Author: starbpo

Washington — On Wednesday, President Donald Trump declared his approval of returning the District of Columbia to direct federal administration, throwing his backing behind legislative plans for a federal takeover of the nation’s capital. Trump lamented the district’s homelessness and crime while speaking to reporters on Air Force One, stating, “I think we should take over Washington, D.C. — make it safe.” “I believe that we should govern the District of Columbia,” he continued. Congress already reviews all D.C. laws and has the power to completely revoke them under the city’s Home Rule status. Republicans in Congress have attempted to…

Although the White House is rebuffing mounting expectations on the subject, President Donald Trump may be working on a redesign of the US Postal Service. An executive order targeting the USPS could be issued as early as this week, according to many stories that were published late Thursday. The order would abolish the USPS governing board and transfer the agency to the Commerce Department. However, the White House stated that no such order is being considered and that Howard Lutnick, Trump’s recently appointed commerce secretary, is not advocating for it. Around 2:30 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, Trump is scheduled…

Following a vicious selloff in the previous session, Walmart Inc.’s shares continued to decline on Friday as investors ignored analysts’ encouraging remarks. However, investors seized Walmart’s longer-dated issuance, resulting in net purchase of its investment-grade notes in the corporate bond market. Christopher Horvers, an analyst at J.P. Morgan, reported that Walmart’s stock (WMT) offers a “near-term buying opportunity” at current prices and reaffirmed an overweight rating with a target price of $122 per share. Walmart’s stock is still a good investment, according to Roth Capital analyst Bill Kirk, who increased his price objective from $97 to $108. Nevertheless, Walmart’s stock…

The IRS has been pressured by the Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to grant access to US consumers’ and businesses’ individual tax return data. The DOGE team claims that it requires taxpayer data in order to look for “waste, fraud, and abuse,” yet there is no obvious value to such a move, and it puts more than 150 million tax filers’ highly private information at danger. The database of the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Fiscal Service, which handles almost all federal government payments, was already used by DOGE employees to obtain filers’ tax refund information. For instance, every…

Westwood Holdings Group’s Parag Sanghani thinks energy prices would probably stay the same. He co-manages two funds that you might want to look into if you agree and are searching for investments that yield significant levels of income. Many funds pay monthly distributions, and many use option methods to increase income for their shareholders. To avoid having a large percentage of their portfolio committed to any one fund, investors who prefer this strategy and require the income may be well advised to look at a range of strategies and funds. Twenty-three securities of American and Canadian corporations involved in the…

Twelve years ago, when the globe was still recovering from the global financial crisis, Charles Lemonides, founder and chief investment officer of ValueWorks, recalled his advice: “Just go buy stocks, it’s all great, it’s all cheap, you’re not going to go wrong.” However, he claims that 2025 is poised to be the “first year of the last leg of the bull run,” according to our call this morning. And that last phase frequently “ends with an overextended, speculative market top,” according to a recent client letter from the manager of the New York hedge fund, which has over $300 million.…

According to a review of the positions of the industry, Apple Inc. was one of the most “unpopular” companies, while Tesla Inc. was once again among the top hedge-fund holdings towards the end of last year. The Swiss private bank Pictet examined 1,143 hedge funds’ fourth-quarter 13F filings from 2024 to determine the activities of the major managers. Institutional investment managers are required by the Securities and Exchange Commission to submit quarterly Form 13F filings listing the U.S. stock assets they are managing. In a note released on Wednesday, Pictet noted that a 1.1% decrease in hedge funds’ exposure to…

Trump’s senior adviser, Elon Musk, has pledged to discuss with the president a proposed taxpayer payout that would be financed by savings from their contentious streamlining initiative, the Department of Government Efficiency. The CEO of hedge fund Azoria and a former employee of Greenlight Capital, James Fishback, estimates that this “DOGE dividend” may reach roughly $5,000 per tax-paying household. In social media posts, Fishback demanded the reimbursement. On Tuesday, billionaire businessman Elon Musk responded, writing: “Will check with the President.” Fishback has suggested taking 20% of the $2 trillion in savings over ten years that DOGE’s proponents had floated (though…

Concerns regarding privacy and the security of America’s pensions have been raised by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency’s focus on the Social Security Administration. However, experts feel that at least one area is ready for a dose of efficiency, despite recent and unverified claims of fraud. The amount of money that the Social Security Administration disburses to certain beneficiaries is erroneous each year. The organization occasionally underpays people, but when it overpays, it demands repayment, which might cost beneficiaries tens of thousands of dollars they don’t have right away. These payments are mistakenly made to an estimated 3…

On Wednesday, Apple (AAPL.O) unveiled the iPhone 16e, a low-cost phone with artificial intelligence that aims to regain mid-market consumers both domestically and in China and India, two important growing countries.At a time when competitors Samsung (005930.KS) and China’s Huawei are introducing AI capabilities to their handsets, the new phone, which abandons the SE naming standard for Apple’s budget series, will compete with popular Android smartphones. Last quarter saw a decline in Apple phone sales, and over the past ten years, sales of the company’s low-cost phone line have fallen precipitously in relation to iPhone revenue. Although the 16e’s features…