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Utah man sentenced for attacking family because they were Mexican 2023-08-10 - A Utah man who assaulted a man and his son at their family tire shop in 2018 shouting he hated Mexicans was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday. Alan Dale Covington, 55, was convicted by a Salt Lake City jury in February 2020 of the hate crime of assaulting three men, members of the Lopez family who ran a local tire shop, because he believed they were Mexican, according to the Justice Department. His prison term will be followed by five years of supervised release. Alan Dale Covington in a 2018 booking photo. Salt Lake County Sheriff's office via AP Covington entered the family-owned shop, Lopez Tires, on Nov. 27, 2018, armed with a metal pole and a hatchet. He shouted “I hate Mexicans” and “I’m here to kill a Mexican” before swinging the pole and hitting Luis Lopez, the son of the shop owner, in the head. “I came out to ask if he needed anything and the first thing he said to me was, ‘You guys killed my f------ daughter,’” Luis Lopez, 18, told NBC News in 2018. “I kept saying, ‘You’re not going to kill us. You can’t kill us,’” Lopez said in court, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. “Then he swung at me. That’s the last thing I remember.” Covington attacked Lopez's father, Jose, in the back and eventually turned to the teenager's uncle Angel, who was able to escape the shop without injury and alerted the police, according to the Justice Department news release. Lopez was born in the United States but the family is from Mexico. The family has not responded to a request for comment about the sentencing. Lopez sustained major injuries from the attack and spent a week in the hospital. During his testimony, prosecutors showed the jury photographs of him lying unconscious in the hospital with blood around his right eye where Covington had smashed a pole in his face, and with tubes down his throat, the Tribune reported in 2020. Luis Lopez in the hospital following the attack in 2018. Courtesy of Luis Lopez After the attack, Lopez's sister Veronica raised funds to support his medical treatment. “This man needs to help accountable for what he has done to my family,” she said in 2018. “If my dad would have not used his own body to shield my brother from the other blows, he would have killed him.” Lopez told the jury in 2020 that he had always wanted to inherit the family business and enjoyed spending time at the shop with his father. But the attack impacted him psychologically and left him anxious and afraid, he said. He dropped out of school and had trouble holding down jobs, according to the Tribune. Covington’s defense had claimed that this was not a racially motivated attack because Covington was targeting the Mexican mafia — who he believed had killed his daughter — and not Mexicans in general. The jury heard from Covington’s ex-wife, Mary Orozco, who identifies as Hispanic and had four children from previous relationships whose fathers were from Mexico. She said Covington doted on all of them, according to the Tribune. But prosecutors maintained that Covington’s racial biases motivated the attack. They said he had been searching for Mexican men when he entered Lopez Tires, and he found them. “This was a horrific act of hate-motivated violence and there is no place for it in our state or country,” said U.S Attorney Trina A. Higgins for the District of Utah. “These victims are part of our community, and no one should ever have to fear for their safety because of their race or nationality.” As NBC News previously reported, Utah initially could not charge Covington with a hate crime as well as aggravated assault because the state’s law limited hate crimes to misdemeanor assaults. But the attack on the Lopez family was among the incidents that spurred a change in the state’s law.
Video 8-year-old entrepreneur starts water ice business 2023-08-10 - 8-year-old entrepreneur starts water ice business Chase Anderson and his mom Breonna join ABC News to talk about their sweet business helping residents in Philadelphia beat the heat.
Average long-term US mortgage rate climbs to 6.96% this week, matching highest level this year 2023-08-10 - A home under construction is shown on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023 in Sudbury, Mass. On Thursday, Freddie Mac reports on this week's average U.S. mortgage rates. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan) A home under construction is shown on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023 in Sudbury, Mass. On Thursday, Freddie Mac reports on this week's average U.S. mortgage rates. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan) A home under construction is shown on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023 in Sudbury, Mass. On Thursday, Freddie Mac reports on this week's average U.S. mortgage rates. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan) A home under construction is shown on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023 in Sudbury, Mass. On Thursday, Freddie Mac reports on this week's average U.S. mortgage rates. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan) The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose this week to just under 7%, the latest setback for would-be homebuyers already facing affordability challenges due to a housing market limited by a shortage of homes for sale LOS ANGELES -- The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose this week to just under 7%, the latest setback for would-be homebuyers already facing affordability challenges due to a housing market limited by a shortage of homes for sale. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan rose to 6.96% from 6.90% last week. A year ago, the rate averaged 5.22%. It’s the third consecutive weekly increase for the average rate, which now matches its high for the year set on July 13. High rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford in a market already unaffordable to many Americans. “There is no doubt continued high rates will prolong affordability challenges longer than expected, particularly with home prices on the rise again," said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. "However, upward pressure on rates is the product of a resilient economy with low unemployment and strong wage growth, which historically has kept purchase demand solid.” The average rate on a 30-year mortgage remains more than double what it was two years ago, when it was just 2.87%. Those ultra-low rates spurred a wave of home sales and refinancing. The sharply higher rates now are contributing to a dearth of available homes, as homeowners who locked in those lower borrowing costs two years ago are now reluctant to sell and jump into a higher rate on a new property. The lack of housing supply is also a big reason home sales are down 23% through the first half of this year. The latest increase in rates follows an uptick in the 10-year Treasury yield, which climbed to 4.19% last week, it's highest level since early November. The yield, which lenders use to price rates on mortgages and other loans, was at 4.02% in midday trading Thursday. High inflation drove the Federal Reserve to raise its benchmark interest rate 11 times since March 2022, lifting the fed funds rate to the highest level in 22 years. Inflation has come down steadily since last summer, and many analysts believe the Fed has reached the end of its rate hikes. Mortgage rates don’t necessarily mirror the Fed’s rate increases, but tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. Investors’ expectations for future inflation, global demand for U.S. Treasurys and what the Fed does with interest rates can influence rates on home loans. The average rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with those refinancing their homes, rose to 6.34% from 6.25% last week. A year ago, it averaged 4.59%, Freddie Mac said.
Video Why it's never too late to save for retirement 2023-08-10 - Why it's never too late to save for retirement ABC News business reporter Alexis Christoforous breaks down ways you can save and enjoy your retirement.
A global law firm separates from its Chinese partner, citing cybersecurity and data rules 2023-08-10 - Police officers patrol past visitors seeking information at a special exhibition of legal services during the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) at the Shougang venue in Beijing on Sept. 1, 2022. One of the world's biggest law firms said Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023 it is separating from the Chinese firm that was part of its global network for eight years, citing changes in cybersecurity and other rules that have rattled foreign companies. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) Police officers patrol past visitors seeking information at a special exhibition of legal services during the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) at the Shougang venue in Beijing on Sept. 1, 2022. One of the world's biggest law firms said Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023 it is separating from the Chinese firm that was part of its global network for eight years, citing changes in cybersecurity and other rules that have rattled foreign companies. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) Police officers patrol past visitors seeking information at a special exhibition of legal services during the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) at the Shougang venue in Beijing on Sept. 1, 2022. One of the world's biggest law firms said Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023 it is separating from the Chinese firm that was part of its global network for eight years, citing changes in cybersecurity and other rules that have rattled foreign companies. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) Police officers patrol past visitors seeking information at a special exhibition of legal services during the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) at the Shougang venue in Beijing on Sept. 1, 2022. One of the world's biggest law firms said Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023 it is separating from the Chinese firm that was part of its global network for eight years, citing changes in cybersecurity and other rules that have rattled foreign companies. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) One of the world’s biggest law firms says it is separating from the Chinese firm that was part of its global network for eight years, citing changes in cybersecurity and other rules that have rattled foreign companies BEIJING -- One of the world’s biggest law firms said Thursday it is separating from the Chinese firm that was part of its global network for eight years, citing changes in cybersecurity and other rules that have rattled foreign companies. The decision by Dentons follows warnings by business groups that global companies are postponing or shifting investment away from China due to concern about an expanded anti-espionage law, tighter controls on business, a data security crackdown and raids on foreign consulting firms. Dentons said it was separating from Beijing Dacheng Law Offices due to changes in cybersecurity and data protection but gave no details. Dentons said in a statement Dacheng will be a “separate, standalone firm” that is its “preferred law firm” for clients with needs in China. Dacheng joined the Dentons network in 2015. Dentons, which says it has more than 10,000 lawyers in some 80 countries, added the Chinese characters for Dacheng to its logo used worldwide. The arrangement was unusual in China because it made Dacheng part of an integrated international network, unlike other foreign firms that have contractual relationships with Chinese affiliates that remain separate entities. Such an arrangement might conflict with China’s data controls by giving foreign lawyers or firms abroad access to information, according to Lester Ross, the partner in charge of the Beijing office of Washington law firm WilmerHale. “I suspect that this would have made it very difficult for such firms to continue to operate through such structure,” Ross said in an email. The ruling Communist Party has tightened restrictions on the handling and protection of data about Chinese citizens and companies and what can be sent abroad. The ruling party launched a data-security crackdown on Chinese tech companies in 2020. Consulting firm Bain & Co. said in April its staff in Shanghai were questioned by police. A corporate due diligence firm, Mintz Group, said its Beijing office was raided and five employees detained. Unease about tighter controls has hampered efforts by Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government to revive foreign investor interest following the lifting in December of anti-virus controls that blocked most travel into and out of China. The British Chamber of Commerce in China appealed in May for “greater clarity” on data restrictions in the auto and other industries. Foreign law firms can operate representative offices in China, but legal representation must be done by Chinese firms, which are tightly controlled by the ruling party. Since 2012, lawyers have been required to give an oath of loyalty to the Communist Party. Every firm must have a party committee. “The presence of the party makes it hard to integrate the cultures and governance of foreign and Chinese firms,” said James Zimmerman, a partner in the Beijing office of Perkins Coie and a former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, in an email. “In my view, this is the key reason it's incompatible to have a true merger between a foreign and Chinese law firm,” Zimmerman said.
Virgin Galactic's first space tourists finally soar, an Olympian and a mother-daughter duo 2023-08-10 - Virgin Galactic's rocket-powered plane Unity 22, left, flies past its mothership Eve on its way to the edge of space after taking off from Spaceport America, near Truth or Consequences, N.M., Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. Virgin Galactic is taking its first space tourists on a long-delayed rocket ship ride. (AP Photo/Andrés Leighton) Virgin Galactic's rocket-powered plane Unity 22, left, flies past its mothership Eve on its way to the edge of space after taking off from Spaceport America, near Truth or Consequences, N.M., Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. Virgin Galactic is taking its first space tourists on a long-delayed rocket ship ride. (AP Photo/Andrés Leighton) Virgin Galactic's rocket-powered plane Unity 22, left, flies past its mothership Eve on its way to the edge of space after taking off from Spaceport America, near Truth or Consequences, N.M., Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. Virgin Galactic is taking its first space tourists on a long-delayed rocket ship ride. (AP Photo/Andrés Leighton) Virgin Galactic's rocket-powered plane Unity 22, left, flies past its mothership Eve on its way to the edge of space after taking off from Spaceport America, near Truth or Consequences, N.M., Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. Virgin Galactic is taking its first space tourists on a long-delayed rocket ship ride. (AP Photo/Andrés Leighton) Virgin Galactic has rocketed to the edge of space with its first tourists TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. -- Virgin Galactic rocketed to the edge of space with its first tourists Thursday, a former British Olympian who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean. The space plane glided back to a runway landing at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert, after a brief flight that gave passengers a few minutes of weightlessness. This first private customer flight had been delayed for years; its success means Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic can now start offering monthly rides, joining Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX in the space tourism business. “That was by far the most awesome thing I’ve ever done in my life,” said Jon Goodwin, who competed in canoeing in the 1972 Olympics. Goodwin, 80, was among the first to buy a Virgin Galactic ticket in 2005 and feared, after later being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, that he’d be out of luck. Since then he’s climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and cycled back down, and said he hopes his spaceflight shows others with Parkinson’s and other illnesses that ”it doesn’t stop you doing things.” Ticket prices were $200,000 when Goodwin signed up. The cost is now $450,000. He was joined on the flight by sweepstakes winner Keisha Schahaff, 46, a health coach from Antigua, and her daughter, Anastatia Mayers, 18, a student at Scotland's University of Aberdeen. They high-fived and pumped their fists as the spaceport crowd cheered their return. "A childhood dream has come true,” said Schahaff, who took pink Antiguan sand up with her. Added her daughter: “I have no words. The only thought I had the whole time was ‘Wow!’ ” With the company's astronaut trainer and one of the two pilots, it marked the first time women outnumbered men on a spaceflight, four to two. Cheers erupted from families and friends watching below when the craft’s rocket motor fired after it was released from the twin-fuselage aircraft that had carried it aloft. The rocket ship’s portion of the flight lasted about 15 minutes and it reached 55 miles (88 kilometers) high. It was Virgin Galactic's seventh trip to space since 2018, but the first with a ticket-holder. Branson, the company's founder, hopped on board for the first full-size crew ride in 2021. Italian military and government researchers soared in June on the first commercial flight. About 800 people are currently on Virgin Galactic’s waiting list, according to the company. In contrast to Virgin Galactic’s plane-launched rocket ship, the capsules used by SpaceX and Blue Origin are fully automated and parachute back down. Like Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin aims for the fringes of space, quick ups-and-downs from West Texas. Blue Origin has launched 31 people so far, but flights are on hold following a rocket crash last fall. The capsule, carrying experiments but no passengers, landed intact. SpaceX, is the only private company flying customers all the way to orbit, charging a much heftier price, too: tens of millions of dollars per seat. It’s already flown three private crews. NASA is its biggest customer, relying on SpaceX to ferry its astronauts to and from the International Space Station. since 2020. People have been taking on adventure travel for decades, the risks underscored by the recent implosion of the Titan submersible that killed five passengers on their way down to view the Titanic wreckage. Virgin Galactic suffered its own casualty in 2014 when its rocket plane broke apart during a test flight, killing one pilot. Yet space tourists are still lining up, ever since the first one rocketed into orbit in 2001 with the Russians. Branson, who lives in the British Virgin Islands, watched Thursday's flight from a party in Antigua. He was joined by the country's prime minister, as well as Schahaff's mother and other relatives. "Welcome to the club,” he told the new spacefliers via X, formerly Twitter. Several months ago, Branson held a virtual lottery to establish a pecking order for the company's first 50 customers — dubbed the Founding Astronauts. Virgin Galactic said the group agreed Goodwin would go first, given his age and his Parkinson’s. ___ This story has been updated to correct introductory price to $200,000, not $250,000. ___ Dunn reported from Cape Canaveral, Florida. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Number of Americans applying for jobless aid rises, but not enough to cause concern 2023-08-10 - A sign advertising for new drivers adorns the back of a tanker carrying fuel in the southbound lanes of Interstate 25 Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Loveland, Colo. On Thursday, the Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) A sign advertising for new drivers adorns the back of a tanker carrying fuel in the southbound lanes of Interstate 25 Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Loveland, Colo. On Thursday, the Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) A sign advertising for new drivers adorns the back of a tanker carrying fuel in the southbound lanes of Interstate 25 Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Loveland, Colo. On Thursday, the Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) A sign advertising for new drivers adorns the back of a tanker carrying fuel in the southbound lanes of Interstate 25 Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Loveland, Colo. On Thursday, the Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits jumped last week, but not enough to cause concern about a still-strong U.S. labor market The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits jumped last week, but not enough to raise concern about the consistently strong U.S. labor market. U.S. applications for unemployment benefits rose by 21,000 to 248,000 for the week ending August 5, from 227,000 the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s the most in five weeks. The four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile reading, ticked up by 2,750 to 228,250. Jobless claim applications are viewed as broadly representative of the number of layoffs in a given week. Applications for jobless aid reached a higher level above 260,000 for a few weeks this spring, causing some concern, but then retreated. Troubling levels of inflation moved the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at a breakneck pace for the past year-and-a-half: the central bank raised its benchmark rate 11 times to the current 5.4%, a 22-year high. Part of the Fed’s reasoning was to cool the job market and bring down wages, which, in theory, suppresses price growth. Though inflation has come down significantly during that stretch, the job market has remained remarkably strong. Last week, the Labor Department reported that U.S. employers added 187,000 jobs in July, fewer than expected, but still a healthy number. The unemployment rate dipped to 3.5%, close to a half-century low. Also last week, the government reported that job openings fell below 9.6 million in June, the lowest in more than two years. However, the numbers remain unusually robust considering monthly job openings never topped 8 million before 2021. Outside of a flurry of layoffs in the technology sector early this year, companies have mostly been retaining workers. Many businesses struggled to replenish their workforces after cutting jobs during the pandemic, and much of the ongoing hiring likely reflects efforts by many firms to catch up to elevated levels of consumer demand that have emerged since the pandemic recession. While the manufacturing, warehousing, and retail industries have slowed their hiring in recent months, they aren’t yet cutting jobs in large numbers. Economists say that given the difficulties in finding workers during the past two years, businesses will likely hold onto them as long as possible, even if the economy weakens. Overall, 1.68 million people were collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended July 29, about 8,000 fewer than the previous week.
Big fashion is getting bigger. Parent of Coach will buy Versace owner Capri in $8.5 billion deal 2023-08-10 - FILE - This photo shows a Coach retail shop at the Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Calif., on May 3, 2019. Tapestry, parent company of luxury handbag and accessories retailer Coach, is buying the owner of fashion brands including Michael Kors, Versace and Jimmy Choo, Capri Holdings. The approximately $8.5 billion deal puts Tapestry in a better position to take on its big European fashion rivals. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File) FILE - This photo shows a Coach retail shop at the Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Calif., on May 3, 2019. Tapestry, parent company of luxury handbag and accessories retailer Coach, is buying the owner of fashion brands including Michael Kors, Versace and Jimmy Choo, Capri Holdings. The approximately $8.5 billion deal puts Tapestry in a better position to take on its big European fashion rivals. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File) FILE - This photo shows a Coach retail shop at the Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Calif., on May 3, 2019. Tapestry, parent company of luxury handbag and accessories retailer Coach, is buying the owner of fashion brands including Michael Kors, Versace and Jimmy Choo, Capri Holdings. The approximately $8.5 billion deal puts Tapestry in a better position to take on its big European fashion rivals. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File) FILE - This photo shows a Coach retail shop at the Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Calif., on May 3, 2019. Tapestry, parent company of luxury handbag and accessories retailer Coach, is buying the owner of fashion brands including Michael Kors, Versace and Jimmy Choo, Capri Holdings. The approximately $8.5 billion deal puts Tapestry in a better position to take on its big European fashion rivals. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File) Tapestry, parent company of luxury handbag and accessories retailer Coach, is buying the owner of fashion brands including Michael Kors, Versace and Jimmy Choo, Capri Holdings NEW YORK -- Tapestry, the parent company of luxury handbag and accessories retailer Coach, is buying the owner of fashion brands including Michael Kors, Versace and Jimmy Choo, Capri Holdings. Big fashion has been getting even bigger through a spate of acquisitions as U.S. players seek more sway in Europe. The approximately $8.5 billion (7.7 billion euro) deal puts Tapestry in a better position to do just that in going-to-toe with rivals like LVMH and Kering. Tapestry Inc., whose brands also include Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman, said Thursday that the combined company had global annual sales of more than $12 billion (10.9 billion euro) and has a presence in more than 75 countries. Tapestry has a market cap of nearly $10 billion (9.1 billion euro), while Capri's is around $4 billion (3.6 billion euro). Once completed, the new entity will be the fourth largest luxury company in the world, with a combined market share of around 5.1% of the luxury goods market, according to research firm GlobalData PLC. In the Americas, the company will become the second largest luxury player behind LVMH, with a combined share of 6% of the luxury goods market, GlobalData said. “The combination of Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman together with Versace, Jimmy Choo, and Michael Kors creates a new powerful global luxury house,” Tapestry CEO Joanne Crevoiserat said in a prepared statement. Capri Holdings Ltd. shareholders will receive $57.00 (51.9 euro) per share in cash. "By joining with Tapestry, we will have greater resources and capabilities to accelerate the expansion of our global reach while preserving the unique DNA of our brands,” Capri Chairman and CEO John Idol said. French luxury conglomerate Kering reached a deal in July to buy a 30% stake in Italian fashion house Valentino for 1.7 billion euros from Qatari investment firm Mayhoola. Under the agreement, Kering, which owns Gucci, has the option to buy 100% of Valentino no later than 2028. Kering had also tried to snap up Tom Ford, but beauty company Estee Lauder wound up reaching a deal with the luxury goods maker. LVMH, meanwhile, purchased famed jewelry company Tiffany in 2021 after a back-and-forth between the two companies over the agreement. Buying Capri is a strategic move for Tapestry on many levels. Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said the acquisition will “create an American fashion giant that, while not quite as prestigious or large as its European counterparts, would wield a significant influence in the luxury market.” “Luxury is facing something of a slowdown, especially in the North American market where consumers, even at the higher income end of the market, are starting to curtail spending," Saunders said. “This has put pressure on Tapestry and Capri, both of which are now looking to international markets to bolster growth.” The boards of Tapestry and Capri have approved the deal, which is expected to close next year. It still needs approval from Capri shareholders. Capri's stock jumped 56%, or $19.35 to $53.96 in early morning trading on Thursday, while shares of Tapestry fell almost 12%, or $4.87, to $36.38.
Alibaba Explodes On Earnings, Inching Toward Triple Digit Prices 2023-08-10 - Key Points Alibaba stock is exploding in the morning hours of Thursday's trading session, reflecting the market sentiment toward the latest quarterly financials. The company is growing massively despite a deflationary situation in the nation, proving the business value proposition to be more of a recession-proof model. Double-digit growth across the board has driven this investor to double his positioning in the company, and valuation drivers are severely disconnected from today's compressed stock prices. Management announces a massive repurchase program, boosting analyst sentiment to double-digit upside. 5 stocks we like better than Amazon.com Current economic environments and wild swings across the data that investors and traders digest, such as inflation and other important drivers, drive a wide wedge regarding where markets prefer to place their hard-earned cash. Chinese equities are - and have been for some time - a subject that most turn their heads to; however, some major investing superstars see massive potential in a few names. Alibaba Group NYSE: BABA shares are exploding in the opening hours of Thursday's trading session, a hugely bullish reaction to the company's release of its second quarter 2023 earnings results, a long-awaited update considering the consumer trends that have affected China's economy as of late. The government's stimulus is beginning to take effect, and Alibaba is standing at the front lines of the changing winds. The Playing Field The Chinese economy reported deflation (negative inflation) earlier this week, scaring some while putting a smile on other faces. As the Asia powerhouse sees its consumption decline, the government may see rising pressure to step in and increase its stimulus initiatives, which are a significant catalyst for consumer-dependent companies like Alibaba. Other China consumer companies like JD.com NASDAQ: JD have followed a similar price action pattern to that of Alibaba, a stratospheric rise during 2020-2021 followed by more than 60% declines to keep prices compressed at today's levels. Markets are typically forward-looking, and investors have a chance to potentially scoop up cheap Alibaba shares before markets realize just how undervalued this company is. Investors like Michael Burry (yes, the guy who called the 2008 bubble) are seeing some potential in Alibaba over some American comparable names like Amazon.com NASDAQ: AMZN. The value investor has doubled his position in Alibaba as of the second quarter of 2023, and perhaps new headlines announcing larger positions will come in after today's earnings results. Explosive Results While the Chinese economy reported deflation, scaring some if not all of Alibaba shareholders ahead of earnings, the company's value proposition and service platform have proved to be a bit of a 'recession-proof' model. Net revenue grew by 14% during the past twelve months, which is only the beginning. Analyzing the financials shown in the earnings release can take a bit of time, so investors can save energy by focusing on the following trends. Gross margins advanced from 36.9% in 2022 to 39.2% in the latest quarter, which speaks to improvements in price dynamics and rising demand; the trickle-down effects will become all the more critical. Operating income rose 70% over the year, a massive push that nobody expected, especially from a consumer company operating in a contracting economy. All of these expansions have come to deliver a total 48% annual increase in earnings per share, which can push for a doubling in the stock price from today's levels. The stock price had only performed by 5.8% during the past twelve months when the company pushed earnings (which drive the stock price) by 48%. This massive disconnect between fundamental performance against technical performance is one of the openings every value investor hopes to see in the market. Management understands this undervaluation better than anyone, so they decided to repurchase as much as $3.1 billion (yes, BILLION) of stock during the period. Not only is this as impressive as it is, these figures pale in comparison with the $16.3 billion war chest that the company has left to buy back even more stock through 2025. Analysts are piling up to provide their sentiment as well, as there is a current 40% upside potential from today's price according to the consensus analyst ratings. The stars have aligned for current investors to kick back and relax. The checks seem to be writing themselves for those new investors jumping into this massive opportunity. As some are aware, the company announced earlier in the year that it would be undertaking a spin-off around its various businesses, and the delays in the process are a strategic decision. By spinning off each business, the company can decrease the likelihood of regulatory crackdowns from officials that see Alibaba as a monopoly, and it also unlocks insane value for shareholders. Understanding that these new trends in the financials will increase the valuation of the business as a whole and significantly push the individual spin-off valuations, investors can be happy to wait another quarter or two until they hear any update on this initiative. The more management waits, the higher the price they can command when it comes time to spin off the businesses. Full of economic catalysts, recession-proof business growth, and front-row seats to the upcoming rise in demand and activity in China, analyst and management screams of undervaluation. Alibaba stock becomes a no-brainer for those who can accept a bit of geopolitical risk. Before you consider Amazon.com, 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 Amazon.com wasn't on the list. While Amazon.com currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
Is It Time To Game The Roblox Market? 2023-08-10 - Key Points Roblox had a solid quarter but failed to inspire a rally. User metrics grew by double-digits but the market wanted more. The drop in share prices may not be over but a solid bottom is in sight. 5 stocks we like better than Roblox Roblox NASDAQ: RBLX had a tough quarter in Q2, and the headwinds may not have ceased, but the results are no reason for the stock to fall 20%. The results were tepid relative to the analysts' expectations but reveal mounting leverage for when consumer spending habits shift. The problem facing Roblox today isn’t its operations or business quality but pressure building on consumer spending habits that may curb strength over the next few quarters. The takeaway is that shares of Roblox are trading 20% below the pre-release price on a knee-jerk reaction to the news. Weak hands are selling their shares, bought near the bottom of a trading range supported by analysts and institutions. The analysts haven’t had much to say in the first few hours since the Q2 release. The trend in sentiment ahead of the release is mixed with some up and downward revisions to sentiment and price target, but the takeaway is favorable to shareholders. The consensus of 24 analysts is Hold with a price target of $40. That’s about 33% above the current price action and near the middle of the trading range dominating the price action. The institutional activity also aligns with the trading range, with net activity favoring the bulls over the past 12 months. Assuming these trends continue, the stock should find a bottom soon and may rebound by the end of the year. Roblox Gains Traction In Weak Environment Roblox had a tough quarter but made headway on critical metrics, including user growth and engagement across all age groups and demographics. The company reported $680.8 million in net revenue, a gain of 15% compared to last year. The gain is driven by $789.69 in bookings, up 22% compared to last year and 35 bps better than the Marketbeat.com consensus figure. The top-line strength was driven by a solid 25% increase in daily average users, offset by a 3% decline in bookings. The deleveraging is not good and is expected to weigh on results for the remainder of the year, but user growth is more important over the long term. With daily active users and average monthly unique players rising at near-20% and above 20% paces, the company is positioned for leverage when spending habits (consumer and business) shift. Engagement, another sign of leverage, is up 24%. “We continue to drive high rates of organic growth in DAUs, Hours, and Bookings. We are growing among users of all ages and across all geographies,” said David Baszucki, founder and CEO of Roblox. The margin news is less favorable. The company’s expenses rose across the board, leaving the net loss nearly double compared to last year. The mitigating factor is that much of the increase is attributable to infrastructure spending and R&D, which both support the company’s long-term trajectory. Factoring those increase out of the question, the company’s loss would have narrowed even with increased costs in other areas. The Technical Outlook: Roblox Is At the Bottom, But Range Bound The price action in Roblox is at the bottom relative to the post-IPO implosion and metaverse hoopla but trading within a range. The range has dominated the action for 18 months and may continue for the next few quarters at least. The post-release action has the market down sharply but still well within the range and above critical support levels. Critical support is near $25; a move to it will most likely result in a confirmation of support or an outright rebound. If not, the market could continue lower, but that is not expected. Roblox is facing headwinds but building long-term value for shareholders. The short interest would be much higher if that weren't the case. As of the last report, the stock is running a relatively low 3% short interest, and the availability of shares for shorting is low. This isn’t a hot growth market now but a solid wait-and-see-what-happens market with a promising future. Before you consider Roblox, 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 Roblox wasn't on the list. While Roblox currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
3 Reasons To Love Snowflake 1 Reason to be Cautious 2023-08-10 - Key Points Snowflake has been partnering with some of the hottest names in AI. Analysts are impressed with their recent updates and near-term growth prospects. The company is still unprofitable, which might be a red flag for some. 5 stocks we like better than Microsoft Having rallied as much as 60% since the start of the year, big data stock Snowflake Inc NYSE: SNOW has been taking a breather for the past month. Shares are down 20%, and while some bears are calling for an even greater dip, we see more reasons to like Snowflake than hate them right now. If you’re thinking about getting involved, here are three reasons supporting the bulls and one supporting the bears to be thinking about. AI Partnerships Sure, their shares are still down big from the heady heights of 2021, but management hasn’t been idle. In fact, the past few weeks have seen them announce several key partnerships that are going to set them up for long-term success in the AI industry. The final week of June saw solid updates on two of these. The first was with Microsoft Inc NASDAQ: MSFT, with Snowflake announcing they were expanding the already existing partnership on both the collaboration and go-to-market fronts. Snowflake is going to be one of Microsoft’s key partners when it comes to delivering their “large scale” generative AI products, a lucrative position to be in, given Microsoft’s leading place in the AI industry already. The second was with NVIDIA Corp NASDAQ: NVDA, with Snowflake announcing a fresh partnership with arguably the hottest name in AI right now. While details remain scarce for now, this partnership is expected to combine NVIDIA’s advanced machine learning and AI technology with Snowflake’s ability to handle vast volumes of data, setting both sides up for success. Bullish Comments Perhaps unsurprisingly, given this new upside exposure to AI, analysts haven’t been quiet on Snowflake’s prospects. Morgan Stanley reiterated their Overweight rating on Snowflake shares on the back of the same investor update that announced the NVIDIA partnership, with a price target of $215 pointing to an upside of 40% from current levels. It echoed the stance taken by the team at William Blair, who also reiterated their bullish stance while highlighting Snowflake’s “best in class” net revenue retention numbers. This metric is widely used among software companies and effectively measures how sticky a platform is with its customers. Oppenheimer also sees Snowflake’s prospects as having grown considerably brighter this year, with their 2029 target of $10 billion in revenue significantly “more attainable” now versus a year ago. So too, does the team at Scotiabank, who sees their total addressable market expanding to $102 billion by 2025. Beating Competition While there can always be more than one winner in an industry as big as data warehousing, it doesn’t hurt to see your closest competition falling behind. To this end, Datadog Inc NASDAQ: DDOG reported Q2 earnings yesterday which saw management cutting their full-year revenue guidance. Stifel immediately cut their rating on Datadog from Buy to Hold while simultaneously slashing their price target by 30%. The 20% drop in Datadog’s shares yesterday effectively put them at that price target, making them hardly an inspiring choice for investors looking to get into the industry. Making matters even worse, the same update from Stifel saw them highlighting Snowflake as a stronger alternative. Still Not Profitable While most of the recent news has been bullish for Snowflake, one sore point remains. And that is the fact that the company is still not profitable. Even the most ardent bulls will struggle to argue that they’re trending in that direction, with their most recent EPS print of -$0.70 matching that from January 2021, despite revenues growing more than 300% in those three years. The bulls will, of course, argue that this is par for the course with software companies as they work towards critical scale, but the more risk-averse investor might be put off by it. The flip side of that, of course, is that Snowflake’s shares are currently trading at a 55% discount to their January 2021 levels, while their revenue has tripled in the meantime. If you’re bullish on the company’s long-term prospects, then this could make it feel like you’re getting in at a bargain price. Before you consider Microsoft, 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 Microsoft wasn't on the list. While Microsoft currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
The 3 Favored Machinery Stocks To Buy In August 2023-08-10 - Key Points As the United States pivots into a new monetary policy, more expensive dollars are beginning to chase a more stable set of stocks, creating an opportunity for investors to get into this industry ahead of time. These three companies have been deemed market favorites, especially after investors realized the sentiment gauge from analysts and other broader sets of participants. Fundamental factors are all aligned to give way for new rallies in these names; further economic data may support the thesis for new highs that investors should take advantage of. 5 stocks we like better than Snap-on Money is becoming more expensive, as the United States federal reserve has been acting on its mission to lower the nation's rampant inflation rates seen during 2022. With rising interest rates as the primary weapon of inflation neutralization, investing in companies that over-promise and under-deliver has become a thing of the past; meme stocks are no more. What this means for investors is simple, those quiet and boring stocks that nobody wanted to touch because names like GameStop NYSE: GME and AMC Entertainment NYSE: AMC were flying are now becoming the law of the land. Expensive money means every decision - and investment - counts ten times as much, so money is rotating into safer and more stable industries, which also happen to be performing quite well during these economically transitory times. The machinery industry has been a standout recently, following its trends in the ISM manufacturing PMI index. Still, investors can handle the details. The job has been done to arrive at the three market favorites within this space, allowing investors to focus on deciding which - if not all - to buy. Kulicke and Soffa Presented with an uptrend trading channel and a recent beat on second-quarter 2023 earnings, investors can start their early Christmas list with Kulicke and Soffa Industries NASDAQ: KLIC. While some of the company's significant KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) missed out on some of the expected growth, other markers in the quarterly results pointed to a bright future ahead. The latest investor presentation will showcase a magnificent development in the company's financials, with a 10.3% revenue growth rate to start, earnings per share grew by an astonishing 44.7% over the past twelve months as a result of cost management, and a total share repurchase program of 2.5 million shares. Before continuing, investors can find these buybacks as a subtle hint from insiders believing two critical trends. First, buying stock may imply that it is undervalued, and who else would know better than management? Secondly, it can be taken as a sign that the future outlook for the business is nothing but bullish; otherwise, management could pay a dividend or keep these funds in the balance sheet as cash. It would seem that markets got sick of the bullish bug, as they, too, are expecting some above-average growth from this name. The forward price-to-earnings ratio, which places a quality value on future expected earnings, will clarify that Kulicke is a favorite today. Carrying a 22.7x forward P/E will place Kulicke above other semiconductor machinery providers like Axcelis Technologies NASDAQ: ACLS, who trade for 21.6x. This willingness to overpay for each dollar of future earnings in Kulicke speaks for itself, as markets want to expose themselves to the future growth perceived in the name. MKS Instruments Spillover effects from this heating industry have found their place in MKS Instruments NASDAQ: MKSI, as the company reported a net double-digit growth in revenue from the previous quarter to the most recent. While annual sales declined by 11%, investors should remember that these businesses oversee a turnaround in their respective industries, so the highlight remains on the quarter-to-quarter stats. Investors can lean on the fact that the company's acquisition of Atotech last year is beginning to pay dividends, as cost synergies have amounted to a total of $30 million saved so far, boosting margins as a result and enabling the 10% operating margin expansion to a current 46.9% level. These trends and the industry recovery as a whole may be enough factors to push the current price target in the stock set by analyst ratings. A net 6.4% upside is missing the spice brought on by a 175% increase in earnings per share over the past year, where the stock ended up declining by as much as 11.5%. As a wide gap relative to the stock's performance, the financial performance may be closed down after markets take a more profound interest in the sector. In any case, the global battle for semiconductor machinery equipment will surely be one heck of a tailwind pushing demand for MKS products, boosting margins further. Stanley Black & Decker While not the clearest in the sense of where the growth may be coming from, Stanley Black & Decker NYSE: SWK is the story that markets love and reward in preparation for an explosive quarter. This stock has found its bottom recently, as it has been breaking out to the upside since May 2023 after a severe 66% decline from its $225 per share all-time high. Markets are placing a premium value on this stock; investors can follow the same forward P/E logic as before and arrive at a 20.4x valuation, which will put Stanley as the highest-perceived quality company in the peer group. Other large-cap names competing with Stanley include Snap-On Incorporated NYSE: SNA, which trades at an inferior 14.4x multiple. This market willingness to pay a premium price for each dollar of future earnings in Stanley can indicate confidence around a brighter future ahead. Management has also reported some positive initiatives despite a challenging period; $ 460 million in cost savings have aided in operational margin expansion, a trend that - if continued - can deliver some pleasant EPS surprises. Before you consider Snap-on, 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 Snap-on wasn't on the list. While Snap-on currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
These 2 Clean Energy Stocks Are About To Attempt a Breakout 2023-08-10 - Key Points Traditional energy commodities like oil and natural gas are undergoing a cyclical volatility swing, leaving most investors with a shaken-up portfolio. Luckily for them, these names in the renewable space are attracting enough market attention. Diversifying into these alternative energy sources can help investors wait out the volatility wave. Favorable financial results and promise of outperformance become the law of the land for these industry leaders. The only thing standing in the way of investors are recent highs acting as resistance to the stock prices. 5 stocks we like better than First Solar There is a certain feeling that is taking over the energy markets, that one resembling being seasick. Wild swings have been brought on the profit and loss statements of energy investors and widening charts alike to the screens of short-term traders in the space. Today, those looking at the volatility may decide to step into other less crowded areas that make much more sense. The alternative solution to a wild traditional energy market has been - and continues to be - the renewable 'clean energy' names, operators that display a fraction of the volatility with similar upside potential. Investors may be willing to stick their noses into this niche to create a more stable stream of cash flows and then look to return to the good old fossil energy names once the frenzy is over. There are many pretenders in the space, so investors will save a lot of the headache that comes with scoping out the severe players today, as the following two companies are committed to providing an increasing base of renewable energy services. There is some market favoritism and analyst realizations of this pivot from traditional energy volatility. Constellation Energy Some energy players have refused to get down with the current wind changes in the marketplace, as their tried and tested methods have yet to be fully challenged. One name choosing to frown at the phrase "If it is not broke, then don't fix it" is Constellation Energy NASDAQ: CEG, once a purely natural gas electricity provider, now looking to make a splash in the renewables space. This stock has not only outperformed the S&P 500 by as much as 31% over the past twelve months, it is now flirting with its recent all-time high price of $109.97 per share. Some bears believe that this will mark the pullback for the stock as it rejects to break a new high; analyst ratings are on the same page by assigning a consensus 6.8% net downside from today's prices. Some of these downers may need to remember that, according to the latest investor presentation, Constellation is the number one provider of 24/7 clean energy in the United States. Furthermore, it has gotten ahead of other competitors as it is now the industry leader in providing nuclear energy. It is the next breakthrough needed to combat rising emissions worldwide. Understanding that this stock carries the highest forward price-to-earnings ratio in the large-cap renewable utilities sector, compared to other names, will help investors understand how bullish the outlook is for this company. Traders often follow a forward P/E to gauge the market's future expectations as it values the next twelve months of expected earnings. A forward P/E of 18.2x will place Constellation above competitors like Brookfield Renewable Partners NYSE: BEP, who are trying to make the same breakthroughs now the norm for the former. A superior valuation multiple reflects the market's willingness to pay a higher price today for exposure to each dollar of future earnings in the company, a vote of confidence like no other. First Solar According to analyst ratings, a consensus upside of 12% is on hold for the future of First Solar NASDAQ: FSLR stock. This is one company that is breaking through the walls of negativity posed by bears, who doubt that this 'growth stage' company will ever see a day of stable profitability, which is not the case at all today. The stock has been trying to break past its resistance levels of $229 per share. As the recent pullback allows investors to catch their breath, the latest quarterly results in the firm may have opened up a new way for buyers to start piling in orders. According to the second quarter 2023 earnings results, this company is becoming more undervalued by the day. Gross margins at the firm grew from a negative 3.7% in 2022 to a massive improvement of 38.3%, impressive by any industry's standards. This is a direct result of the increased demand the company has experienced, as it can now spread its production and selling costs across a more significant number of units to achieve net profits. Speaking of net profits, earnings per share at the company grew at a stratospheric annual rate of 206%, yet the stock only rose by 85% during the period. This discrepancy between financial growth and stock performance opens up the way for the stock to clear its previous highs acting as resistance. Now that oil prices are rising and natural gas becoming unstable, solar will become more of an adaptable alternative for American homes. Before you consider First Solar, 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 First Solar wasn't on the list. While First Solar currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
Nvidia Is Down, But AI Chip Juggernaut Not Down For The Count 2023-08-10 - Key Points Nvidia, the best S&P 500 year-to-date gainer, is down 11% since its July 14 peak. The company reports Q2 results on August 23, with Wall Street expecting strong year-over-year gains. Analysts expect earnings to rise by 112% this year, which is fiscal 2024, and by 41% in fiscal 2025. Nvidia may be forming a new base below its 50-day average, which is likely to offer a buy opportunity relatively soon. 5 stocks we like better than NVIDIA Nvidia Corp. NASDAQ: NVDA skidded 4.72% in heavy turnover on August 9, ending the session below its 50-day moving average for the first time since early January. Shares were essentially flat in after-hours trading. Nvidia, as just about every stock-market follower knows by now, has been on fire, with a year-to-date return of 205.68%. Nvidia is widely viewed as being one of the biggest beneficiaries of the current AI craze. That uptrend has stopped recently, with the stock down 11% since retreating from its July 14 high of $480. So what’s going on? Is AI mania over? AI Will Continue Driving Stock Performance It’s almost certainly the case that AI’s potential will continue driving stocks’ share prices, but well into the second half of the year, investors may be looking to good old-fashioned fundamentals, rather than hype. For example, C3.ai Inc. NYSE: AI, which offers AI and machine learning applications for business customers through its C3 AI Suite, is down 18.89% in the past week and 8.31% in the past month. Despite being the subject of a great deal of hype, C3.ai has never been profitable, and analysts have no profit forecasts in sight. Year-over-year revenue has been declining. The company has been even more of a juggernaut than Nvidia, advancing 221.63% year-to-date. But Nvidia, as a large-cap, S&P 500 component, is the most prominent example of a stock rallying because of AI’s potential. It’s the biggest year-to-date gainer in its index. Earnings & Revenue Declining Recently However, the growth case recently has been non-existent. For example, while the company has been profitable for years, earnings and revenue have been declining in recent quarters. As you can see using MarketBeat’s Nvidia earnings data, the company topped analysts’ views in the past two quarters, which contributes to the uptrend. Nvidia reports fiscal second-quarter results on August 23, with Wall Street eyeing earnings of $2.06 a share on revenue of $10.89 billion. Both would be significant gains over the year-ago quarter. The company is quickly ramping up its production capabilities for AI chips, which is what’s expected to drive sales and earnings going forward. A company’s earnings potential is a draw for capital, so the fast run-up isn’t all that surprising. Analysts expect Nvidia to earn $7.09 per share in its current year, which is fiscal 2024. That would be an increase of 112%. In fiscal 2025, that’s seen rising by 41% to $9.99 per share. Tech Sector Declines In Past Month But red-hot rallies eventually cool off, and sector rotation is real. While the tech sector was on fire in the first half of 2023, it’s now the second-best performing sector year-to-date, after consumer discretionary. In the past month, the tech sector, tracked by the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund NYSEARCA: XLK, is down 0.52%. It’s lagging nine other sectors, with energy being the leader with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund NYSEARCA: XLE returning 9.61% in the past month. Even good news for Nvidia isn’t giving the stock a boost. On August 8, the company announced updates to its GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip platform. “Graphics and artificial intelligence are inseparable, graphics needs AI, and AI needs graphics,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in a speech at a graphics industry conference. Could Be Forming a New Base So where does this leave Nvidia investors? Because the stock skidded below the 50-day line, there’s a risk that it’s in the process of forming a new base rather than simply bouncing higher after tagging its 50-day line, which is no longer a possibility. Not to say Nvidia won’t rally again, but right now, with the stock on a downtrend, it’s not actionable. Could the pullback eventually offer a buying opportunity? Of course. With those double- and triple-digit earnings estimates and with the very real potential for AI, it’s not much of a stretch to predict that Nvidia has room to run in the medium-to-long term. MarketBeat’s Nvidia analyst ratings show a consensus view of “moderate buy,” yet the price target is $428.68, an upside of only 0.74%. Keep in mind: Several analysts have higher price targets; that number includes those who haven’t updated their targets in months or even a year. Institutional Support To Remain Strong By virtue of its size, potential, and 2023 performance, Nvidia will continue to have plenty of institutional support over the coming months and years, so a total meltdown doesn’t seem to be the issue here. However, investors interested in snapping up some shares at a lower valuation should keep an eye on the stock. When it gets some decisive upside momentum, perhaps after the upcoming earnings report, it may be actionable again. 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. 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Versace’s new owner wants to be a big beast. But it’s no match for Europe’s behemoths 2023-08-10 - For the past two years, Coach, Michael Kors and Kate Spade New York have been the cornerstone of a particular type of New York fashion. A bit ritzy without being eye-wateringly expensive, they mushroomed during the 1990s and 2000s, defining American leisure-glamour – the sort of thing you might see in Sex and the City then and Real Housewives of New York now – and rolling it out for a wealthy middle class who wanted attainable handbags they could save up for, rather than just the 0.1% who had money to burn. So in one sense, having them under one roof at Tapestry, alongside old-school accessory brands Stuart Weitzman and Jimmy Choo – with a boost from the ritiziest of all, Versace – should be enough to shunt nostalgic American fashion back into the limelight. After all, an $8.5bn (£6.7bn) acquisition is a lot of money. Except that, when you consider that French fashion colossus LVMH acquired Tiffany for $16bn alone back in 2021, it’s a drop in the conglomerate ocean. LVMH is worth more than $450bn. The Americans might be coming, but it’ll take a lot more to get anywhere close to the Europeans. For the past few years, luxury fashion has been dominated by LVMH and its rival, Kering – two Paris-based conglomerates that own about 100 huge, household-name-level brands between them. The ascent of LVMH, in particular – whose founder, Bernard Arnault, overtook Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos as the world’s wealthiest person at one stage this year – is not only a testament to the resilience of fashion, but the speed at which a brand can grow. LVMH controls 75 brands, including Louis Vuitton, Dior and Fendi, and has the power to get Pharrell Williams on its payroll. Even Kering, which owns Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga and is worth more than $70bn, is trailing in its wake. With six brands under its belt, Tapestry has a long way to go. Jimmy Choo is one of six big brands now under the Tapestry umbrella. Photograph: Cate Gillon/Getty Images There is a lot riding on Coach, Tapestry’s blueprint model for how to make a brand balloon overnight. It is run by the well liked, charismatic British designer Stuart Vevers, who this September will celebrate 10 years at the brand. Just a few years ago, Coach was considered a bit beige and horsey. But with some clever campaigns and casting – Selena Gomez as a face, and Lil Nas X as a catwalk opener – as well as a sharpened focus on upcycling (its waste leather handbags were rolled out just as the industry was under peak scrutiny for wasteful practices), it has been adopted by gen Z, who will represent 40% of the luxury goods market by 2035 (according to a report by the consultancy Bain). In June, Versace followed suit, enrolling pop star Dua Lipa to work on a butterfly and Barbie-pink collection which was geared towards the younger buyer. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Fashion Statement Free weekly newsletter Style, with substance: what's really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion It’ll take more than those two, of course. Kors himself is beloved in the industry but is also known for saying things like “What does it mean to look rich?” backstage. For context, you only have to look at New York fashion week, which plays host to these brands. For the past few years, it has been quiet, relying on the occasional big name to appear in the marquee slot to bring in the starry front row and the press. Sometimes, it’s Marc Jacobs. Last year, it was Tom Ford. In February, it was Luar, a young designer known for his cult handbags and cult following – but a far cry from the nostalgic banner names of yore. This purchase is as much about money as it about putting American fashion back on the map. As fashion conglomerates go, Tapestry is about as American as it gets, the apple pie to Kering’s pizza and LVMH’s croissant. But it’ll take more than a big purchase to change the tastes of the growing rich.
Private jets are awful for the climate. It’s time to tax the rich who fly in them | Edward J Markey 2023-08-10 - The climate crisis is not in transit, it’s arrived at the gate. It’s in our skies, our water, and our land – with record-shattering heat waves, increasingly severe wildfires and flooding from superstorms and rising seas. We have no time for delays. Tackling this crisis and protecting frontline environmental justice communities will take all of us. And the tax-dodging ultra-wealthy need to stop fueling the problem and start supporting first-class solutions. That’s why, this July, I introduced the Fueling Alternative Transportation with a Carbon Aviation Tax (Fatcat) Act with Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez. Private air travel is the most energy-intensive form of transportation. For each passenger, private jets pollute as much as 14 times more than commercial flights and 50 times more than trains. Despite their sky-high emissions, private air travel is taxed considerably less than commercial air travel. My legislation changes that. Because the 1% should not get a free ride while destroying our environment. At the moment, billionaires and the ultra-wealthy are getting a bargain, paying less in taxes each year to fly private and contribute more pollution than millions of drivers combined on the roads below. Just one hour of flying private negates the climate benefits of driving an electric car for an entire year. That is unfair and it is unacceptable. For the sake of our environment, it is time to ground these fat cats and make them pay their fair share, so that we can invest in building the energy-efficient and clean public transportation that our economy and communities across the country desperately need. We cannot continue to ask frontline communities – disproportionately low-income, rural, immigrant, Black and brown Americans who are bearing the weight of the climate crisis – to subsidize billionaires jet-setting the globe. Our legislation would increase fuel taxes for private jet travel from the current $0.22 to nearly $2 a gallon – the equivalent of an estimated $200 a metric ton of a private jet’s CO2 emissions – and remove existing fuel tax exemptions for private flight activities that worsen the climate crisis, like oil or gas exploration. The revenue generated by the Fatcat Act would be transferred to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund and a newly created federal Clean Communities Trust Fund to support air monitoring for environmental justice communities and long-term investments in clean, affordable public transportation across the country – including passenger rail and bus routes near commercial airports. To fully tackle the climate crisis at the scale that is required, we need to ensure that those who are fueling this problem are held accountable for contributing to the solution. It is, of course, the same logic that should, but sadly does not, apply to our tax code. If Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and countless Wall Street hedge fund managers want to fly private jets, the least they can do is pay their fair share in taxes to compensate for the damage to our environment and the wear on our infrastructure. It’s unconscionable that they be allowed to continue to pay pennies on the dollar to pollute our environment as Americans suffer through the hottest days in an estimated 125,000 years. Everyday Americans should not have to pay for their excess. And let’s be clear: this is an issue of economic and environmental justice. The wealthiest 1% globally are responsible for more than twice as much carbon dioxide pollution as the bottom 50%. But the burden of that pollution gets passed along to people already struggling. A billionaire who takes to the skies in a private jet isn’t going to feel the hardship of paying a sky-high air conditioning or electric bill. The ultra-wealthy who own their own airplanes aren’t going to feel the hardship of breathing dirty air. We are approaching a dangerous tipping point in our battle against the climate crisis. This summer’s brutal weather is just a preview of what is to come. We all need to step up to do our part to address this crisis. Especially jet-setting billionaires.
I was a champion of fake meat: but I’m not surprised people are losing their taste for it | Aine Carlin 2023-08-10 - Faux meat is failing. Once championed as a way to fight the climate emergency, protein alternatives are now struggling, with plant-based pioneers Beyond Meat reporting net revenue losses of nearly 31% in the second quarter of this year. I could say I’m surprised, but the truth is I’m only amazed that our collective love affair with fake meat lasted as long as it did. I was once a fan, but standing in front of a towering wall of hyper-processed meat alternatives in my local supermarket last year, I couldn’t help but think: are vegan burgers that bleed really the answer to our meat consumption woes? Climate scientists have been sounding the alarm over how food production systems are contributing to global heating for decades. Eating less beef, pork and chicken is a vital element of the fightback, creating a gap in the market for meat alternatives. But, according to US charity the Center for Food Safety, “replacing conventional animal products with ultra-processed, poorly studied and under-regulated genetically engineered products is not the solution to our factory farm and climate crisis”. And I’m inclined to agree. Not long ago we were enamoured of everything that vegan alternatives promised, as a way to “do our bit” without sacrificing our carnivorous instincts. But the nutritional and environmental pitfalls of processed protein have slowly made themselves apparent. Swapping meat with Beyond Meat resulted in some impressive health findings, according to one study, including reduced LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol and body weight. But while these plant-based products don’t appear to be inherently damaging to our health, they are undeniably ultra-processed. In the long term, the implications of consuming industrially produced vegan products on a mass scale are unclear. It’s not just Beyond Meat that has seen sales plummet; in June, UK vegan producer Meatless Farm ceased trading before it was rescued from administration, while sausage company Heck reduced its vegan range, citing a lack of consumer demand. In the US, vegan chicken nugget startup Nowadays recently folded “due to an inability to raise venture funds in this market”, an ominous forecast for the industry. The cost of living crisis has been cited as one significant reason for tanking sales of vegan meat products. And it’s true these alternatives can be expensive. A pack of two Beyond Meat burgers costs £4 at Tesco, while a pack of four Finest beef steak burgers is also priced at £4 – the same price for double the quantity. Beyond Meat is now reducing its price points and cutting jobs in a bid to save what some are calling a “sinking ship”. But I wonder if waning sales aren’t more likely to be linked to a shift in our collective feeling towards these products. The reality is that many of these foods don’t taste terribly good. As a chef who has spent my career designing vegan recipes, I’ve become something of an expert in the flavour profiles of meat alternatives. Beyond Meat remains the fiercest competitor to real meat when it comes to taste and texture but most other brands are seriously lacking. At this stage, nobody can convince me meatless protein crumbles are tastier or more appealing than beluga lentils. And if they aren’t tastier, then why are we bothering? Perhaps another reason for the decline in sales of these products is that the general public are arriving at a more nuanced position on our current meat production processes, and indeed their plant-based alternatives. In 2022, a summit on the societal role of meat was held in Dublin, with 1,000 scientists coming together to sign the Dublin Declaration, which states that “livestock systems … are too precious to society to become the victim of simplification, reductionism or zealotry. These systems must continue to be embedded in and have broad approval of society.” Vegan media was quick to dismiss the declaration, claiming it was “riddled with animal industry bias”. But the fact that the summit even took place speaks volumes. Professor Michael Lee, a leading expert in sustainable livestock and one of the signatories of the declaration, insists it isn’t “anti-vegan” or “anti-ecology” but instead about “being pro sustainable agriculture to feed a global population and protect our planet and all its inhabitants”. Personally, my own rules for eating healthily are inspired by the American author and journalist Michael Pollan’s motto: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants”, which remains the simplest strategy we can apply to our food consumption habits that is good for our bodies and the planet alike. Whether you view fake meat companies as innovative or otherwise, for those wanting to eliminate meat from their diets, these products can be a stepping stone towards a more plant-dominated lifestyle. I believe we are unquestionably drawn to items that replicate the taste and texture of conventional animal foods. Just look at the burgeoning cultivated meat industry, where animal meat cells are grown in a lab to replicate the real deal. The future for fake meat looks uncertain but that’s not to say with advances in food technology it will be gone for ever. But my faux-nugget-shunning five-year-old would rather see the back of it.
Linda Yaccarino says Twitter will reinstate ‘client council’ for ad execs 2023-08-10 - The chief executive of X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has moved to repair the company’s relationship with advertisers by reinstating a “client council” for marketing and ad agency executives. Linda Yaccarino wrote on the platform on Thursday that it was “officially bringing back the client council in the fall”, as the business seeks to reverse an advertiser boycott that has hit revenues since it was bought by Elon Musk for $44bn last year. Musk admitted last month that cashflow was still negative amid a 50% slump in advertising revenues. Yaccarino, who was a highly rated TV advertising executive before joining Twitter this year, told the news channel CNBC she had been focused on talking to brands such as Coca-Cola and Visa. “I’ve lived on a lot of planes lately, direct conversations with CMOs and CEOs [chief marketing officers and chief executive officers], and we cover a lot of ground and I focus on those that have either maybe paused or reduced spending to remind them about the power of the platform and the power of the user base and the economic potential of them partnering with us again,” she said. Yaccarino said X had become a safer platform since the takeover. “By all objective metrics, X is a much healthier and safer platform than it was a year ago,” she said. However, multiple reports have flagged the platform’s struggle to eliminate child sexual abuse material after the takeover, while Musk has been criticised for reinstating previously banned users such as the misogynist influencer Andrew Tate. Yaccarino suggested part of the difficulty was that some big advertisers might not have known who to talk to because the company had reduced its staff total from about 8,000 workers to 1,500 since Musk’s takeover. She added that her role as chief executive was clearly defined and the differentiation with Musk, who still has a hands-on presence at the business, was “very clear”. Musk has said he wants X to become an “everything app”, like China’s WeChat, including the ability to send payments. “Elon focuses on product design. He leads a team of extraordinary engineers and focuses on new technology,” she said. “So think about it as Elon is working on accelerating the rebrand and working on the future. And I’m responsible for the rest. Running the company from partnerships to legal to sales to finance.” Yaccarino described the rebranding of Twitter as a “liberation that allowed us to evolve past a legacy mindset”. Musk announced in a tweet on 23 July that Twitter would become X. Asked about the proposed cage fight between Musk and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Yaccarino said she was focused on the “seriousness of the potential of X” and added that the bout talk “may be a humorous back and forth between Zuck and Musk”. She also jokingly described the fight as a “great brand sponsorship opportunity”.
Tax rises and subsidy cuts behind drop in UK household incomes, says OECD 2023-08-10 - A sharp rise in tax payments and cuts to energy subsidies in the UK were to blame for a steep fall in household incomes during the first three months of the year, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In a review of its 38 member states, the OECD said the UK was in the bottom half of the income table after households faced a steeper rise in tax payments than their counterparts in the US, France and Germany. Data revealed that “real” household incomes per capita (adjusted for inflation) had grown by 0.9% in the OECD in the first quarter of 2023, exceeding growth of 0.3% in real GDP per capita. The Paris-based rich nations club said it was the third quarter in a row that real household income per capita had grown among its members and the fastest rise “since incomes were boosted by pandemic-related assistance programmes” in 2021. Of the 21 countries for which data was available, 11 recorded an increase, while 10 recorded a fall, including the UK. Incomes improved or deteriorated as much in line with government tax and spending programmes, many of them related to the pandemic or inflation crisis, as they did from wage rises. The UK and Germany were among countries that spent most resources protecting household incomes with subsidy payments, while France and Italy supplemented income subsidies with caps on energy prices. It meant household incomes grew in Italy and the US, but declined in Canada, France, Germany and the UK. Canada recorded the largest drop (-2.2%) in real household income per capita, driven in part by cuts to social benefits introduced last year to offset rising prices. In Germany, real GDP per capita and real household income per capita both fell for the second consecutive quarter, the OECD said. German households were hit hard by the rise in gas and electricity prices last winter, and despite reducing consumption, suffered a 1% loss of income in real terms in the first quarter. France reduced most of its energy-related subsidies in the first quarter, hitting household incomes by 0.5%. Italy kept many of its subsidies in place, protecting household incomes, which rose by 3.3%. Real incomes fell 0.8% in the UK, mostly due to a steep rise in personal taxes paid in response to rising wages, spending on VATable goods, and wealth taxes, including inheritance tax. The UK and French economies were flat during the first quarter, unlike the German economy, which contracted by 0.4% per capita. Italy, which saw the largest increase in GDP per capita (up 0.7%) and fastest increase in real household incomes in the first quarter (up 3.3%) benefited from steep cuts in energy prices. In the US, the OECD said a gain in real household income per capita of 1.7% was mainly due to a decrease in taxes payable after a rise in 2022 “due to increases in wages and salaries, deferred payment of 2020 taxes and strong capital gains”. Among other OECD countries, Poland experienced strong growth in both real GDP per capita (3.9%) and real household income per capita (3.5%). Large increases in real household income per capita were also recorded in Denmark (4.3%), Belgium (4.1%) and the Netherlands (2.6%).
NatWest and Virgin Money cut rates as mortgage ‘price war’ spreads 2023-08-10 - NatWest and Virgin Money have become the latest big lenders to slash rates on their fixed mortgage deals, prompting claims that a full-scale home loans “price war” has broken out. The moves came after it emerged on Wednesday that four of Britain’s largest home loan providers were cutting the cost of their new fixed-rate deals, with Halifax reducing rates by up to 0.71 percentage points from Friday, and HSBC, Nationwide and TSB making similar moves. Twenty-four hours later, NatWest announced it was cutting rates on its house purchase and remortgage fixed home loans by up to 0.65 percentage points, also with effect from Friday. That means a five-year fixed rate aimed at homebuyers with a 10% deposit that is currently priced at 6.64% will be offered at a rate of 5.99%. Other NatWest deals, including buy-to-let and shared equity mortgages, will also have their rates cut. Virgin Money announced it would be launching a range of cheaper remortgage deals for those wanting to fix their monthly payments. The lender indicated these would be available for only seven days, until closing time on 17 August. That prompted brokers to call it a “flash sale” and claim that banks and other lenders were battling for market share. Kylie-Ann Gatecliffe, director at North Yorkshire-based KAG Financial, said: “The competition is on. It is great to see high street lenders reducing rates, and a rate war is welcomed by us brokers wanting to offer borrowers more appealing products. I suspect others will follow suit and we will hopefully see the lenders yet to reduce also start to reprice.” Other commentators said that a fall in housing transaction volumes had clearly rattled lenders. Lewis Shaw, founder of broker Shaw Financial Services, said that after months of mortgage rate rises, “this is the light at the end of the tunnel we’ve all been waiting for”. He added: “If we see positive inflation data next Wednesday, expect more of this.” With Virgin Money making a move with its seven-day sale, the indications were that “we’re now fully in a mortgage market price war”, said Riz Malik, founder and director at broker R3 Mortgages. “This is not only great news for residential borrowers but also a silver lining for buy-to-let landlords who have felt sidelined,” he added. Mortgage rates have risen rapidly as the Bank of England has pushed up interest rates in an attempt to tame inflation. Last week the Bank raised interest rates for the 14th consecutive time, bringing the base rate to 5.25%.