Author: starbpo

According to Truist, the S&P 500 is most likely already halfway through its decline. The week has begun with investors remaining cautious. The S&P 500 SPX ended Friday’s trading session 4.3% lower than its closing high from early December. A large portion of the blame appears to be placed on rising Treasury yields due to renewed inflation concerns. Truist Advisory Services chief market strategist Keith Lerner, however, asserts that while such pullbacks may be unsettling, “they are the admission price to the market.” According to Lerner, the most recent selloff is only a reset of mood and prices, which may…

L.A. rents were declining, but the flames might turn everything around. The devastation may result in increasing rent costs around the city, where over half of the population rents, while thousands of homes in Los Angeles seek safety from the fury of flames. Even while some of the homes in the areas affected by the fires are worth millions of dollars, the possible increase in rent in Los Angeles could also affect less affluent neighborhoods, making an already costly city even more expensive. “Doubling of growth or tripling of rent growth is absolutely possible,” Selma Hepp, chief economist at CoreLogic,…

Jan Hatzius on Immigration, Tariffs, and the U.S. Economy: Here’s Why He’s Still Optimistic Ever wonder why some economists stay bullish even when everyone else is predicting doom and gloom? Jan Hatzius, Goldman Sachs’ chief economist, just gave us a pretty good hint. He believes the U.S. economy is set for stronger growth than most people expect—and his optimism hinges on immigration and budget policies not turning out as extreme as promised. Immigration: “A Little Below” Pre-Pandemic Levels At a recent Atlantic Council event, Hatzius revealed that, despite all the talk of strict immigration rules under the Trump administration, he…

The potential ban of TikTok, a Chinese-owned video-sharing app, could significantly benefit its publicly traded competitors. On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments regarding a bipartisan law set to ban TikTok on January 19 if it remains under the control of its Chinese parent company, ByteDance Ltd. If TikTok is banned, much of its advertising revenue, estimated at $10.1 billion in 2023 and projected to reach $12.8 billion in 2024, could shift to rivals like Meta Platforms (Facebook and Instagram) and Alphabet (YouTube and Google), which collectively generated over $165 billion in U.S. ad revenue last year. Analysts…

The world’s largest chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), reported record revenue for the final quarter of 2024, bolstering the ongoing momentum in artificial intelligence investments. TSMC’s revenue for October to December reached NT$868.5 billion ($26 billion), exceeding analysts’ forecast of NT$854 billion, according to MarketWatch’s analysis. The company’s annual revenue for 2024 totaled NT$2.9 trillion, a 34% increase from 2023. December revenue amounted to NT$278 billion, lower than the October peak of NT$314 billion. As a key supplier of advanced semiconductors for major tech firms like Nvidia and Apple, TSMC experienced a stellar 89% rise in its U.S.-listed shares…

Wall Street faced an unexpectedly turbulent start to 2025. A steep selloff in the U.S. bond market caused ripples across financial markets, leaving investors questioning whether this volatility will persist throughout the year. BourseWatch consulted portfolio managers and analysts about their 2025 investment strategies and how individuals can prepare for potential market instability. “Nobody can predict when volatility will hit in 2025. Investors should maintain a balanced portfolio, stay invested, and use downturns as opportunities to rebalance and buy the dip,” advised Jim Baird, Chief Investment Officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors. Bonds Under Pressure The U.S. government bond market…

Welcome to jobs Friday. The December nonfarm payrolls report arrived with arguably greater than usual heft as investors appear increasingly nervous about surging government bond yields amid signs of revived inflation. Equity bulls were hoping for a payrolls number that was not too hot and not too cold. However, a notably stronger-than-expected report is pushing Treasury yields to fresh multi-month peaks and forcing equity index futures lower. However, one bubblicious sector of the stock market may have struggled to rally regardless of whether the jobs numbers gave equity bulls what they wanted. Small quantum computing stocks dived this week after…

The news that FuboTV (FUBO) will merge with Walt Disney’s (DIS) Hulu + Live TV service was well received by investors. Do streaming users have to follow suit? Given the recent surge in streaming service price increases and the fact that some of the most significant competitors in the market are growing, people who have severed their ties with cable may be nervous about the arrangement. The two live-TV streaming services would have 6.2 million members in North America if the Disney-Fubo transaction is authorized, ranking second only to YouTubeTV, which has more than 8 million paying customers. However, there…

According to Flutter Entertainment, the NFL’s winning percentage is at its greatest level in almost two decades. The National Football League doesn’t have enough upsets, which bothers investors in sports betting firms like FanDuel’s owner, Flutter Entertainment. Following what it claimed was the most customer-friendly NFL season since the advent of online sports betting, with the highest percentage of favorites winning in almost two decades, Flutter lowered its U.S. revenue guidance for the year by $370 million late Tuesday, bringing it down to a midpoint of $5.8 billion. It specifically mentioned “significant adverse results” from the Detroit Lions’ 40-34 victory…

Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of the Ozempic weight-loss medication, extended a current contract with an artificial intelligence medicine developer on Wednesday. Novo Nordisk reported that a transaction with Valo Health, a privately held firm in Lexington, Massachusetts, that was originally valued at up to $2.7 billion had been increased to a $4.6 billion agreement. Novo Nordisk stated that a near-term payment of up to $190 million is part of the extended partnership. According to the corporations, they will endeavor to find and create remedies for cardiovascular illness, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Following the announcement of the deal, Novo Nordisk…