Bank stocks have been on an absolute tear in the past month following the election of real estate mogul Donald Trump as president of the United States. Shares in JPMorgan Chase are up over 18% since Nov. 9, Bank of America is up a whopping 26%, and even the currently scandal-embroiled Wells Fargo has seen its shares rise 21% in anticipation of financial deregulation under President Trump.
Trump touts thousands of new jobs in deal with SoftBank CEO
President-elect Donald Trump says wireless carrier Sprint Corp will bring 5,000 jobs back to the United States. President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he has reached a deal with SoftBank chief executive Masayoshi Son that would generate thousands of jobs in the United States, the latest in a string of unusually direct negotiations between Trump and corporate America.
UK firms’ finance bosses say uncertainty is ‘new normal’
UK finance chiefs have become more optimistic about the future, even though uncertainty is now the “new normal” for businesses. A survey by Deloitte found that 27% of 119 finance directors whom the accountancy firm questioned in the fourth quarter were more optimistic, helped by better GDP growth.
My ’15 Surprises for 2017′ List
It should come as no surprise that after pulling off U.S. political history’s greatest surprise ever, Donald Trump is the subject of — and catalyst for — the principal events that I’m putting on my annual “15 Surprises for the Coming Year” list. For those of you unfamiliar with this list, it’s my annual rundown of “possible improbables” that smart traders and investors should watch out for.
Holiday Phone Activations Bode Well for Apple’s iPhone 7-Plus Sales
But the numbers also suggest Apple’s smartphone sales mix improved for the better. Flurry, which relies on anonymized usage data from the thousands of mobile apps connected to its analytics tools, reports Apple products accounted for 44% of the smartphone and tablet activations it recorded from December 19 to December 25. That’s down from the 49.1% reported for the same week a year ago .
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George Primentas from London is behind The Missing Graph. He tells us that he’s been designing infographics inspired by business news since October.
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Most people focus on the income taxes they pay to their federal and state governments, spending countless hours preparing returns. But for many people, residential property taxes make up a sizable portion of their overall tax bill.
Will Spinraza Supercharge Biogen’s Top Line Next Year?
SMA is an inherited neurological disorder that results in progressive muscle wasting, impacting a person’s ability to move and even breathe. Although this disease is rare, with a U.S. incidence rate of 1 in 10,000 live births, it is the leading genetic cause of death in infants, and prior to Spinraza’s approval it lacked any form of effective pharmaceutical intervention.
Why Sandstorm Gold, Weis Markets, and Intercept Pharmaceuticals Jumped Today
Wednesday was a downbeat day for the stock market, as major market benchmarks fell sharply in yet another disappointing failure for the Dow Jones Industrials to hit the 20,000 mark. The Dow was off more than 100 points, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite posted even steeper percentage declines as the end of the year approached.
Why Kate Spade & Co. Stock Jumped Today
The stock began surging this afternoon, when The Wall Street Journal reported that the company was exploring a sale. Activist hedge fund Caerus Investors had been pushing for a sale, noting the stock’s decline since a 2014 peak, as it’s lost half of its value since then.The Journal said buyout efforts were at an early stage, as it’s working with an investment bank to reach out to potential buyers.
Precious Metals Sell-Off Provides ETF Tax-Loss Harvesting Opportunities
Investors who were unfortunate enough to be swept along the recent sell-off in precious metals may look to exchange traded funds to implement a tax-loss harvesting strategy to help reduce their bill come tax season.
CBS Expects to Add 3 Million More Streaming Subscribers by 2020
In that time, it’s added 1.2 million subscribers, according to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal . That number is up from the 1 million subscribers CBS reported for both All Access and its Showtime OTT service in July.
Trump: Sprint will bring 5,000 jobs back to U.S.
Dec. 28, 2016 – 4:15 – Democratic Strategist Danielle McLaughlin and Founder & Co-Chair of Great American PAC Eric Beach weigh in on Trump saying Sprint will bring 5,000 jobs back to the U.S.
No Happy New Year in China as Currency, Liquidity Fears Loom
The first day of 2017 is when an annual $50,000 quota to convert the yuan into foreign exchange resets, stoking concern there will be a rush to sell the local currency. With tax payments and a regulatory assessment also tightening liquidity in the money market toward year-end, January may bring scant relief as lenders prepare for stronger cash demand before Lunar New Year holidays, which are only a month away.
Fox News host with close ties to Trump discusses his dynamic…
While Trump continues to tap network personalities for top administration posts, one Fox News star who will remain at the network stands poised to also personally benefit from Trump’s ascension to the presidency: Eric Bolling. Along with Sean Hannity, Bolling emerged as one of Trump’s most vocal early supporters on Fox News, saying he knew the real-estate magnate would win as soon as he saw him descending the escalator at Trump Tower to deliver his announcement address.
Fred’s and Nvidia sink while Coach rises
A report says the retailer adopted a “poison pill” to thwart an activist investor from interfering with its plan to buy 865 Rite Aid stores. Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond.
Britons Hoard Cash as Economic Uncertainties Prompt Caution
Britons are holding onto their cash in a sign that they may be hunkering down in the face of economic uncertainties, according to the British Bankers Association. Personal deposits grew an annual 4.8 percent in November, data compiled by the BBA show.
Oil Trades Near 17-Month High as Market Seen Balancing in 2017
Oil traded near the highest since July last year, spurred by optimism that OPEC and 11 other producing nations will cut production as promised in January to prop up prices. Futures rose an eighth session in New York after closing on Tuesday at the highest since July 2, 2015.
Icahn Sees Doubts About Ethanol Mandate Among Trump’s Advisers
Billionaire Carl Icahn, a special adviser to Donald Trump and a skeptic of the U.S. ethanol mandate, said there are others on the president-elect’s team who have even deeper criticisms of the program. Icahn repeated criticism of the credit trading program that regulators and refiners use to track compliance with federal biofuel consumption quotas.
Mortgage Rates Today, Wednesday, Dec. 28: Slight Decreases;…
Thirty-year and 15-year fixed rates reversed course from yesterday and fell slightly, while 5/1 ARM rates notched up again Wednesday, according to a NerdWallet survey of mortgage rates published by national lenders this morning. November saw newly built, single-family home sales rise by 5.2 percent, according to data released last week by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Census Bureau.
Manhattan Luxury Co-Ops Fall Out of Favor as New Condos Beckon
The luxury Manhattan co-op, a longtime sign of real estate prestige and exclusivity in New York, may be losing its appeal. Blame a glut of newly built high-end condos.
It’s On! 2017 Is The Year The Virtual Assistant Wars Get Real
Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s Assistant, and Microsoft’s Cortana look to hardware partnerships and development deals to take on Apple’s Siri. The tech industry’s titans have been preparing for an all-out virtual assistant war in 2017-and it’ll be fought by Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s Assistant and maybe even Microsoft’s Cortana.
Will Consumers Change Their Minds About Wearables In 2017?
This year was a lackluster one for smartwatches and fitness trackers. A lot has to change for 2017 to mark a significant improvement.
Former Bundesbank president Hans Tietmeyer dies aged 85
He was a staunch proponent of keeping prices and currencies stable, as well as safeguarding the independence of central banks from political interference. “Hans Tietmeyer was an outstanding president, whose actions always followed clear and consistent lines aimed at maintaining monetary stability,” Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann said in a statement.
Giant walking robot showcased in South Korea
The Method-2 robot, which seems to be straight out of a science fiction movie, is 13 feet tall and weighs over a ton. The elegant 7,500-square-foot house in Northwest Washington, D.C., is home to Michael and Ally Banks – he a custom-home builder and developer, she a designer – and their four kids.
911 centers struggle to find callers on cellphones, and results can be deadly
Commercial apps, such as Facebook and Uber, can pinpoint your exact location using your smartphone’s built-in GPS. But that’s not necessarily the case when you call 911.
S&P 500 Analyst Moves: PWR
The latest tally of analyst opinions from the major brokerage houses shows that among the components of the S&P 500 index, Quanta Services is now the #53 analyst pick, moving up by 2 spots. This rank is formed by averaging the analyst opinions for each component from each broker, and then ranking the 500 components by those average opinion values.
Dow Analyst Moves: CSCO
The latest tally of analyst opinions from the major brokerage houses shows that among the 30 stocks making up the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Cisco Systems is the #6 analyst pick. Cisco Systems also comes in above the median of analyst picks among the broader S&P 500 index components, claiming the #144 spot out of 500.
Dow Pares Earlier Losses as Stocks Stay in the Red
The Dow Jones index of 30 blue-chip stocks climbed to within 19 points of the 20,000 milestone on Wednesday before retreating. The Nasdaq slid from a record opening of 5,499.
Amazon Voted Best Stock for 2017 by Evercore
Amazon is Evercore’s top stock pick for the upcoming year, mainly due to its position in the data science field. Shares of Amazon were slightly higher in late morning trading on Wednesday, after Evercore named the company its top stock pick for 2017, in a note released earlier today.
Trump Takes Credit for Rising Consumer Confidence; Analyst Weighs In
U.S. consumer confidence rose to new levels in December. How much of a factor is the incoming U.S. president? U.S. consumer confidence in December rose to its highest level in over 15 years, 113.7, as more Americans are expressing faith that business conditions will improve under President-elect Donald Trump.
Hollywood’s Chinese Growth Engine Stalls in 2016
After growing nearly fourfold in the past five years, ticket sales in China are set for only a slight increase this year, bad news for studio profit margins. China’s box office, the engine of growth and safety blanket for Hollywood’s biggest budget films, is starting to show signs of age.
Now That the TPP Is Dead, Here’s What Will Happen to Pacific Trade
China, not the U.S., will lead Asia-Pacific economic integration now that U.S. President elect Donald Trump has vowed to quit the partnership. The Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, was the most state-of-the-art free trade agreement to date.
Blind Adherence to Re-balancing May Be Hazardous to One’s Wealth
Annually at this time of year, we are inundated with financial advice columns suggesting that investors re-balance their investment portfolios. Conventional wisdom states that it is prudent to sell a portion of an asset class that has recently outperformed to buy the asset class that has recently under-performed in order to bring the long-term target asset allocation back into balance.
Go for Banks That Grow Their Book Value at a High Rate
We might as well close out the year with the sector we talked about the most during 2016. Yesterday I looked at those banks that have rewarded shareholders with consistent dividends and buybacks.
Dip Buying Wanes at Year’s End
One of the big dangers near the end of the year is that the Santa Claus rally action tends to create some complacency. Traders can become downright euphoric over some of the action and can be caught by surprise when a swift reversal occurs.
Most Popular New ETF Strategies of 2016
There are now 1,961 U.S.-listed exchange traded products, which include both exchange traded funds and exchange traded notes, with a little over $2.5 trillion in assets under management. The most popular new ETF options available to investors of 2016 include some that track leveraged high-yield strategies, a dynamically hedged international equity position, another that screens companies for gender equality in the evolving age and a forward momentum investment style.
Last-Minute Spending Surge Lifts Holiday Shopping Season
A jump in consumer spending in the final stretch of December significantly offset a slow start to the U.S. holiday shopping season, and is likely to help many retailers beat sales forecasts, industry research groups said on Tuesday. The December spending boost is in contrast to a muted November, when early holiday promotions and expectations among consumers that deals would always be available took a toll.
Delta to Cancel Order for 18 Boeing 787 Dreamliners
Delta Air Lines said on Tuesday that in agreement with Boeing it would cancel an order for 18 787 Dreamliner aircraft, which it assumed as a part of its merger with Northwest Airlines. The order is valued at more than $4 billion at current list prices.
AMP Manager Starts Betting Against Dollar After Right Yen Wager
Nader Naeimi, who made the right bet buying the dollar against the yen before the U.S. election, is selling the greenback against the currencies of Australia, Brazil, Russia and Turkey. “It seems like long dollars is becoming a no brainer,” said Naeimi, who has two decades of investment experience and heads a dynamic investment fund at AMP Capital Investors Ltd. in Sydney.