Author: starbpo

There is a good chance that the U.S. stock market will do even better in the months before November 8. Based on the average monthly returns of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) since it was founded in 1896, the chart below shows the historical trends. If you look closely, you’ll see that the Dow’s average return is higher in each of the five months before Election Day, from June to October. These months are not election years. The differences are especially big from the end of summer to the beginning of autumn. September is especially interesting because, on average,…

The Wall Street Journal reported late Monday that Christy Goldsmith Romero, who is in charge of derivatives, is the clear favourite to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. after Chair Martin Gruenberg quit. Gruenberg said at the end of last month that he would step down once a new leader is chosen. An independent report that was very harsh found a “hostile, abusive, unprofessional,” and misogynistic work environment at the banking regulator. This led to calls for Gruenberg’s removal. Goldsmith Romero is on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission right now. He was a special inspector general for the Troubled Asset…

Are you planning to buy a house? A report released Monday by the American Enterprise Institute says that to reach that goal, you’ll likely need to make close to six figures and have $13,000 saved. The average first-time buyer in 2023 made a down payment of $12,789 and had a credit score of 728. They also made a median income of $97,000. The study was done by a right-leaning think tank. To do its research, AEI looked at information from the federal Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, government-run businesses, public records of sales, and home assessments. About 78% of all first-time…

There’s a new angle to the tip debate now. People in the U.S. are thinking about which workers to tip and how much to pay them. Former President Donald Trump says that people who get tips shouldn’t have to give the IRS any of their money. At an event in Las Vegas on Sunday, Trump said that if he wins the election, he will work to stop the federal government from taxing tips. In a state with a big leisure and hospitality industry, he said, “This is the first time I’ve said this, and hotel workers and people who get…

On Monday, GasBuddy called the drop in petrol prices at the pump a “ultra-rare” double-digit weekly drop during the summer driving season. However, this probably has nothing to do with the Biden administration’s decision to release all of the fuel from the nation’s petrol reserve. The average price of regular unleaded petrol in the U.S. fell about 10 cents from the week before, to $3.40 per gallon on Monday, according to GasBuddy. This was the second week in a row that prices went down. That information comes from more than 12 million separate price reports for more than 150,000 petrol…

The experimental Alzheimer’s drug donanemab from Eli Lilly & Co. got support from a group of outside advisors to the Food and Drug Administration on Monday, which was a step closer to getting approved in the U.S. The members of the FDA advisory committee all voted “yes” when asked if the experimental drug has been shown to help people with mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia who have Alzheimer’s disease. In a second vote, everyone on the committee agreed that donanemab is better for that group of patients than it is harmful. The FDA doesn’t have to do what the…

The 10-for-1 stock split that happened after Friday’s close has caused Nvidia Corp. stock to trade near $120 on Monday. For investors who are used to seeing Nvidia share prices NVDA, +0.75% close to $1,200, the lower stock price after the split may come as a shock. But it hasn’t been that long since Nvidia shares were worth about $120 before the split. This shows how quickly the company has grown over the past few years. Prices for Nvidia shares before the split were last seen at $120 in October 2022. That’s another way to show that Nvidia’s stock price…

UBS says that U.S. stocks seem to be back on track to hit new highs, even if there are delays due to unexpected inflation or the Federal Reserve’s upcoming two-day policy meeting. Jason Draho, head of asset allocation at the chief investment office of UBS Global Wealth Management, said that a low reading from May’s consumer-price index, which comes out on Wednesday, would “likely be sufficient for investors to remain confident in the disinflation outlook.” This would be similar to April’s 3.4% headline annual reading. “A big upside beat like those in 1Q would have to happen for investors to…

The “fear gauge” for the stock market is showing that things are looking good for the S&P 500. But below the surface, member stocks are becoming more and more independent. Because of this, six-month implied correlation for S&P 500 SPX members dropped to its lowest level ever last week, according to data from Cboe Global Markets. This is because individual stocks in the index are moving in lockstep much less often than they used to. The prices of stock options can show how investors think stocks will move in relation to each other over the next few months. This is…

Bill Gross said he wouldn’t feel comfortable investing a lot of money in U.S. stocks. He also said he liked European government bonds better than U.S. Treasurys, because the U.S. election could have a big effect on those bonds. In an interview that aired on Monday on Bloomberg Television, the billionaire co-founder of Pimco, who was once called the “Bond King,” talked about the stocks he liked, his worries about the overvaluation of stocks, and why he’s selling his $20 million stamp collection. “At 21 times current price to earnings, the stock market is valued at levels that have never…