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Best Bear Market Funds: Top 3 Investment Options to Consider 2024-03-27 14:58:00+00:00 - Key Points How bear market stock funds mitigate periods of economic downturns. The best mutual funds for a bear market. Many bear market ETFs are leveraged, meaning they’re constructed to amplify the losses and returns. As investors search for safe havens in volatile markets, bear market funds are gaining popularity as a diversified asset class designed to withstand exceptionally volatile markets. While bear market funds can be appealing during periods of economic downturn due to their potential to produce returns against market movements, these funds can also be exceptionally volatile and risky. Read on to learn more about bear market funds, how they are managed and how you can use these funds to complement a more complete overall portfolio. Get analyst upgrade alerts: Sign Up Key Takeaway Bear market funds are stock market funds designed to mitigate overall portfolio performance in poorer economic climates. These funds are most often created with the intention of seeing the best performance when the overall market is down by more than 20%. What is a Bear Market Fund? In the context of the stock market, a bear market is a financial market in the midst of stress and decline. Though specific definitions of when a bear market arrives can vary by definition source, most agree that the telltale sign of a bear market is when the overall market declines by at least 20%. Historically, previous bear markets have hit a low point of 34% on average. The opposite of a bear market is a bull market, in which the entire market sees an increase in prices. While all bear markets end eventually, some investors take preventative steps to mitigate loss during these periods of economic loss. Bear market ETF and mutual funds take a proactive approach to bear markets by using active selling strategies likely to increase the fund’s assets if the overall market sees a loss. Each market fund uses its own strategy to combat losses, with popular strategies including using higher-risk assets and activities like options and futures contracts, as well as scalping and short-selling. The best funds for a bear market will vary over time, thanks to the success or failure of the upper management team. Some examples of top bear market funds currently trading on major exchanges include: ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF: The ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF (NASDAQ: SQQQ) is an exchange-traded fund with inclusions that aim to return three times the inverse of the Nasdaq 100 Index. In other words, this fund is designed to return 3% in growth for each 1% decline the Nasdaq 100 sees. Conversely, if the Nasdaq 100 sees an increase in value, the ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF will see losses. In March of 2024, the SQQQ had more than $3 billion in assets under management, making it one of the largest bear market index funds. ProShares Short S&P500: The ProShares Short S&P500 (NYSE: SH) is another of the top index funds for a bear market, utilizing short-selling strategies to reverse the returns of the S&P 500 index fund. It had a total market capitalization of $1.42 billion and a total of $1.04 billion in assets under management as of March 2024, making it another large-cap ETF option. The is another of the top index funds for a bear market, utilizing short-selling strategies to reverse the returns of the S&P 500 index fund. It had a total market capitalization of $1.42 billion and a total of $1.04 billion in assets under management as of March 2024, making it another large-cap ETF option. Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 3X Shares: The Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 3X Shares (NYSE: SPXS), as the name suggests, seeks to return triple the reverse of the S&P 500. This powerful leveraged fund can result in significant gains during periods of extended economic downturn but may be a riskier investment due to its leveraged assets. It had a total of about $550 million in assets under management as of March 2024, making it a smaller option than both of the best bear market funds from ProShares. Understanding Bear Market Funds How exactly do bear market stock funds mitigate periods of economic downturns? These funds accomplish their goals by taking inverse positions on major assets that make up large, total market indexes. Many of the best bear market index funds track the S&P 500 stock market index, which is a list of the 500 most influential companies in the United States. The strategies that bear market funds use to achieve inverse returns of major indexes vary depending on the fund’s goals. One common strategy is short selling, in which the fund borrows shares of a stock or an ETF from a broker and sells them on the open market at the current price. The fund then waits for the price of the borrowed shares to decline, buys them back at a lower price and returns the shares to the broker, profiting from the price difference. This allows the fund to profit when the underlying index or market declines. Bear market funds may also use derivatives such as futures contracts, options or swaps to achieve inverse exposure to the market. For example, a fund may purchase put options on an index or a stock, which gives the fund the right to sell the underlying asset at a predetermined price within a specified period. If the index or stock price falls below the strike price, the put options gain value, offsetting losses in the fund's other holdings. These active management strategies are usually detailed in the fund’s prospectus, which you can review on the holding company’s website. Some bear market funds are structured as inverse leveraged ETFs, aiming to amplify the inverse index's standard returns. These bear market funds usually aim to produce multiples (such as 2x or 3x) of the inverse daily performance of the index they track. However, it's important to note that leveraged ETFs can be riskier due to the use of leverage, making them unsuitable assets for those with lower risk tolerance. Types of Bear Market Funds There are multiple types of stock market funds, and the best mutual funds for a bear market might vary depending on your desired returns and how you aim to hedge the market. The following are three examples of fund classifications you’ll encounter as you explore index funds in bear markets. ETFs Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are investment funds that trade on stock exchanges, providing investors with diversified exposure to various assets like stocks, bonds, commodities and currencies. These funds combine the features of mutual funds and individual stocks, offering flexibility and lower costs compared to traditional mutual funds. ETFs can be bought and sold throughout the trading day at market prices, making them popular among investors seeking efficient and transparent investment vehicles. Bear market ETFs are popular options for investors, providing instant exposure to some of the best stocks to buy in a bear market without the need to evaluate individual items. Many bear market ETFs are leveraged, meaning that they’re constructed in a way that amplifies the losses and returns of the major index they track. Leveraged bear market ETFs can provide enhanced returns in periods of downturn but can also see sharp losses when the market improves. These assets are particularly risky in the event of a bear market rally, in which investors can see higher than average volatility. Mutual Funds Mutual funds are investment vehicles that pool money from multiple investors in a diversified portfolio of stocks and other assets, similar to an ETF. These funds are priced once a day after the market closes and are bought and sold directly through the fund company, while ETFs trade throughout the day like normal stocks. Mutual funds usually offer greater tax efficiency but provide less flexibility to investors due to their limited purchase routes and available accounts. Examples of major bear market mutual funds include the Rydex Inverse Nasdaq-100 and the Grizzly Short. Index Funds Most bear market funds are structured as index funds. Index funds are mutual funds, ETFs or other collections of stocks that aim to replicate the performance of a market index, a benchmark of stocks used to measure a specific segment of the economy. Common stock indexes that an index fund may replicate include the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Reviewing the underlying index of each bear market fund you’re considering is an important step in research before investing. Pros and Cons of Bear Market Funds Before investing, understanding the pros and cons of investing in the top bear market ETFs and mutual funds is essential. Anticipate and plan for the following potential for both upsides and downsides when investing in these often volatile assets. Pros Diversification: Bear market funds use unique assets not normally incorporated into ETFs and mutual funds in large portions, such as put options. This helps mitigate the overall effects of bear markets and their multiple stages with assets you might have trouble finding included in other funds. Bear market funds use unique assets not normally incorporated into ETFs and mutual funds in large portions, such as put options. This helps mitigate the overall effects of bear markets and their multiple stages with assets you might have trouble finding included in other funds. Hedging option: Hedging is a market strategy that involves strategically investing in assets that are likely to increase in value if the general market declines. Bear market fund ETFs and mutual funds provide an institutional, traditional hedging option with easier liquidation than alternative assets like real estate and precious metals. Liquidity and accessibility: Many bear market fund options are available as ETFs, providing investors with liquidity and easy access to short or inverse strategies without the complexities of directly short-selling securities. They also provide easier buying and selling opportunities than the best mutual funds in the bear market, which do not trade throughout the day like stocks. Cons Higher volatility: Bear market funds can be highly volatile, especially leveraged funds that aim for amplified inverse returns. This volatility can lead to significant fluctuations in fund value and increased risk for investors. Bear market funds can be highly volatile, especially leveraged funds that aim for amplified inverse returns. This volatility can lead to significant fluctuations in fund value and increased risk for investors. Decreases when the market is thriving: Bear market funds use strategies like short selling to reverse the overall market's return or underlying market index. As a result, these funds should only be used strategically, making them less viable long-term investments. Bear market funds use strategies like short selling to reverse the overall market's return or underlying market index. As a result, these funds should only be used strategically, making them less viable long-term investments. Higher fees and expense ratios: The best index funds for a bear market in terms of performance usually use active buying and selling strategies to mitigate market changes. This usually results in higher expense ratios to compensate fund managers and professionals, which you’ll need to take into account when calculating overall return potential. Factors to Consider When Choosing Bear Market Funds Before investing in an index fund in a bear market, be sure to review the following due diligence items. Expense ratio: Review the expense ratio of each ETF or mutual fund before investing and anticipate how these fees will influence returns. Expense ratios above 1% are considered high for these types of actively managed funds. Review the expense ratio of each ETF or mutual fund before investing and anticipate how these fees will influence returns. Expense ratios above 1% are considered high for these types of actively managed funds. Historic performance: Review the fund's historical performance during different market conditions, especially bear markets. Look for consistency in performance and whether the fund has achieved its stated objectives over time, especially when compared to the inverse performance of the market index. While past performance is not a guarantee of future success, it can help investors select assets poised for long-term growth. Review the fund's historical performance during different market conditions, especially bear markets. Look for consistency in performance and whether the fund has achieved its stated objectives over time, especially when compared to the inverse performance of the market index. While past performance is not a guarantee of future success, it can help investors select assets poised for long-term growth. Fund objective and strategy: Each bear market fund will maintain a website and fund prospectus, which details the fund’s unique goals and strategy. Review historic performance in light of the fund’s strategy, and select funds with multiple investing strategies to diversify your holdings further. Strategies for Incorporating Bear Market Funds Incorporating bear market funds into your portfolio as a novice investor can be challenging since these assets tend to be more volatile. Most investors who use bear market funds to complement their portfolio do so as a hedge against loss. This means that they may invest in a small number of leveraged bear market ETFs to limit losses during periods of negative market trends. Another popular strategy for investing ahead of a bear market is to invest in government bonds and bond ETFs, which have historically performed well during periods of market downturn. Government bonds are considered relatively safe investments due to their backing by the government's credit, while bond ETFs offer diversification across a range of bonds, reducing individual credit risk. The interest payments from government bonds and bond ETFs can also provide a steady income stream comparable to dividend payments from individual stocks. If you decide to incorporate bear market funds into your portfolio, be sure to do so only as a small percentage of your overall holdings. We recommend consulting with a financial professional before making significant changes to your portfolio. Monitoring and Rebalancing Bear Market Positions Even the best funds in a bear market hinge on a strategy that bets against the market as a whole. The average bear market lasts about 14 months, with the average overall market decrease being about 32%, while the average bull market produces returns of about 165%. If you decide to invest in bear market funds, make sure that these assets make up only a small percentage of your overall portfolio. Monitor and rebalance your portfolio, especially after seeing desired returns or when the market direction improves. Are Bear Market Funds Worth It? Most bear market funds use complex financial instruments to hedge against loss, making them easier options when compared to individually accessing short-selling tools as a retail trader. However, it’s important to remember that for most investors, attempting to time the market will not result in higher returns when compared to dollar cost averaging. Avoid actively buying and selling assets in your retirement or long-term investment accounts during a bear market. FAQs The following are some answers to your final questions about buying index funds in a bear market and the best funds to weather the market downturn. What is the best fund for the bear market? The ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF is one of the largest bear market funds, with a total of more than $3 billion in assets under management. However, the best fund for a bear market will vary depending on your objectives and goals as an investor. Bond market ETFs tend to display less volatility during bear markets compared to market index ETFs. Where should I put my money in a bear market? In a bear market, keeping your money in your current investments is best, “riding out” the market conditions until they improve. If you do prefer to take a defensive approach to upcoming bear markets, investing more heavily in bonds and more stable sectors like utilities and healthcare can help reduce volatility. What to invest in during a bear market? During a bear market, some investors look to more stable assets like government bonds and consumer staple stocks, which tend to see less volatility during bear markets. Investors with higher risk tolerance may use a bear market to search for value investing opportunities by looking for assets undervalued by the market to invest in ahead of the future. Before you make your next trade, 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. Our team has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and none of the big name stocks were on the list. They believe these five stocks are the five best companies for investors to buy now... See The Five Stocks Here
Is DraftKings A Good Bet Ahead of Q1 Earnings? 2024-03-27 14:45:00+00:00 - Key Points DraftKings analysts are lifting their targets, but the bar is still low; outperformance is the expectation. Record sports betting during March Madness and newly opened territories like North Carolina will drive strength. Analysts are raising their ratings and price targets ahead of the May earnings release, leading the market higher. 5 stocks we like better than DraftKings DraftKings NASDAQ: DKNG is a good bet ahead of fiscal Q1 earnings because analysts underestimate its growth, and tailwinds are blowing the business to record highs. The next release is scheduled for early May, and analysts have been mostly revising upward but have left the bar low. As it is, the consensus estimates reported by Marketbeat.com expect a seasonal sequential decline in revenue and slowing YOY growth that fails to account for March Madness and the opening of its sportsbook to North Carolina residents. March Madness is a top-five sporting event to bet in 2024 and is expected to draw record revenue. Sportsbooks like DraftKings are also likely to significantly improve their hold rates with the growing popularity of in-game betting and parlays, which combine multiple selections into a single bet, raising the stakes and the risk. Get DraftKings alerts: Sign Up Regarding NC, North Carolina opened its borders to online gambling this year, with sites like DraftKings going live just before the NCAA Tournament began. This is significant because North Carolina is a top-six market for sports betting and has two cities in WalletHub’s ranking of top cities for basketball fans. We love our basketball, and rivalries run deep. Early channel checks by GeoComply showed more than 5.25 million geolocation checks from NC in the first 48 hours of live sports betting, a solid figure for a state with about 11 million residents. DraftKings Analysts Are Raising Their Targets and Leading the Market Analysts are bullish on DraftKings, leading the market higher through sentiment and price target revisions. The sentiment has risen to Moderate Buy from Hold in the last twelve months and is verging on a Strong Buy. The consensus price target continues to lag behind the stock price but is up 100% since last year, with all fresh targets above it. The five revisions tracked by Marketbeat.com in March have targets ranging from $52 to $58, suitable for a gain of 6% to 18%. The most recent is from Barclays NYSE: BCS, which upgraded from Equal Weight to Overweight with a price target of $50. In their view, the company still has significant growth ahead of it because the addressable market is more extensive than first forecasted. Even mature states have some upside and will aid long-term margin expansion. Assuming the Q1 release and outlook are as solid as expected, the upward revisions and upgrades should continue through mid-year. Insider Selling Isn’t An Issue For DraftKings: Institutions Are Buying DraftKings Insiders have been selling shares for the last few quarters, and their activity has ramped up, but it isn’t an issue for investors. Insiders and major shareholders have sold only small amounts as the stock rallied higher and still own more than 55% of the shares. Selling will likely continue due to the rising share price but will unlikely alter the price trajectory alone. Institutional activity is ramping up, and this consumer tech stock's net result is bullish. Institutional holders own about 40% of the stock, and ownership is broad, with over nine hundred organizations invested in it and buying activity on the rise. The largest holders are BlackRock NYSE: BLK and Vanguard, with roughly 13.5% net, followed by ARK Investment Management, with 1.5%. DraftKings Is In An Uptrend and Can Rally Higher DraftKings stock price is in an uptrend and can rally higher. However, the next hurdle is just above the current action and may cap gains until the Q1 report is released. In this scenario, the price action may move sideways within the current $40 to $50 range, and a move to the low end is a likely entry point. If the market can sustain upward momentum, it could advance into the $50 to $60 range before May. Before you consider DraftKings, 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 DraftKings wasn't on the list. While DraftKings currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
South Carolina has $1.8 billion in a bank account — and doesn't know where the money came from 2024-03-27 14:06:00+00:00 - IRS has $1B in unclaimed tax refunds IRS has $1B in unclaimed tax refunds 00:25 South Carolina has collected about $1.8 billion in a bank account over the past decade — and doesn't know where the money came from or where it was supposed to go. "It's like going into your bank and the bank president tells you we have a lot of money in our vault but we just don't know who it belongs to," said Republican Sen. Larry Grooms, who is leading a Senate panel investigating the problem. The bank account, which is now being examined by state and private accountants, is the latest trouble with the state's books and comes after South Carolina's top accountant resigned last year. In that case, elected Republican comptroller general Richard Eckstrom stepped down after his agency started double posting money in higher education accounts, leading to a $3.5 billion error that was all on paper. The paper error started during a decade-long transition to a new accounting system, which began in 2007, according to the South Carolina Daily Gazette. But the $1.8 billion involves actual cash placed in a bank account. Now, lawmakers are asking why the money was parked there in first place and why officials never fixed the problem, "This is one of the things that was swept under the rug for years," Grooms told the Daily Gazette. Looking for answers Investigative accountants are still trying to untangle the mess, but it appears that every time the state's books were out of whack, money was shifted from somewhere into an account that helped balance it out, state Senate leaders have said. "Politics really shouldn't come into play. People prefer their accountants not be crusaders," Grooms said Tuesday, just after the Senate approved putting a constitutional amendment before voters to make the comptroller general an appointed position. The proposal now goes to the House. Grooms suggested that an amendment to make the treasurer also appointed might be next unless he can provide some satisfactory answers. Whatever caused the bank account errors has not been rectified, and if there are records showing where the $1.8 billion came from, they have not been shared with state leaders. "It does not inspire confidence. But the good news is no money was lost," Republican Gov. Henry McMaster said. $200 million in interest Elected Republican Treasurer Curtis Loftis, whose job is to write checks for the state, has said he invested the money in the mystery account and made nearly $200 million in interest for the state, which led to questions about why he didn't let the General Assembly know money they either set aside for state agencies or that might have been in a trust fund was just sitting around. Loftis said that wasn't the job of his office. The comptroller general "is attempting to shift responsibility to clean up its mess to the Treasurer," Loftis wrote in a March 14 letter to Grooms that also said a timeline to answer questions in just a few weeks was impossible. Loftis said his staff spent thousands of hours researching the account, and that the Comptroller General's Office has refused to meet with them or share information. In one Facebook comment earlier this month, he asked his followers to "pray for my staff as they are working tremendous hours due to this situation." An audit of how the Treasurer's Office and the Comptroller General's Office communicate found they don't do it well. The treasurer hasn't answered detailed questions from lawmakers but has posted statements on social media where he said he was being attacked politically and was having blame shifted on him by Comptroller General Brian Gaines, a well-respected career government worker who took over the office after Richard Eckstrom resigned during his sixth term. A long history of accounting issues Gaines and Loftis have been called before Grooms' committee next week. Grooms said Gaines has answered every question his subcommittee has asked and that he has confidence in his work. Grooms said he thinks Loftis' office should have found the mistake, but it was reported by the Comptroller General's Office. South Carolina has had a long history of accounting issues. The Treasurer's Office was created when the state's first constitution was written in 1776. Back then, the General Assembly selected the treasurer. But by the early 1800s, the state's finances were in "a state of bewildering confusion" and no one could "tell the amounts of debts or of the credit of the State," according to History of South Carolina, a book edited in 1920 by Yates Snowden and Howard Cutler. The first comptroller general determined the state was due about $750,000, which would be worth about $20 million today considering inflation. Meanwhile, plenty of lawmakers and others are aware there is $1.8 billion sitting around potentially unspent and not appropriated at a time when $3 billion in requests from state agencies went unfulfilled in next year's budget just passed by the South Carolina House. Legislative leaders and the governor want to wait for some definitive report before tapping into the account. "That's a lot of money and there is no need to hurry up and try to spend it," McMaster said.
Mid-Cap Stocks to Outperform the Market This Cycle 2024-03-27 13:45:00+00:00 - Key Points Mid-cap stocks tend to outperform during market cycles; as the U.S. enters a new one, three names quickly become top picks. Each riding on different industry tailwinds, Wall Street strategists couldn't help but start buying them last quarter. Analysts saw the developing stories and started boosting their price targets. 5 stocks we like better than NVIDIA When the economy enters a new cycle, investors must rotate their portfolios accordingly or else live with leaving money on the table. Mid-capitalization stocks outperform all others during an expansionary cycle, such as the one the U.S. is about to witness, so they might rally before the next quarter. Not all stocks are created equal, though; specific names in the consumer discretionary sector, the basic materials space, and even a mix of technology on top of consumer staples products could be the perfect mix to navigate what’s about to come. For these trends, consider stocks like Foot Locker Inc. NYSE: FL, FMC Co. NYSE: FMC, and even Chewy Inc. NYSE: CHWY. Get NVIDIA alerts: Sign Up The Federal Reserve (the Fed) is looking to cut interest rates this year. Though the timing and magnitude of these cuts are still up for speculation, traders are pricing in for May or June 2024. Investors can watch trader sentiment and bets through the FedWatch tool at the CME Group Inc. NASDAQ: CME and notice that a window is quickly closing before potential cuts are here. Foot Locker Became a Target Analysts at Evercore and Guggenheim both boosted their price targets for Foot Locker stock in March 2024, the former pushing for $32 a share and the latter for $30. Both of these targets suggest a double-digit upside of 12% to 19%. Starting there, it is easier for investors to understand how lower interest rates could facilitate consumer financing. Credit cards can offer lower rates on their balances, potentially making consumers more confident in their purchases. Knowing that history tends to repeat itself in consumer names like Foot Locker, analysts are comfortable projecting 46.8% earnings per share (EPS) growth in the next 12 months. The apparel and shoes industry expects to grow its EPS by 18%, giving Foot Locker a more than double rate advantage. Investors can compare Foot Locker’s valuation against the sector and see that, on a price-to-sales (P/S) and price-to-book (P/B) basis, there is a roughly 50% discount. Because Foot Locker is only a $2.5 billion company, its industry-leading growth at a discount may help to push its valuation much higher. A Super Cycle for FMC According to the fourth quarter 2023 earnings presentation hosted by CF Industries Holdings NYSE: CF, the current stocks-to-use ratio against crop futures is at a cyclical inflection point. Now that futures are falling to 2020 levels, bets are that crop inventories could rise soon. Farmers need FMC's products to protect their crops and deliver the underlying economy's needs. Knowing that these crop cycles aren't easy to come by, analysts at the UBS Group NYSE: UBS boosted their valuations for FMC up to $84 a share. These targets call for a rally of up to 34% from today's stock price. Others on Wall Street, such as The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. NYSE: GS, also see the trend. The investment bank increased its position in FMC by 62.8% in the past quarter, a transaction of roughly $20 million. More than that, analysts agree that EPS is set to jump by 31% in the next 12 months. Foot Locker isn’t the only one offering above-average growth at a discount, as FMC’s P/E ratio 6x is 76% below the chemical industry’s 26x valuation. FMC’s management knows that the cycle could be unpredictable at times, so it gives shareholders an annual dividend yield of 3.7% today. This dividend lets investors keep up with inflation and trail the ‘risk-free’ ten-year government yields of 4.2%. At the same time, they wait for the crop cycle to bring FMC’s potential profits. Unexpected Safety in Chewy Stock Part of the low-beta stocks group, Chewy’s business model is set to keep its shareholders on a relatively smooth ride while still growing. Whether the economy is booming or busting, pet owners still need to care for their pets’ needs. But the benefits don’t stop there. Also considered one of the technology names, Chewy stock has yet to feel the contagion of the all-time highs made over at Nvidia Co. NASDAQ: NVDA. However, a 162% advance in EPS might do the trick for a potential catch-up. Goldman analysts boosted their price targets in March 2024, this time seeing a valuation as high as $32 for Chewy. If these predictions are correct, it would mean a 109% rally for the stock. No wonder the Vanguard Group also upped its stake by 13.5% in the past quarter, a $30 million purchase. Before you consider NVIDIA, 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 NVIDIA wasn't on the list. While NVIDIA currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
How and When to Roll Your Options Positions? 2024-03-27 13:32:00+00:00 - Trading stock options takes timing, especially when based on chart patterns. One of the key frustrations with directional options trades happens when the expected move takes place after an upcoming options expiration. Traders should have the ability to reassess their premises for taking and staying in a trade and make necessary and timely adjustments. This is a given when trading stocks in any stock sector, and it can be when trading options. You’ve likely experienced looking in the rearview mirror and seeing your stock make the intended move just after your expiration hit. If only you could have held to the next expiration. If that's ever happened to you, then consider rolling your options. Get Rumble alerts: Sign Up Time and Price Adjustments Time can often remedy your options trades by giving the trade more time to play out. Rolling options enable you to make time adjustments to your trade as needed by extending the expiration dates. Your price targets may need to be adjusted. Rolling options enable you to do this as well. Rolling options enable you to adjust your expiration date and strike price. Whether you are in a position of profits or losses, rolling options enable you to adjust as needed as long as you stick to a plan. Rolling options can be used on directional trades, debit spreads or covered calls. What are Rolling Options? Rolling options involves closing out your existing options position while simultaneously opening a new options position for the same underlying stock. Most brokers that enable this feature allow you to place the order, and the platform will simultaneously attempt to execute both orders. You can manually close out and open a new position without the feature, but it may not be simultaneous or quick. Ad MarketBeat Your $200 account credit is about to expire Update to MarketBeat All Access and Save $300 on Your Annual Subscription Start Your Risk-Free Trial Here Rolling Options is Not a Failsafe Be aware that when you close out your position, gains or losses are booked. Rolling over options doesn't protect you from losses. It actually cuts your losses. Therefore, you must have a game plan and firm premises intact whenever you roll over a losing position. Be aware of the options Greeks if you are taking directional trades because Theta is not on your side. Do Rolling Options Trigger a Wash Sale? The wash rule prevents you from claiming loss deductions if you sell a stock or security at a loss and repurchase it or a substantially identical security within 30 days of the sale. Rolling over options closes out the position, but it doesn't trigger the wash rule. Despite making a simultaneous trade with the same underlying security, you are utilizing either different strikes, expirations calls or puts. The differing factors of the new opening options position prevent it from being qualified as identical securities and avoid the wash rule. If you sell a stock and buy an identical option, then it falls under the wash rule. If you close an option positive and repurchase it with the same strike and expiration, it can fall under the wash rule. The wash rule aims to prevent investors from taking a tax deduction for securities they still own. When to Roll Options There are many reasons why you would roll your options. You may not want to hold the position into expiration and seek to expand the expiration date. You may want to adjust your position. You may want to protect profits, cut losses, and reverse a losing position. When rolling your options to a higher strike price, usually protects profits when you are . When rolling options to extend the expiration date, buying more time on an out-of-the-money (ITM) losing position is usually used. Three Ways to Roll Options There are three directions to roll options. The first two involve adjusting the strike prices, and the last involves extending the expiration date. You can roll them up when your position is profitable and you expect the price to rise higher. For example, your ABC 55 calls are in the money, but the chart looks stronger for a higher move, so you roll them to the 60 calls. You can roll options down to a lower strike price and keep the same expiration. This adjustment improves the potential to get ITM without having to pay an extra time premium. It involves closing the position and opening a new one at a lower strike price but keeping the same expiration date. You can roll options out by extending the expiration date. If your ABC calls are out-of-the-money (OTM) with a week left until expiration, you may opt to roll it out to the next month's expiration. This extends the life of the trade, giving it more time to play out. You can also decide to adjust both the strike and expiration date as well if your strategy calls for it. How to Roll Options Most brokerage platforms and apps provide a feature that enables you to roll a position or roll an option. By selecting this feature for the option position you are holding, you can pick which strike price and expiration date to roll over to. Check with your brokerage for specific instructions. Doing it through the in-platform or in-app feature is more seamless as it gets done nearly simultaneously. If you don't have that feature, then you would manually close out the existing position and open the new position. This will take more time and can involve more slippage. Placing the Trade Let's use an example the video-sharing platform Rumble Inc. NASDAQ: RUM. The weekly candlestick chart on RUM illustrates a bull flag breakout. The weekly relative strength index (RSI) is rising again towards the 70-band. Since this is a wider time frame chart, the price range is also much wider as trend moves can form and continue to move for extended periods. Since the position is ITM, we expect it to continue higher for the coming weeks to months. We decide to roll up the option position from the $8 strike price to the $10 strike price. Since we own 1 RUM $8 call expiring on Jan. 17, 2025, we can select the roll position feature and pick the new position, which will be the RUM $10 call with the same expiration. The result of this roll-up will be a 60-cent credit, which is a profit that we booked while extending the upside potential on the trade. Rolling Provides Agility Rolling options enable you to adjust your strike price or expiration with the changes in your strategy. They can be used to book profits on ITM positions and buy time in OTM positions. The most important aspect is the agility it provides you when in an options position so that you don't have to be "stuck" in a position. Be sure to plan out your strategy ahead of time and stay nimble.
Low VIX? 3 High Beta Stocks To Boost Your Returns 2024-03-27 13:01:00+00:00 - Key Points The VIX reached levels not seen since last year, making high-beta stocks more attractive for investors seeking to maximize returns. Three stocks are top picks as institutions keep buying them and analysts keep boosting their price targets, all tied to one macro play. Double-digit upside and the chance to boost your returns are the qualities in this potential portfolio. 5 stocks we like better than J.B. Hunt Transport Services The stock market’s volatility index (VIX) is now below 13%, a level not seen since the fourth quarter of 2023. Typically, when the VIX is this low, investors start looking for stocks that can offer them a more exciting ride in the markets. These volatile stocks can be termed high-beta names because they amplify any up–and–down move that the S&P 500 has. Sticking around with the safety of low beta stocks is a strategy that works with a high VIX as investors look to get a tighter grip on their profit and loss (P/L) swings. However, this low VIX environment calls for more hands-on management, which is why names like Marathon Oil Co. NYSE: MRO, XPO Inc. NYSE: MRO, and especially Tesla Inc. NASDAQ: TSLA can become top choices soon. Get JBHT alerts: Sign Up These companies can be part of a broader play in the U.S. economy by relying on specific tailwinds. The market may have priced in potential interest rate cuts coming by the Federal Reserve (the Fed), giving it a – maybe unjustified – sense of safety. Safety Checks Ahead Traders are betting these interest rate cuts could come as soon as May or June 2024; investors can keep up with these expectations through the FedWatch tool at the CME Group Inc. NASDAQ: CME in case they change. If they change, markets could throw a major tantrum. Investors could take advantage of this low VIX window until the Fed fulfills its promises. Because the expectation of lower interest rates will boost manufacturing and consumer activity, oil prices have been rising, helping energy stocks like Marathon Oil. On the other hand, more economic activity will require stocks like XPO to aid through its robust logistics and transportation network, as goods must be delivered on the back of economic tailwinds. Last but not least, Tesla stock could rebound from its recent decline. As that stock now trades at only 60% of its 52-week high, higher oil prices may make electric cars more attractive, and low-interest rates may make car financing easier. Marathon Oil For an Expensive Barrel Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. NYSE: GS think that oil prices could reach $100 per barrel this year, making oil stocks an indispensable part of a portfolio with lower interest rates. Of course, markets won't randomly choose any oil stock, so why Marathon? Competitors like Shell NYSE: SHEL and even Exxon Mobil Co. NYSE: XOM must catch up in what matters most. As stock prices are typically driven by earnings per share (EPS) growth, analysts give Marathon a path to outperform. An expectation for 20% EPS growth in the next 12 months justifies Marathon as a target. Analysts think that Shell could grow its own EPS by roughly 5%, and Exxon by 10%. Despite their global recognition, these behemoths still fall behind Marathon, and investors may be looking for the high beta and high-growth character in this low VIX environment. The Market Calls on XPO If Goldman is right, and oil prices surge due to an increase in manufacturing activity, then all of these newly produced goods will have to find their way to consumers. Transportation stocks like XPO may be called upon to fulfill this coming need from the global economy. The market is on board with picking XPO as a winner; analysts at Bank of America Co. NYSE: BAC boosted their price targets to $137 a share. These price targets would call for a net upside of 11.5% from where the stock trades today. Wall Street institutions like PNC Financial Services Group Inc. NYSE: PNC and the Vanguard Group saw the trend coming, so they both increased their positions in the past quarter. Vanguard bought most until March 2024, boosting its exposure by 1.2% for roughly $11.4 million. These analysts expect XPO’s EPS to jump by 36% this year, above the trucking industry’s average expected growth of only 23.3%. Peers like J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. NASDAQ: JBHT also fall behind in its 21% EPS growth projection. Tesla’s New Discount Tesla stock fell to only 60% of its 52-week high prices, and its 2.4 beta makes it a name to be considered in case the VIX decides to stay this low. Wedbush analysts see a price target of up to $315 for Tesla, which is nearly 80% higher than today’s stock price. March was the month when analysts boosted their targets and the period when Vanguard decided to add to their Tesla position. An increase of 1.7% meant a transaction of nearly $971 million. Lower interest rates during 2021 brought the stock to its all-time high price of $414 a share; history may repeat itself now that the Fed is looking to cut again. Likewise, the stock hit its 2023 high of $300 right as oil prices reached their high for the year at $95 a barrel. Counting on a double tailwind in interest rates and expensive oil, Tesla stock could soon come back to its former glory. Before you consider J.B. Hunt Transport Services, 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 J.B. Hunt Transport Services wasn't on the list. While J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
GameStop Stock Downtrend Is Intact: The End Game Draws Near 2024-03-27 12:47:00+00:00 - Key Points GameStop had a rough and tumble quarter, missing estimates on the top and bottom lines. The company continues to burn cash and is not expected to stop in F2024. Analysts peg the stock at sell, institutional interest is low, and short-sellers are out in force, so new lows are likely. 5 stocks we like better than GameStop Shares of GameStop NYSE: GME have been trending lower ever since the meme stock frenzy first spiked, and the downtrend is intact. The company continues to bleed business and cash, putting it in a downward spiral, and investors should flee. The stock is still tradable, but bullish traders beware; one day’s gains will likely turn into losses tomorrow, next week, and next year. As appealing as the business model is, it relies on a niche, after-market business that has yet to produce sustainable growth or profitability and probably never will. If you are wondering what the end-game for this stock is, the most likely scenario is to revert to the pre-meme price points below $5. Get GameStop alerts: Sign Up No Game In GameStop Q4 Results GameStop had a weak quarter in Q4, missing the Marketbeat.com consensus estimates on the top and bottom lines. The company brought in $1.79 billion in net revenue for a decline of 19.7% YOY that missed the consensus by 1200 basis points as clients cut back on hardware, software, and collectibles. Hardware posted the smallest decline, 12% YOY, led by a 25% decline in collectibles and a 30% contraction in software. Sales are impacted by inflation and interest rates, which are pinching consumer discretionary dollars, and there is the AI factor to consider. With AI on the rise and expected to be embedded into games and consoles, the gaming market may sit back and wait for next-gen equipment rather than double down on the old stuff. As it is, the next-gen consoles aren’t expected to be launched for a few more years. However, tech leaders Microsoft NASDAQ: MSFT and Sony NYSE: SONY are expected to release intermediate upgrades in the interim. Margin is a brighter spot in the report but insufficient to alter the outlook. The company improved the margin sequentially and turned cash flow positive for the quarter, but the full-year results and impact on the balance sheet are less than savory. The company's cash flow was negative for the year, resulting in a 20% decline in cash and equivalents despite the 7.3% decline in inventory. Inventory stands at $632.5 million and continues to be a risk; the longer it sits, the less appealing and harder to sell it is. Earnings are positive but, again, insufficient to alter the outlook. The quarterly profit is insufficient to offset the annual loss, the company’s final and best quarter of the year. With the next three quarters expected to show sustained contraction, this situation will not change. The likely scenario is that GameStop will continue to bleed cash as it slowly circles the drain, posting another loss in F2025. The company offered no commentary or guidance or held a conference call. Don’t Buy GameStop Until Serious Money Gets Involved Aside from CEO and Chairman Ryan Cohen, serious money is avoiding GameStop. Wedbush is the only firm to offer a rating, and they have the stock pegged at Sell with a price target of $5.60. That’s 65% below the current price action and a likely target. Institutional interest is near 30%, but don’t read too much into that. It’s a small amount for a company with promise. There is also the short interest to consider. Short interest was near 20% at the last report and may increase now that price action is tracking for another fresh low. The price action is not good for the bulls. This market is in a protracted downtrend, and the trend was confirmed following the release. The 18% price implosion shows strong resistance at the 150-day and 30-day EMAs, aligning with downward price action. The stock is still above critical support at the recent low, so there is some hope. If the market can sustain that level, it may not move any lower. However, if this market falls below $12.18, it may quickly hit the $5 level. Before you consider GameStop, 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 GameStop wasn't on the list. While GameStop currently has a "Sell" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
As immigration debate swirls, Girl Scouts quietly welcome hundreds of young migrant girls 2024-03-27 12:32:00+00:00 - Kids caught in the middle of political battle between N.Y., Texas over asylum seeker crisis Kids caught in the middle of political battle between N.Y., Texas over asylum seeker crisis 02:23 Once a week in a midtown Manhattan hotel, dozens of Girl Scouts gather in a spare room made homey by string lights and children's drawings. They earn badges, go on field trips to the Statue of Liberty, and learn how to navigate the subway in a city most have just begun to call home. They are the newest members of New York City's largest Girl Scout troop. And they live in an emergency shelter where 170,000 asylum seekers and migrants, including tens of thousands of children, have arrived from the southern border since the spring of 2022. As government officials debate how to handle the influx of new arrivals, the Girl Scouts — whose Troop 6000 has served kids who live in the shelter system since 2017 — are quietly welcoming hundreds of the city's youngest new residents with the support of donations. Most of the girls have fled dire conditions in South and Central America and endured an arduous journey to the U.S. What is Troop 6000? Launched by the Girl Scouts of Greater New York in 2017, Girl Scouts Troop 6000 is a program for girls living in the New York City Shelter System. There were 21,774 families living in the city's homeless shelters in December 2023, according to data from the Coalition for the Homeless. Of those, 33,399 were children. Last year, Troop 6000 opened its newest branch at a hotel-turned-shelter in Midtown Manhattan, one of several city-funded relief centers for migrants. Though hundreds of families sleep at the shelter every night, the Girl Scouts is the only children's program offered. Unflagging support amid anti-immigrant sentiment Last January, the Girl Scouts expanded its Troop 6000 program to serve more than 100 young arrivals living in New York City Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center, according to a statement at the time. The group began recruiting at the shelter and rolled out a bilingual curriculum to help scouts learn more about New York City through its monuments, subway system, and political borders. One year later, with nearly 200 members and five parents as troop leaders, the shelter is the largest of Troop 6000's roughly two dozen sites across the city and the only one exclusively for asylum-seekers. Not everybody is happy about the evolution of Troop 6000. With anti-immigrant rhetoric on the rise and a contentious election ahead, some donors see the Girl Scouts as wading too readily into politically controversial waters. That hasn't fazed the group — or their small army of philanthropic supporters. Amid city budget cuts and a growing need for services, they are among dozens of charities that say their support for all New Yorkers, including newcomers, is more important than ever. "There are some donors who would prefer their dollars go elsewhere," said Meridith Maskara, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Greater New York. "I am constantly being asked: Don't you find this a little too political?" But Troop 6000 has also found plenty of sympathetic supporters, "If it has to do with young girls in New York City, then it's not political," Maskara said. "It's our job." With few other after-school opportunities available, the girls are "so hungry for more" ways to get involved, said Giselle Burgess, senior director of the Girl Scouts of New York's Troop 6000. New York City, charities feeling the crunch New York City has spent billions on the asylum seekers while buckling under the pressure of an existing housing and affordability crisis. That's left little time to court and coordinate the city's major philanthropies. "It's very hard to take a step back when you're drinking out of a fire hose," said Beatriz de la Torre, chief philanthropy officer at Trinity Church Wall Street, which gave the Girl Scouts a $100,000 emergency grant — plus $150,000 in annual support — to help expand Troop 6000. With or without government directives, she said, charities are feeling the crunch: Food banks need more food. Legal clinics need more lawyers. Since asylum-seekers began arriving to the city, around 30 local grant makers, including Trinity Church and Brooklyn Org, have met at least biweekly to discuss the increased demands on their grantees. Together, they've provided over $25 million for charities serving asylum seekers, from free legal assistance to resources for navigating the public school system. "It's hard for the government to be that nimble — that's a great place for nonprofits and philanthropy," said Eve Stotland, senior program officer at New York Community Trust, which convenes the Working Group for New York's Newcomers, and itself has distributed over $2.7 million in grants for recent immigrants. "These are our neighbors," said Stotland. "If a funder's goal is to make New York City a better place for everyone, that includes newcomers."
5 Dividend Kings Stocks to Load Up on Now 2024-03-27 11:45:00+00:00 - Key Points Dividend Kings are stocks you buy repeatedly, targeting them when they are down for maximum returns. Dividend Kings offer above-average verging on high yields when trading at long-term lows. The stocks on this list are trading at significant lows, pay high yields, can sustain dividend growth, and are on track to rebound. 5 stocks we like better than Federal Realty Investment Trust Dividend Kings are high-quality income investments for long-term-oriented investors. Investors don't buy these stocks once and forget about them; they buy them repeatedly, building solid positions that drive portfolio value. Among the qualities of Dividend Kings is the ability to withstand economic cycles, market downturns and lapses in growth to come back better and stronger than before. The trick is knowing when to buy them, but the adage rings true: buy them when they are down. Get FRT alerts: Sign Up Northwest Natural Is a High-Yielding King to Buy Now Northwest Natural NYSE: NWN is a high-yielding Dividend King, paying more than 5.25% with shares at a multi-year low. The multi-year low is due to a lack of interest in natural gas utilities; the company has sustained operations, invested in growth, and paid substantial dividends the entire time its stock price trended lower. The takeaways are that the company is set up to continue sustaining its dividend and that the business is growing. Analysts also expect a significant margin expansion and earnings growth, improving the payout ratio and lowering it below 70%. Analysts rate the stock as a Hold and have trimmed their targets recently but still see deep value in it. The lowest price target is above the current price action, and consensus forecasts a 27% upside. Federal Realty Investment Trust: Investing in Retail with Retail Estate Federal Realty Investment Trust NYSE: FRT specializes in high-quality retail real estate properties across the United States. Its strategy allows exposure to the retail industry while minimizing risk to investors. The company earns rent, not sales, and is locked into long-term contracts. The stock yields nearly 4.4%, trading near the long-term low, and is reliably safe. The firm has paid and sustained annual distribution increases for 55 years and is on track to continue with increases for the foreseeable future. Analysts rate the stock as a Moderate Buy and see it advancing about 2% at the low end of their range. The consensus implies about 15% and may be reached soon. Stanley Black & Decker Turned a Corner in 2023 Stanley Black & Decker NYSE: SWK hit the skids in 2023 because of a lack of growth and profitability. That changed late in the year, and now it is on track to produce profits and pivot back to growth later this year. Analysts expect top and bottom-line growth to continue in 2025, which is good news for the dividend. The payout ratio went above 100% in 2023 because of the struggle, which caused the company to lean on its balance sheet for support. With profits and growth in the forecast, the payout ratio is back at sustainable levels. This stock yields 3.45%, with shares at a multi-year low. Analysts tracked by Marketbeat rate it as a Hold with a price target steady over the past year. As it is, consensus implies fair value for the stock at current levels, but that may change later in the year. FOMC rate cuts will reinvigorate the construction market. Hormel’s 3.3% Dividend Is Tasty at These Levels Hormel Food's NYSE: HRL shares hit bottom ahead of the FQ1 earnings report and rebounded higher. The consumer staples company outperformed its Q1 consensus figures and reaffirmed guidance, signaling that the pivot back to growth would gain momentum. Analysts hailed the news and started lifting their targets, although it may not become a tailwind until later in the year. As it is, the consensus rating reported by Marketbeat persists at Reduce, with a consensus target 10% below the recent action. Target Analysts Aim for Higher Share Prices Target’s NYSE: TGT shares are moving higher following a solid rebound affirmed by the latest earnings release. The market for Target shares is continuing to melt up on improving results and an outlook that includes a return to growth next year. Analysts rate this stock as a Moderate Buy, leading the market higher with revisions. The consensus is only 3% above current action but is up 15% following the earnings release, with most fresh targets well above. Before you consider Federal Realty Investment Trust, 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 Federal Realty Investment Trust wasn't on the list. While Federal Realty Investment Trust currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
Stock market today: Asian shares meander after S&P 500 sets another record 2024-03-27 08:23:13+00:00 - BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mixed on Thursday after U.S. stocks broke out of a three-day lull to close at a record. Oil prices advanced, while U.S. futures edged lower. The dollar remained strong against the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, a trend that has unsettled regulators in both Tokyo and Beijing. The dollar rose to 151.37 yen from 151.30 yen. The euro slipped to $1.0822 from $1.0828. On Wednesday, the yen dipped to its lowest level since 1990, and Japanese officials reiterated their desire for stability in exchange rates. “As the yen continues to show vulnerability, market participants will be vigilant for any hints of possible intervention in the currency market by Japanese policymakers,” Anderson Alves of ActivTrades said in a commentary. The dollar bought 7.2286 yuan. It also has weakened against the dollar in recent weeks. “We continue to think that policymakers in China and Japan will do enough to keep their currencies from weakening much further, but the risk of a break lower in one, or both, is increasing,” Jonas Goltermann of Capital Economics said in a report. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 1.2% to 40,283.44. The Kospi in Seoul also fell, edging 0.1% lower to 2,751.22. Chinese markets recouped losses from the day before. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 1.1% to 16,579.99, while the Shanghai Composite advanced 1.2% to 3,029.01. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 0.9% to 7,887.00. Taiwan’s Taiex was little changed. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 climbed 0.9% to a record 5,248.49 in its first gain since setting its last all-time high on March 21. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1.2% to 39,760.08, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.5% to 16,399.52. Both finished a bit shy of their own records. Merck climbed 5% after federal regulators approved its treatment for adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension, a rare disease where blood vessels in the lungs thicken and narrow. Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group rose another 14.2%. The company behind the money-losing Truth Social platform has zoomed well beyond what critics say is rational, as fans of former president Donald Trump keep pushing it higher. Robinhood Markets climbed 3.7% after unveiling its first credit card, which is reserved for its subscription-paying Gold members, along with other new products. On the losing end of Wall Street was Nvidia, which slumped to a second straight loss after rocketing 91% higher for the year so far, loosing 2.5%. GameStop tumbled 15% after delivering a profit for the latest quarter and a drop in revenue from the prior year. It’s the original meme stock, predating Trump Media by years. This week’s highlight for markets may arrive Friday, when the U.S. government releases the latest monthly update on spending by U.S. consumers. It will include the measure of inflation that the Federal Reserve prefers to use as it sets interest rates. Both the U.S. bond and stock markets will be closed for Good Friday. That could cause some anticipatory trades to bunch up on Thursday, the last trading day of the year’s first quarter. The S&P 500 is on track for a fifth straight winning month and has been roaring higher since late October. The U.S. economy has remained remarkably resilient despite high interest rates meant to get inflation under control. Plus, the Federal Reserve looks set to start lowering interest rates this year because inflation has cooled from its peak. But critics say a broader range of companies will need to deliver strong profit growth to justify the big moves in prices. Progress on bringing inflation down has also become bumpier recently, with reports this year coming in hotter than expected. Still, the broad expectation among traders is for the Federal Reserve to begin cutting its main interest rate in June. Stocks generally tend to do the best when more than half the world’s central banks are easing interest rates, according to Ned Davis Research. The world is not there yet, but several central banks have already begun cutting recently, like Switzerland’s, and it could happen later this year. In other trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 38 cents to $81.73 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, added 33 cents to $85.74 per barrel.
Stock market today: Stocks fade into the close as Nasdaq lags 2024-03-27 05:37:00+00:00 - US stocks reversed gains late in Tuesday's trading day as markets continued to take a breather from a record-setting run that's become the story on Wall Street during the first quarter of the year. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC), which was on pace for a record close, fell late in the session to close down roughly 0.4%. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) dipped nearly 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) dropped about 0.1%. On Tuesday, the focus turned to economic data. Durable goods orders rebounded during the month of February, rising 1.4% last month amid increases in transportation equipment and machinery orders, according to the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. In other economic news, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index rose 6% in January from a year ago, up from December's 5.6% gain. January's annual increase was the highest since 2022. Meanwhile, a fresh reading on US consumer confidence showed consumers are feeling less confident about the future state of the US economy. According to new data released Tuesday morning, The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index for March came in at a reading of 104.7, little changed from a revised 104.8 in February. However, the "Expectations Index," which tracks consumers' short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions, fell to 73.8 in March from 76.3 last month. Historically, a reading below 80 in that category signals a recession in the coming year. All of the data this week serve as appetizers for the main event on Friday, when the government will release the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, otherwise known as PCE. That contains the Federal Reserve's preferred look at the pace of inflation, in the form of "core" PCE growth. In company news, former President Donald Trump's social media company made its Wall Street debut after merging with Digital World Acquisition Corp. Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (DJT), which had risen more than 50% earlier in the session, finished the day up 16%.
GameStop cuts jobs, quarterly revenue falls 2024-03-27 04:13:00+00:00 - (Reuters) -Videogame retailer GameStop said on Tuesday it had cut an unspecified number of jobs to reduce costs and reported lower fourth-quarter revenue amid rising competition from e-commerce firms and weak consumer spending in an uncertain economy. Shares of the Grapevine, Texas-based company tumbled 15% in extended trade after the results. U.S. videogame publishers Take-Two Interactive Software and Electronic Arts also delivered lackluster earnings last month as the gaming industry faces pressure from high borrowing costs, sticky inflation and a slowdown in demand from pandemic peaks. GameStop posted revenue of $1.79 billion for the fourth quarter, compared with $2.23 billion a year earlier. The videogame retailer's recent cost-reduction measures also included an exit from its operations in Ireland, Switzerland and Austria. On an adjusted basis, the company reported fourth-quarter earnings per share of 22 cents, compared with 16 cents a year earlier. GameStop has also been grappling with the ongoing shift to digital sales of video games and competition from online retailers such as Amazon.com and Ebay. (Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese and Priyanka.G in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
This American City Is Offering $1 Homes In Its Crime-Filled Neighborhoods, Sparking Concerns of Gentrification And Violence 2024-03-27 04:00:00+00:00 - With home affordability near its lowest level in over 40 years because of high mortgage rates and home prices, being able to purchase a home for $1 might seem impossible. However, the city of Baltimore is offering a deal intended to attract new homebuyers. It's practically giving away houses. An estimated 13,000 homes in Baltimore are vacant with the city owning about 1,000 of them. Don't Miss: For now, 200 of these properties have been approved to be marketed to Baltimore residents who commit to both living in and fixing up the properties, with city officials saying properties in the program are in the city's most "stressed" housing markets. The program was approved despite objections from City Council President Nick Mosby, who said that the new policy left him "deeply concerned." "If affordability and affordable home ownership and equity and all of the nice words we like to use are really at the core competency as it relates to property disposition, this is a really bad policy ... because it doesn't protect or prioritize the rights of folks in these communities," Mosby said. Other city officials pushed back on the characterization, pointing out that there is a 90-day window that gives Baltimore locals the right to buy before outsiders are allowed to make bids. Trending: Fortnite’s creator company greenlights partial ownership for investors in the upcoming series. It's worth noting that the $1 deal isn't available to everyone — just individual buyers and community land trusts. Still, developers would only have to pay $3,000, leading to possible opportunities for large profits if home values in the areas increase. Story continues While the chance to get a home for $1 might sound like anyone could participate in the city's offerings, a prospective buyer needs to be able to afford the costs to make many of these vacant homes safe to live in. To help contribute to the initiative, the city is also giving out home-repair grants of up to $50,000 to individuals who prequalify for a construction loan. Resident Maurice Brock warned of the dangers from these properties, telling WJZ-TV in Baltimore, "There are so many risks and hazards associated with these vacant properties ... it’s a definite safety risk for citizens, for city employees and firefighters." Given that the city of Baltimore regularly ranks in the top five U.S. cities for violent crime, safety concerns are valid, especially as these properties are already in some of the toughest areas of the city. Prospective homeowners or investors looking to invest in real estate without the headache of owning the actual property can consider purchasing real estate investment trust (REIT) stocks or buying into a fund such as the Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund ETF (NYSE:VNQ), which invests in a diversified basket of REITs. Read More: This startup coined “eBay for gamers” with a breathtaking track record has opened up a window to invest in its future growth . US military-backed AI robotics company announces new equity raise for regular investors, here’s how to buy shares and potentially own a stake. "ACTIVE INVESTORS' SECRET WEAPON" Supercharge Your Stock Market Game with the #1 "news & everything else" trading tool: Benzinga Pro - Click here to start Your 14-Day Trial Now! Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article This American City Is Offering $1 Homes In Its Crime-Filled Neighborhoods, Sparking Concerns of Gentrification And Violence originally appeared on Benzinga.com © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
J&J in talks to buy Shockwave Medical, WSJ reports 2024-03-27 03:38:00+00:00 - FILE PHOTO: The logo of Johnson & Johnson is seen on the top of a Brussels' office of the company in Diegem (Reuters) -Johnson & Johnson is in talks to buy medical device maker Shockwave Medical, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, as the healthcare giant potentially looks to expand its presence in cardiovascular devices. Shockwave, a company that makes devices to treat heart disease, has a market capitalization of around $11 billion, according to LSEG data. A deal could be finalized in the coming weeks if talks don't fall apart and it is also possible another suitor could emerge, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. It did not mention the value of the deal. WSJ's is the latest media report on a potential bid for Shockwave Medical after Bloomberg News reported last year that Boston Scientific was weighing an offer for the heart device maker. When contacted for comment on the WSJ report, J&J and Shockwave Medical said they do not comment on rumors or speculation. News of the talks lifted shares of Shockwave Medical up 11.5% in afternoon trade. The company makes a device which uses shockwaves to break down calcified plaque in heart vessels, similar to how kidney stones are treated. J&J said last year it was looking for opportunities to merge with or acquire firms that could add value to its own portfolio of cardiovascular products, adding that many of its future deals would likely be small "tuck-in" acquisitions. In 2022, the company acquired heart pump maker Abiomed for $16.6 billion. (Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh, Mariam Sunny and Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
Larry Fink Calls on Baby Boomers to Fix ‘Retirement Crisis’ 2024-03-27 02:43:00+00:00 - (Bloomberg) -- BlackRock Inc. Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink warned of a looming “retirement crisis” facing the US and called on baby boomers to help younger generations save enough for their own futures. Most Read from Bloomberg That, he said, will prevent them from becoming disillusioned with capitalism and politics in coming years. With people living longer lives but struggling to afford them and plan properly, Fink used his annual letter as chairman of the world’s largest asset manager to urge corporate leaders and politicians to pursue “an organized, high-level effort” to rethink the retirement system. More than half of BlackRock’s $10 trillion of client assets are managed for retirement. “It’s no wonder younger generations, Millennials and Gen Z, are so economically anxious,” Fink wrote in the letter to BlackRock investors Tuesday. “They believe my generation – the baby boomers – have focused on their own financial well-being to the detriment of who comes next. And in the case of retirement, they’re right.” Why Slow-Burn Pension Crisis Is Getting Harder to Fix: QuickTake Young people “have lost trust in older generations,” Fink wrote. “The burden is on us to get it back. And maybe investing for their long-term goals, including retirement, isn’t such a bad place to begin.” Fink said members of the boomer generation in positions of corporate leadership and politics have an obligation to help fix the system, and he questioned whether age 65 should still be the conventional notion of when people retire. Individuals are eligible for Social Security benefits as early as age 62, and those born after 1960 are considered at full retirement age at 67. Medicare health insurance coverage starts at 65. Story continues “No one should have to work longer than they want to,” Fink wrote. “But I do think it’s a bit crazy that our anchor idea for the right retirement age – 65 years old – originates from the time of the Ottoman Empire.” By mid-century, a sixth of people globally will be over 65, up from 1-in-11 in 2019, Fink said, citing data from the United Nations. Almost half of Americans age 55 to 65 didn’t have money in personal retirement accounts, he said, referring to 2022 US Census data. “The federal government has prioritized maintaining entitlement benefits for people my age (I’m 71) even though it might mean that Social Security will struggle to meet its full obligations when younger workers retire,” Fink wrote. Fink said BlackRock will announce a series of partnerships and initiatives over the coming months to weigh major questions, including the average age of retirement and how to encourage older Americans to continue working if they want to do so. The decline of defined benefit pensions has also made it more challenging for people, including those who have saved conscientiously on their own, to understand how much they can spend in retirement, he added. “The shift from defined benefit to defined contribution has been, for most people, a shift from financial certainty to financial uncertainty,” Fink said. Fink told Bloomberg TV in an interview with David Westin that certain parts of private markets are “great investments” for retirement, particularly infrastructure. Increasing Criticism In the more than a decade since Fink began writing high-profile annual letters to corporate executives and shareholders, BlackRock client assets have surged to more than $10 trillion, with significant stakes in companies, private assets and bond markets worldwide. The letters, typically published at the beginning of each year, have given Fink and the company a powerful say on social and political issues — and have drawn increasing criticism from all corners. The focus on retirement this year emphasizes a core part of BlackRock’s investing business since its start in 1988 and follows several years in which Fink used his letters to press for greater action on global warming, only to then find himself — and the company — in a political maelstrom. Climate change advocates say the firm isn’t taking strong enough action, while Republicans criticize Fink and BlackRock for allegedly hurting fossil-fuel producing states and promoting “woke” capitalism. Earlier this month, Texas officials said they would divest $8.5 billion in school-finance funds from BlackRock and criticized the firm for hurting energy interests in the state. Fink said he has stopped using the term ESG and over the past year has emphasized the company’s work with energy firms. BlackRock has scaled back its participation in international climate investing alliances, and it has given clients more say over how their shares are voted at company meetings instead of relying on the money manager to vote. In the letter, Fink said he is now focused on “energy pragmatism.” Decarbonization and the transition to clean technologies will take time, he said, and countries increasingly want to make sure they have reliable and safe access to energy sources, particularly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. BlackRock has more than $300 billion invested in traditional energy firms and $138 billion in energy transition strategies, he said. More comments from Fink’s letter: The US public debt situation “is more urgent than I can ever remember,” and the 3 percentage points in extra interest payments the US government now must pay on 10-year Treasuries compared with three years ago is “very dangerous” Private partnerships with governments are how large infrastructure projects will be built in the future, and BlackRock’s $12.5 billion acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners positions the firm to grow in the industry BlackRock is “particularly excited” about the business opportunity for the firm’s bond managers given the surge in yields after 15 years of a low-rate environment and because clients are reconsidering their fixed-income allocations (Updates with quote from Bloomberg TV interview in 12th paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek ©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Jerry Levin, known as the CEO who pushed for the ‘worst merger in corporate history,’ is less known for falling on his sword for the $350 billion deal later in life 2024-03-26 23:41:00+00:00 - Gerald M. “Jerry” Levin wasn’t just a self-styled intellectual, well-liked by colleagues as he quoted Camus around the Time Warner offices in Manhattan. He was also the “resident genius” who transformed the fusty media company into a broadcasting pioneer. When Levin died on March 13, though, obituaries primarily remembered him for his central role in the “worst merger in corporate history”: The $350 billion AOL-Time Warner deal, which served as a poster child for the excesses of the dotcom bubble. The Financial Times cast Levin as the “architect of [a] disastrous dotcom-era media merger.” The Times of London went further, calling Levin a “corporate titan nicknamed Caligula” whose reputation was “permanently discredited by the failed merger.” There’s a lot more to Levin’s story—down to the fact that he, years later, took responsibility for leading the company into a deal that it never fully recovered from. Levin also held onto all of his AOL Time Warner stock, never cashing out a single share even until the day he died, according to data compiled by analytics provider the Washington Service. The 2000 merger between internet provider AOL and entertainment giant Time Warner was catastrophic for all concerned. Initially heralded as a visionary deal, the $350 billion merger—which remains the largest in American corporate history—quickly devolved, costing investors billions and many employees their retirement savings. Levin never held another top job again. Ridiculed by the media and resented by many of his colleagues, Levin was unceremoniously ushered out as CEO of AOL Time Warner just two years after the merger. From that point until his death last week, Levin has often been portrayed as shortsighted, selfish, gullible, or all of the above—a leader who refused to listen to the better advice of his colleagues and should be held singularly responsible for the damage the merger caused. Decades later, Levin did something unexpected: He owned his mistake. In 2010, in an appearance on CNBC, Levin made a public apology for the deal. “I’m really very sorry about the pain and suffering and loss that was caused. I take responsibility,” Levin said. “It wasn’t the board. It wasn’t my colleagues at Time Warner. It wasn’t the bankers and lawyers.” Story continues Levin’s slice of humble pie wasn’t the worst of what he dealt with; he suffered an unimaginable tragedy earlier in his career. Levin’s son Jonathan, a public school teacher in the Bronx, was brutally murdered in his apartment by one of his former students in 1997. Levin didn’t often speak about his son’s death, but later said that it had a profound impact on his worldview. In her book on the merger, Fools Rush In, former Fortune reporter Nina Munk suggested that Levin’s loss made him “almost untouchable” and gave colleagues caution about criticizing his decisions too heavily. “He was never quite the same, understandably, after this horrendous killing,” Alec Klein, a Washington Post reporter who covered AOL Time Warner in the early 2000s and wrote a book on the merger, told Fortune. “The digital DNA” When Levin—who earned his reputation at Time Warner as the brains behind its HBO division—took over as CEO of the company in 1992, the business world was on the precipice of the dotcom boom. By the late 1990s, Time Warner’s legacy cable and entertainment assets were stale; everyone was talking about the potential of the internet. AOL, at the time the largest internet provider in the country, was the dotcom era’s undisputed juggernaut. Led by young CEO Steve Case, it effectively had the booming internet market cornered. Wall Street couldn’t get enough: AOL’s stock increased over 717% from its 1992 IPO to its peak in 1997. Levin saw an opportunity. He became convinced that Time Warner needed to make a splashy move to get into the booming internet sector. AOL, the face of the new internet and the hottest company on Wall Street, seemed like the perfect candidate. “[Jerry] felt like he had the right notion that Time Warner wasn’t moving fast enough into the digital age,” Ed Adler, former head of communications for Time Warner, told Fortune. “He always said he wanted to inject the digital DNA of AOL into Time Warner by doing this. Of course, it didn’t work.” The architect Levin and AOL CEO Case agreed to the merger in secret, over dinner and a bottle of red wine in a Manhattan hotel room in November 1999. The fact that Levin kept his closest advisors in the dark has followed him ever since. “The corporate executives—of which I was one—and the people who were closest with Jerry didn’t have any idea [about the deal],” said Adler, currently a partner at global strategic communications firm FGS Global. “Few people at Time Warner were excited about the merger.” Plenty of ink has been spilled over Levin’s motivations for the deal. Maybe he was being selfish. He was 61 at the time, approaching the end of his career, and perhaps he envisioned pulling off the biggest merger in American history more as a personal career milestone than a rational business decision. Maybe he was just plain foolish: It’s clear looking back that in 2000, at the peak of the dotcom bubble, AOL’s stock was hugely overvalued, and Levin was likely giving a lot more than he was getting. Maybe he genuinely thought he was doing the right thing. Whatever his intent, when Levin announced the deal to his Time Warner staff, the internal response was negative. Employees worried about integrating AOL’s high-flying, techie culture with Time Warner’s more old-guard business practices, and didn’t see the sense in making such a big deal given that Time Warner was already laden with debt. “I think everyone involved in the deal certainly had some doubts, but given that we went forward with the deal, we thought the positives outweighed the negatives,” Bob Pittman, AOL’s former COO, who became the COO of the company post-merger, wrote in an email to Fortune. “It was certainly a clash of cultures, as well as the combination of companies with much different growth prospects and profiles.” In large part, Levin’s refusal to heed the warnings of the people around him is what’s earned him the dishonor of being dubbed the “architect” of the merger. “I remember a lot of people wanted [Jerry] to back out of it, and he wouldn’t. He was a hardheaded guy. He wanted to stick with his view that this would transform Time Warner,” Adler said. Things started going downhill almost as soon as the ink dried. AOL and Time Warner executives clashed. Reports emerged that AOL had been relying on fishy accounting practices to keep its revenue numbers up, roiling the company with lawsuits. And the dotcom bubble popped in March 2000, mere weeks after the deal was announced publicly, sending AOL Time Warner’s stock plummeting. In 2002, AOL Time Warner reported nearly $100 billion in losses, at the time the largest annual loss in history, according to the 2003 Fortune 500 list. The company never fully recovered after the merger. “[Looking back,] this was done at the absolute wrong moment,” Adler said. The bigger picture The company spiraled throughout 2002 and 2003, and employees’ retirement savings—which were largely held in the form of company stock—tanked. Levin retired, divorced his wife of 32 years, and moved to Los Angeles, collecting a $1-million-a-year salary as a “consultant” to the company and largely leaving public life. But although some Time Warner executives voiced concerns about the deal, the public response after it was announced was primarily positive, and supportive of Levin’s bold move. “It was hailed as this life-changing event—everyone was crazy about it,” Klein said. “There hasn’t been another merger since that’s captured the imagination the same way AOL-Time Warner did.” A Fortune poll of Fortune 500 CEOs published in the Feb. 7, 2000, issue of the magazine, just weeks after the merger was announced, reported that 71% of CEOs thought the merger was a good deal for Time Warner. In the same issue, Fortune cited Morgan Stanley banker Jeff Sine as saying he was “absolutely convinced that new businesses get ‘unlocked’ when you merge companies and get people to think creatively and cooperatively about what can be done…Sine thinks that the hookup of Time Warner and AOL has endless possibilities for creative thinking and that Jerry Levin, in particular, has the kind of intellect to be fascinated by the possibilities.” One of the most ardent skeptics at the time of the merger was Fortune editor Carol Loomis, who published multiple articles questioning AOL’s stock valuation and the logic behind the deal. But even Loomis didn’t come down squarely on the side of calling the deal a mistake. In a story published Feb. 7, 2000, Loomis and associate Christine Chen wrote: “Even at internet speed, it will take some time for the world to judge whether AOL overpaid in offering 1.5 shares of its stock for each Time Warner share, or whether Time Warner sold its impressive assets too cheaply, or whether this is truly a marriage made in heaven.” Levin made a terrible business decision. But although he might have been swimming against the tide within his own C-suite, his thinking was in line with the markets’ prevailing beliefs. He was latching on to what was, at the time, the conventional wisdom: The internet was the Next Big Thing, and legacy media companies like Time Warner couldn’t afford to miss out. “He doesn’t deserve the blame—and [I’m] not even sure it should be blame,” Pittman wrote. “Everyone, including both boards of directors and all the advisors, and indeed the chorus of positive press at the time, shares that responsibility.” Leaving business behind The merger is now widely recognized as the worst such deal in American corporate history. Time Warner spun off AOL in 2009 and was acquired by AT&T in 2018. Levin stayed out of the public eye after retiring from AOL Time Warner in 2002. He started a relationship with former Hollywood producer and psychologist Laurie Perlman. The two of them opened a wellness center, which a 2004 Fortune story by Barney Gimbel described as “a sanctuary of calm and order in a world of chaos, pressure, and fear…the 15-day intensive program includes everything from traditional psychoanalysis to acupuncture, neurofeedback, and even sex therapy. It's designed for movie stars and executives like Levin.” For his part, Pittman disagrees with the characterization of the merger as the worst in history. “‘The worst merger in corporate history’ is…more than a little bit overdramatic. It may be a good clickbait headline, but it doesn’t match the facts of a company that on an operating business actually took out record amounts of costs, created significant new revenue, and had better financial performance than its peers during the ad downturn at the beginning of the aughts. Bad press, huge political infighting, and strong emotions, yes. Worst merger, no,” Pittman wrote. Despite recognizing the deal as a mistake, Levin never sold any of his AOL Time Warner stock. For better or for worse, he stuck to his guns until the end. Editor’s note: Many of the details in this article were sourced from Nina Munk’s Fools Rush In: Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and unmaking of AOL Time Warner. Munk’s account is an excellent resource for readers interested in learning more about Levin and the AOL-Time Warner deal. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
Ski town struggles to fill 6-figure job because candidates can't afford housing 2024-03-26 22:36:00+00:00 - Steamboat Springs, Colorado, has a problem that's prevalent among all resort communities where housing costs far exceed local incomes: recruiting staff. That's because job candidates say they can't afford to live there. While home prices and rents have soared across the country over the past year, rent and real estate prices in uber-wealthy enclaves are in a league of their own. The median listing price for homes currently available in Steamboat Springs, for example, is $2 million, according to Realtor.com. Median rent is roughly $4,000 a month according to Zillow.com. The high prices put area housing out of reach, even for those earning above-average salaries. Steamboat Springs city manager Gary Suiter told CBS MoneyWatch that the city government has struggled to recruit a human resources director, a management-level position with a six-figure salary to match, NBC first reported. "That's the case for one position. In these higher-end resort communities, there are multiple positions at all layers of the organization that can be difficult to fill," Suiter added. The city, with a population of 13,000, previously made job offers to two candidates, both of whom declined. "We had two recruitments previously and in both cases they couldn't afford to live here," Suiter said. The position's salary? $167,000 per year. Other local job openings pay far less, including a posting for a rodeo maintenance worker, which pays up to $29.62 an hour. Signing bonuses Suiter said he's all too familiar with the rising housing costs in communities like Steamboat Springs and how challenging they make it for local businesses to staff up. Wealthy individuals shell out millions for second homes in such areas and drive up housing costs, a trend that was exacerbated by the pandemic. The particular difficulty the city has had filling the HR director role "tells the story of what's happening in resort communities, and it's been happening for a long time," he explained. "The same thing is repeating itself in higher-end areas." Home prices in the country's 20 biggest metro areas went up an average of 6.7% in 2023, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller data. Across the nation as a whole, housing prices rose more than 5% over the last year, pushing home ownership out of reach even for high-income earners. To make the six-figure offer more palatable, Suiter said the city has added a signing bonus that — for the right candidate — is negotiable. "We will provide a signing bonus within reason, if it's necessary to recruit the most qualified person," he said. Dormitory-style housing It is harder to house members of the city's roughly 300-person government staff, many of whom earn far less than six figures annually, Suiter said. The city is in the process of building dormitory-style housing to accommodate some of them. Housing challenges "permeate every level of the organization," Suiter said. "It's not only with management positions, it's boots-on-the-ground jobs. Bus drivers have been difficult to recruit, especially during the pandemic with the mask mandate." The town's world-class ski resort provides up to 800 beds for staff "at below market rate," according to a resort spokesperson.
Europe's Podcast Market Size to Grow by USD 1.13 billion from 2023 to 2027, Rising penetration of smartphones to boost market growth, Technavio 2024-03-26 22:32:00+00:00 - Loading... Loading... NEW YORK , March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Europe podcast market size is estimated to grow by USD 1.127 billion at a CAGR of 27.5% between 2022 and 2027. The market is driven by increased smartphone usage and internet accessibility. High-end smartphones and easy internet access have made them indispensable, providing on-the-go access to video and music content. Growing mobile internet subscriptions and improved wireless standards enhance connectivity, particularly in European markets like Germany, the UK, France, and the Netherlands. Podcast providers are adapting by offering mobile apps, facilitating easy access and downloads, further boosting market growth. Discover some insights on market size historic period (2017 to 2021) and Forecast (2023 to 2027) before buying the full report Request a sample report Report Coverage Details Page number 160 Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 27.5% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 1127.66 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023(%) 24.23 Vendor Analysis Vendor Landscape - The global podcast market in Europe is fragmented, with the presence of several global as well as regional vendors. A few prominent vendors that offer podcast in Europe in the market are Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Audioboom Group plc, Block Inc., British Broadcasting Corp., CBS Interactive Inc., Deezer SA, Funkwhale, Guardian News and Media Ltd., hearthis.at, iHeartMedia Inc., Jamendo SA, Jango, Maple Media LLC, Mixcloud Ltd., Sirius XM Holdings Inc., Sorted Ventures Ltd., SoundCloud Global Ltd. and Co. KG, and Spotify Technology SA and others. What's New? - Special coverage on the Russia - Ukraine war; global inflation; recovery analysis from COVID-19; supply chain disruptions, global trade tensions; and risk of recession - war; global inflation; recovery analysis from COVID-19; supply chain disruptions, global trade tensions; and risk of recession Global competitiveness and key competitor positions Market presence across multiple geographical footprints - Strong Buy the report! Vendor Offerings - Amazon.com Inc: The company offers music podcasts. It is also involved in retail sales of consumer products. For details on the vendor and its offerings Request a sample report Segment Overview Technavio has segmented the market based on type, Type (Interviews, Conversational, Solo, Panels, and Repurposed content), Genre (News and politics, Society and culture, Comedy, Sports, and Others), and Geography (Europe). The interviews segment is poised for significant growth due to increased internet accessibility, allowing users to listen while driving or on the move. Podcast interviews offer versatility, enabling users to listen without needing to view their screens. This segment, valued at USD 51.76 million in 2017, benefits from accessibility features, aiding blind individuals and allowing listeners to adjust playback speed. Leading European countries like the UK, Germany , and France drive consumption and production, with many podcasters adopting a multilingual approach to cater to diverse audiences. For insights on global, regional, and country-level parameters with growth opportunities from 2017 to 2027 Download a Sample Report Market Dynamics The rising penetration of smartphones and easy access to the internet is notably driving the market growth: The increasing smartphone penetration and internet accessibility drive market growth. High-end smartphones and easy internet access provide users with on-the-go entertainment. With rising mobile internet subscriptions, providers are expanding distribution on mobile platforms. This trend, coupled with affordable smartphones, boosts demand, particularly in European markets. Additionally, the adoption of wireless standards like 3G, 4G, and 5G enhances internet bandwidth, fostering acceptance of online podcast streaming services. Service providers now offer mobile applications for easier access, contributing to market expansion. Smart speakers are driving podcast market growth. Innovations from brands like Samsung and SONOS offer advanced streaming capabilities, enabling multi-room listening and voice control via mobile apps. Manufacturers are expanding product lines with new variants, enhancing accessibility and convenience for users. The intense competition among podcast service providers and inconsistent user preferences is challenging the market growth. Driver, Trend & Challenges are the factor of market dynamics which states about consequences & sustainability of the businesses, find some insights from a Free sample report! What are the key data covered in this Podcast Market In Europe report? Loading... Loading... CAGR of the market during the forecast period Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the Podcast Market In Europe between 2023 and 2027 Precise estimation of the size of the Podcast Market In Europe size and its contribution to the market in focus on the parent market Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior Growth of the Podcast Market In Europe industry across Europe A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information about vendors Comprehensive analysis of factors that will challenge the growth of Podcast Market In Europe vendors Gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Analyst Review: The European Podcast Market is experiencing rapid growth, driven by various factors such as increasing consumer interest, advertising revenue, and the popularity of podcasting as an alternative to traditional radio. Podcast listenership continues to rise, with a diverse range of players entering the market and contributing to its segmentation and impact. European podcasters and hosts are capitalizing on the continent's rich content diversity, catering to listeners' preferences across different genres and themes. The availability of regional content, along with international markets, is fueling the market's expansion, with over 1,000,000 podcasts accessible and 30 million audio episodes available. Key players in the European podcast industry include iHeartMusic, Tritron Digital, and various OTT platforms, which are leveraging regional content and vocabulary services to cater to specific audiences. Additionally, advancements in technology such as Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are enhancing content discovery and listener engagement. The market's high competitiveness, coupled with factors like increasing disposable income, mobile penetration, and cheaper data, are driving its growth trajectory. This growth is further supported by the podcast industry's revenue contributors, including the news and politics segment, which remains a significant revenue driver. Overall, the European podcast market presents ample opportunities for players to capitalize on the continent's diverse listener base and evolving content preferences. Market Overview: The Europe Podcast Market is experiencing rapid growth and evolution, driven by various factors such as the emergence of diverse podcast platforms, hosting services, and compelling content created by a multitude of podcast creators. With a growing base of listeners across the region, podcast genres span from entertainment and education to news, technology, and beyond. Podcast advertising and monetization strategies are becoming increasingly prevalent, providing revenue opportunities for both creators and platforms. Market trends and analysis indicate a robust growth trajectory, with market research and forecasting highlighting promising prospects for the future. Comprehensive market reports and forecasts offer insights into the evolving landscape, while analytics tools enable stakeholders to track performance and optimize strategies. As the podcast market continues to mature, innovation in distribution methods, content creation, and monetization models is expected to drive further growth and trends across Europe. Related Reports: The global podcast market size is estimated to grow by USD 15.7 billion between 2023 and 2028, accelerating at a CAGR of 29.08%. The music market size is forecast to increase by USD 70.02 Billion at a CAGR of 12.57% between 2023 and 2028. About US Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contact Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ SOURCE Technavio
Ford falls, Amazon advances pharmacy pursuits and Disney board member speaks – our takes the news 2024-03-26 22:17:00+00:00 - Ford Motor kept its 2024 guidance unchanged Tuesday. Meanwhile, Amazon 's pharmacy efforts added another wrinkle and Disney 's newest board member weighed in on the proxy fight underway at the entertainment giant. Here's a closer look at these headlines and our takes on each. F YTD mountain F stock performance year-to-date. The news: Ford CFO John Lawler on Tuesday reiterated the company's 2024 operating guidance at the Bank of America Securities Auto Summit. Ford still expects to earn between $10 billion and $12 billion in adjusted earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT; generate adjusted free cash flow between $6 billion and $7 billion; and spend between $8 billion and $9.5 billion on capital expenditures — just as the company offered in early February alongside its 2023 fourth quarter results earlier this month. Club take: Shares of Ford were hit hard Tuesday, falling 3.6%, even though rival General Motors advanced 1% in the session. The divergence in stock performance was not great to see. At the time Ford first issued its guidance, we perceived it as upbeat. The fact it was reiterated Tuesday suggests management's efforts to cut about $2 billion in costs are on track, and its scaled-back EV investments and intensified focused on hybrids are going as planned. Indeed, Ford's February sales figures showed plenty of momentum in the hybrid market. Ford got back on track with its February earnings report, but going forward we still need to see consistency in profits, cash flows and quality control, while managing losses in its electric vehicle division. Following Ford's fourth-quarter earnings print, we raised our price target on Ford shares to $15 from $13. "It's time for Ford to break out," Jim Cramer said in Monday's Homestretch. Investors are set to get another update on Ford's business strength April 24, when the automaker reports its 2024 first quarter numbers after the close. AMZN YTD mountain AMZN stock performance year-to-date. The news: Amazon on Tuesday launched same-day delivery of prescription medication for customers in New York City and the greater Los Angeles area. The service — offered through Amazon Pharmacy launched in 2020 — is part of the company's efforts to provide "the fastest and most convenient service for the home delivery of prescriptions," said Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores, in a press release. Medications for flu, diabetes and other common conditions are available through the service, Amazon said. To help offer the swift delivery, Amazon said it is leveraging artificial intelligence "to help pharmacists fill prescriptions quickly and accurately." The e-commerce giant plans to expand same-day medicine delivery to more than a dozen cities by year-end. The service has been available to customers in Seattle, Miami, Indianapolis, Phoenix and Austin, Texas. Club take: Amazon's expansion of same-day delivery of prescription medication is another sign of the company's focus on innovating in health care. And we're always encouraged by efforts to boost the value of a Prime subscription. Financially, Tuesday's announcement is not really a needle mover. Nevertheless, the ability to offer same-day delivery for prescriptions spotlights Amazon's logistics and delivery prowess. For its traditional e-commerce business, the company has wisely streamlined its fulfilment network to reduce delivery times and overall cost of delivery, helping it make more money. In general, we feel good about our Amazon position, particularly in light of its relationship with Nvidia on AI, as Jim detailed in his Sunday column . DIS YTD mountain DIS stock performance year-to-date. The news: The newest member of Disney's board, Morgan Stanley Executive Chairman James Gorman, offered his perspective on the entertainment company's proxy fight in an interview with CNBC. "A lot of this fight seems to be looking backwards. I'm more interested and why I joined the board in looking forwards," Gorman said. His comments come ahead of Disney's annual meeting, set for April 3, where Trian Partner's Nelson Peltz is seeking a board seat along with former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo. When pressed with Disney's stock underperformance against the broader market and its competitors in recent years, Gorman's justification was the "period of major disruption in this industry" from linear to streaming while navigating through the challenging post-pandemic environment. With CEO Bog Iger back at the helm, the company is "turning that around. Its evidenced by the performance in the stock," Gorman explained. Shares of Disney are up nearly 33% year to date, but the stock has dramatically underperformed the S & P 500 over a five-year period. In that time frame, its cumulative total return is 9.7% compared with 100.2% for the S & P 500, according to FactSet. Club take: We've been supporting Peltz in his push to have two seats on Disney's board. We believe Peltz will be critical in creating shareholder value and reviving losses in Disney's underperforming businesses given his governance experience at consumer companies over the years such as Procter & Gamble , Wendy's , Heinz , and Unilever . In our minds, the pressure Peltz has been putting on Disney through this proxy battle has already helped motivate management and contributed to the stock's strong performance lately. Shares of Disney made a new 52-week high Tuesday and closed at just under $120 apiece. As discussed on Monday's Morning Meeting, we would consider trimming our position if we weren't restricted, given the stock's year-to-date gains. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long F, AMZN, DIS. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED. Ford CEO Jim Farley poses for a photo before announcing at a press conference that Ford Motor Company will be partnering with the world's largest battery company, China-based Contemporary Amperex Technology, to create an electric vehicle battery plant in Marshall, Michigan, on Feb. 13, 2023, in Romulus, Michigan. Bill Pugliano | Getty Images
Biden Gains Ground Against Trump in 6 Key States: Poll 2024-03-26 22:11:00+00:00 - Loading... Loading... In a remarkable turnaround, President Joe Biden is now gaining on former President Donald Trump in six out of seven pivotal swing states, marking a significant shift in the electoral landscape. This surge for Biden emerged after five months during which Trump consistently led. The momentum shift started following a State of the Union address that not only unified Democrats but also alleviated some concerns regarding Biden’s age. This development positioned the Democratic incumbent in his most favorable stance to date, according to the latest findings from a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll. The poll queried voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Biden made his most significant gains in Wisconsin, where he now leads Trump by one point after trailing him by four points in February. Biden and Trump are now tied Michigan and Pennsylvania, where Trump had a six-point lead last month. In Georgia, Trump added to his lead. This shift indicated a potentially changing tide in Biden's campaign, suggesting a possible resurgence in states critical for securing a second term. Biden faced challenges in several key states, but Bloomberg reported that victories in the northern "Blue Wall" states could significantly enhance his reelection prospects. Trump still leads in the seven swing states at 43% to Biden's 38%, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at 9%, and Cornel West and Jill Stein each at 1%. The campaign has reached a critical juncture, with Biden and Trump securing early nominations for their party. Also Read: Millions Of Americans Are Considering A Mass Exodus If Donald Trump Wins Again, Says Report This sets the stage for an extended and likely record-breakingly expensive electoral battle. Facing financial constraints, Trump scaled back his campaign activities, whereas Biden is actively engaging with voters in swing states, including a recent visit to North Carolina. The poll also reflected a growing optimism among voters regarding the national economy, which could play a crucial role in the upcoming election. According to the poll, one-third of voters reported encountering positive news about Biden recently. This is the highest number recorded since polling began in October. Loading... Loading... The survey, involving 4,932 registered voters, offered a glimpse into the evolving political landscape as the candidates intensify their campaigns. In the face of these developments, Trump's campaign criticized Biden's policies, emphasizing voter discontent with inflation and border management. Yet, Biden's recent State of the Union address appears to have bolstered his standing, addressing key issues and potentially mitigating concerns about his age. Now Read: Despite Lead Over Joe Biden, Donald Trump Is Falling Behind In One Respect When It Comes To Battleground States This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.