowledge members of the Biden family who'd been showing up in court, including first lady Jill Biden, who was in attendance again Monday. “People sitting in the gallery are not evidence,” he said, adding while jurors may recognize some attendees from the news or the community, “respectfully, none of that matters.” "No one is above the law," he said, adding that the evidence showed that Hunter Biden broke the law when he claimed he wasn't a drug user when he purchased a gun from a Delaware gun shop in 2018. The closings started after Lowell rested his case in the morning without calling his client to the stand. Lowell had said on Friday a decision would be made about whether his client would testify over the weekend. Hunter Biden is charged in federal court in Wilmington with three felony counts tied to possession of a gun while using narcotics and had pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors contend Hunter Biden lied when he filled out a federal form to buy the gun in October of 2018 and represented that he was not a drug user or addict. Lowell has suggested that his client didn't "knowingly" mislead anyone because he didn't consider himself a drug addict or drug user at the time. Wise pushed back on the claim in his closing. “He knew he was using drugs, that’s what the evidence shows,” he said, referring to Hunter Biden's text messages about drug use and large cash withdrawals during that time period. “We see in these messages him buying drugs, telling other people he was using drugs,” Wise said. He also recounted testimony from Hunter Biden's ex-wife Kathleen Buhle and two former romantic partners about his frequent crack use. One, Zoe Kestan, testified that at some points he was smoking crack every 20 minutes. Wise also pointed to excerpts from Hunter Biden's memoir where he acknowledged his battles with drug addiction. Hunter Biden was a "habitual drug user" from 2015 to 2019, Wise said, and he was when he bought the gun. Lowell told jurors in his closing argument that Hunter Biden's writing after the fact about being an addict in his book, which was published in 2021, doesn’t mean he knew he was an addict during that period he described from 2015 to 2019. He also said it was "unfair" of prosecutors to use his client's words about being an addict out of context. “Hunter has not asked anyone to excuse or forgive him for his mistakes,” Lowell said. Prosecutors, he argued, had not met their burden of proving their case beyond a reasonable doubt. “With this very high burden, it’s time to end this case,” he said. He ended his closing argument by reading a passage from Hunter Biden's book. “Remembering all those things feels like a terrible betrayal of where I am now,” Lowell said, quoting his client. “They prompt feelings of shame and guilt.” During his rebuttal argument, prosecutor Derek Hines said Hunter Biden chose to record an audiobook about his conduct and chose to lie on the federal gun form about his drug use. He accused Lowell of pushing a "fictional story" and said Hunter Biden was well aware he was an addict. “It may seem obvious, but someone who has a crack pipe to his mouth every 15 minutes knows they’re an addict,” Hines said. The jury began deliberating around 3:30 p.m. ET. Lowell had rested the defense case at around 10:30 a.m. ET. Prosecutors then called back to the stand FBI special agent Erika Jensen for a brief rebuttal testimony. Jensen was the first witness prosecutors called in the case, and testified about information found on Hunter Biden's computer, phone and tablet. She was asked Monday about messages Hunter Biden sent Hallie Biden in the time period around the gun purchase, including one where he indicated he was meeting a drug dealer. Lowell had suggested his client was lying about his location because he didn't want to see Hallie Biden, the widow of his brother Beau. Jensen testified that geolocation data indicated Hunter Biden was physically in the areas where he told Hallie Biden he was. Lowell maintained those texts were "facetious." Hallie Biden was involved in a romantic relationship with Hunter Biden around the time he bought the gun — years after her husband's death — and she testified last week about throwing the weapon out after she discovered it in his car. After Jensen finished testifying, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika read her instructions to the jurors about what they'll need to consider when they begin deliberating. The trial began on June 3, just days after former President Donald Trump, who's facing off against President Joe Biden, was convicted in New York state court of falsifying business records. In addition to Jill Biden, the president's brother James Biden and sister Valerie Biden Owens were in court for closings as well. James Biden had been mentioned as possible defense witness but was not called to the stand.
How HP Stock Could Bring Double-Digit Upside for Buffett 2024-06-10 14:50:00+00:00 - Shares of HP Inc. NYSE: HPQ have recently broken out of their previous $27 to $30 a share channel; of course, this price action had been relatively justified. The company's recent quarterly financial results show how the comeback in the personal computer (PC) space could mean good news for the company's future, which is also good news for Warren Buffett. HP Today HPQ HP $36.18 -0.27 (-0.74%) 52-Week Range $25.22 ▼ $39.52 Dividend Yield 3.04% P/E Ratio 12.22 Price Target $34.64 Add to Watchlist After announcing a significant stake in HP stock back in 2021, some investors had a hard time understanding what the oracle of Omaha saw in the ‘dying’ computer company. Some bear cases have gained traction for the company, as printers and office equipment represent a large segment of HP’s revenue. Everyone can agree that with changing hybrid work settings, printers and office equipment could very well be a contracting industry. Get HP alerts: Sign Up However, HP's financials show a resilient position that could help management quickly pivot into what already makes the company money and even start to venture into other newer growth areas to boost shareholders' returns. This plan would be welcome news for activist investors like Buffett. Reviving Shareholder Interest: HP's Printing Business as the Key Strategy With over $460 million in free cash flow (operating cash flow minus capital expenditures) in the past quarterly financials, HP management could try to invest in the bullish outlook for the personal computer industry, especially with technology peers like Intel Co. NASDAQ: INTC and Nvidia Co. NASDAQ: NVDA breaking through current semiconductor ceilings. Personal systems, including PCs, grew revenues by as much as 3% over the past year. However, net printing segment revenues declined by 8% during this time, led by heavier 12% contractions in HP’s commercial printing business. Because this business generated up to $8.7 billion in revenue, it would be beneficial for investors to wonder how much the disposal of this segment would mean as a potential payout. However, to value this business, investors need to find a comparable printing business to start developing a rough idea. HP MarketRank™ Stock Analysis Overall MarketRank™ 4.43 out of 5 Analyst Rating Moderate Buy Upside/Downside 4.3% Downside Short Interest Healthy Dividend Strength Moderate Sustainability -1.55 News Sentiment 0.88 Insider Trading Selling Shares Projected Earnings Growth 7.54% See Full Details This is where Xerox Holdings Co. NYSE: XRX comes into play. The company’s financials show up to $6.7 billion in sales for the past 12 months, and markets are now willing to pay a price-to-sales (P/S) multiple of 0.8x today. To be conservative, despite HP having more enormous printing revenues, investors can slap a lower 0.7x P/S multiple on HP’s $8.7 billion revenue, which would become roughly $6.1 billion in a theoretical valuation. This will represent approximately a $6.2 boost in either stock appreciation or a special dividend payout per share. Whichever way management decides to reward shareholders on this potential strategy twist, a $6.2 per share boost would imply a return of 17% from today’s stock price. How HP's Financial Strength Fuels Its Growth Investment Potential What initially attracted Buffett to HP may be the one thing that helps other investors name the stock their wealth compounder in a few years. The company's financials show a gross margin of 22.1%, which enables management to allocate capital smartly. How can investors check for the truth behind this statement? Looking over the returns on invested capital (ROIC) rates will reveal a five-year average of just over 30%, which is incredibly high for a business that had been termed ‘dying’ by many. Because annual stock price action tends to follow the long-run ROIC rate, HP can set itself up to become a compounder for those savvy enough to understand that dilution of the printing business may be a good idea. Even if this disposal never comes, the company retains so much of its cash flows that it could allow management to start investing in other growth areas. HP Inc. (HPQ) Price Chart for Monday, June, 10, 2024 One of these could be in emerging markets. Because HP sells more affordable PCs than Apple Inc. NASDAQ: AAPL, it could make a significant splash in emerging markets like India and Africa. As middle-class populations grow, HP’s quality and price points could help the company gain substantial market share in these regions. Known for taking the long view, it shouldn’t surprise investors to see this international trend as one of Buffett’s thesis for backing HP stock the way he did. So-called ‘smart money’ may have already noticed this potential breakout, as those at the Vanguard Group saw it fit to boost their positions in the stock by as much as 2.6% as of May 2024, bringing the asset manager’s net investment up to $3.6 billion today. Before you consider HP, you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and HP wasn't on the list. While HP currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
Top 3 Stocks Set to Soar with the AI-Driven Metaverse Revolution 2024-06-10 13:35:00+00:00 - Call it a stretch, but the future of AI is the metaverse. The metaverse is already powered by data centers, the cloud, and AI, and that relationship will only intensify. The metaverse is a persistent digital world that AI will help unlock, and the benefits will go both ways. As AI and the metaverse advance, 3-D visualization, computer vision, and the IoT will advance along with them. Eventually, users will be able to enter the metaverse, manipulate objects or information, and create real-world outcomes as a matter of course. These are three technology stocks well-positioned to benefit that aren't Roblox NYSE: RBLX. Get Symbotic alerts: Sign Up Meta Platforms Goes Virtual with Reality Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META is leaning into virtual reality with its Quest VR headsets. The headsets provide a mixed-reality environment where users can connect to the Internet, play games, and interact with features like workout sessions. The technology is limited now, but the number of apps and features is expanding regularly. Among the noteworthy apps the headset supports is Roblox, another leader in advancing metaverse technology. Meta Platforms has also partnered with Ray-Ban to bring VR connectivity to fashion. The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses can connect to the Internet and take pictures and videos, and users benefit from Meta’s AI voice-activated AI assistance. Meta Platforms Today META Meta Platforms $502.60 +9.64 (+1.96%) 52-Week Range $265.33 ▼ $531.49 Dividend Yield 0.40% P/E Ratio 28.87 Price Target $510.41 Add to Watchlist Analysts are optimistic about Meta’s AI prospects with or without the metaverse. Raymond James recently upped its price target, citing the company’s growing importance in AI infrastructure. Meta plans to host more than 600,000 GPUs by the end of the year, with more than half of them H100s. This sets the company up to enter the enterprise software market, expand its addressable market, and boost revenue by as much as $40 billion or 25% from 2024 levels. Raymond James raised its price target to $550 and the high-end of the target range. The consensus assumes a 3% upside and is trending higher; RJs $550 is about 10% above the current action and a new all-time high when reached. Symbotic is Automating Warehouses: Technology Will be Expanded Symbotic NASDAQ: SYM is now focused on automating warehouses, but its technology is advancing rapidly and will be applied to other industries. Among the possible applications are automated building and road construction. The takeaway is that Symbotic is advancing AI, computer vision, and IoT functionality with autonomous robots working together. It’s a natural progression for this technology to move into the virtual or mixed reality world and for users to manipulate the system and even individual robots as if they were the brain. Symbotic Today SYM Symbotic $37.72 +0.93 (+2.53%) 52-Week Range $29.62 ▼ $64.14 Price Target $55.69 Add to Watchlist Symbotic’s business is assured. The company’s leading clients are Walmart, Amazon, and Albertson’s; the backlog is growing. The latest results included 60% top-line growth and a wider margin, leading the analysts to raise their price targets. The revision trend is robust and suggests a deep value for investors. The consensus estimate reported by Marketbeat.com is up 100% in the last twelve months and offers a 50% upside while the stock trades below the low end of the range. Apple is Advancing Virtual Reality With the Vision Pro Apple NASDAQ: AAPL may be late in coming to the AI game, but it is not late to VR. The company has been working on this technology for years, and its launch of the Vision headset in 2023 was hailed as a watershed moment. The voice and sight-activated headset connects to the Internet and displays content overlapping the physical environment. Users can engage with the Internet and Apple’s ecosystem of products to enjoy a fully immersive experience without completely disengaging from reality. The WWDC is expected to bring numerous new products and research to light. Apple Today AAPL Apple $193.12 -3.77 (-1.91%) 52-Week Range $164.07 ▼ $199.62 Dividend Yield 0.52% P/E Ratio 30.03 Price Target $205.59 Add to Watchlist The stock is poised to set a new high and could do so this week. The analysts began lifting their targets again, leading the market to the $250 range, or about 25% above the current action. Because AI is expected to boost Apple sales and profits over the next five years, the trend in analysts' sentiment is likely to continue driving this market Before you consider Symbotic, you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Symbotic wasn't on the list. While Symbotic currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
Palantir Was Left Out of the S&P 500; It Still Looks Like a Buy 2024-06-10 13:15:00+00:00 - Palantir Technologies Inc. NYSE: PLTR will not be one of the companies included in the S&P 500 Index. The announcement came on Friday, June 7, after the market closed. In the immediate aftermath of the S&P 500 exclusion, Palantir stock dropped approximately 2%. The stock was up 7.7% for the week before the announcement. Crowdstrike Holdings Inc. NASDAQ: CRWD, GoDaddy Inc. NYSE: GDDY, and KKR & Co. NYSE: KKR will join the index on Monday, June 24. They will replace Robert Half Inc. NYSE: RHI, Comerica Inc. NYSE: CMA, and Illumina Inc. NASDAQ: ILMN. Get Palantir Technologies alerts: Sign Up The S&P 500’s Decision is For Now, Not Necessarily Forever Palantir Technologies Today PLTR Palantir Technologies $23.13 -0.18 (-0.77%) 52-Week Range $13.56 ▼ $27.50 P/E Ratio 192.77 Price Target $20.65 Add to Watchlist The S&P 500’s decision makes Palantir 0 for 2 since the company earned the right to be considered in the index. Palantir shareholders are disappointed that PLTR stock was not included in the S&P 500. However, this seems more like a temporary setback than a permanent exclusion. Analysts expect Palantir’s inclusion into the S&P 500 to produce many benefits. One of those is a more stable shareholder base as institutional ownership increases. Currently, institutions own only about 45% of the PLTR stock float. In theory, a more stable ownership base would reduce much of the stock’s volatility, expanding the company’s price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple. Furthermore, a stock’s price generally rises upon inclusion into the S&P 500 as investors of all stripes have renewed confidence in the company’s long-term growth outlook. Palantir is Truly a Leader in AI When it comes to artificial intelligence stocks, Palantir stands apart. The company has had AI tools for years. Its latest tool, AIP (Artificial Intelligence Platform), may lack creativity in its name, but it more than makes up for that with what it offers customers. Specifically, it allows companies to integrate all their data flows (even the ones that are often deeply buried) into a single location. This helps companies make decisions based on the most current information. It also allows the integration of large language models for further automation and workflow streamlining. Why More of the Same is Good for Palantir If you’ve followed Palantir for any length of time, this feels like another chapter in the “what does the company have to do” narrative that’s been in place since Palantir went public via a direct listing in 2020. For example, two days before the S&P 500 announcement, Palantir announced a $50 million contract with Tampa General Hospital. This will continue the long-term partnership the two companies have had as they try to define a vision for the future of AI in health care. This wasn’t Palantir’s only recent win. On May 30, the company announced it had received an initial $153 million order from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAD) to make licenses of Palantir’s AIP platform available across the DOD. The award has the potential to grow to $480 million over five years. What to Do with PLTR Stock These contracts are significant because they provide more evidence that Palantir may be able to justify its growth expectations. The biggest knock on Palantir is that its price-to-sales ratio of 23.3 is identical to its current growth rate. That suggests that PLTR stock is overvalued, as it trades at its June 7, 2024, closing price of $23.31. But that begs the question: Where do you expect Palantir to be in one, five, or ten years? If you have the time to wait, dollar cost averaging to PLTR stock is a solid strategy that lets you ignore short-term price movement. On the other hand, traders may want to buy PLTR stock at the absolute best price they can. In that case, the last several months have shown Palantir forming a solid support base of around $20.56. That would be a price target to shoot for. However, take note that Palantir reports earnings on August 5, 2024. That is approximately one month before the S&P 500 will report its next list of stocks that will be added/removed. Before you consider Palantir Technologies, you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Palantir Technologies wasn't on the list. While Palantir Technologies currently has a "Reduce" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
Post-Brexit ‘mess’ as Italian driver’s lorry held for 55 hours at UK border post 2024-06-10 12:46:00+00:00 - An Italian lorry driver has described the UK’s new post-Brexit controls as a “mess” after his lorry was held at a government-run border post for more than two days. Antonio Soprano, 62, who was stopped while bringing plants into the country from central Italy, said he was offered nothing to eat during his 55-hour ordeal and instead was told by border officials that he should walk to a McDonald’s more than a mile away to get a meal. After eventually being released from the Sevington facility in Ashford, Kent, in the early hours of the morning, he was then clamped and had to pay a £185 fine after difficulties finding a place to park in the middle of the night. It comes just over a month after the government brought in new post-Brexit rules on 30 April, which require some lorries transporting plant and animal goods from the continent to be checked at designated border control posts along the British coast. The checks, which have been put in place to stop diseases coming into the UK, are supposed to take place within four working hours but some lorries can be held for longer if inspectors identify a potential risk. Soprano, who drives for the Italian haulage company Marini, was taking a lorry full of plants from Italian suppliers to companies across Britain when he was ordered to drive the 22 miles from Dover to the Sevington border post for inspection. View image in fullscreen A Marini truck is loaded with plants at the Innocenti and Mangoni nursery in Pistoia, Italy. Photograph: Michele Borzoni/The Guardian He says that when he arrived at the facility he was immediately ushered to a waiting area and ordered to wait, with border officials taking his keys. Soprano, who speaks no English, said no efforts were made to explain to him what was happening, claiming he was just repeatedly told by officials to wait. The waiting facilities for drivers consist of a small room with a few tables, with only water provided and no food. He said: “They told me to go and eat at a McDonald’s, which was 2km away, so by foot. In the end I found a supermarket but we had no services apart from a toilet.” The lorry was held because of concerns about 10 Prunus lusitanica plants in the load, which border officials thought could be carrying harmful pests. The concerns were raised hours after the lorry arrived at 6.30pm on 26 May, and officials said the delays occurred because the plants could not be unloaded because of health and safety concerns. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the initial inspection of the lorry was delayed due to the driver having to take an 11-hour rest break, known as a tacho break, while at Sevington. It said the absence of a load plan, and problems with the way the lorry was loaded, meant extra measures were needed to safely check the plants. Officials eventually signed off the plants and allowed the vehicle to be released just after 1am on 29 May, about 55 hours after it arrived. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Business Today Free daily newsletter Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion Prohibited from spending the night at Sevington and having to find a place to rest due to EU driver regulations, Soprano had to park in the McDonald’s car park as the nearest lorry park was full. He woke up to find that his lorry had been clamped and could only be released once he had paid a £185 fine. He said: “I understand they need to do the controls but this behaviour is not normal, it was a mess. I don’t know why we had to wait for so long. I have to go to England for work, I have no choice, but this was not normal.” View image in fullscreen Some lorry drivers were held for nearly 20 hours at Sevington border control post last month after an IT outage caused huge delays. Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe/Reuters The incident comes weeks after the Guardian reported that some lorry drivers were held for nearly 20 hours at Sevington border control post after an IT outage caused huge delays for perishable items coming into the country. Vicenzo Marini, the chief executive of Marini, which sends 15 lorries a week to the UK, said the incident was “surreal” and the new checks and custom requirements since Brexit had made sending goods to the UK much more problematic. He said the company, which has been transporting goods to the UK since the 1980s, was now considering abandoning its UK routes due to the new controls, as well as fears among drivers around migrants entering their lorries. The incident comes after repeated warnings from horticultural trade bodies about the practicality of checking plant products at the border, and the ability of border staff to load and unload lorries. Speaking to the Guardian in January, James Barnes, the chair of the Horticultural Trades Association, raised concerns over whether border control posts had the infrastructure and ability to handle the “diverse horticultural loads” coming from the continent.
BP staff risk sack if they fail to disclose intimate relationships with colleagues 2024-06-10 11:49:00+00:00 - BP employees will have to disclose intimate relationships with colleagues or risk losing their jobs, according to a new policy brought out after the dismissal of former boss Bernard Looney for failing to tell the board. Employees must disclose “familial and intimate relationships at work” without exception, the FTSE 100 oil company said on Monday. That is a tougher stance than before, when they only had to disclose relationships if they thought there was a a conflict of interest risk. The top 4,500 managers, out of a workforce of 90,000, have three months to report all of the intimate relationships they have had in the past three years. Looney left the company in September after failing to disclose relationships with colleagues to the board, which was investigating after a tipoff from a whistleblower. The company later formally dismissed Looney, saying that the failure to disclose amounted to “serious misconduct”. BP said it had made the change, which was first reported by Reuters, after a review of its conflicts of interest policy. The policy applies to all employees, the company added. BP said: “The policy requires conflicts of interest to be disclosed, recorded and – where appropriate – mitigated. Familial and intimate relationships at work can constitute a conflict of interest. “Employees were previously required to disclose and record such relationships if they felt there could be a conflict of interest. Now they are required to disclose intimate relationships at work, whether or not they feel they represent a conflict of interest. “As a policy that forms part of BP’s code of conduct, non-compliance with the policy could result in disciplinary action.” The emphasis on senior leaders having to disclose past relationships reflects the influence they have, BP said. In Looney’s case, BP investigated claims about him in 2022, but received assurances from the then chief executive about his conduct. However, he shocked City investors the following September with an abrupt resignation less than four years into his tenure. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Business Today Free daily newsletter Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion Murray Auchincloss replaced Looney. Auchincloss’s partner also works for BP, but the company has said that this was disclosed when he was promoted to chief financial officer. Looney’s failure to report his relationships proved costly: BP denied him more than £32m in pay and share awards for knowingly misleading the board. About £25m of that sum related to share awards.
Invesco QQQ and Nasdaq-100 Analysis: Key Market Trends 2024-06-10 11:35:00+00:00 - U.S. stock markets seem to be reaching new all-time highs on a weekly basis. The NASDAQ 100 index can best be traded and followed using the most active exchange-traded-fund (ETF), the Invesco QQQ NASDAQ: QQQ. The computer and technology sector companies dominate the QQQ. While the markets are trending upward, a rising tide doesn't necessarily lift all boats. Critics argue that a handful of companies dominate the market, impacting benchmark indexes disproportionately. Investors' burning question remains: "Where does it go from here?" Let’s examine the QQQ to explore potential moves. Get Invesco QQQ alerts: Sign Up What is the QQQ Index? Invesco QQQ Today QQQ Invesco QQQ $464.83 +1.87 (+0.40%) 52-Week Range $342.35 ▼ $465.74 Dividend Yield 0.52% Assets Under Management $274.81 billion Add to Watchlist The QQQ tracks the movement of the Nasdaq-100 index, which is comprised of the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq exchange. This modified weighted index is based on market capitalization (market cap). This means the more a stock is valued based on its market cap (calculated by price x outstanding shares), the more it will impact the value of the index. The index may be rebalanced quarterly or annually when the weighting is too concentrated. Technically, when the aggregate weight of its stocks with weightings over 4.8% exceeds the 48% threshold, the Nasdaq may conduct a special rebalancing like it did on July 24, 2023. The Dominance of Top 3 Holdings in the QQQ Index However, as of June 7, 2024, the top three holdings, including Microsoft Co. NASDAQ: MSFT with 8.47%, NVIDIA Co. NASDAQ: NVDA with 8.12%, and Apple Inc. NASDAQ: AAPL with 8.08% allocation make up nearly 25% of the total index. This is not an isolated issue just to the Nasdaq 100. In fact, the top three holdings in the S&P 500 index are Microsoft at 7.06%, Apple at 5.71%, and NVIDIA with 4.66% allocation for a total of nearly 16% of the index. How Nvidia Moves the Markets The artificial intelligence (AI) boom has surged Nvidia shares into the stratosphere, growing its market cap to nearly $3 trillion. In fact, on most days, if NVDA stock is surging, there's a good chance that the markets are rising. It's not just the rising value of NVDA stock but also the domino effect of leader stocks pulling up the laggard stocks. It only makes sense that investors and traders want to jump into the “next” stock that will move in sympathy. For example, Nvidia's rise tends to rally semiconductor and AI stocks like Applied Micro Devices Inc. NASDAQ: AMD and Super Micro Computer Inc. NASDAQ: SMCI. Anticipation of the 10-for-1 stock split occurring on June 10, 2024, drove up shares, which impacted the rise in the QQQ to record highs. QQQ Generating Stairstep Bull Flag Breakouts The weekly candlestick chart on the QQQ illustrates stairstep or back-to-back bull flag breakout patterns. To calculate supports, we applied Fibonacci (fib) retracement and extension levels based on the sequentially higher market structure lows (MSLs), providing an upside target based on the seed wave breakout formation. The fib plots were made at $342.35 on the MSL and $449.39 on the market structure high (MSH). This results in upside targets based on the fib extensions of 1.27, 1.414, and 1.618 potential reversal zones (PRZ). Upside targets are $478.22, $493.63, and $515.46. Each of these levels has the potential for the price to reverse for a pullback or even reverse the uptrend. The weekly relative strength index (RSI) is coiling again towards the overbought 70-band level. Key fib pullback support levels are at $437.14 (0.886 fib retracement), $408.47 (0.618/0.382 fib ratios), $383.22, and $342.35 swing low. Before you consider Invesco QQQ, you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Invesco QQQ wasn't on the list. While Invesco QQQ currently has a "hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here