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the latest batch of inflation data sent u.s. treasury rates to the highest level since november and the spdr s&p 500 etf trust (nyse: spy ) lower once again this week. on tuesday, the labor department said the consumer price index gained 6.4% in january, down from a 6.5% increase in december but above economist estimates of a 6.2% gain. core cpi inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was 5.6% in january, also higher than economist estimates of 5.5%. related link: tuesday's market minute: breaking down january cpi on thursday, the labor department reported the producer price index rose 0.7% month-over-month in january, exceeding market estimates of a 0.4% gain and marking its largest increase in seven months. following the ppi reading, the 10-year u.s. treasury yield climbed as high as 3.929% on friday morning, the highest level since november. on wednesday, bitcoin (crypto: btc ) prices topped $24,000 for the first time since august, but 99-year-old berkshire hathaway inc (nyse: brk-a ) (nyse: brk-b ) vice chairman charlie munger didn't pull any punches when expressing his disdain for cryptocurrencies at the daily journal corporation (nasdaq: djco ) annual shareholder meeting. munger called crypto investors "idiots" and said the cryptocurrency market is "crazy, stupid gambling." related link: berkshire hathaway's charlie munger calls cryptocurrency 'worthless,' 'antisocial' on thursday, the national highway traffic safety administration (nhtsa) announced electric vehicle maker tesla inc (nasdaq: tsla ) is recalling 362,758 vehicles equipped with the beta version of its full self-driving software, which the nhtsa said "increases the risk of a crash." tesla shares dropped 5.5% on thursday, but the company said the issues will be addressed via a free, over-the-air software update. odds on favorite: draftkings inc (nasdaq: dkng ) shares rallied friday after the sports gambling company reported record fourth-quarter revenue and raised its 2023 sales guidance. in the week ahead, investors will get more quarterly reports from coinbase global inc (nasdaq: coin ) on tuesday, nvidia corporation (nasdaq: nvda ) on wednesday and block inc (nyse: sq ) and alibaba group holding ltd (nyse: baba ) on thursday. the communications services sector's 23.9% earnings drop in the fourth quarter is the largest earnings decline of any s&p 500 sector, according to factset. economic numbers: following the monday presidents' day stock market holiday, wall street will get more key economic updates on wednesday when the federal reserve releases its latest meeting minutes and on friday when the u.s. bureau of economic analysis releases its january core personal consumption expenditures price index reading. | 2023-02-17 |
deeproute.ai , a self-driving technology company backed by alibaba group holding ltd. (nyse: baba ) , unveiled hd map-free self-driving solution. what happened: deeproute.ai unveiled the driver 3.0 solution , which removes the need for hd maps and overcomes geo-fencing limitations, the company said in a statement. see also: best stock trading software the solution will be incorporated into passenger vehicles for sale starting this year. the company, however, did not specify the automotive brand that will be utilizing the new solution. driver 3.0 comes in two variations of self-driving solutions, d-pro and d-air , with hardware costs of $2,000 and $1,000, respectively. “both versions of the driver 3.0 solution expedite automakers’ mass production plans as they comprehensively address concerns regarding high cost of mapping and maintenance, as well as the limitations of geo-fencing,” the company said. the solution generates lane-level information in real-time without hd maps and is capable of adaptive cruise control, stop and go, obstacle avoidance and unprotected left turns, the company said. “not relying on hd maps, smart driving will be available everywhere and affordable for automakers and consumers alike,” deeproute.ai said. it will also reduce driving fatigue and offer a smooth and consistent driving experience, the company added. read next: tesla's credit rating just got upgraded from junk to investment-grade status at moody's: what that means for the ev maker | 2023-03-22 |
bloomberg tesla's chinese rival byd defers us debut for now, weeks after reducing shift timings at china plants byd co., ltd . (otc: byddf ) (otc: byddy ) does not propose to foray into the u.s. passenger car market for now, founder wang chuanfu said. at a post-earnings briefing on wednesday, the chinese tesla, inc (nasdaq: tsla ) rival said that its home market of china has already entered a "full-expansion phase" for new-energy vehicles. recently, byd reduced shifts at two auto assembly plants in china, signifying weaker demand in the largest auto market. byd has also been slowing output since the start of the year when industry-wide sales began to stall, and china terminated a national subsidy program for evs. nikkie asia alibaba's split sparks layoff concerns, ceo zhang authority weakens as he failed to boost share price alibaba group holding limited's (nyse: baba ) latest business restructuring sparks layoff fears among employees. mar. 28 reports suggested alibaba will reorganize its businesses into six independently run entities: cloud intelligence group, e-commerce under taobao-tmall, cainiao's smart logistics operations, local services group, global digital business group, and the digital media and entertainment group. the shift from alibaba's centralized structure sparked concerns among some of its nearly 240,000 employees after it reduced its headcount by about 20,000 in 2022. benzinga apple finally launches much-awaited' pay later' service: here's everything you need to know after a significant delay, apple inc (nasdaq: aapl ) has finally launched its " apple pay later " service in the u.s. apple has released its service resembling the "buy now, pay later" style, allowing consumers to split any apple pay purchase into four equal installments over six weeks without paying additional interest or fees. consumers can track, manage and repay their apple pay later loans from iphone's wallet app and borrow $50 to $1000. google drive's 'secret' 5m item limit triggers outrage as users seek answers alphabet inc.'s (nasdaq: goog ) (nasdaq: googl ) google drive users have raised concerns about the recent implementation of a five-million items limit, which resulted in losing access to files for some users, despite having storage space. on monday, a reddit user posted a thread saying that google had imposed a limit of five million items on google drive accounts without prior notification. the redditor added that users started receiving "upload failed" notifications starting feb. 14 for any "creation action carried out," like creating a new empty folder. microsoft taps openai's latest gpt-4 for cybersecurity solutions microsoft corp (nasdaq: msft ) launched microsoft security copilot on tuesday, bringing openai's latest gpt-4 generative ai to cybersecurity. with copilot, defenders can quickly detect and respond to threats and better understand the threat landscape overall. security copilot will integrate microsoft's vast threat intelligence footprint with expertise to augment the work of security professionals through an easy-to-use ai assistant. ubs rehires former ceo to oversee credit suisse takeover ubs group ag (nyse: ubs ) has appointed sergio ermotti as the group chief executive officer and president, effective apr. 5 2023. he will succeed ralph hamers, who has agreed to step down. mr. hamers, who has been in his role since november 2020, "has agreed to step down to serve the interests of the new combination, the swiss financial sector, and the country," ubs said. sergio ermotti served as ubs's chief executive officer for nine years. federal authorities sue walmart for firing an employee with crohn's disease the u.s. equal employment opportunity commission has reportedly sued walmart inc (nyse: wmt ) for laying off a north carolina employee with crohn's disease. walmart allegedly refused to grant the employee disability-related leave. the eeoc's complaint accuses walmart of violating the americans with disabilities act in treating the worker. wall street journal ryan cohen's plans for gamestop keep shrinking gamestop corp (nyse: gme ) recently recorded its first profit in two years, with fourth-quarter revenue of $2.23 billion, which beat average analyst estimates of $2.18 billion, and adjusted earnings of 16 cents per share, which beat analyst expectations for a loss of 13 cents per share. the positive earnings surprise is gamestop's first profitable quarter since 2021. ryan cohen took over gamestop in 2021, aiming to turn the struggling videogame retailer into an e-commerce behemoth. cnbc dollar general in settlement talks regarding workplace safety violations dollar general corp (nyse: dg ) is reportedly in settlement talks with federal regulators after being accused of violating workplace safety rules. a spokesperson for the occupational safety and health administration (osha) said the "mandatory settlement proceedings" before the review commission would be done according to the rules. the report noted that the discount retailer had been accused of exposing workers to fire hazards, raising safety concerns. reuters adidas retracts opposition to black lives matter three-stripe design adidas ag (otc: addyy ) has reportedly taken back its request to the u.s. trademark office to reject a black lives matter trademark for three parallel stripes. the decision has been taken by concern that people might mistake the sportswear maker's trademark objection as opposition to black lives matter's mission. "adidas will withdraw its opposition to the black lives matter global network foundation's trademark application as soon as possible," the report cited the company. byd photo via company | 2023-03-29 |
us stocks closed slightly lower on tuesday amid a drop in technology stocks. the s&p 500 technology index dropped 0.5% on tuesday, extending losses for the week. however, the index remains sharply higher for the quarter. treasury yields moved higher, weighing on tech stocks. shares of alibaba group holding limited (nyse: baba ) jumped over 14% on tuesday following a report suggesting the company will be splitting into six units that may pursue individual ipos. micron technology inc (nasdaq: mu ) posted downbeat results for its second quarter after the closing bell on tuesday. major sectors on the s&p 500 closed on a mixed note, with energy and industrials stocks recording the biggest gains on tuesday. however, communication services and health care stocks closed lower during the session. the nasdaq 100 fell 0.49% to close at 12,610.57 on tuesday, amid losses in shares of amazon.com, inc. (nasdaq: amzn ) and tesla inc (nasdaq: tsla ). the s&p 500 fell 0.16%, while the dow jones lost 0.12% to 32,394.25 in the previous session. the chicago board options exchange's cboe volatility index (vix) fell 3.1% to 19.97 points on tuesday. what is cboe volatility index? the cboe volatility index, popularly known as vix, is a measure of the equity market's expectation of volatility based on s&p 500 index call and put options . read next: $216m bet on occidental petroleum? check out these 3 stocks insiders are buying | 2023-03-29 |
major wall street indices closed in the red led by a rise in yields that dragged stocks. investors and traders also weighed in comments by federal reserve vice chair for supervision michael barr on the banking crisis. what happened: barr cited the failure of silicon valley bank as a "textbook case of mismanagement," and has proposed tightening of banking rules, according to financial times. the nasdaq composite declined 0.45% while the s&p 500 ended 0.16% lower. the dow lost 0.12%. meanwhile, following are the five stocks that are drawing investors' attention: 1. tesla inc (nasdaq: tsla ): shares of the company closed 1.37% lower. u.s. auto safety regulators said on tuesday they are initiating an investigation into 50,000 tesla model x vehicles following two complaints reporting front seat belt failures, reported reuters. also read: everything you need to know about tesla stock 2. micron technology inc (nasdaq: mu ): shares of the company closed 0.85% lower. micron reported second-quarter revenue of $3.69 billion, down from $7.79 billion in the same period last year. the revenue came in below a consensus estimate of $3.72 billion, according to benzinga pro. 3. alibaba group holding ltd (nyse: baba ): shares of the company closed 14.26% higher on tuesday following news that the company proposed revamping its operations in its most significant corporate restructuring. alibaba is set to reorganize its businesses into six independently run entities. 4. lululemon athletica inc (nasdaq: lulu ): shares of the company rose 13.12% in extended trading. lululemon reported fourth-quarter revenue of $2.77 billion, up 30% year-over-year. the revenue total beat a street estimate of $2.70 billion, according to data from benzinga pro . 5. lucid group inc (nasdaq: lcid ): shares of the company closed 7.25% lower on tuesday following reports that it is looking to trim 18% of its workforce. the lay-off is reportedly expected to affect all levels of the organization, including executives . read next: amc shares pop on amazon takeover rumors: the details | 2023-03-29 |
hong kong-listed shares of alibaba group holding ltd (nyse: baba ) crossed the hkd 100 mark on the upside for the first time since feb. 21, as investors and traders continued to digest a report that said the company’s logistics unit is preparing for an ipo. price action: alibaba shares nudged the hkd 102-mark before cooling off as market participants appeared to take some profits off the table. the stock is already up over 16% in last five days after the company announced a mega overhaul. at the time of writing, the stock was trading up over 3%. also read: how to buy alibaba (baba) stock alibaba’s logistics arm, cainiao network technology has reportedly commenced preparations with banks for its hong kong initial public offering. cainiao, working alongside banks such as china international capital and citigroup , is looking for a listing as early as the end of 2023. the firm has yet to determine the size of the ipo, however, the company is currently valued at $20 billion. alibaba had earlier announced plans to split into six separate entities as it seeks better efficiency with its operations. the company plans to explore fundraising or listings for most of its units. crucial levels: alibaba's daily chart shows the hong kong-listed stock may witness some resistance at levels close to hkd 118 while the hkd 97 level may likely provide some support. read next: tesla, dwac, rumble, ionq, metropolitan bank: why these 5 stocks are drawing investors’ attention today | 2023-03-31 |
benzinga examined the prospects for many investors' favorite stocks over the last week — here's a look at some of our top stories. all three major indexes ended the week higher, finishing the quarter in the green. for the first quarter, the dow industrials rose by 0.4%, the s&p 500 gained 7% and the nasdaq composite exploded 17% higher, marking the index's biggest quarterly percentage gain since june 2020. on friday, the bureau of economic analysis reported the personal consumption expenditures price index increased by 5% year over year in the month of february, down from 5.4% in january. core pce, which excludes volatile food and energy prices and is the fed's preferred inflation gauge, was up 4.6%, below analyst estimates of a 4.7% gain. benzinga provides daily reports on the stocks most popular with investors. here are a few of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look. the bulls " it's not tesla, meta or nvidia — the best performing large-cap stock in 2023 is a crypto play ," by chris katje, looks at the top-performing large-cap stocks so far this year, and finds that a crypto exchange is beating highfliers like nvidia corporation (nasdaq: nvda ), meta platforms (nasdaq: meta ) and tesla inc (nasdaq: tsla ), which are among the top 10 in 2023. in " alibaba's restructuring likely to unlock significant value, morgan stanley sees over 100% upside in bull case scenario ," anusuya lahiri writes that a morgan stanley analyst remains bullish on alibaba group holding limited (nyse: baba ) after reports say the company will split into six units. " analyst predicts dogecoin, shiba inu and floki to rally up to 100x but 'as long as bitcoin holds up,' " by mehab qureshi, details why a crypto analyst sees meme coins like dogecoin (crypto: doge ) and shiba inu (crypto:shiba) having the potential to 100x if bitcoin (crypto: btc ) climbs higher. for additional bullish calls of the past week, check out the following: chart wars: what to watch as first republic, bank of america pop higher in this trend nasdaq 100 index officially enters a bull market: history suggests returns will at least double from here ford's innovative drone patent set to revolutionize roadside assistance: jumper cables delivered on demand the bears " coca-cola and pepsi face new threat in india as country's richest person revives iconic brand ," by navdeep yadav, looks at a move made by mukesh ambani , india's richest man, to promote an iconic cola brand and challenge soft drink giants coca-cola co (nyse: ko ) and pepsico inc (nasdaq: pep ). in " disney reportedly pulls plug on metaverse dreams amid harsh reality of cost-cuts ," shanthi rexaline writes that walt disney co. (nyse: dis ) has pulled the plug on one of its units engaged in developing metaverse strategies, as part of its plan to reduce headcount. " we don't see any fed rate cuts': blackrock goes overweight inflation-linked bonds, stays underweight stocks as damage looms ," by piero cingari, details blackrock inc 's (nyse: blk ) assessment that the fed is not likely to cut interest rates, despite what the markets may be anticipating. for more bearish takes, be sure to see these posts: 'very big mistake': cathie wood warns banking crisis could bleed into earnings ray dalio warns everybody is losing money: 'the world is leveraged long' will we miss out on next 'iphone moment?' apple analysts see ar/mr headset hurdles keep up with all the latest breaking news and trading ideas by following benzinga on twitter . | 2023-04-01 |
cathie wood -led ark investment management offloaded shares of chinese e-commerce giant jd.com inc (nasdaq: jd ) at an estimated valuation of over $390,000, based on monday's closing price. what happened: the sale was done via the ark fintech innovation etf (nyse: arkf ) that has jd.com as the 25th largest holding with a weight of 0.74%, according to latest data available on the company's website. also read: how to invest in startups shares of jd.com have lost over 27% since the beginning of 2023. however, last week, the stock registered gains after the company announced it intends to spin-off jd property and jd industrial by way of a separate listing on hong kong stock exchange . the move followed its rival alibaba group holding ltd .'s (nyse: baba ) decision to split into six independent businesses, each of which could pursue funding and separate listings. that's not all. in early march, the company had run a multibillion yuan price war amid rising competition with peers that include alibaba group holding ltd and pdd holdings inc (nasdaq: pdd ), according to the south china morning post. the company described the 10 billion yuan subsidy campaign as “its largest sales promotion event in history.” ark's funds, however, have been offloading shares of the e-commerce company since september 2021 and have not made any purchases of the stock since then, according to cathiesark.com. benzinga could not independently verify the same. major buy: ark loaded up over 2.6 million shares of butterfly network inc (nyse: bfly ) at an estimated valuation of over $5.9 million based on monday's closing price. the purchase was done via the ark genomic revolution etf (nyse: arkg ). it is noteworthy that shares of butterfly network closed over 21% higher on monday after the company announced it received 510(k) clearance for an ai-enabled auto b-line counter. read next: tesla, c3.ai, johnson & johnson, cardlytics, bullfrog ai holdings: why these 5 stocks are drawing investors’ attention today | 2023-04-05 |
each trading day features hundreds of headlines and press releases on benzinga pro, a source for traders to see the latest news on the overall market and individual tickers. here is a look at the most-searched stocks on benzinga pro during march 2023. year-to-date and 52-week ranges are through the month of march. 1. spdr s&p 500 trust etf (nyse: spy ) month end price: $409.39 52-week range: $348.11 to $457.83 ytd return: +7.5% january / february search rank: 1st/1st 2022 search rank: 1st the spdr s&p 500 etf ranked as the top searched ticker. the interest comes as the s&p 500 rebounds in 2023, interest grows following the index's worst annual performance since 2008, experienced in 2022. the etf continues to be a gauge of overall market health and is tagged by benzinga pro on many macroeconomic stories and news alerts. 2. tesla inc (nasdaq: tsla ) month end price: $207.46 52-week range: $101.81 to $384.29 ytd return: +91.9% january/february search rank: 2nd/2nd 2022 search rank: 2nd electric vehicle leader tesla continues to be the most searched non-etf ticker on benzinga pro. the stock is rebounding in 2023 after posting a share price decline in 2022. the stock will likely rank high for searches in april, with quarterly delivery and production results and quarterly financial results during the month. 3. nvidia corp (nasdaq: nvda ) month end price: $277.77 52-week range: $108.13 to $278.34 ytd return: +94.0% january/february search rank: 6th/3rd 2022 search rank: 4th shares of nvidia are up significantly in 2023 with the technology sector rebounding. the tech giant is also seen as a beneficiary of the surging interest in artificial intelligence, which could be a multi-billion opportunity for the company. related link: first quarter rewind, what's ahead for tech in q2 4. mullen automotive (nasdaq: muln ) month end price: $0.13 52-week range: $0.09 to $3.12 ytd return: -59.2% january/february search rank: not in top 20/not in top 20 2022 search rank: 14th electric vehicle company mullen automotive saw interest soar in the month of march, which included several delivery and partnership announcements. the stock is down over 50% in 2023. 5. apple inc (nasdaq: aapl ) month end price: $164.90 52-week range: $124.17 to $178.49 ytd return: +31.9% january/february search rank: 3rd/4th 2022 search rank: 3rd technology giant apple slides to fifth among searched tickers on benzinga pro for the month of march. the move comes as a result of other tickers seeing increased interest and apple maintaining a steady search volume in march. the stock is up over 30% year-to-date in 2023 and will likely remain in the top 10 each month. 6. imperial petroleum (nasdaq: impp ) month end price: $0.19 52-week range: $01.5 to $1.57 ytd return: -19.3% january/february search rank: not in top 20/not in top 20 2022 search rank: not in top 20 the small-cap oil stock saw shares surge in march after a company update reported a net asset value update for the stock. the report said imperial petroleum had a net asset value of $1.49 per common share outstanding and $1.17 on a fully diluted basis, significantly above where shares trade. 7. moderna inc (nasdaq: mrna ) month end price: $153.58 52-week range: $115.03 to $217.25 ytd return: -14.2% january/february search rank: 15th, not in top 20 2022 search rank: 11th moderna saw increased interest in the month of march, which came amid news the company wanted to charge $130 for each covid-19 vaccine dose and could get additional booster shots authorized. moderna also announced a collaboration with generation bio (nasdaq: gbio ) 8. amc entertainment holdings (nyse: amc ) month end price: $5.01 52-week range: $3.77 to $16.89 ytd return: +27.5% january/february search rank: 16th/12th 2022 search rank: 9th movie theater leader amc re-entered the top 10 stocks searched on benzinga pro for the month of march. the increased interest came as shareholders voted to approve a vote for the conversion of amc preferred equity units (nyse: ape ) into common shares. the company also was the subject of a takeover rumor. 9. advanced micro devices (nasdaq: amd ) month end price: $98.01 52-week range: $54.57 to $110.94 ytd return: +53.1% january/february search rank: 12th/not in top 20 2022 search rank: 5th amd re-joined the top 10 tickers, likely the result of increased interest in large technology companies as the sector rebounds in 2023. 10. hycroft mining holding corp (nasdaq: hymc ) month end price: $0.43 52-week range: $0.31 to $2.31 ytd return: -19.9% january/february search rank: not in top 20/not in top 20 2022 search rank: not in top 20 mining company hycroft ranked 10th for the month, which comes as the company reported full-year financial results. hycroft reported $32.2 million and $1 million in revenue for gold and silver respectively for the full financial year. honorable mentions: the following stocks were the 11th to 20th most-searched tickers on benzinga pro in march 2023. 11. zscaler inc (nasdaq: zs ) 12. meta platforms (nasdaq: meta ) 13. indonesia energy (amex: indo ) 14. invesco qqq trust (nasdaq: qqq ) 15. alibaba group holding (nyse: baba ) 16. amazon.com inc (nasdaq: amzn ) 17. nio inc (nyse: nio ) 18. camber energy (nyse: cei ) 19. gamestop corp (nyse: gme ) 20. costco wholesale corp (nasdaq: cost ) the top searched stocks in march saw only four of the top 10 names carry over from the month of february. the invesco qqq trust, meta platforms and amazon all dropped from the top 10 into the 11th through 20th range for search interest. three of the most searched stocks for the month of february ranked outside the top 20 tickers in march with bed bath & beyond (nasdaq: bbby ), c3.ai inc (nyse: ai ) and carvana co (nyse: cvna ) all falling off the list. read next: top 5 best and worst u.s. industry etfs in q1 2023 photo: shutterstock | 2023-04-10 |
each trading day features hundreds of headlines and press releases on benzinga pro, a source for traders to see the latest news on the overall market and individual tickers. here is a look at the most-searched stocks on benzinga pro in the first quarter of 2023. year-to-date and 52-week ranges are through the month of march. 1. spdr s&p 500 trust etf (nyse: spy ) month end price: $409.39 52-week range: $348.11 to $457.83 ytd return: +7.5% january / february / march search rank: 1st/1st/1st 2022 search rank : 1st the spdr s&p 500 etf ranked as the top searched ticker. the interest comes as the s&p 500 continues to gain in 2023 after posting its worst annual performance since 2008, experienced in 2022. the etf continues to be a gauge of overall market health and is tagged by benzinga pro on many macroeconomic stories and news alerts. 2. tesla inc (nasdaq: tsla ) month end price: $207.46 52-week range: $101.81 to $384.29 ytd return: +91.9% january/february/march search rank: 2nd/2nd/2nd 2022 search rank: 2nd electric vehicle leader tesla continues to be the most searched non-etf ticker on benzinga pro. the stock rebounded in 2023 after posting a share price decline in 2022. the stock will likely rank high in the month of april for searches with quarterly delivery and production results and quarterly financial results. 3. nvidia corp (nasdaq: nvda ) month end price: $277.77 52-week range: $108.13 to $278.34 ytd return: +94.0% january/february/march search rank: 6th/3rd/3rd 2022 search rank: 4th shares of nvidia are up significantly in 2023 with the technology sector rebounding. the tech giant is also seen as a beneficiary of the surging interest in artificial intelligence, which could be a multi-billion opportunity for the company. related link: first quarter rewind, what's ahead for tech in q2 4. apple inc (nasdaq: aapl ) month end price: $164.90 52-week range: $124.17 to $178.49 ytd return: +31.9% january/february/march search rank: 3rd/4th/4th 2022 search rank: 3rd technology giant apple ranked fourth among searched tickers on benzinga pro in the first quarter. the stock ranked in the top four in each of the first three months of 2023. apple stock is up over 30% year-to-date in 2023 and will likely remain in the top 10 each month. 5. meta platforms (nasdaq: meta ) month end price: $211.94 52-week range: $88.09 to $236.86 ytd return: +69.9% january/february/march search rank: not in top 20/6th/12th 2022 search rank: 7th social media platform company meta platforms has seen shares post a strong rebound in 2023 and the stock has also gained in interest on benzinga pro. after failing to rank in the top 20 searched stocks in january, the stock is now among the most searched tickers in february, march and the overall first quarter. 6. advanced micro devices (nasdaq: amd ) month end price: $98.01 52-week range: $54.57 to $110.94 ytd return: +53.1% january/february/march search rank: 12th/not in top 20/9th 2022 search rank: 5th amd re-joined the top 10 tickers searched in march, likely the result of increased interest in large technology companies as the sector rebounds in 2023. the stock was the sixth most searched ticker in the first quarter, helped by strong interest in the month of march. 7. invesco qqq trust (nasdaq: qqq ) month end price: $320.93 52-week range: $254.26 to $369.31 ytd return: +21.3% january/february/march search rank: 10th/5th/14th 2022 search rank: 5th one of the most searched tickers in 2022 and a popular etf, the invesco qqq trust ranked in the top 10 for january, february and the first quarter among search results. the interest in the etf comes as technology stocks have been among the best performing to start 2023, rebounding after a rough 2022 year. 8. amazon.com inc (nasdaq: amzn ) month end price: $103.29 52-week range: $81.43 to $168.39 ytd return: +20.4% january/february/march search rank: 19th/7th/16th 2022 search rank: 8th ecommerce leader amazon remains a popular stock among investors and a gauge of how sectors like ecommerce, retail, cloud computing and streaming are doing. 9. amc entertainment holdings (nyse: amc ) month end price: $5.01 52-week range: $3.77 to $16.89 ytd return: +27.5% january/february/march search rank: 16th/12th/8th 2022 search rank: 9th movie theater leader amc re-entered the top 10 stocks searched on benzinga pro for the month of march. the increased interest came as shareholders voted to approve a vote for the conversion of amc preferred equity units (nyse: ape ) into common shares. the company also was the subject of a takeover rumor. 10. moderna inc (nasdaq: mrna ) month end price: $153.58 52-week range: $115.03 to $217.25 ytd return: -14.2% january/february/march search rank: 15th/not in top 20/7th 2022 search rank: 11th moderna saw increased interest in the month of march, which came as it was amid news the company wanted to charge $130 for each covid-19 vaccine dose and could get additional booster shots authorized. the company also announced a collaboration with generation bio (nasdaq: gbio ). honorable mentions: the following stocks were the 11th to 20th most-searched tickers on benzinga pro in the first quarter of 2023. 11. microsoft corporation (nasdaq: msft ) 12. ford motor company (nyse: f ) 13. alibaba group holding (nyse: baba ) 14. digital world acquisition corporation (nasdaq: dwac ) 15. sofi technologies (nasdaq: sofi ) 16. imperial petroleum (nasdaq: impp ) 17. mullen automotive (nasdaq: muln ) 18. peloton interactive (nasdaq: pton ) 19. vinco ventures inc (nasdaq: bbig ) 20. lucid group inc (nasdaq: lcid ) read next: top 5 best and worst u.s. industry etfs in q1 2023 | 2023-04-12 |
benzinga elon musk, bbc reporter clash in twitter spaces over hate speech, layoffs, and covid-19 on tuesday night, twitter and tesla ceo elon musk was interviewed by james clayton , the technology reporter for bbc north america. during the course of the interview, conducted on twitter spaces, the billionaire entrepreneur turned the tables and, for a time, became the interviewer. clayton raised several questions surrounding layoffs at twitter and the issues of hate speech and misinformation on the platform. addressing freedom of speech over misinformation. "who is to say something is misinformation, is it the bbc?" get paid to hack openai: chatgpt parent launches $20k bug bounty program following the ban in italy, openai , the company responsible for the popular chatbot chatgpt , has invited users to discover flaws in its artificial intelligence systems, offering a maximum reward of $20,000. the openai bug bounty initiative compensates individuals according to the severity of the bugs they report. the program commences with a base reward of $200 to $6,500 for each identified vulnerability. us losing edge in crypto industry due to regulatory issues, a16z report shows as regulatory scrutiny of digital asset firms continues to escalate in the u.s., there has been a decline in america's leadership position in the crypto industry, according to a new report released by venture capital firm andreessen horowitz , also known as 'a16z.' the report' state of crypto' cited a steady stream of enforcement actions and court cases linked to this decline. walmart closes four chicago stores as losses run in millions walmart inc (nyse: wmt ) said it has decided to close four of its stores in chicago. the retailer said the chicago stores have not been profitable since the first store was opened nearly 17 years ago. the stores, collectively, have been losing tens of millions of dollars a year, and the annual losses nearly doubled in just the last five years. emerson electric acquires national instruments for $8.2b emerson electric co (nyse: emr ) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire national instruments corp (nasdaq: nati ) after a long quest for the maker of measurement systems. emerson will acquire ni for $60 per share in cash at an equity value of $8.2 billion. the $60 per share deal price represents a 49% premium to ni's closing share price as of jan. 12, 2023, the day before ni's public announcement of a strategic review. boeing's q1 deliveries reach 130 planes, surpassing airbus boeing co (nyse: ba ) announced 130 deliveries across its commercial and defense operations for 1q23, an increase from 95 deliveries last year. the 1q23 deliveries included 111 deliveries of 737 max. airbus se (otc: eadsy ) recently reported 1q23 deliveries of 127, down 11% y/y, falling short of boeing's 130. for march, deliveries totaled 64, an increase of 36% y/y, which included 52 deliveries for 737 max jets. financial times softbank ceo masayoshi son set to finalize arm semiconductor listing deal for ipo by this week softbank group corp (otc: sftbf ) (otc: sftby ) chief masayoshi son prepares to reach a deal with nasdaq to list chip designer arm ltd by this week. softbank and the new york exchange reached a tentative agreement over arm's proposed listing on monday. the move represents the first formal step in the ipo process likely to end speculation over son's plans for the cambridge-based company after a deal to sell it to rival nvidia corp (nasdaq: nvda ) collapsed in early 2022. bloomberg tencent shares suffer maximum decline over reports of stake sale by largest shareholder tencent holdings ltd (otc: tcehy ) shares saw the most significant declines over two months amid speculation that its largest shareholder prosus nv (otc: prosy ) (otc: prosf ) speeding up the selling of the chinese gaming company's stock. tencent's shares lost 5.2% to hk$357.2 in hong kong, the most since late january, after reports of prosus' plans to deposit an additional 96 million shares into the city's stock clearing system. prosus' move, typically a precursor to selling stock, raised concerns among traders about the company's outlook and ability to extend recent gains. ubs mulls keeping credit suisse private wealth unit targeting india's wealthy diaspora ubs group ag (nyse: ubs ) is reportedly looking to retain credit suisse group ag's (nyse: cs ) private banking unit in india, making way for a potential return to the market. in recent weeks, iqbal khan, global head of wealth management at ubs, met with counterparts at credit suisse, including the lender's local wealth head puneet matta in singapore. the move would give the swiss lender a stronger foothold among the growing ranks of indian billionaires while underscoring a return for khan, who steered the private wealth business during his time at credit suisse before joining ubs in 2019. alibaba's restructuring pays off: cloud and cainiao divisions attract investor attention with high post-restructuring valuations investors said the alibaba group holding limited (nyse: baba ) division's shares waiting for public listing would likely be in high demand as the breakup unlocks value in the wake of regulatory crackdown. interest in the units will likely draw high demand despite the slump in shares of chinese tech firms like didi global inc (otc: didiy ) and kuaishou technology (otc: kshty ) (otc: kuasf ), given the timing and the difference in their assets. wall street journal carrier global eyes separation of fire unit on demand issues carrier global corp (nyse: carr ) reportedly plans to sell or spin off its fire & security business segment, which accounts for about 17% of its sales. the process is in an early stage with no guarantee that the company will follow through. the fire & security business accounted for $3.57 billion (previous year: $5.51 billion) of carrier global's total sales of $20.4 billion in 2022. cnbc new york and california prepare for potential mifepristone ban in texas with stockpiling of alternative abortion medications new york and california are stockpiling an alternative abortion medication in case a texas judge's order suspending the fda approval of the primary drug, mifepristone, goes into effect later this week. the alternative option, misoprostol, is fda-approved to treat gastric ulcers. but the use of misoprostol alone to induce abortions is endorsed by the world health organization and is used in countries where mifepristone is unavailable. more than half of abortions in the u.s. use a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol. new york times meta's restructuring efforts spark job stability concerns among employees amid layoffs and absence of leaders at headquarters meta platforms inc (nasdaq: meta ) job cuts and the viability of its metaverse focus have fueled employee concerns regarding job stability. some of meta's top executives have migrated. they are operating from their new homes in places like london and tel aviv despite ceo mark zuckerberg's repeated requests to resume regular office at its headquarters. he has conducted two cuts over the past six months, eliminating more than 26,000 people, or nearly 30% of his company's workforce. the layoffs, absentee leadership, and concerns that zuckerberg is making a bad bet on the future have devastated employee morale at meta. photo via wikimedia commons | 2023-04-12 |
a lower-than-expected producer inflation and higher-than-expected unemployment claims boosted risk appetite on thursday, with all major u.s. equity indices posting sharp gains as investors increased speculations about the end of the rate hike cycle after the fed's may meeting . interest-rate sensitive mega caps, such as tesla, inc. (nasdaq: tsla ) apple, inc. (nasdaq: aapl ), amazon, inc. (nasdaq: amzn ), and alphabet, inc. (nasdaq: googl ), have gained more than 2% on the day. a weaker greenback, with eur/usd hitting fresh yearly highs , also supported stock advances. cues from thursday's trading: producer price inflation (ppi) decreased by 0.5% in march, falling short of forecasts for a flat monthly reading, while weekly unemployment claims surged by 11,000 to 239,000, above expectations. the two findings signal that a cooling trend in pricing pressures and the labor market is already underway. stocks rallied across the board as investors wagered the federal reserve will stop raising in june and deliver the first reduction as early as july, according to latest cme group fedwatch tool. the s&p 500 index gained 0.7%, returning above 4,100 points, the dow jones industrial average grew 0.4%, while the tech-heavy nasdaq 100 outperformed, gaining 1.4%. small caps in the russell 2000 index were also higher, up 0.9%. u.s. indices' performance on wednesday index performance (+/-) value nasdaq composite +1.5% 12,097.55 s&p 500 index +0.71% 4,118.17 dow industrials +0.6% 33,808.43 analyst color: the bond market is saying the fed is done raising rates, said fs insight head of research tom lee. he noted the two-year treasury yield is trading about 83 basis points lower than the midpoint of the fed funds rate. if the fed is done with raising rates sooner, it could mean the central bank will tolerate further easing of financial conditions, lee said. he thinks this is particularly likely if the markets worry about credit tightening as commercial real estate and commercial mortgage-backed securities and other commercial lending markets show stress. “we believe bears remain trapped and april is going to be a generally strong month (based upon “rule of first five days”),” the analyst said. he also raised the specter of april panning out to be a back-end-loaded month like march. “we would use any weakness from a post-march cpi sell-off to add to equity exposure,” lee said. thursday's trading in major us equity etfs: in midday trading thursday, the spdr s&p 500 etf trust (nyse: spy ) edged 0.76% higher to $411.12, the spdr dow jones industrial average etf (nyse: dia ) rose 0.3% to $338.36 and the invesco qqq trust (nasdaq: qqq ) held steady at $317.62, according to benzinga pro data. among u.s. equity sectors, the metals & mining select sector spdr fund (nyse: xme ) outperformed, up 1.8%, followed by the communication services select sector spdr fund (arca xlc) up 1.7%. the utilities select sector spdr fund (nyse: xlu ) fell 1.4%, and the real estate select sector spdr fund (nyse: xlre ) eased 0.9%. latest economic data: the bureau of labor statistics reported that producer price inflation fell 0.5% in march, the biggest drop since april 2020, and well below forecasts of a flat print. core ppi also dropped 0.1%, against a 0.3% expected increase. the labor department reported an increase in jobless claims by 11,000 to 239,000 for the week ending april 8. the number came in higher-than-expected (232,000). see also: best options trading strategies stocks in focus: harley-davidson, inc. (nyse: hog ) fell nearly 4% after it announced the departure of its cfo gina goetter just after the company reports its financial results later this month. goetter is assuming a similar role at toymaker hasbro, inc. (nyse: has ). newmont corporation (nyse: nem ) and freeport-mcmoran, inc. (nyse: fcx ) gained 3% as gold prices surged further, benefitting metal mining corporations. enphase energy, inc. (nasdaq: enph ) rose over 7%, after hsbc initiated with a buy rating and as deutsche bank and bank of america recently revised the price target higher. netflix, inc. (nasdaq: nflx ) spiked over 4%, on the back-trimmed expectations on future interest rates. delta airlines, inc. (nyse: dal ) fell 1% after the company reported lower-than-expected earnings in q1. fastenal company (nasdaq: fast ) fell 2% as the company reported lower-than-expected revenues in q1. top analysts’ call merck & co, inc. (nyse: mrk ): citigroup upgrades from neutral to buy and raises price target from $105 to $130 costco wholesale corp. (nasdaq: cost ): william blair initiates at outperform general motors co. (nyse: gm ): mizuho initiates with a neutral rating and a $39 price target broadcom, inc. (nasdaq: avgo ): benchmark initiates with a buy rating and $770 price target mcdonald's corp. (nyse: mcd ): oppenheimer raise price target from $304 to $315, keeps outperform rating. commodities, bonds, forex and other global equity markets: crude oil eased, down 0.9%, with a barrel of wti-grade crude trading at $82.50. the united states oil fund etf (nyse: uso ) was 0.75% lower to $71.89 per share. treasury yields were mostly flat on the day, with the 10-year yield ticking up by 2 basis points to 3.42% and the two-year yield stable at 3.94%. the ishares 20+ year treasury bond etf (nyse: tlt ) was 0.4% lower on the day. the dollar tumbled, with the u.s. dollar index falling 0.6% and marking the third straight session of declines. the eur/usd pair, which is tracked by the invesco currecyshares euro currency trust (nyse: fxe ), rose 0.7% to 1.1054, hitting fresh yearly highs. all european equity indices, except italy, closed the session in the green. the ishares msci eurozone etf (nyse: ezu ) was 0.8% higher. gold rallied 1.2% to $2,039/oz. the spdr gold trust (nyse: gld ) was 1.3% higher to $189.54. silver also gained 1.2% to $25.78, with the ishares silver trust (nyse: slv ) trading 1.1% higher to $23.68 per share. bitcoin rose 1.6% to $30,383. staff writer piero cingari updated this report midday wednesday. image generated using ai via midjourney. | 2023-04-13 |
hong kong-listed shares of alibaba group holding ltd (nyse: baba ) were trading over 4% lower on thursday morning. what happened: masayoshi son -led softbank group corp (otc: sftby ) has reportedly moved to pare almost its entire stake in alibaba group , thereby limiting exposure to china. also read: how to buy alibaba (baba) stock softbank has sold about $7.2 billion worth of alibaba shares this year via prepaid forward contracts, following a record $29 billion selldown last year, reported financial times. the forward sales will cut softbank's stake in alibaba to just 3.8%, it added. with the forward contracts deal, softbank usually lends its alibaba shares to a broker, which sells the stock into the market over a period of days or weeks. the broker charges a fee before returning the proceeds to the group, the report explained. when the contracts are due, softbank has the option to either fully relinquish its claim to the shares or pay the broker the market price to repurchase the stock on its behalf. however, the group has settled previous deals by settling the stock, the report said. over the past 14 months, softbank received, on average, $92 per share from the forward sales of 389 million alibaba shares, which is far below the company's all-time high of $317 a share, the financial times report said, citing filings supplied by data provider the washington service . regulatory overhang: alibaba stock is also under pressure after a report stated chinese regulators have proposed rules overseeing ai technology. the cyberspace administration of china intends to make companies responsible for the content their ai services generate , according to a draft of the rules, reported the wall street journal. read next: tesla, alibaba, american airlines, warner brothers, cutera: why these 5 stocks are drawing investors’ attention today | 2023-04-13 |
u.s. markets ended in the red on wednesday after federal reserve meeting minutes from last policy showed members expected the recent banking crisis to tip the economy into a mild recession later this year . at the same time, u.s. inflation rate slowed more than expected to 5% year-on-year in march, marking the lowest print since may 2021. meanwhile, following are the five stocks that are drawing investors' attention: 1. tesla inc . (nasdaq: tsla ): shares of the company closed 3.35% lower on wednesday in line with the broader markets that reacted to concerns over recession. the stock price may likely have factored-in data that suggested a decline in the company's market share. also read: everything you need to know about tesla stock 2. alibaba group holding ltd . (nyse: baba ): shares of the company closed 5.93% lower on wednesday after a report indicated chinese regulators proposed rules overseeing ai technology. the cyberspace administration of china intends to make companies responsible for the content their ai services generate , according to a draft of the rules, reported the wall street journal. 3. american airlines group inc. (nasdaq: aal ): shares of the company closed 9.22% lower on wednesday after the company issued preliminary results that came in below analyst expectations. american airlines said it expects first-quarter revenue of approximately $12.194 billion versus an estimate of $12.23 billion, according to benzinga pro . 4. warner bros discovery inc . (nasdaq: wbd ): shares of the company closed 5.83% lower on wednesday after it proposed to combine classic hbo dramas like “the sopranos” and “succession” with discovery series like “dr. pimple popper” and “fixer upper,” with the new service named "max." 5. cutera inc. (nasdaq: cutr ): shares of the company closed 28.19% lower on wednesday after changes in executive leadership and the withdrawal of annual guidance. the company appointed sheila hopkins as interim ceo and janet d. widmann as independent chair of the board, effective immediately. read next: producer price index preview: what to watch for thursday morning, plus what it means for the fed | 2023-04-13 |
the chinese economy sprang back to life in the first quarter, shortly after the country l et down its guard on the "zero-covid-19" policy. on way to trend-like growth: the chinese economy grew by 4.5% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2023, according to preliminary estimates released by the national bureau of statistics on tuesday. real gdp, adjusted for prices, climbed 4.5% to 28.5 trillion yuan ($4.2 trillion), faster than the 2.9% growth reported in the fourth quarter, which suffered due to intermittent shutdowns in the wake of covid-19 recurrences. the first-quarter growth marked the fastest in a year. on a quarter-over-quarter basis, first-quarter gdp was up 2.2%. the services sector accelerated the most in the first quarter, rising 5.4% year-over-year, and accounted for about 58% of the gdp. the primary sector which encompasses agriculture and allied activities, climbed by 3.7% and the industrial sector grew by 3.3%. among the other components of the economy: retail sales climbed 5.8% in the first quarter versus a 2.7% decline in the fourth quarter. online retail sales outperformed with 7.3% growth and accounted for 24.2% of the total retail sales. fixed asset investment, excluding rural households, rose by 5.1%, the same pace as in the year-ago period the trade balance was in a surplus of $1.41 trillion yuan, as export growth of 8.4% outpaced import's 0.2% increase pricing remained in check, with consumer prices and core consumer prices rising at benign rates of 1.3% and 0.8%, respectively, and producer prices were down 1.6% the national economy showed a steady recovery and made a good start, the nbs said, adding that the covid-19 prevention and control shifted to a new phase and measures were taken to stabilize growth, employment and prices. see also: best chinese stocks companies that can feed off strength: china is a key market for many multinational companies such as apple, inc. (nasdaq: aapl ), tesla, inc. (nasdaq: tsla ) and nvidia corp. (nasdaq: nvda ).d apple heavily depends on china for its products, despite its efforts to move its manufacturing elsewhere . in addition, the company earns a large portion of its revenue from china. in the fiscal year 2022, the greater china region, which includes mainland china, hong kong, taiwan, and macau, accounted for 19% of apple’s total revenue. for ev pioneer tesla, china supplies a little over half of its annual production and more importantly, the cars produced by the giga shanghai factory come with higher margins due to the lower cost of manufacturing involved. china is also a key market for its evs. china's robust growth should also bode well for homegrown e-commerce giant alibaba group holding limited (nyse: baba ) and its smaller peer jd.com, inc. (nasdaq: jd ). first-quarter retail sales data released by nbs showed online sales growth outpacing the overall retail sales growth. the proportion of online sales to total sales has also been rising. for chipmakers such as nvidia and amd (nasdaq: amd ), china is a lucrative market for their powerful chips due to the buzzing manufacturing activity in the country. despite the u.s. crackdown on china chip exports, these companies are doubling down on the export of their hardware and software to the country. the ishares msci china etf (nasdaq: mchi ), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the performance of chinese equities, ended monday’s session up 2.09% at $49.86, according to benzinga pro data read next: apple can’t seem to cut ties with china: tech giant reportedly teams up with chinese manufacturer for ar product | 2023-04-18 |
chinese authorities questioned and investigated employees at bain & company’s shanghai office last week, in the latest crackdown of foreign businessmen in china. bain, the global consulting firm headquartered in boston, said that it is cooperating with chinese authorities. chinese police took bain employees’ phones and computers, according to a report from the financial times. the investigation comes on the heels of a decision by china to expand its espionage laws, giving more power to the state to control data and information. please enable javascript to view this content muddy waters, an investment research firm, tweeted about the shanghai raid of bain & company, saying, “as the old adage goes 'how did you get f-ed by china?' two ways. gradually, then suddenly.” also read: trio of ultra-rare, original tesla roadsters discovered and now on the market – potential record-breaking values chinese and american business relations have been on shaky ground for more than a year now. increased tensions between china and taiwan have scared off many investors from chinese names. u.s. legislators conducted congressional hearings to examine the possible security risks posed by tiktok, the widely-used social media platform owned by chinese firm bytedance. lawmakers interrogated tiktok executives regarding whether the chinese government is obtaining data collected by the app. chinese stocks have underperformed the overall market throughout the last year. alibaba group holding’s (nyse: baba ) stock is down nearly 19% throughout the last year, while the s&p 500 spdr trust etf (nyse: spy ) is down only 6%. just a few weeks ago, some investors were optimistic about china’s government turning more business-friendly following news that alibaba would be breaking up its business into different components, a sign that china would be open to more alibaba ipo s down the road. previously, china had shot down alibaba’s planned ipo for the ant group, the company’s mobile payment platform. while there may be some brave investors out there taking a stab at some beaten-down chinese names, the latest investigation of bain & co could be a sign that chinese / american relations still have a ways to go. now read: when jim rickards said china's population decline would result in 'an epic collapse' photo: shutterstock | 2023-05-04 |
investors are eagerly awaiting the u.s. inflation statistics for april, which will be announced on wednesday at 8.30 a.m. et, before the start of trading on wall street. the cpi data is one of the most crucial market-moving events for stocks, as investors try to decipher the state of the economy and how the federal reserve could respond next. how is the market positioned ahead of april cpi? the consensus expectation from analysts is for the u.s. cpi inflation rate to hold at 5% annually in april, unchanged from march, while core inflation is predicted to slightly ease from 5.6% to 5.5%. the monthly increase for both headline and core inflation is expected to be at 0.4%. fed future swaps indicate investors currently assign an 88% probability of the fed holding interest rates steady at 5-5.25% in june, as opposed to a 12% chance of a further 0.25% hike. read also: alarming april inflation data this week could make investors rethink fed pause in june by analyzing the last three cpi reports using the benzinga pro platform , we found the top five mega-cap stock movers which gained and lost in the session following each report's release. march's u.s. cpi, released on april 12, 2023 what happened: headline inflation came in at 5%, lower than the expected 5.2%, and down from the 6% recorded in february. core inflation was 5.6%, up from the previous 5.5% and in line with the estimates. top gainers for the day: novo nordisk a/s (nasdaq: nvo ): up 3.25% astrazeneca plc (nyse: azn ): up 2.19% eli lilly and co. (nyse: lly ): up 1.38% merck & co., inc. (nyse: mrk ) : up 1.12% royal dutch shell plc (nyse: shel ): up 0.99%. biggest losers for the day: alibaba group holding ltd. (nyse: baba ): down 5.93% tesla, inc. (nasdaq: tsla ): down 3.35% taiwan semiconductor manufacturing company ltd. (nyse: tsm ): -2.66% nvidia corp. (nasdaq: nvda ): down 2.48% amazon, inc. (nasdaq: amzn ): down 2.09%. february's u.s. cpi, released on march 14, 2023 what happened: headline inflation came in at 6%, lower than the expected 6.4%, and unchanged from january 2023. core inflation was 5.5%, up from the previous 5.6% and in line with the estimates. top gainers for the day: meta platforms, inc. (nasdaq: meta ): up 7.25% tesla inc. : up 5.03% nvidia corp. : up 4.78% alphabet inc. (nasdaq: googl ) (nasdaq: goog ) : up 3.14% and 2.83% microsoft, inc. (nyse: msft ): up 2.71%. biggest losers for the day: oracle corp. (nyse: orcl ): down 0.44% home depot inc. (nyse: hd ): down 0.33% astrazeneca plc : down 0.14% pfizer, inc. (nyse: pfe ): up 0.1% unitedhealth group inc. (nasdaq: unh ): up 0.19%. january's u.s. cpi, released on feb. 14, 2023 what happened: headline inflation came in at 6.4%, higher than the expected 6.2%, and slightly lower than the 6.5% from december 2022. core inflation was 5.6%, down from the previous 5.7% and slightly above estimates of 5.5%. top gainers for the day: tesla inc. : up 7.51% nvidia corp. : up 5.43% taiwan semiconductor manufacturing company ltd.: up 1.92% asml holding n.v. (nasdaq: asml ): up 1.31% shell : up 1.21%. biggest losers for the day: the coca-cola company (nyse: ko ): down 1.67% home depot : down 1.58% exxon mobil corp. (nyse: xom ): down 1.17% pepsico, inc. (nyse: pep ): down 1.13% ely lilly and company (nyse: lly ): down 0.81%. read next: debt ceiling standoff propels us treasury default insurance costs to highest levels since 2009 | 2023-05-09 |
today, the market clubhouse morning memo features spy, tsla, amzn, msft, and baba. keep a keen eye on these stocks, and be ready to seize potential breakouts or reversals. remember to stay alert and tweak your strategies in accordance with the market dynamics to enhance your trading performance. spdr s&p 500 etf trust (nyse: spy ) the spy, a prominent etf reflecting the s&p 500, spy had an extraordinarily bullish day yesterday that was kicked off by the positive sentiments surrounding the debt ceiling negotiations, encouraging consumer earnings reports, and a positive update from regional banks rallying all the way to our clubhouse level of 415.71. today, spy has gapped up overnight between the channel of 415.71 and 416.54. if 415.08 can't hold support, expect a breakdown to 414.46 and 413.59. however, if 415.71 is breached upward amid persistent bullish sentiment, look for upside targets of 416.54, 417.47, and 418.17. tesla inc. (nasdaq: tsla ) tesla, the well-known ev maker, also capitalized on yesterday's robust market rally. it is presently within the 175.16 and 176.57 price channel. a reclaim and hold of 176.57 could herald upside targets of 177.76 and 179.68. yet, if the market softens today due to data releases, 175.16 may fail, suggesting a downside range of 174.08 and 172.16. amazon.com, inc. (nasdaq: amzn ) amazon, a global technology behemoth with diverse interests, has been on a bullish rally since may 1st. it is currently holding the support level of 115.94. on continued buying pressure, we could see amzn aiming for 118.05 by week's end or earlier. if the sentiment of buyers becomes unstable and weak, we could see sellers stepping in to break the support of 115.94 and start targeting lower price levels of 114 and 112.45. microsoft corp. (nasdaq: msft ) microsoft, a tech titan, managed to surpass the crucial 313.61 level in wednesday's session, and it's holding this level in premarket trading. if 313.61 holds firm, anticipate upside targets of 316.04 and 318.48 by the end of the week. should buying pressure decline, the 313.61 level might fail, offering two primary downside targets of 311.91 and 309.38. alibaba group holding ltd - adr (nyse: baba ) alibaba, a versatile technology giant based in china, has experienced a premarket surge, rebounding from the key level of 88.76. having broken the topside resistance at 92.06, it has the potential to reach new monthly highs by week's end, with targets at 93.96 and 95.79. however, if the market weakens today, expect 90.43 and 88.76 to be tested as firm support levels. rips, an experienced professional in equities, options, and futures trading, is the heart of the market clubhouse, providing his expertise and insights in this dynamic trading world. start your day with rips' daily market analysis, a handpicked watchlist, and exclusive market clubhouse price levels, which offer precise support and resistance indicators. join rips in his live trading room every day at http://marketclubhouse.club/free where you can trade live with him and tap into his wealth of knowledge and experience. | 2023-05-18 |
benzinga bhp and microsoft: an unlikely duo boosting copper mining with ai bhp group ltd (nyse: bhp ) is collaborating with microsoft corp (nasdaq: msft ) to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve copper mining. the use of new digital technology to optimize concentrator performance at bhp’s escondida operation in chile is expected to improve copper recovery. bhp estimates the world would need to double the amount of copper produced over the next 30 years, relative to the past 30 to meet the demand of decarbonization technologies. toyota signs mou with daimler truck to merge japanese truck operations toyota motor corp (nyse: tm ) and daimler truck holding ag (otc: dtruy ) concluded a memorandum of understanding (mou) to combine their truck operations in japan. daimler truck and toyota will equally invest in the (listed) holding company of the merged mftbc and hino. mftbc and hino will merge on an equal footing and collaborate in the areas of commercial vehicle development, procurement, and production. macro guru raoul pal tips ethereum to hit $3,600 by october: ‘close to a face-ripping rally’ former goldman sachs executive raoul pal made bullish predictions for bitcoin btc/usd, ethereum eth/usd, and solana, anticipating a market cap of at least $10 trillion during the next bull market cycle. what happened: pal believes that the cyclical and secular trends have converged to create a perfect opportunity in the market for eth and btc. he notes that ethereum’s resurgence has led it to prevail like bitcoin in 2014-2016, and has predicted that eth is poised to land at $3,600 by october, while solana’s continued growth has made it look much like ethereum did in 2019. unilever looks for new cfo graeme pitkethly plans to retire by may-2024 unilever plc (nyse: ul ) announced the retirement of its cfo, graeme pitkethly, effective by the end of may 2024. the company’s board is proceeding with a formal internal and external search for his successor. unilever’s chief digital and commercial officer (cdco) and member of the unilever leadership executive (ule), conny braams, has decided to leave the company in august 2023. nestle picks lseg executive as its new cfo nestle sa (otc: nsrgy ) announced the departure of its cfo and executive vice president, françois-xavier roger. the packaged food company named anna manz as the replacement. manz is presently working as cfo and a member of the board at london stock exchange group plc (otc: lnsty ) and will assume the new role as soon as she is released from her present duties. what’s driving tesla shares higher premarket tuesday? shares of electric vehicle maker tesla, inc. (nasdaq: tsla ) were seen extending their gains in premarket trading on tuesday, as the market reopens after a long weekend on account of the “memorial day” holiday. in pre-market, the stock rose 2.45% to $197.92, according to benzinga pro data. reports that tesla ceo elon musk is in china to have discussions with senior government officials in the country and visit the giga shanghai plant, a vital cog in tesla’s wheels, could also be driving shares higher. chatgpt causes legal chaos after making up cases to ease lawyer’s workload in a startling turn of events, a lawyer’s use of openai’s chatgpt for legal assistance has backfired as the ai-powered chatbot fabricated nonexistent cases. what happened: in a bizarre case surrounding mata vs. avianca, which involved a customer suing the airline for a knee injury caused by a serving cart, the use of chatgpt took a surprising turn. mata’s lawyers objected to avianca’s attempt to dismiss the case and submitted a brief containing numerous purported court decisions generated by the ai-powered chatbot. reuters cathay pacific set to place $2b order for boeing 777-8f freighter: report cathay pacific airways ltd (otc: cpcay ) reportedly plans to renew a portion of its fleet of dedicated 747 cargo jets. cathay pacific is close to placing an order worth around $2 billion for boeing co (nyse: ba ) 777-8f freighters as it embarks on the partial renewal of a fleet of dedicated 747 cargo jets, reported reuters, citing industry sources. toyota’s soaring april sales: hybrids and evs stealing the show toyota motor corp’s (nyse: tm ) april 2023 global sales and production were up year-on-year due to a rebound from the pandemic-induced semiconductor crisis. the global sales rose by close to 5% in april y/y, thanks to robust demand for hybrids and gasoline-powered cars in japan and china. the automaker also reported better overseas sales of battery electric vehicles (evs). toyota in april sold 800,863 vehicles globally, including its luxury lexus brand, up by 4.9% y/y, reuters reports. business insider amazon shifts gear on carbon footprint: new 2040 deadline for zero emissions amazon.com, inc (nasdaq: amzn ) recently delayed its pledge to make 50% of its shipments net-zero carbon by 2030. the company disclosed plans to defer its carbon emission goals across all its operations by 2040, a decade later than the 50% goal, which was called “shipment zero” at the time. reportedly, the company had immensely underestimated its carbon footprint. at the time, an amazon spokesman reiterated the company’s commitment to cutting emissions, including ordering a fleet of electric delivery vans and buying renewable energy for its electricity needs, business insider reports. bloomberg softbank’s power play: arm charges into ai arena with power-packed chips softbank group corp (otc: sftbf ) (otc: sftby ) is betting on the artificial intelligence momentum to pique investor curiosity ahead of its much-anticipated initial public offering. arm technology enables many ai applications and will be fundamental to building the next wave of ai innovations, bloomberg cites ceo rene haas at the computex trade show in taiwan on monday. arm launched two new products to boost smartphone performance, including the arm cortex-x4, its fourth-generation cortex-x core, and the arm immortalis-g720, based on its fifth-generation gpu architecture. alibaba stake boosted: hedge fund titans go shopping while asia peers bow out michael burry’s bullish bets on stocks, including alibaba group holding limited (nyse: baba ), followed stake boosts by other top hedge funds, including moore capital management and third point llc, in the first quarter. asia-based firms, including simon sadler’s segantii capital management ltd. and alpine investment management ltd., accounted for nearly half of alibaba adrs offloaded by the quarter’s top 10 most prominent hedge fund sellers, bloomberg cites 13f filings. the sole asia-headquartered firm among the top 10 buyers was hermes li’s aspex management (hk) ltd. photo via wikimedia commons | 2023-05-30 |
in what can be described as a display of adulation, spacex and tesla inc (nasdaq: tsla ) ceo elon musk was greeted with fanfare on a surprise trip to china this week . what happened: the billionaire, hailed as “brother ma,” a reference to alibaba group holding ltd – adr (nyse: baba ) co-founder and respected chinese businessman jack ma , was lavished with a 16-course meal and regarded as a "global idol," according to business insider. upon landing in beijing via private jet, marking his first trip to china in three years, musk met with top officials from the chinese government’s foreign, commerce, and industry departments. the public interest in musk’s perspectives on artificial intelligence and electric vehicles was buzzing, with his visit becoming a trending topic on chinese social media. read also: blame it on musk? research exposes disturbing impact of twitter algorithm changes musk’s journey to china comes amid a period of intensified competition for tesla from chinese ev manufacturers and heightened tensions between the u.s. and china. one social media post shared photos of musk’s menu at the man fu yan restaurant in beijing, which was embellished with an image of the tesla logo and two dark horses. the horse symbols, which correspond to the character for “horse” in musk’s chinese name, were paired with a phrase illustrating tesla’s distinct standing among traditional car manufacturers, insider reported. public sentiment in china extended beyond admiration for musk’s professional achievements, with some social media users even expressing their desire for him to run for u.s. president. it should be noted that musk, not being u.s.-born, is ineligible to assume the role of the commander in chief. it is also important to note that twitter is blocked in china, and musk had been absent from the platform since may 29. he broke his silence on thursday, resuming activity with a tweet on spacex. 38 astronauts to orbit so far! https://t.co/l00qtawntt — elon musk (@elonmusk) june 1, 2023 read next: is elon musk losing his twitter magic? most followed user’s engagement nosedives photo: shutterstock | 2023-06-01 |
the s&p 500 settled lower on tuesday to start the holiday-shortened week. the federal reserve, last week, left rates unchanged at the 5%-5.25% range on wednesday. rivian automotive, inc. (nasdaq: rivn ) shares gained 5.5% on tuesday after the company announced it signed an agreement with tesla, inc. (nasdaq: tsla ) to give rivian users access to tesla's supercharger network. alibaba group holding limited (nyse: baba ) shares dropped 4.5% after it announced eddie wu will succeed daniel zhang as its chief executive officer effective sept. 10. joe tsai will take zhang's place as the group's chairman. u.s. markets were closed on monday for the juneteenth holiday. majority of the sectors on the s&p 500 closed on a negative note, with energy and materials stocks recording the biggest losses on tuesday. however, consumer discretionary stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing higher during the session. the nasdaq 100 fell 0.09% to close at 15,070.15 on tuesday, amid losses in shares of microsoft corp (nasdaq: msft ) and analog devices, inc (nasdaq: adi ). the s&p 500 fell 0.47%, while the dow jones dropped 0.72% to 34,053.87 in the previous session. the chicago board options exchange's cboe volatility index (vix) fell 2.2% to close at 13.88 on tuesday. what is cboe volatility index? the cboe volatility index, popularly known as vix, is a measure of the equity market's expectation of volatility based on s&p 500 index call and put options . read next: wall street's most accurate analysts say buy these 3 consumer stocks with over 4% dividend yields | 2023-06-21 |
to gain an edge, this is what you need to know today. biden’s new step in ai war please click here for a chart of advanced micro devices, inc. (nasdaq: amd ). note the following: the morning capsule is about the big picture, not an individual stock. the chart of amd is being used to illustrate the point. it is no secret that china and the u.s. are geopolitical rivals. china is determined to beat the u.s. and become the world’s number one super power. the u.s. is determined to stay the world’s number one super power. artificial intelligence is one of the most important weapons in this war. in the ai war with china, biden is taking another step. biden is about to impose new restrictions on the export of artificial intelligence chips to china. stocks of chinese ai companies and chinese megacaps such as alibaba group holding ltd - adr (nyse: baba ) are down on the news. in the u.s., nvidia corp (nasdaq: nvda ) is down about 3.5%, and amd is down about 3% on the news as of this writing. generative ai, which is behind chatgpt, is very compute intensive. this means increased demand for datacenter semiconductors. right now, among semiconductors nvidia is the most popular among institutional investors. amd is the most popular among retail investors. the chart shows that a big gap up occurred on the amd chart even after a massive run triggered by false microsoft corp (nasdaq: msft ) news. the news was that microsoft would invest in the development of amd’s artificial intelligence chip. microsoft stated that the news was false. however, momo gurus kept pumping amd stock citing the news that microsoft would invest in amd’s artificial intelligence chip without disclosing that the news was false. the gap shown on the chart occurred when nvidia announced in its earnings report a $4b jump in revenues due to increased demand for ai. as a reference, chatgpt was trained on 10,000 nvidia gpus. the chart shows amd stock kept running up after the gap up. the chart shows an outside day. an outside day is a classic reversal signal. the chart shows that the classic reversal signal worked perfectly this time. the chart shows that amd has lost about 20% from its peak even though the ai frenzy has continued. the 20% loss has occurred while the stock market represented by spdr s&p 500 etf trust (nyse: spy ) and invesco qqq trust series 1 (nasdaq: qqq ) has continued to go up. also during this time, the magnificent seven, as a group, have continued to perform. the magnificent seven are apple inc (nasdaq: aapl ), amazon.com, inc. (nasdaq: amzn ), alphabet inc class c (nasdaq: goog ), meta platforms inc (nasdaq: meta ), microsoft, nvidia, and tesla inc (nasdaq: tsla ). the magnificent seven are responsible for a vast majority of the gain in the stock market in 2023. the arora report call has been and continues to be that ai is real and a fortune is to be made in ai over the next seven years. however, it is not going to be a straight line. the foregoing shows that at times, it is going to be treacherous. investors need to be highly disciplined and correctly follow a proven system such as the combination of zyx change method and the adaptive zyx asset allocation model with inputs in ten categories. also keep in mind that there are two flaws in the current logic that gurus are using to promote artificial intelligence. they are talking about the revenues companies such as microsoft and nvidia are going to generate from artificial intelligence. there is another side to the revenues. for the companies that are buying ai, ai is a massive cost. for many companies, ai will be a massive disruptive force and their stocks will go down. our over 30 years of experience in the markets has clearly demonstrated that investors who develop in-depth knowledge perform significantly better compared to those investors who do not develop in-depth knowledge. the best and most time efficient way to develop knowledge for ai investments is to listen to the podcasts in the arora ambassador club. momo crowd and smart money in stocks the momo crowd is buying stocks in the early trade. smart money is inactive in the early trade. gold the momo crowd is selling gold in the early trade. smart money is inactive in the early trade. for longer-term, please see gold and silver ratings. oil api crude oil inventories came at a draw of 2.408m barrels vs. a consensus of a draw of 1.467m barrels. the momo crowd is selling oil in the early trade. smart money is inactive in the early trade. for longer-term, please see oil ratings. bitcoin bitcoin (crypto: btc ) is range bound. markets our very, very short-term early stock market indicator is negative. this indicator, with a great track record, is popular among long term investors to stay in tune with the market and among short term traders to independently undertake quick trades. protection band and what to do now it is important for investors to look ahead and not in the rearview mirror. consider continuing to hold good, very long term, existing positions. based on individual risk preference, consider holding 21% - 39% in cash or treasury bills or allocated to short-term tactical trades; and short to medium-term hedges of 3% - 6%, and short term hedges of 5% - 8%. this is a good way to protect yourself and participate in the upside at the same time. you can determine your protection bands by adding cash to hedges. the high band of the protection is appropriate for those who are older or conservative. the low band of the protection is appropriate for those who are younger or aggressive. if you do not hedge, the total cash level should be more than stated above but significantly less than cash plus hedges. it is worth reminding that you cannot take advantage of new upcoming opportunities if you are not holding enough cash. when adjusting hedge levels, consider adjusting partial stop quantities for stock positions (non etf); consider using wider stops on remaining quantities and also allowing more room for high beta stocks. high beta stocks are the ones that move more than the market. traditional 60/40 portfolio probability based risk reward adjusted for inflation does not favor long duration strategic bond allocation at this time. those who want to stick to traditional 60% allocation to stocks and 40% to bonds may consider focusing on only high quality bonds and bonds of five year duration or less. those willing to bring sophistication to their investing may consider using bond etfs as tactical positions and not strategic positions at this time. the arora report is known for its accurate calls. the arora report correctly called the 2008 financial crash, the start of a mega bull market in 2009, the covid crash, the post-covid bull market, and the 2022 bear market. please click here to sign up for a free forever generate wealth newsletter . | 2023-06-28 |
reuters tiktok's entry into music streaming sector raises concerns for spotify's market share spotify technology s.a. (nyse: spot ) could be up for a rough ride as bytedance ltd -owned short-video company tiktok shared plans to launch a new music streaming service in brazil and indonesia. previously bytedance said it would stop its existing music streaming service resso as of september 5 in both countries and maintain its operations only in india. last year reports suggested bytedance was eyeing expansion into more countries of its music streaming service. altria-backed cannabis producer cronos group considers sale, stock waivers amid takeover interest cronos group inc (nasdaq: cron ) is exploring options that could include a potential sale after attracting acquisition interest. the canadian cannabis producer backed by cigarette maker altria group inc (nyse: mo ) has a market value of c$972 million ($727.54 million), is purportedly working with a financial adviser to handle expressions of interest in a deal from other companies, including curaleaf holdings inc (otc: curlf ). the sale talks involving cronos highlighted the outlet, come at a time of uncertainty for the cannabis industry "as more favorable regulatory regimes in north america have fueled fierce competition among a growing field of companies." dish network's charlie ergen explores consolidation of telecom businesses with echostar dish network corp (nasdaq: dish ) chair charlie ergen is weighing the merger of the two halves of his telecom empire, dish and echostar corp (nasdaq: sats ). in 2008, echostar communications, which ergen founded as a satellite television equipment distributor in 1980, changed its name to dish network and spun off its technology arm as a new company named echostar. currently, ergen is desperate to sell some of dish's assets, trying to sell everything that is non-core and to finance financeable holdings as the company struggled to sell assets and battle speculation of possible bankruptcy. after legal action against wellness clinics, novo nordisk accuses pharmacies over illegal sale of semaglutide-based products novo nordisk a/s (nyse: nvo ) has reportedly filed lawsuits against trulife pharmacy, brooksville pharmaceuticals, and wellhealth inc in florida federal court, accusing the pharmacies of illegally selling products claiming to contain semaglutide, the active ingredient in novo nordisk's weight loss and diabetes drugs. the agency said it had received reports of adverse events after patients used compounded versions of semaglutide. novo nordisk sought court orders to prohibit the pharmacies from selling the products and requested monetary damages. alibaba looks to end regulatory overhaul on ant group alibaba group holding limited (nyse: baba ) stock is trading higher friday amid reports of china looking to end its regulatory overhaul on fintech affiliate ant group with a penalty of at least 8 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) by friday. it comes at a time chinese authorities are keen to boost private sector confidence as the economy struggles to recover. the record penalty will help pave the way to secure a financial holding company license, seek growth, and revive its listing plans. the people's bank of china (pboc), pivotal to ant's revamp, looks to disclose the penalty amount shortly. starbucks sued by us labor agency for illegal termination in seattle stores the national labor relations board has sued starbucks corporation (nasdaq: sbux ) for refusing to reemploy 33 workers after reorganizing stores in seattle. starbucks reorganized three downtown seattle stores, including its flagship store in pike place market. in the plea filed in seattle federal court, nlrb said sbux illegally forced 73 workers to reapply for jobs, going against the unionization efforts at one of the branches. washington post chatgpt's popularity takes a hit: website traffic and app downloads dip in june mobile and desktop traffic to chatgpt's website worldwide declined 9.7% in june over may for the first time since its launch in november, according to similarweb. downloads of the bot's apple inc's (nasdaq: aapl ) iphone app, launched in may, have also steadily fallen since the june peak, according to sensor tower. chatgpt zoomed to an estimated 100 million monthly users in its first two months. cnbc zoom video expects "doubling down" technology investments in asia-pacific region zoom video communications inc (nasdaq: zm ) stock is trading higher friday amid reports of the company "doubling down" on its technology investments in the asia-pacific region to boost growth. zoom's head of international, abe smith, acknowledged on cnbc's "squawk box asia" a firm commitment about two years ago to turn on the speed and step on the gas. smith said zoom is "extremely optimistic" about the growth of its phone product in asia pacific. benzinga broadcom considers major investment in spain's semiconductor sector worth $1b broadcom inc (nasdaq: avgo ) proposed to invest in a european union-funded program to develop a semiconductor industry in spain, ceo charlie kawwas tweeted thursday. the project concerning broadcom would be worth $1 billion. however, broadcom is yet to divulge its actual investment in the project. the project would include constructing "large-scale back-end semiconductors facilities unique in europe," the ministry said. airbus delivers 72 airplanes to 48 customers in june airbus se (otc: eadsy ) (otc: eadsf ) delivered 72 airplanes to 48 customers in june, with gross orders totaling 902. the company's year-to-date deliveries totaled 316 airplanes to 73 customers. airbus registered 1,044 net orders in the year's first half after 36 cancellations. kkr buys stake in pangeaco, build fiber optic network platform kkr & co inc (nyse: kkr ) disclosed a deal to acquire a majority stake in pangeaco and existing fiber optic networks of telefonica del peru saa (otc: cpnbf ) and entel perú . as per the deal, kkr will buy a stake in pangeaco, which will subsequently acquire the existing fiber optic networks of telefónica del perú and entel perú. kkr is investing in its kkr global infrastructure investors iii fund. the financial terms were not disclosed. bloomberg elon musk's tesla laying off employees at shanghai battery plant amidst price war in a recent development, tesla inc (nasdaq: tsla ) has begun laying off some battery production workers at its shanghai plant. the layoffs come amidst a fierce price war in china, leading to heavy discounts on cars across manufacturers. the exact number of workers to be let go and the specific reasons behind the layoffs remain unclear. some employees have been offered the option to transfer to other workshops such as stamping, painting, or general assembly. lvmh-backed firm considers ipo of birkenstock in us market at over $6b the french fashion giant lvmh moet hennessy louis vuitton se (otc: lvmhf ) backed private equity firm is exploring strategic options for birkenstock, including an initial public offering. birkenstock is expected to be valued at over $6 billion at ipo. th firm is working with advisers for potential company listing in the u.s. stock market. as per the report, the ipo may happen this or next year. photo by solen feyissa via unsplash | 2023-07-07 |
the s&p 500 settled lower on friday as investors digested the latest u.s. jobs report. the u.s. economy added 209,000 jobs in june versus a revised gain of 306,000 jobs in may, recording the lowest reading since dec. 2020. the unemployment rate, meanwhile, declined to 3.6% in june from 3.7% in may, in-line with market estimates. alibaba group holding limited (nyse: baba ) shares gained 8% on friday after china ended its regulatory overhaul on fintech affiliate ant group by imposing a penalty of 7.12 billion yuan ($984 million). major indexes closed the week with losses after recording a strong first-half of 2023. for the week, the s&p 500 dropped around 1.2%. major sectors on the s&p 500 closed on a mixed note, with consumer staples and health care stocks recording the biggest losses on friday. however, energy and materials stocks were among the top performers during the session. the nasdaq 100 fell 0.35% to close at 15,036.85 on friday, amid losses in shares of microsoft corp (nasdaq: msft ) and tesla inc (nasdaq: tsla ). the s&p 500 fell 0.29%, while the dow jones dropped 0.55% to 33,734.88 in the previous session. the chicago board options exchange's cboe volatility index (vix) fell 4% to close at 14.83 on friday. what is cboe volatility index? the cboe volatility index, popularly known as vix, is a measure of the equity market's expectation of volatility based on s&p 500 index call and put options . read next: wall street's most accurate analysts say hold these 3 defensive stocks with over 3% dividend yields | 2023-07-10 |
each trading day features hundreds of headlines and press releases on benzinga pro, a source for traders to get the latest breaking news on the overall market and individual tickers. here is a look at the most-searched stocks on benzinga pro during the first half of 2023, which comes from tracking the first six months of the year. year-to-date and 52-week ranges are based on june 30, 2023 prices. 1. spdr s&p 500 etf trust (nyse: spy ) month end price: $443.28 52-week range: $348.11 to $444.30 ytd return: +16.4% q1 search rank : 1st q2 search rank : 1st 2022 search rank: 1st 2. tesla inc (nasdaq: tsla ) month end price: $261.77 52-week range: $101.81 to $314.67 ytd return: +142.2% q1 search rank: 2nd q2 search rank: 2nd 2022 search rank: 2nd 3. nvidia corp (nasdaq: nvda ) month end price: $423.02 52-week range: $108.13 to $439.90 ytd return: +195.5% q1 search rank: 3rd q2 search rank: 3rd 2022 search rank: 4th 4. apple inc (nasdaq: aapl ) month end price: $193.97 52-week range: $124.17 to $194.48 ytd return: +55.1% q1 search rank: 4th q2 search rank: 7th 2022 search rank: 3rd 5. c3.ai inc (nyse: ai ) month end price: $36.43 52-week range: $10.16 to $48.87 ytd return: +229.1% q1 search rank: not in top 20 q2 search rank: 5th 2022 search rank: not in top 20 6. amazon.com, inc. (nasdaq: amzn ) month end price: $130.36 52-week range: $81.43 to $146.57 ytd return: +51.8% q1 search rank: 8th q2 search rank: 6th 2022 search rank: 8th 7. advanced micro devices (nasdaq: amd ) month end price: $113.91 52-week range: $54.57 to $132.82 ytd return: +77.9% q1 search rank: 6th q2 search rank: 4th 2022 search rank: 5th 8. invesco qqq trust series 1 (nasdaq: qqq ) month end price: $369.42 52-week range: $254.26 to $372.85 ytd return: +39.7% q1 search rank: 7th q2 search rank: 8th 2022 search rank: 6th 9. meta platforms inc (nasdaq: meta ) month end price: $286.98 52-week range: $88.09 to $300.18 ytd return: +130.1% q1 search rank: 5th q2 search rank: 9th 2022 search rank: 7th 10. first republic bank (otc: frcb ) month end price: $0.55 52-week range: $0.16 to $171.09 ytd return: -99.6% q1 search rank: not in top 20 q2 search rank: 20th 2022 search rank: not in top 20 related link: exclusive: 10 most searched tickers on benzinga pro in june honorable mentions: the following stocks were the 11th to 20th most-searched tickers on benzinga pro in the first half of 2023. 11. microsoft corp (nasdaq: msft ) 12. carvana co (nyse: cvna ) 13. bed bath & beyond (otc: bbbyq ) 14. genius group ltd. (nyse: gns ) 15. alphabet inc (nasdaq: goog )(nasdaq: googl ) 16. netflix inc (nasdaq: nflx ) 17. alibaba group holding (nyse: baba ) 18. troika media group inc (nasdaq: trka ) 19. coinbase global inc (nasdaq: coin ) 20. palantir technologies inc (nyse: pltr ) in the first half of 2023, many of the top searched tickers remained the same from 2022. the lone newcomer to the top 10 in 2023 was c3.ai, which was up over 200% in the first half of 2023. the strong search results for c3.ai point to the theme of artificial intelligence stocks soaring in interest and valuation in 2023. stocks that made the top 10 previously in the first quarter include amc entertainment holdings inc (nyse: amc ) and moderna inc (nasdaq: mrna ). the stocks ranked ninth and 10th respectively in the first quarter of 2023 but fell out of the top 10 in the second quarter and didn’t rank in the top 10 in the first half of 2023. both amc and moderna ranked in the top 20 in 2022 for searched tickers, ranking ninth and 11th, respectively. microsoft ranked 10th in 2022 and continued to hover around the 10 and 11 mark for searches by benzinga readers. read next: nvidia recently hit a $1 trillion market cap. which stock is next to join club? here's what benzinga users said photo: shutterstock | 2023-07-11 |
financial times meta platforms seeks to launch commercial version of its artificial intelligence model meta platforms inc (nasdaq: meta ) stock is trading higher thursday amid reports of the company bracing to launch a commercial version of its artificial intelligence model. now, meta can compete with microsoft corp (nasdaq: msft ) -backed openai and alphabet inc (nasdaq: goog ) (nasdaq: googl ) google in the race to develop generative ai. meta released its language model, llama, to researchers and academics earlier this year. still, the new version will be more widely available and customizable by companies. benzinga viasat reports an unexpected event during reflector deployment impacting viasat-3 americas satellite shares of satellite communications services provide r viasat inc (nasdaq: vsat ) plunged in premarket trading on thursday. the carlsbad, california-based company said late wednesday that an unexpected event occurred during reflector deployment that may materially impact the performance of the viasat-3 americas satellite. the company said it is working along with its reflector provider to conduct a rigorous review of the development. it also said contingency plans are currently being refined to minimize the economic impact on the company. adobe's $20b figma deal: uk competition watchdog launches in-depth investigation the competition and markets authority (cma), the u.k.'s competition watchdog, has launched a detailed investigation into adobe inc's (nasdaq: adbe ) $20 billion acquisition of figma , a cloud-based design platform after adobe declined to propose any solutions to allay the regulator's concerns. the deal, one of the largest takeovers of a private software maker, has a targeted completion in 2023. the cma had previously voiced worries last month that the merger could reduce choices for digital apps, websites, and product designers. it also raised issues regarding the supply of screen design software, a sector where both entities are competitors. pepsi shares trading after better than expected q2 earnings pepsico inc (nasdaq: pep ) reported second-quarter fy23 sales growth of 10.4% year-on-year to $22.32 billion, beating the analyst consensus of $21.73 billion. net revenue from frito-lay north america increased 14% y/y, quaker foods north america rose 1%, and pepsico beverages north america climbed 10%. exxonmobil buys denbury in $4.9b stock deal, boosts low carbon solutions business exxon mobil corp (nyse: xom ) disclosed a deal to acquire denbury inc (nyse: den ) for $4.9 billion, representing $89.45 per share as of its closing price on july 12, 2023. as per the deal, denbury shareholders will receive 0.84 shares of xom for each of its shares. in 2022, xom expressed preliminary interest in denbury, which exited bankruptcy in 2020. hyundai's kia plans $200m expansion to georgia facility kia , owned by hyundai motor company (otc: hymtf ), is investing more than $200 million to transform georgia's west point assembly plant. the car manufacturer plans to assemble the all-electric 2024 ev9 three-row suv in the second quarter of 2024. the expansion is expected to create nearly 200 additional jobs in troup county, with ev9 joining the telluride, sorento, and sportage suvs and the k5 mid-size sedan as the fifth model to be assembled at kia georgia. cnbc whistleblower lawsuit alleges bribery scheme: medtronic denies allegations of kickback scheme, endangering patients' lives sales representatives from medtronic plc (nyse: mdt ) allegedly operated a bribery scheme at a kansas veterans hospital. the scheme involved bribing hospital staff to purchase medtronic devices over competitors' and to buy excessive inventory. the lawsuit centers on how patients are treated for peripheral artery disease at the robert j. dole veterans affairs medical center in wichita. reuters youtube stars' energy drink under fda review after senate majority leader raises concern the fda is currently assessing concerns raised by senate majority leader chuck schumer about the high caffeine content in a popular energy drink called prime energy. the drink, founded by youtube stars logan paul and ksi, is allegedly being marketed to children and teens. schumer claimed that prime energy contains about six times more caffeine than a standard 12-ounce can of coca-cola. google launches artificial intelligence chatbot, bard, in europe & brazil alphabet inc (nasdaq: googl ) (nasdaq: goog ) google is launching its artificial intelligence chatbot, bard, in europe and brazil on thursday. the move marks the product's most significant expansion since its february launch and pits it against microsoft corp (nasdaq: msft )-backed rival chatgpt. bard and chatgpt are human-sounding programs that leverage generative artificial intelligence to converse with users and answer myriad prompts. google has also now added new features to bard, which apply worldwide. us labor board slaps complaint on amazon for bargaining anomalies on wednesday, the national labor relations board (nlrb) filed a complaint against amazon.com inc (nasdaq: amzn ) for refusing to bargain with a new york workers' union. the nlrb general counsel is seeking remedies, including an order for amazon to bargain in good faith with the union representing more than 8,300 workers at its jfk8 fulfillment center. bloomberg tesla's new product: a $1,670 electric quad bike for china tesla inc (nasdaq: tsla ) reportedly plans to sell cybertruck-inspired electric quad bikes targeted at children aged 8 – 12. the bike will be priced at ¥ 11,990 ($1,670) and is expected to go on sale from friday. the bike, cyberquad, was first introduced as a concept in 2019. it has a range of 13 kilometers (8 miles) and a battery life of 1.5 hours with a top speed of 8 kilometers an hour. jd.com joins domestic race to develop artificial intelligence applications chinese e-commerce platform jd.com inc (nasdaq: jd ) joined the domestic race to develop emerging artificial intelligence applications like openai's chatgpt . the alibaba group holding ltd (nyse: baba ) rival showcased a large language model for enterprise use. jd.com will launch the service, called chatrhino, for its use in areas including e-commerce, logistics, and marketing. owners of mcdonald's china seek partial exit carlyle group inc (nasdaq: cg ) and trustar capital reportedly plan to exit part of their stakes in mcdonald's corp (nyse: mcd ) operations in hong kong and mainland china. carlyle and trustar are planning to raise $4 billion from wealth funds for part of their stakes in mcdonald's operations in hong kong and mainland china. the move would provide a partial exit for the buyout firms after they bought the business six years ago, stated the report, citing people familiar with the matter. nikkei sony proposes to ramp up r&d spending in its game business sony group corp (nyse: sony ) is trading higher on thursday amid reports of the company proposing to ramp up r&d spending in its game business amid a broader r&d push by other japanese electronics companies. it looks to hone technology in live service games and the metaverse. it will invest 300 billion yen (about $2.13 billion) into research and development for its game segment for fy24. | 2023-07-13 |
benzinga examined the prospects for many investors' favorite stocks over the last week — here's a look at some of our top stories. the three major stock indexes notched weekly gains, with the dow jones breaking a 13-day winning streak, a record since 1987, finishing 0.66% higher, while the s&p 500 and nasdaq composite rose by 1.01% and 2.02% respectively. despite a dip on thursday, the indexes rallied on friday, closing the week positively. in response to a persistent core inflation rate of 4.8%, the federal reserve on wednesday raised the federal funds rate to between 5.25% and 5.5% — the highest since 2001 — with the possibility of another hike in september. despite these changes, the u.s. economy is showing resilience with a surprising 2.4% annual growth in q2 2023, offering hope to evade a potential recession. benzinga provides daily reports on the stocks most popular with investors. here are a few of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look. the bulls cybertruck, tesla's 'home run?' analyst sees ev pickup as 'rolling billboard' that will 'really catapult' stock ," by shanthi rexaline, discusses how gary black from future fund views tesla, inc.'s (nasdaq: tsla ) cybertruck as a potential game-changer that could significantly boost the company's stock. " apple bets on vision pro to repeat iphone success, serve as game-changer for ar/vr industry ," by anusuya lahiri, highlights how apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) is banking on its vision pro headset to revolutionize the ar/vr industry, much like the iphone did for mobile computing. macro guru raoul pal predicts elon musk will use dogecoin to make 'global payment system' for creators on x ," by mehab qureshi, discusses how elon musk may use dogecoin (crypto: doge ) for global payments to content creators on the newly rebranded twitter platform, "x." for additional bullish calls of the past week, check out the following: microsoft, apple, and coinbase among 7 long-term stock investment favorites of benzinga users palantir stock surges after wedbush's ives calls it 'messi of ai' with a bullish outlook: 'on golden track to success' value stocks defy rate hikes: 3 blue chips showing resilience in the face of federal reserve's tightening the bears cathie wood is losing hope with chinese stocks: what's causing the rift? ," by shanthi rexaline, reveals that cathie wood's ark innovation etf (nyse: arkk ) has exited chinese stocks, including alibaba group holding ltd (nyse: baba ), amid regulatory crackdowns in china. " nikola says truck that caught fire last month went up in flames again ," by anan ashraf, reports that a nikola corp. (nasdaq: nkla ) truck, which had previously caught fire, reignited at the company's phoenix headquarters, with investigations into the cause ongoing. what the amc entertainment court ruling means for meme stock: risk of 'running out of cash in 2024 or 2025' ," by chris katje, explains that a court ruling against amc entertainment holdings inc (nyse: amc ) could increase the risk of the company running out of cash by 2024 or 2025 if it fails to raise additional funds. for more bearish takes, be sure to see these posts: disney vs. desantis showdown: mouse house to press ahead with lawsuit against florida governor's 'weaponized state' netflix lowers ad prices for ad-supported business after microsoft pact fails to deliver bud light's fall continues with fourth-place ranking, while rivals constellation, molson coors hit 52-week highs keep up with all the latest breaking news and trading ideas by following benzinga on twitter . | 2023-07-29 |
u.s. stock futures traded mixed this morning. here are some big stocks recording gains in today’s pre-market trading session. xpeng inc. (nyse: xpev ) shares jumped 10.7% to $14.86 in pre-market trading after the company announced a significant increase in vehicle deliveries for june and the second quarter of 2023. lilium n.v. (nasdaq: lilm ) shares gained 9.7% to $1.93 in pre-market trading after jumping over 15% on friday. acm research, inc. (nasdaq: acmr ) shares rose 8.5% to $14.19 in pre-market trading after jefferies upgraded its rating from underperform to buy and raised the price target from $9 to $23.4. fidelity national information services, inc. (nyse: fis ) shares climbed 9.7% to $60.05 in pre-market trading. private equity groups are exploring buying a majority stake in fidelity national information services-owned worldpay, the financial times reported. li auto inc. (nasdaq: li ) shares gained 6.3% to $37.31 in pre-market trading as the company reported 32,575 deliveries in june, representing a 150.1% year-over-year surge. the company’s second-quarter deliveries jumped 201.6% year-over-year to 86,533. tesla, inc. (nasdaq: tsla ) climbed 6.2% to $278.09 in pre-market trading after the company reported record deliveries numbers for the second quarter. the company’s quarterly deliveries came in at 466,140 units, compared to the company-compiled estimate of 446,823 units and the factset-compiled estimate of 445,000 units. nio inc. (nyse: nio ) gained 6.1% to $10.28 in pre-market trading as the company reported 10,707 deliveries in june, representing a 17.4% slump year-over-year. however, the figures were 74% higher versus the delivery numbers reported for may. for the second quarter, nio delivered 23,520 vehicles. alibaba group holding limited (nyse: baba ) gained 2.3% to $85.30 in pre-market trading amid market expectations regarding improvement in u.s.-china relations, helping ease geopolitical tensions and tech rivalry. now read this: fear & greed index remains in 'extreme greed' zone after nasdaq records best h1 since 1983 don’t forget to check out our premarket coverage here | 2023-07-03 |
the cnn money fear and greed index showed a decline in overall sentiment among u.s. investors on wednesday. u.s. stocks closed lower on wednesday ahead of fresh inflation data. data on consumer price index will be released on thursday. penn entertainment, inc. (nasdaq: penn ) shares gained over 9% on wednesday after the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results and announced an exclusive u.s. online sports betting agreement with espn. roblox corporation (nasdaq: rblx ) shares dipped around 22% after the company reported worse-than-expected second-quarter financial results. as far as the earnings season is concerned, more than 90% of the s&p 500 companies have released quarterly results as of wednesday, with around four-fifths of those exceeding market estimates. majority of sectors on the s&p 500 closed on a negative note, with information technology, consumer discretionary and communication services stocks recording the biggest losses on wednesday. however, energy stocks closed sharply higher during the wednesday’s session. the dow jones closed lower by around 191 points to 35,123.36 on wednesday. the s&p 500 fell 0.70% at 4,467.71, while the nasdaq composite lost 1.17% at 13,722.02 during the session. investors are awaiting earnings results from us foods holding corp. (nyse: usfd ), alibaba group holding limited (nyse: baba ) and news corporation (nasdaq: nwsa ) today. at a current reading of 67.0, the index remained in the "greed" zone, versus a previous reading of 70.0 what is cnn business fear & greed index? the fear & greed index is a measure of the current market sentiment. it is based on the premise that higher fear exerts pressure on stock prices, while higher greed has the opposite effect. the index is calculated based on seven equal-weighted indicators. the index ranges from 0 to 100, where 0 represents maximum fear and 100 signals maximum greediness. read next: tesla, amazon and 2 other stocks insiders are selling | 2023-08-10 |
zhongzhi enterprise group co. , a major player in china’s private wealth management sector, missed payments on several high-yield investment products. the news raises concerns about the stability of china’s shadow banking industry. the ishares china large-cap etf (nyse: fxi ), which gives u.s.-based investors access to the chinese blue-chip stock market, opened 1.8% weaker on monday, reflecting a month-to-date decline of over 10%. moreover, the largest chinese companies listed on the u.s. stock market, including alibaba group holding limited (nasdaq: baba ), netease, inc. (nasdaq: ntes ), jd.com, inc. (nasdaq: jd ), baidu, inc. (nasdaq: bidu ), and li auto inc. (nasdaq: li ), have all faced drops ranging between 1.5% and 3%. electric vehicle maker nio inc. (nasdaq: nio ) was among the worst performers in the category, down over 4%, influenced by tesla inc. (nasdaq: tsla )’s price cuts in china, which led to a 3% decline in tesla’s shares on monday. regulatory alarm bells ring chinese authorities established a task force to assess the risks associated with zhongzhi, bloomberg reported . the company’s troubles come at a critical juncture for investors. china’s weakening economic momentum and the state of the property market has investors anxious. another major chinese developer, country garden , recently missed payments on dollar-denominated notes. the company also suspended trading of onshore bonds, further contributing to market unease. country garden’s foreign bond, which expires in january, declined from 78 cents to 7 cents on the dollar in recent months. as a result, investors’ confidence in debt repayment has waned. chart: country garden holdings co. ltd. 8% 18/24 china’s economy falters as bank credit weakens china’s economy is showing signs of strain. bank lending has hit its lowest level since november 2009, with new yuan loans extending to cny 345.9 billion in july, far below market forecasts. consumer inflation has fallen for the first time in over two years, while producer inflation has dropped for the tenth consecutive month. additionally, exports saw a significant decline of 14.5% yoy in july, accompanied by a 12.4% contraction in imports. these economic and financial challenges have generated shockwaves through the market, with the hang seng index suffering a 1.6% drop overnight, falling to levels unseen in three weeks, driven down by the underperformance of banking shares. | 2023-08-14 |
the people's bank of china unexpectedly reduced the one-year medium-term lending facility rates by 15 basis points to 2.5% tuesday, signaling a proactive stance to support its economy against mounting challenges. the decision comes as china grapples with the dual threats of a deepening property crisis and sluggish consumer spending and follows a series of disappointing economic indicators. industrial production, which had previously shown 4.4% growth in june, slowed down to a 3.7% rise in july, falling short of the anticipated 4.4%. retail sales posted lackluster year-on-year growth in july, registering 2.5% compared to an expected 4.1%. china’s urban unemployment rate edged up to 5.3% in july 2023 from its june low of 5.2%, raising concerns about the labor market’s resilience. of note, the national bureau of statistics chose to omit the unemployment rate for individuals ages 16 to 24 in its july economic report, following record youth unemployment of 21.3% in june, sparking transparency worries. china’s economic woes cast shadows on global economy with china’s growth slowdown, negative spillover effects are being felt on both worldwide growth prospects and the u.s. economy. in 2022, the united states exported an estimated $153.84 billion in goods and services to china, with leading categories like oil seeds, fruits and grains contributing $18 billion to the total. also read: tesla sets record straight on sentinel mode privacy in china: ‘all data generated by vehicles will be…’ goldman sachs forecasts further easing measures in china in response to the pboc’s rate cut, goldman sachs economists revised their short-term monetary outlook. the firm now foresees a 15-basis-point reduction in both the one-year and five-year loan prime rates by aug. 21. expecting ongoing economic challenges, goldman economists predict two 25-basis-point required reserve ratio cuts in september and the fourth quarter, underscoring proactive liquidity management. a 10-basis-point policy rate cut is anticipated in the fourth quarter. markets react: pboc’s surprise move ripples through financial landscape the pboc’s unanticipated reduction of policy rates has triggered a wave of market reactions. the chinese yuan experienced a sharp decline of 0.6%, reaching 7.32 per dollar, marking its lowest point since november 2022. notably, u.s.-listed chinese equities also bore the brunt of this move, with companies like nio inc. (nyse: nio ) witnessing a substantial decline of over 6%, as tesla inc. (nasdaq: tsla )’s ongoing price cuts compounded the pressures. alibaba group holdings ltd. (nyse: baba ) and jd.com (nasdaq: jd ) both experienced declines of 2% and 2.6%, respectively. tencent music entertainment group (nyse: tme ) managed to buck the trend, recording a 3% increase, despite presenting weaker-than-expected financial results in the last quarter. chart: us-listed chinese stock reactions thursday photo via shutterstock. | 2023-08-15 |
warnings from china’s state-owned property developers have sent ripples of concern throughout global markets, raising fears that the housing crisis is no longer confined to the private sector but is spreading to government-backed companies as well. amid china’s persistent housing slump, previously immune state-owned enterprise builders are now grappling with financial losses. an analysis of corporate filings by bloomberg reveals that 18 out of 38 such builders listed in hong kong and mainland china have reported preliminary losses in the six months leading up to june 30. this represents a significant increase from the 11 that had forewarned of full-year losses in the preceding year. domino effect starts to propagate in the private developers front, even established names like country garden holdings co . are feeling the heat as china’s home sales plummeted remarkably in the past month, culminating in heightened concerns of a looming default. country garden’s offshore dollar bond maturing in january 2024 is currently trading at below 10 cents to the dollar, as the property development company missed an interest payment earlier this month and entered a month-long grace period. the property crisis has now spread widely throughout china’s shadow banking sector. at the end of july, zhongzhi enterprise group co ., an asset management company with over 1 trillion yuan ($137 billion), suspended payments to thousands of customers, drawing the notice of regulators and the media. once-china’s largest real estate company, evergrande sought bankruptcy protection from creditors in a u.s. court on thursday, as part of the ongoing debt restructuring. also read: china’s real estate crisis echoes lehman moment; country garden warns of ‘major uncertainties’ as bond redemption looms banks cut chinese outlook major investment banks such as nomura holdings inc., morgan stanley, and jpmorgan chase & co. have all recently revised their growth estimates downward, casting a grim picture for the outlook of the chinese economy. nomura has scaled back its growth forecast for china in 2023 to 4.6%, citing disappointing data from july and an ongoing “downward spiral” within the economy. likewise, morgan stanley and jpmorgan chase & co. have revised their predictions to 4.7% and 4.8%, respectively, illustrating the consensus on the challenges ahead. market reactions: the beginning of the end? in response to these developments, the shanghai composit e fell by another 1% on friday, closing at 3,132, while the shenzhen component experienced a sharper drop of 1.75% to 10,459. the downturn hit the hong kong’s equities market, where stocks in the hang seng index plummeted by 2.05%, resulting in a weekly decline of 5.9%—marking the third consecutive drop. the ishares msci hong kong index fund (nyse: ewh ) and the ishares msci china etf (nyse: mchi ) have both fallen by nearly 10% month to date. the largest u.s.-listed chinese stocks, alibaba group holdings ltd. (nyse: baba ), is down 3.3% in the premarket trading on friday, which would extend the weekly dip to 7%. chart: month-to-date performance of china-related etfs and alibaba stock now read: elon musk money: how much does the richest person on the planet pay employees at tesla? this content was partially produced with the help of ai tools and was reviewed and published by benzinga editors. photo: shutterstock | 2023-08-18 |
the people’s bank of china (pboc) continues to send waves of uncertainty through the market. the central bank executed a 10-basis-point cut to its 1-year loan prime rate (lpr), setting it at an unprecedented low of 3.45%. interestingly, the pboc chose to leave the 5-year lpr—the reference rate for mortgages—unchanged at 4.2%, drawing skepticism over its commitment to invigorating the property sector. the decision to trim short-term lending rates while keeping long-term rates unchanged has ignited a fiery debate, leaving investors on edge and the broader financial landscape shrouded in doubt. according to goldman sachs analysts, including maggie wei, the pboc’s move aims to defend banks’ interest rate margins. “confidence remains key to an economic recovery, and the disappointing cut to the loan prime rate would not help with building confidence,” she added. citigroup and ubs group ag have added their names to the expanding roster of investment banks revising down their forecasts for china’s economic expansion. citigroup lowered its 2023 gdp growth projection from 5% to 4.7%, while ubs, taking a more cautious stance, adjusted its estimate to 4.2%, marking one of the more downbeat predictions. china’s declines deepens on rate uncertaint the hong kong’s hang seng index fell by 1.82%, shedding nearly 330 points and slipping below the psychologically significant 18,000 mark for the first time since nov. 28, 2022. last friday, the hang seng, which is tracked by the ishares msci hong kong index fund (nyse: ewh ) had already officially entered a bear market after dropping by around 21% from its january peak. financial and tech shares bore the heaviest losses, each diving over 2%. also read: xi jinping’s china urges brics for all-out economic war against g7 nations chart: shares in hong kong enters bear market in mainland china, domestic equity benchmarks also suffered further declines. the shanghai composite index and the shenzhen component dropped by 1.2% and 1.3%, respectively. both indices now languish at their lowest levels in a span of at least seven months, underscoring the prevailing market pessimism. us-traded chinese stocks experience pre-market dip notable chinese adrs traded in the us witnessed further market declines. alibaba group holdings ltd (nyse: baba ) fell 0.1%, jd.com, inc. (nasdaq: jd ) held steady, tencent music entertainment group (nyse: tme ) dropped 3% and baidu, inc. (nasdaq: bidu ) slipped 1%. ev carmaker nio inc. (nyse: nio ) rose 2.7%, while li group inc. (nasdaq: li ) edged 0.5% higher. now read: will tesla snap 6-day losing streak today? what’s going on with the stock photo: shutterstock | 2023-08-21 |
midday trading on tuesday saw a rally in stocks as investors bet the federal reserve would hold off on raising interest rates amid the latest weaker-than-expected economic data. the jolts report showed that in july there were 8.8 million job openings, down 338,000 from june and far lower than the 9.465 million openings predicted by economists. similarly, august’s reading of 106.1 on the conference board’s consumer confidence index was the lowest since february 2021 and significantly lower than the 117.1 that was expected by experts. the dollar dropped, u.s. treasury yields declined, and stocks rose across the board as a result of the negative economic news. the market-implied probability of a fed rate hike in september plummeted from 22% to as low as 13%. markets also reduced the likelihood of a rate hike by november from 66% to 49%, according to the cme group fed watch tool. among mega-cap names, tesla inc. (nasdaq: tsla ) soared over 6% and nvidia corp. (nasdaq: nvda ) gained over 4%. cues from tuesday's trading: the s&p 500 rose 1.3%, on track for its third straight session of gains. the dow rose 0.6%, breaking above its 50-day moving average. tech stocks outperformed with the nasdaq 100 index rising nearly 2%, on track for its strongest session since the end of may. the russell 2000 rose 1.3%, on its best trading day since the end of july. us index performance on tuesday index performance (+/-) value nasdaq 100 +1.92% 13,341.52 s&p 500 index +1.23% 4,487.18 dow industrials +0.61% 34,778.80 russell 2000 +1.32% 1,893.82 see also: how to trade futures tuesday’s trading in major us equity etfs the spdr s&p 500 etf trust (nyse: spy ) was 1.2% higher to $447.90 the spdr dow jones industrial average etf (nyse: dia ) rose 0.6% to $347.76 the invesco qqq trust (nasdaq: qqq ) rose 1.9% to $373, according to benzinga pro data. among s&p 500’s sectors: the energy select sector spdr fund (nyse: xle ) was the underperformer falling 0.2%. the consumer discretionary select sector spdr fund (nyse: xly ), the technology select sector spdr fund (nyse: xlk ) and the communication services select sector spdr fund (nyse: xlc ) rose by 2%, 1.9% and 1.8% respectively. stocks in focus: pdd holdings inc. (nasdaq: pdd ) rose 16% after reporting better than predicted revenues last quarter. ginkgo bioworks holdings, inc. (nyse: dna ) rose 21% after the company announced a five-year partnership with alphabet inc. ‘s (nasdaq: goog ) (nasdaq: googl ) google cloud, under which ginkgo will develop ai tools for biology and biosecurity. coinbase global inc. (nasdaq: coin ) rose 13% after grayscale won its lawsuit against the sec over the regulator’s rejection of an application to convert its fund to a spot bitcoin etf. marathon digital holdings inc. (nasdaq: mara ) and riot platforms inc. (nasdaq: riot ) rose 25% and 18%, respectively. novocure limited (nasdaq: nvcr ) soared 16%, after falling 37% a day earlier. companies reporting after the close are ambarella, inc. (nasdaq: amba ), box, inc. (nyse: box ), hewlett packard enterprise co. (nyse: hpe ), hp, inc. (nyse: hpq ) and pvh corp. (nyse: pvh ). commodities, bonds, other global equity markets: crude oil rose 0.6%, with a barrel of wti-grade crude trading above $80. the united states oil fund etf (nyse: uso ) was 0.4% higher to $72.73. treasury yields were lower, with the 10-year yield down to 4.12% and the two-year yield down by 17 basis points to 4.88%. the ishares 20+ year treasury bond etf (nyse: tlt ) rose 1% for the day. the dollar fell, with the u.s. dollar index, which is tracked by the invesco db usd index bullish fund etf (nyse: uup ), down 0.3%. the eur/usd pair, which is tracked by the invesco currecyshares euro currency trust (nyse: fxe ), was 0.4% higher to 1.0855. european equity indices closed in the green. the spdr dj euro stoxx 50 etf (nyse: fez ) rose 1%. gold edged 0.8% up to $1,935/oz, while silver rose nearly 2% to $24.69. bitcoin (crypto: btc ) was 7% higher to $27,915. read next: dow jones bulls lock horns at resistance level: what’s next for blue-chip gauge? staff writer piero cingari updated this report midday tuesday. photo: shutterstock | 2023-08-29 |
china is pulling out all the stops in response to the brewing storm within its real estate sector, aiming to prevent the cascading impact from reaching other sectors and economies. on a recent note, the world’s second-largest economy has issued a directive to prominent state-owned banks, mandating substantial reductions in both bank deposit and mortgage rates, as reported by bloomberg . bank rate cuts and stimulus plans the mortgage rate cuts, which are set to reverberate across a market worth $5.3 trillion, are exclusively targeted at loans for primary residences, in an attempt to cushion the fallout in the housing market. simultaneously, the chinese government is taking shelter behind promises of amplified stimulus measures to drive growth and employment within the country. the recent surge in youth unemployment to over 20% has prompted the authorities to kick into action. a translated document by the official xinhua news agency reveals that finance minister liu kun and zheng shanjie , the chairman of the national development and reform commission, have made commitments to expedite the issuance and utilization of local government special bonds to invigorate investments. also read: tesla reverses course, indicates a new bull run could be on the horizon: the bull, bear case for the ev giant. the report highlights the insufficient domestic demand and challenges confronting certain businesses, indicating a necessity to stimulate private investments via focused policies. over the weekend, china announced a 50% reduction in stock-trading stamp duties, coupled with the approval of comprehensive guidelines for affordable housing. meanwhile, the chinese politburo is gearing up for its routine monthly meeting. speculation is on the rise that this gathering could potentially delve into further policy support for the ailing economy. market reaction market reactions have been a mixed bag. while the latest measures seem to have tamed the sell-off witnessed at the start of august, they haven’t yet triggered a full-scale rally across assets exposed to china. in hong kong, the hang seng index, which is tracked by the ishares msci hong kong index fund (nyse: ewh ) managed to post a 2% surge on tuesday, tallying a 5% climb compared to the previous week, though it remains 9% lower for the month. u.s.-listed chinese stocks, including alibaba group holdings (nyse: baba ), tencent music entertainment group (nyse: tme ), jd.com inc. (nasdaq: jd ) and baidu inc. (nasdaq: bidu ), are all trading about 1.5% higher in premarket trading. the ev-maker nio inc. (nasdaq: nio ) declined over 6% in the premarket after reporting disappointing earnings in q2. the dollar-yuan (usd/cny) exchange rate continues to hold steady around 7.29, close to the peak levels attained in mid-august. as for commodities intricately linked with china, such as copper and silver, their performance remained largely stagnant on tuesday, both having retreated from the highs of july. investors are anxiously awaiting insights into china’s economic state through the upcoming release of the purchasing managers’ indices (pmis) for manufacturing and services. projections suggest a minor uptick in the manufacturing pmi, moving from 49.4 to 49.5, although it will remain in contraction. meanwhile, the services pmi is anticipated to dip from 51.5 to 51.1, marking the lowest point since december 2022. read now: economic stability in us-china relations is ‘what the world expects from us,' says gina raimondo this content was partially produced with the help of ai tools and was reviewed and published by benzinga editors. photo: shutterstock | 2023-08-29 |
benzinga why facebook news is shutting down in europe: what it means for users? meta platforms inc (nasdaq: meta ) announced a significant development regarding facebook news in the u.k., france, and germany. the dedicated news tab on facebook, known as facebook news, will cease to exist in early december. the move is part of meta's ongoing effort to prioritize features that users express interest in, like short-form videos, to maintain its competitive edge versus tiktok. hollywood strike impact - warner bros. discovery revises annual outlook warner bros. discovery inc (nasdaq: wbd ) stock is trading lower tuesday as the company disclosed that ceo david zaslav expects to discuss, among other topics, the impacts of the ongoing wga and sag-aftra strike at an investor conference on september 6, 2023. the company's august 3, 2023, earnings call guidance reflected a resolution of the strikes by early september. driving into the future: mercedes and bmw partner with qualcomm for ultra-connected cars semiconductor giant qualcomm inc (nasdaq: qcom ) said it will provide enhanced multi-media and in-car infotainment systems to luxury automakers, including bmw (bayerische motoren werke adr) (otc: bmwyy ) and mercedes benz group ag (otc: mbgyy ). as a part of the companies' continued technology collaboration, snapdragon digital chassis solutions are designed to help bring the latest in-vehicle technology and features to the new 2024 mercedes-benz e-class sedan. alibaba cloud seeks up to $3b funding from state firms alibaba group holding limited's (nyse: baba ) stock is trading lower tuesday in line with the broader indexes ishares china large-cap etf (fxi) and kraneshares trust kraneshares csi china internet etf (kweb) amid reports of china's services activity growing at the slowest pace in eight months in august. the company's cloud division explored private fundraising from chinese state-owned enterprises before its public listing in hong kong. samsung becomes tesla cars' eyes as it will now supply camera modules to elon musk's ev company samsung electronics co ltd (otc: ssnlf ) has a major new win in its bag – after winning a contract to supply chips to elon musk's tesla inc (nasdaq: tsla ), the korean conglomerate will now supply camera modules as well. samsung has won a contract to supply camera modules to a us electric vehicle company, likely tesla. the tesla model s, x, y, and 3 are expected to be equipped with samsung's camera modules. manchester united no longer up for sale manchester united ltd (nyse: manu ) shares are trading lower tuesday following reports that the company will no longer seek to sell the club. a source with ties to the family reportedly said negative fan reactions won't influence the owners. manchester united fans have pushed for a sale for quite some time. the company's board commenced exploring strategic alternatives for the club last november and the company's owners have been reviewing offers from multiple potential buyers since. high-flying partnership: air france & airbus in talks to form jv for a350 component maintenance airbus se (otc: eadsy) and air france-klm (otc: aflyy ) (otc: afrad ) air france industries klm engineering & maintenance have entered exclusive negotiations to establish a joint venture to provide airbus a350 component maintenance services worldwide. under the jv pact, air france and airbus will transfer aircraft components assets belonging to both partners into the joint venture's pool. novo nordisk's weight loss drug wegovy in short supply, yet goes ahead with uk launch on monday, novo nordisk a/s (nyse: nvo ) introduced its popular weight loss drug wegovy (semaglutide injection) in the u.k., making it accessible through the national health service (nhs) weight management scheme for free prescriptions and in the private market. however, the company has acknowledged that supply constraints will persist in the foreseeable future. some doctors express discomfort about wegovy's private availability when substantial demand exists within the nhs. financial times renault's electrifying leap - ampere ipo could hit $10.8b valuation renault sa' s (otc: rnlsy ) (otc: rnsdf ) ceo luca de meo reportedly said its new electric vehicle division ampere could bring an initial public offering worth up to €10 billion ($10.75 billion) when it floats in the first half of 2024. the exact pricing of ampere's initial public offering has yet to be confirmed. cnbc whatsapp's transformation - from messaging giant to monetization challenge it's been nearly a decade since mark zuckerberg, the founder of facebook , now rebranded meta platforms inc (nasdaq: meta ), revealed the $19 billion deal to acquire the popular messaging app whatsapp , known for its small-scale business operations. unlike instagram, whatsapp does not feature advertisements, an essential aspect of zuckerberg's primary business model. legal twist in drug price negotiation: federal judge quits case amid allegations of stock ownership on friday, judge thomas rose, serving in the u.s. district court for the southern district of ohio, opted to step down from the case on the same day the revolving door project, a nonprofit organization, revealed his ownership of stocks in johnson & johnson (nyse: jnj ) and astrazeneca plc (nasdaq: azn ). judge rose, appointed during president george w. bush's tenure, holds stocks valued between $15,000 and $50,000 in j&j and shares in astrazeneca worth up to $15,000. reuters chevron faces strike at its australian lng facilities chevron corp (nyse: cvx ) gorgon and wheatstone liquefied natural gas (lng) projects (account for over 5% of global lng capacity) in australia are likely to face turmoil as workers plan a strike for two weeks from september 14. the report quoted the union alliance saying, "the offshore alliance is escalating protected industrial action to demonstrate that our bargaining negotiations are far from 'intractable.' barclays eyes stake sale in uk payments arm valued at $2.5b barclays plc (nyse: bcs ) is reportedly mulling the sale of a stake in the u.k. merchants' payment processing unit as the bank is seeking a partner to boost the business. the business could be worth at least £2 billion ($2.5 billion), based on an ebitda of about £300 million and similar deals. wall street journal johnson & johnson's growth strategy post tylenol parent kenvue split: paving the way for medical innovation johnson & johnson (nyse: jnj ) is gearing up to use the proceeds from the recent separation of its consumer-health segment kenvue inc (nyse: kvue ) to bolster its growth in pharmaceuticals and medical technology. this growth strategy could encompass new acquisitions, enhancement of product offerings, and a deeper dive into robotics. | 2023-09-05 |
starbucks corp (nasdaq: sbux ) announced on wednesday that founder and former ceo howard schultz is leaving the coffee chain's board effective immediately . the move follows his departure as ceo in march of this year. reflecting on his 41-year tenure, schultz thanked the company's employees and shareholders, and gave his support for the next generation of starbucks leadership. since starbucks' ipo on june 26, 1992, the company has seen its share price surge about 36,000%, yielding a total return of about 41,000%, outpacing the s&p 500's 1,000% return over the same time frame, the company said in a press release. read also: when silicon valley meets capitol hill on ai's frontier: behind closed doors mellody hobson , chair of the starbucks board, praised schultz’s leadership and dedication. she highlighted his 2022 return as ceo in which he prioritized the company and its shareholders. starbucks elected former senior advisor to alibaba holding group (nyse: baba ) and president of alibaba pictures group wei zhang to its board, effective oct. 1. her portfolio includes leadership roles at news corp china , cnbc china , bain & company and general electric co (nyse: gm ). zhang currently sits on ralph lauren corp’s (nyse: rl ) board. the starbucks board comprises hobson, richard allison , andy campion , beth ford , jørgen vig knudstorp , satya nadella and laxman narasimhan . sbux price action: shares of starbucks are trading 0.765% lower to $96.30 in wednesday's after hours session, according to data from benzinga pro . read next: tesla already dominates us ev sector: what could uaw strike mean for competition, market share? photo via shutterstock. | 2023-09-13 |
benzinga a single bitcoin in 2021 was enough to purchase a tesla model y easily, here's what else it could have bought through the years in november 2021, when bitcoin (btc/usd) reached its all-time high of $67,617.02, the most valuable purchase that could have been made with a single btc was the 2021 tesla (nasdaq: tsla ) model y, priced at $62,190.00. according to research from coingecko, in 2014, when 1 btc was worth $465.00, purchasing a car would have been out of reach. 2017 marked the year when 1 btc was enough to purchase a new car, specifically the 2017 honda hr-v, which won accolades in the subcompact suv category. fast forward to november 2021, and 1 btc could have bought the 2021 tesla model y. after biden, now trump gets slammed by dogecoin co-creator — tells elon musk, free speech suppression 'starts with t and ends with rump' billy markus , the co-creator of dogecoin (doge/usd) and popularly referred to as shibetoshi nakamoto , took a jab at former president donald trump for his alleged impact on free speech. the conversation started after tech mogul elon musk voiced his concerns about the transformation of legacy media into entities suppressing speech. "how did most of the legacy media go from superheroes of free speech to supervillains of speech suppression?" apple analyst says iphone 15 pro, pro max preorders strong out of the gates, increasing confidence in estimates for holiday quarter apple inc (nasdaq: aapl ) launched the next iteration of its iphones last week, and early reception to the device has been positive, according to wedbush analyst daniel ives. ives has an outperform rating for apple shares and a $240 price target. the iphone 15 preorders, which began on friday, were tracking much stronger than consensus estimates, ives said in a note. preorders were up roughly 10-12% from the preorders for the iphone 14, he said, citing wedbush's analysis. 'apple gpt' to 10-year special apple watch and bigger iphones, 2024 could be a blockbuster year for apple apple inc (nasdaq: aapl ) has a slew of major announcements lined up for 2024, including " apple gpt ," 10-year anniversary special apple watch series x , and bigger iphones. while 2023 has been an average year for apple when it comes to product launches, bloomberg columnist mark gurman says that apple has a slew of new product launches and it also plans to enter the generative ai race with "apple gpt" along with a new large language model. ford faces uaw strike in us, now it may have to contend with another in canada as detroit-based automaker ford motor co (nyse: f ) continues to reel under the impact of the united auto workers (uaw) union's strike in the u.s., canada's unifor union is gearing up for a strike against it. unifor said on sunday that despite negotiations, the union has not reached a tentative agreement with ford. a strike would commence if the company fails to reach an agreement by sept. 18, 11: 59 p.m. starbucks promotes molly liu to co-ceo of china business coffee giant starbucks corp (nasdaq: sbux ) has promoted molly liu to executive vice president and co-chief executive officer of starbucks china, effective october 2, 2023. liu has served as starbucks china's chief operating officer since 2021 and had previously served as the company's vice president of digital ventures. as head of the digital ventures organization, she set the foundation for the company's digital flywheel in the market with the launch of 'starbucks delivers' and 'starbucks now' digital ordering services, which constituted 48% of total china sales in q3 fy23. kkr acquires singtel's regional data centre unit for $807m investment firm kkr & co inc kkr has signed a definitive agreement under which a fund managed by kkr will commit up to s$1.1 billion ($800 million) for a 20% stake in singtel's regional data center business. the investment is a part of kkr's asia infrastructure strategy. it puts the enterprise value of singtel's overall regional data center business at s$5.5 billion. kkr will have the option to increase its stake to 25% by 2027 at the pre-agreed valuation. reuters chevron's strike-impacted australian gas facility resumes complete production chevron corp's cvx wheatstone liquefied natural gas (lng) facility in western australia has resumed full production, which was previously affected by a fault last week, resulting in a roughly 20% reduction in production. wheatstone, in conjunction with the nearby gorgon facility, collectively contributes to around 7% of the global lng supply. chevron emphasized that the fault and the ongoing strikes did not impact the scheduled deliveries, a fact supported by shipping data on lseg eikon, which showed no disruptions to wheatstone's exports. china's embattled property developer evergrande falls in deeper pit: police detains wealth management staff following china evergrande group's (otc: egrnf ) inability to repay investors, chinese authorities have taken certain employees from the company's wealth management division into custody. this marks the initiation of the first criminal investigation against the beleaguered property developer since a colossal debt crisis struck it in late 2021. the detentions of its official indicate a potential new investigation that could further compound the company's existing problems. quality control issues at novo nordisk's clayton plant - key site for weight-loss, diabetes drug production the fda has reportedly issued a report detailing quality control lapses at novo nordisk a/s's (nyse: nvo ) clayton, north carolina plant. clayton is a major site for the company's production of its active pharmaceutical ingredients, including semaglutide, which is used in its hugely popular weight-loss drug wegovy and type 2 diabetes drug ozempic. novo nordisk has hired u.s. private contract manufacturer pci pharma services to handle the assembly and packaging of wegovy as it races to boost output of the weight-loss drug to meet demand. financial times softbank's masayoshi son is chatgpt' heavy user' - explores investing in openai after bumper arm ipo following the booming stock market debut of softbank group corp's (otc: sftbf ) (otc: sftby ) arm holding plc arm, the japanese multinational conglomerate is exploring the possibility of investing in openai. according to sources, softbank is also contemplating substantial investments in direct competitors of openai. softbank has already begun collaborating with openai in the japanese market, allowing local companies to develop intelligent chatbots. bloomberg alibaba plans $2b investment in turkey alibaba group holding ltd (nyse: baba ) reportedly plans a $2 billion investment in turkey after a meeting between the chief executive officer, michael evans, and turkey president recep tayyip erdogan. the company has already invested about $1.4 billion in turkey through its e-commerce marketplace, trendyol. he added that alibaba has a lot of confidence that turkey can become one of the leading e-export countries. | 2023-09-18 |
u.s. stocks experienced a downward trend as trading neared its close, with the dow jones witnessing a decline of over 100 points on tuesday. the dow decreased by 0.31%, settling at 34,517.73, while the nasdaq experienced a drop of 0.23%, closing at 13,678.19. similarly, the s&p 500 also saw a decline, falling by 0.22% to 4,443.95. these are the top stocks that gained the attention of retail traders and investors throughout the day: maplebear inc (cart: cart) maplebear inc. , popularly known as instacart, made a notable debut, opening significantly above its ipo price. the stock’s performance for the day saw a rise of 12.33%, closing at $33.7, with an intraday high of $42.95 and a low of $33.67. its 52-week range is between $7.49 and $42.95. following its public debut, ritholtz wealth management’s josh brown expressed skepticism , suggesting that investors might want to consider selling to capitalize on the surge. nio inc (nyse: nio ) nio inc. faced a challenging day, with its stock declining by 17.07%, closing at $8.55. the stock’s intraday high was $9.6, and it touched a low of $8.41. over the past 52 weeks, nio has ranged between $7 and $20.95. the chinese luxury ev maker’s decision to raise $1 billion to refinance existing debt and bolster operating capital has raised questions among investors and analysts , including citi's jeff chung , about the company’s future prospects and strategies. avinger inc (nasdaq: avgr ) avinger inc.’s stock soared, marking an impressive increase of 72.16% to close at $10.45. the stock reached an intraday high of $11.15 and a low of $8.2, with its 52-week range between $4.14 and $24.29. the surge followed the company’s announcement of the commercial launch of its tigereye st image-guided cto crossing device, which has been described by avinger’s chief medical officer, jaafer golzar , as a significant advancement in their technology lineup. alibaba group holding ltd (nyse: baba ) alibaba’s stock performance was relatively stable, with a slight increase of 0.10%, closing at $87.11. the stock’s intraday high and low were $87.88 and $86.08, respectively, and its 52-week range is between $58.01 and $121.3. recent reports indicate alibaba’s plans to invest $2 billion in turkey , a move that was discussed during a meeting with turkey’s president, recep tayyip erdogan . this investment follows alibaba’s previous $1.4 billion investment in turkey’s largest e-commerce platform, trendyol. tesla, inc (nasdaq: tsla ) tesla’s stock saw a modest increase of 0.46%, closing at $266.5. the stock’s intraday high was $267.85, with a low of $261.2. over the past 52 weeks, tesla has ranged between $101.81 and $313.8. despite the slight increase, glj research analyst gordon l. johnson ii issued a sell rating on tesla, highlighting potential demand problems and concerns about the company’s growth prospects in the coming years. photo by pixels hunter on shutterstock prepare for the day's trading with top premarket movers and news by benzinga. engineered by benzinga neuro , edited by shivdeep dhaliwal the gpt-4-based benzinga neuro content generation system exploits the extensive benzinga ecosystem, including native data, apis, and more to create comprehensive and timely stories for you. learn more. | 2023-09-20 |
hong kong stocks ended a quiet week in the green as speculators bet that government easing measures in china would come into place to stimulate the local economy. the hang seng index finished the day’s trading 1.6% higher at 17,485.98. china’s stock markets and banks were closed this week for the annual national golden week holiday, which investors hope also provided a boost to consumer spending. about hk$60 billion ($7.7 billion) of shares were traded per day in hong kong this week, about half the weekly 12-month average volume. a goldman sachs group inc. (nyse: gs ) report stipulating that the economic slowdown in china is coming to an end followed a similar report by citigroup inc. (nyse: c ) thursday which stated that the bottom is in for a slump in exports and weak consumer confidence on the mainland. “we expect growth and inflation to bottom out in the near term on stabilising exports, less drag from inventory destocking and increased policy offset,” goldman’s economists wrote in the report. property stocks and exporters got most of the action as investors bet that a turning point for china’s economy had been reached. hang lung properties limited (otc: hlppy ) jumped 2.3%, sino land company limited (otc: snlay ) rose 1% and country garden holdings company limited (otc: ctryy ) leaped 3.5% on the day. sunac china holdings limited (otc: sncnf ) surged 10.5% after it successfully convinced a hong kong court thursday to vote in favour of its $10.2 billion offshore debt restricting proposals, approved by 98% of its creditors in a fortnight-ago vote. consumer names alibaba group holding limited (nyse: baba ) and jd.com, inc. (nasdaq: jd ) were both higher by 1.5%. tencent holdings limited (otc: tcehy ) and insurer aia group ltd. (otc: aaigf ) were both around 2% stronger on the day as both companies continued their aggressive multi-month stock repurchasing programs on the hong kong stock exchange . cnooc fell a bit after bloomberg reported today that it told investors there would be a delay of seven days in an offshore bond repayment to account for the chinese national holiday. the $1.3 billion investment grade 10-year bonds issued in 2013 were trading at 99.99 cents on the dollar, indicating that investors were unconcerned about any credit risk from the issuer, but the incident sparked discussions about what constituted a debt default in light of recent property share credit defaults. in the bonds’ terms of repayment, it stipulates they will be repaid within two working days of the maturity date of the notes according to a new york and australian working week. caixin , china’s largest business daily reported that automaker nio inc. (nyse: nio ) is starting to put pressure on rival ev makers tesla, inc. (nasdaq: tsla ) , li auto inc. (nasdaq: li ) , xpeng inc. (nasdaq: xpev ) and byd company limited (otc: bydyy ) in china after raising sales commissions for its agents. minimum sales commissions paid to nio sales reps have been more than doubled recently, caixin said, from 800 rmb ($110) to 2,000 rmb per car sold and by over fourfold from 800 rmb to 4,000 rmb per car for inventory stock and showroom display vehicles. the big increase in sales commissions was what helped the company achieve over 6 billion rmb in sales and raise sales over the 20,000-mark in july this year. | 2023-10-06 |
shares in hong kong and china dropped thursday on a slew of bad economic data from the housing and financial sector. the hang seng index fell 2.5% to 17,295.89 points and china’s csi 300 index ended the day 2.1% lower at 3,533.54 points. september’s housing prices in china fell the fastest they have in 11 months, down 0.3% across 70 mainland cities and 0.48% lower for secondary market sales, representing the largest one month drop in secondary sales recorded since 2014. the value of the real estate sector overall shrunk by 2.7% in the third quarter. chinese-language daily caixin reported that investment in the chinese housing sector plunged 9.1% in the first 9 months of this year, representing an even bigger drop than for the first 8 months. the data comes on the back of the first default on us dollar bonds a day earlier by country garden holdings limited (otc: ctryf ) , china’s largest property firm by developments. country gardens has said that it does not think it will be able to maintain timely interest payments on its $10 billion of junk bonds, which are trading under 4 cents on the dollar now. country garden denied a rumor going around trading desks thursday morning that its founder yeung kwok-keung and chairman hang huiyang, who is yeung’s daughter, had fled china after the company missed the interest payment wednesday. the company threatened to take legal action against rumor-mongers. country garden was around 3% lower, while china evergrande group (otc: egrnq ) was down nearly 4% and sunac china holdings limited (otc: sncnq ) tumbled 4.6% by the end of the day’s trading in hong kong. the chinese government is in the midst of attempting to avert what looks to be a full-blown credit crunch in its housing market, even as its retail and manufacturing industries are starting to pick up. consumption is on the rise again after a two-year rout created by an intensive series of covid-19 lockdowns. output in the leisure sector was up 12.7% while it and software was also rebounding strongly by 10.3%. manufacturing activity rose 4.5%. that helped wednesday’s better-than-expected gdp data which prompted revised-higher forecasts thursday for china’s gdp by ubs group ag (nyse: ubs ) and jp morgan & chase co (nyse: jpm ) to 5.2% for this year. still, consumer names were marred by the larger credit rout that is weighing on investor’s minds thursday. alibaba group holdings limited (nyse: baba ) and tencent holdings ltd (otc: tcehy ) were both off 2.3% by the end of trading while jd.com inc (nasdaq: jd ) continued to fall harder by 5% after downgrades earlier this week. regional banks face a 2.2 trillion rmb ($301 billion) capital shortfall as local government financing vehicles (lgvfs) struggle to repay portions of their borrowing due to rapidly-slowing land sales. lgvfs are a mechanism by which local governments in china attempted to provide a cushion to plunging land prices in 2022, and the $9 trillion they have under management now looks to be under threat, according to s&p global ratings . three banks in particular, bank of hangzhou co , bank of chonquing co and bank of chengdu co are the most exposed to potential lgvf defaults, which analysts expect to be as high as 74% now according to bloomberg . the defaults are on the way due to a lack of demand for land and new housing in provinces across china, which puts constraints on the cashflows of the government financing vehicles. bank of china ltd. (otc: bachf ) and china construction bank ltd (otc: cichf ) both fell 2% while hong kong lender hsbc plc (nyse: hsbc ) was down 2.4% on the day. new data from the us treasury department wednesday showed that chinese investors offloaded around $21 billion of us securities in august, which were mostly sales of treasury bills, the highest amount in four years. chinese investors sold an all-time record of $5.1 billion of us equities in august. maquarie group ltd. (otc: mqbky ) analyst gareth berry said the large sale of us securities was down to china liquidating us dollar assets in the event it needed to intervene in its currency markets. the chinese yuan renminbi is currently trading at 7.32 rmb vs. the dollar, its lowest level in 15 years. low domestic currency prices vs the dollar is good for companies that derive a big chunk of their income from overseas exports but bad for imports which china is increasingly reliant on. ev makers plunged on headwinds from an upside earnings surprise announcement by byd company limited (otc: byddf ) tuesday night in addition to disappointing earnings for q3 from tesla inc (nyse: tsla ) . wednesday night, tesla reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.66 vs. $0.73 expected and revenue of $23.35 billion vs. $24.1 billion expected, citing margin pressures associated with developing cheaper vehicle in the face of rising competition. ceo elon musk also said the company would face “enormous challenges” in delivering volume sales of its cybertruck. days earlier, tesla’s main chinese rival byd said that it would report record sales and income for q3 after increasing its global market presence. nio inc (nyse: nio ) and xpeng inc. (nyse: xpev ) both dropped over 8%, while li auto inc (nasdaq: li ) was 4% lower on the day. byd gave back 3% after strong performance the day before on the back of its pre-earnings statement. | 2023-10-19 |
hong kong stocks rallied friday as the week closed out higher for consumer stocks and ev makers which investors hope will be the beneficiary of a forthcoming government stimulus. the hang seng index ended the day 2.1% higher at 17,398.73 while china’s csi 300 index rose 1.4% to 3,562.39. financials also closed out mostly higher while property firms were sharply up on hopes that if the government steps in there may be an end in view to the wave of defaults that have besieged corporate bond markets this year. short-selling volumes dropped by about a quarter from a day earlier to 17.4% of all transaction volumes on the hong kong stock exchange. reports of successful single’s day presales promotions for alibaba group holding (nyse: baba ) and jd.com inc (nasdaq: jd ) continued to push those stocks higher, which have been heavily beaten-down throughout 2023. chinese consumers are currently sitting heavily on cash as revealed by substantially higher deposits on china construction bank’s (otc: cichy ) earnings statement thursday. as such, retailers are looking to take advantage of the sales opportunity during the country’s november sales season. competitive discounts and a slew of brand-new product offerings this week have seen record sell-out times for alibaba and jd.com, according to local reports. alibaba told the chinese language media friday that over 1,300 brands sold about triple the volume of what they did last year in the first hour of its tmall platform sales tuesday this week. about 700 brands sold over 5x what they did in the same period last year, the company added. alibaba also said that leading european and american fashion brands, including nike inc (nyse: nike ) , made over rmb100 million ($13.7 million) in sales each within that hour. among other consumer names, tencent holdings limited (otc: tcehy ) got a boost after hong kong’s second-largest ipo this year, for j&t global express limited , went live. tencent is the lead cornerstone investor in the ipo with over 10% of the share allotment. the ipo was oversubscribed by about one and a half times. short-selling among consumer names dipped to less than 10% of daily turnover according to traders, with alibaba seeing just 9.9% of its trading volume represented in short plays, meituan (otc: mpngy ) at 6.9% short turnover ratio and tencent at just 4.5%. after a 20% decline following an earnings disappointment thursday, li ning repurchased hk$205 million ($26.3 million) of its stock friday, or around 0.35% of its entire market capitalization, for between hk$23.5 and hk$25.04 a share, helping the stock rise over 3% by day’s end. alibaba, meituan and jd.com inc all finished the day 3% higher, while j&t global express held on to its hk$12 offering price by the end of the day’s trading. ev names were also sharply higher, with nio inc (nyse: nio ) closing up 2.4%, xpeng inc (nyse: xpev ) 5% higher and li auto inc (nasdaq: li ) 3.8% stronger on the day after news that tesla inc (nasdaq: tsla ) scrapped a discount on its bestselling model y ev on the chinese mainland. other active heavyweight stocks on the hong kong stock exchange included financials china construction bank, aia group (otc: aagiy ) and ping an insurance group (otc: pngay ) , which all rose despite short-sellers still targeting the stocks heavily. short turnover for each of the three companies was between 18%-37% with the highest for aia, indicating investors are still bearish about the health of chinese financial firms. pharma names did the best of all sectors on hopes that a government stimulus would target the sector heavily, with hansoh pharma (otc: hnspf ) 12% higher, sino boipharmaceuticals limited (otc: sbmff ) up 10% and wuxi biologics (otc: wxxwy ) rising 7.3% on the day. in other news, li keqiang, china’s former premier, died suddenly of a heart attack shortly after midnight friday at 68 years old. li was one of china’s most popular leaders in history, mostly presiding over a period of 8%+ annual economic growth for the world’s second largest economy and hailing in an era of what is viewed as more liberal capitalist style politics on the mainland. | 2023-10-27 |
benzinga examined the prospects for many investors' favorite stocks over the last week — here's a look at some of our top stories. the week on wall street was marked by robust gains, with the dow climbing 5.07% — its strongest showing since october 2022— and both the s&p 500 and nasdaq posting their best performance since november 2022, with increases of 5.85% and 6.61%, respectively. in its november gathering, the federal reserve maintained the interest rate range at 5.25% to 5.5%, matching the expectations of the market and avoiding any declarations about its future rate decisions. the jobs data for october, released on friday, was less robust than anticipated, adding only 150,000 jobs versus the projected 180,000, hinting that the fed's strategy to temper economic growth and control inflation may be effective. benzinga provides daily reports on the stocks most popular with investors. here are a few of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look. the bulls " microsoft's 'iphone moment' with m365 copilot: analysts predict $10b ai revenue surge by 2025 ," by surbhi jain , forecasts a significant revenue increase for microsoft corp (nasdaq: msft ) with the launch of m365 copilot, as analysts anticipate a major ai-driven growth phase. " michael saylor explains why 'right now is a pretty ideal time' to start loading up on bitcoin ," by adam eckert , details michael saylor 's optimistic stance on bitcoin (crypto: btc ), advocating for investment before expected positive market shifts. " good news for alibaba: accel chip outshines nvidia's ai chips, china claims ," by anusuya lahiri , reports on china's development of the accel chip, which reportedly surpasses nvidia 's ai chips in performance, potentially benefiting alibaba group holding limited (nyse: baba ). for additional bullish calls of the past week, check out the following: ethereum set for 75% surge, predicts macro guru raoul pal thanks to this 'gorgeous chart'— veteran peter brandt turns bullish too jim farley reacts as ford gets second credit upgrade: 'important milepost on the way to bigger things' palantir ceo alex karp declares market disruption with artificial intelligence the bears " disney's kingdom shaken as activist investor stirs up boardroom with bold stock play ," by chris katje , reports on trian fund management's nelson peltz' escalating campaign for change at the walt disney company (nyse: dis ), potentially shaking up its boardroom dynamics. " bearish tesla analyst warns of potential mass exodus by big institutional investors ," by shanthi rexaline , outlines gordon johnson 's analysis that tesla inc. (nasdaq: tsla ) could face a significant sell-off from institutional investors due to deteriorating financial results. " nvidia dominates ai chip market, but institutional holders show unsettling trend — is the spark fading? " by surbhi jain , reports on a disconcerting trend of diminishing institutional investment in nvidia corp (nasdaq: nvda ), despite the company's commanding lead in the ai chip market. for more bearish takes, be sure to see these posts: jamie dimon warns of potential 6.25% rate hike from fed amid sticky inflation: quantitative tightening 'will rattle the markets' jim cramer critiques tesla's cybertruck, likening it to the delorean apple's 'scary fast' event underwhelms analysts, leads to question of timing ahead of q4 earnings keep up with all the latest breaking news and trading ideas by following benzinga on twitter . | 2023-11-04 |
u.s. stocks exhibited a mixed performance towards the market’s close monday, with the dow jones industrial average edging up by approximately 50 points. the dow’s rise by 0.16% to 34,337.33 contrasted with a slight decline in the nasdaq composite, which fell 0.22% to 13,767.74. the s&p 500 mirrored this tepid movement, dropping marginally by 0.08% to 4,411.55. these are the top stocks that gained the attention of retail traders and investors throughout the day: digital world acquisition corp. (nasdaq: dwac ) today, dwac saw a slight increase of 0.26% closing at $15.18, with an intraday high of $15.34 and a low of $14.75. the stock’s performance ranged between a 52-week high of $28.85 and a low of $12.34. digital world made headlines with its amended filing, a step towards merging with trump media & technology group, which is behind the truth social app, which is associated with former president donald trump. alibaba group holding limited (nyse: baba ) alibaba’s shares dipped by 0.59% to close at $82.26, after fluctuating between $83.32 and $82.08 throughout the day. the company’s year-long trajectory saw highs of $121.3 and lows of $71.32. in the face of economic headwinds, alibaba and its peers navigated the singles day event with strategic discounting to spur consumer spending. nio inc. (nyse: nio ) nio’s stock closed down 0.28% at $7.22, with an intraday peak of $7.43 and a low of $7.11, while its 52-week range stood between $16.18 and $7.00. the company welcomed a new independent director, enhancing its board’s expertise in technology and sustainability, which is critical as nio continues to expand its vehicle delivery and technological footprint. star bulk carriers corp. (nasdaq: sblk ) star bulk’s performance today reflected a modest uptick of 0.65%, closing at $18.52. the stock’s daily high was $18.58 with a low of $18.19, and it has seen a 52-week high of $25.03 and a low of $16.57. the company reported a robust net income of $43.7 million for the quarter and declared a dividend of $0.22 per share, signaling a strong position despite market volatility. tesla, inc. (nasdaq: tsla ) tesla’s stock surged by 4.22% to close at $223.71, reaching an intraday high of $225.40 and a low of $211.61. the electric car giant’s stock has been between a 52-week high of $299.29 and a low of $101.81. tesla’s market movements were significant as the company continues to innovate in the electric vehicle space, with reports that india is mulling tax cuts for ev imports. photo by phongphan on shutterstock prepare for the day's trading with top premarket movers and news by top premarket movers and news . engineered by benzinga neuro , edited by shivdeep dhaliwal the gpt-4-based benzinga neuro content generation system exploits the extensive benzinga ecosystem, including native data, apis, and more to create comprehensive and timely stories for you. learn more. | 2023-11-14 |
major u.s. indices were mixed on thursday with the dow jones declining 0.13% to 34,945.47, while the tech-heavy nasdaq rose 0.07% to 14,113.67. the s&p 500 was also in the green and rose 0.12% to 4,508.24. transitioning from the general market overview, it’s important to highlight specific stocks that captured significant attention from retail traders and investors throughout the day. applied materials inc (nasdaq: amat ) applied materials inc. experienced a decline of 0.36% to close at $154.81. the stock fluctuated between a high of $157.76 and a low of $151.2 during the day, while its 52-week range is between $157.76 and $93.68. the company reported fiscal fourth-quarter financial results with a revenue of $6.72 billion and earnings of $2.12 per share, surpassing analyst estimates. alibaba group holding limited (nyse: baba ) alibaba’s stock fell by 9.14% to close at $79.11. the intraday trading saw the stock reaching a high of $80.77 and a low of $78.23, with a 52-week range of $121.3 to $74.58. the company’s earnings per ads of $2.14 beat consensus, driven by robust growth in its various segments. walmart inc (nyse: wmt ) walmart inc’s shares declined by 8.09% to $156.04. the stock’s high and low for the day were $159.45 and $155.5, respectively, with a 52-week range of $169.94 to $136.09. the retail giant reported a 5.2% year-over-year sales growth to $160.8 billion in its third-quarter fy24. gap inc (nyse: gps ) gap inc. saw a decrease of 2.84% in its stock, closing at $13.67. the stock traded between $13.93 and $13.43 during the day, with a 52-week high and low of $15.49 and $7.22. the company reported third-quarter earnings of 59 cents per share, surpassing analyst expectations. tesla inc (nasdaq: tsla ) tesla’s stock closed at $233.59, down 3.81%. it ranged between $240.88 and $230.96 in the day’s trading, with a 52-week high and low of $299.29 and $101.81. the electric vehicle maker saw its shares trading lower following recent market trends and cpi data. photo by phongphan on shutterstock prepare for the day's trading with top premarket movers and news by benzinga. engineered by benzinga neuro , edited by shivdeep dhaliwal the gpt-4-based benzinga neuro content generation system exploits the extensive benzinga ecosystem, including native data, apis, and more to create comprehensive and timely stories for you. learn more. | 2023-11-17 |
alibaba group holding ltd.’s (nyse: baba ) co-founder, jack ma , has urged the company to alter its course of operations, as per an internal memo. he also expressed admiration for the strategic decisions made by a rival company, pdd holdings inc (nasdaq: pdd ). what happened : ma, took a step back from alibaba’s day-to-day affairs in 2020, but recently shared his views on the company’s internal forum, reported bloomberg. he lauded pdd for their strategic decisions that have allowed them to snatch market share from alibaba, the leading e-commerce platform in china. he voiced his belief in alibaba’s capacity for change and rectifying its current path. these remarks come amid a period of volatility for alibaba, both internally and externally. the company is grappling with a slower-than-expected economic revival and the rise of competitors such as pdd and bytedance ltd . recent organizational changes have also added to the challenges, including ceo daniel zhang’s resignation and the delay of its anticipated cloud division spinoff and listing. see also: tesla cybertruck event preview: what investors should know about vehicle that’s ‘blade runner’ meets james bond ma’s memo suggests a dire need for changes within the corporation. his interaction with alibaba’s staff indicates his return to public life, after maintaining a low profile following the government’s clampdown on his enterprises. following ma’s positive remarks, alibaba’s shares in hong kong saw a decrease in losses. this occurred just hours after pdd announced impressive results and a market value of $176 billion, nearing alibaba’s $190 billion. why it matters : these developments follow pdd’s reported third-quarter fy23 revenue growth of 94% year-on-year to $9.44 billion, exceeding the consensus of $7.69 billion. the chinese online retailer’s earnings also surpassed expectations. this situation for alibaba had been brewing, as it faced a slowdown in recovery and a shift in cloud strategy. analysts weighed in on the issues, with alibaba’s shares trading lower following its q2 results, leading to morgan stanley removing the stock as a top pick. the results emerged amid an eventful earnings season. read next: forget nancy pelosi, this democratic senator made up to $55k profit in nearly 3 weeks on this medical device stock that’s lost 40% in last 5 years photo by frederic legrand – comeo on shutterstock engineered by benzinga neuro , edited by pooja rajkumari the gpt-4-based benzinga neuro content generation system exploits the | 2023-11-29 |
tuesday is shaping up to be a risk-off session, with futures trading in the red in premarket trading, while the dollar and treasuries are the only major asset classes in the green. long-term treasuries, as tracked by the ishares 20+ year treasury bond etf (nyse: tlt ), are up 0.7% in the premarket, on track to reach levels last seen on sept. 20. investors are flocking to bonds and cash following moody’s decision to lower china’s credit outlook from stable to negative, while retaining a long-term rating of a1 for the nation’s sovereign bonds. the rating agency also stated that china’s use of fiscal stimulus to support local governments and the ongoing property downturn pose risks to the nation’s economy. hong kong’s hang seng index closed 1.9% lower at 13-month lows, and the domestic chinese a50 index tumbled 1.8%, reaching november 2022 lows, effectively erasing the entire reopening rally. risk aversion has also paused the rally on bitcoin (crypto: btc ) and spdr gold trust (nyse: gld ), with both scarce assets recording minor losses as of 8:00 am in new york. investors are awaiting the institute for supply management’s survey on the services sector for november and the job openings and labor turnover survey (jolts) data, both scheduled for release at 10:00 am. us futures performance on tuesday futures performance (+/-) value nasdaq 100 -0.55% 15,782.25 s&p 500 -0.36% 4,560.18 dow -0.26% 36,172.28 russell 2000 -0.11% 1,878.18 in premarket trading on tuesday, the spdr s&p 500 etf trust (nyse: spy ) edged down 0.3% to $455.30 and the invesco qqq etf (nasdaq: qqq ) fell 0.47% to $384.49, according to benzinga pro data. the cboe volatility index , or vix, is trading 2% higher, after rising 3.7% on monday. economic data to watch the ism services pmi is expected to edge slightly higher from 51.8 in october to 52 in november, remaining in an expansionary territory. the number of job openings is forecasted to rise from 9.3 million in september to 9.553 million in october. stocks in focus during premarket us-listed chinese stocks saw declines in the premarket trading: pdd holdings inc. (nasdaq: pdd ) (down by 2.3%), baidu inc. (nasdaq: bidu ) (down by 1.9%), tencent music entertainment group (nyse: tme ) (down 1.9%), jd.com inc. (nasdaq: jd ) (down 1.8%) alibaba group holdings ltd. (nasdaq: baba ) (down by 1.2%). gitlab inc. (nasdaq: gtlb ) rose 13%, after reporting better-than-forecasted quarterly results. the j.m. smucker company (nyse: sjm ) was 3.2% higher, as the company raised profit guidance. take-two interactive software inc. (nasdaq: ttwo ) saw a 3.5% decline attributed to a pre-release leak of the grand theft auto vi trailer on social media. take-two has officially confirmed that grand theft auto vi is set for a 2025 launch, putting to rest earlier speculations of a potential release in the near future. read now: cathie wood’s ark invest says tesla’s cybertruck a ‘marketing machine’ — foresees potential beyond price tag photo: shutterstock | 2023-12-05 |
wall street is poised for a rebound in wednesday’s session, with futures on major u.s. indices in the green at 8:00 a.m. new york time, following two consecutive sessions of declines for the s&p 500. a worse-than-expected print in the adp national employment report for november has revamped speculation about fed rate cuts in 2024, ahead of the eagerly awaited jobs report scheduled for release on friday. in november, the private employment growth was 103,000 according to the adp, below the 130,000 expected. on tuesday, job openings dropped from 9.35 million in september to 8.733 million in october, raising concerns among market participants about a continuing softening in labor market conditions. the dollar settled at a steady level after initial gains in the early morning, while treasury yields remained mostly unchanged. oil prices continued to decline, with wti trading at $71 per barrel, and gold edged up by 0.5% to $2,035 per ounce. chinese stocks traded domestically are still facing downward pressure following moody’s decision to downgrade china’s credit outlook from neutral to negative, citing a challenging fiscal path for the world’s second-largest economy. the ftse china a50 index fell by 0.44%, reaching lows last seen in early november 2022. in the cryptocurrency market, momentum remains solid, with bitcoin (crypto: btc ) surpassing $44,000 and reaching a market cap of $860 billion. alongside ethereum (crypto: eth ), the two largest cryptocurrencies now have a combined value of approximately $1 trillion. us futures performance on wednesday futures performance (+/-) value nasdaq 100 +0.55% 15,954.18 s&p 500 +0.41% 4,586.82 dow +0.32% 36,241.13 russell 2000 +0.69% 1,871.17 in premarket trading on tuesday, the spdr s&p 500 etf trust (nyse: spy ) edged up 0.4% to $458.50 and the invesco qqq etf (nasdaq: qqq ) rose 0.51% to $389.28, according to benzinga pro data. the cboe volatility index , or vix, is trading 0.9% lower to 12.74. economic data to watch in november, private businesses added 103,000 workers, down from 113,000 in october and below the expected 130,000. chief economist at adp, nela richardson , highlighted the pivotal role of restaurants and hotels in post-pandemic employment growth but also suggested that this trend is waning, indicating a likelihood of more modest hiring and wage growth for the overall economy in 2024. mortgage bankers association of america reported a 2.8% week-on-week growth in mortgage applications, marking the fifth straight week of improvement. the 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell further from 7.37% to 7.17%, the lowest since mid-august, amid persistent declines in u.s. treasury yields. the energy information administration (eia) will release its crude stock change data for the week ending dec.1. stocks in focus during premarket nvidia corp. (nasdaq: nvda ) rose about 0.9% in premarket trading , following the company’s announcement of its close collaboration with the u.s. government to guarantee compliance with export restrictions for its new chips intended for the chinese market. tesla inc. (nasdaq: tsla ) was 1.2% higher on positive news about the production of a smaller model 2. lucid group inc. (nasdaq: lcid ) surged 1.7% after revealing plans to lower prices and offer greater customization options for its 2024 models, targeting a wider consumer base in north america. exxon mobil corp . (nyse: xom ) was 0.4% higher after the company announced a buyback program of $20 billion per year from the time it closes its pioneer natural resources co. acquisition. altria group inc. (nyse: mo ) and philip morris international inc. (nyse: pm ) both experienced declines of 1.7% and 1.3%, respectively, as they were impacted by the ripple effect of british american tobacco industries plc ‘s (nyse: bti ) substantial $31.5 billion devaluation of its cigarette brands, a move that had caused an 8% drop in the stock the previous day. sentinelone inc. (nyse: s ) is up more than 19% following positive quarterly earnings. avis budget group. inc. (nasdaq: car ) is up more than 4% after the company announced a special cash dividend of $10 per share. plug power inc. (nasdaq: plug ) tumbled over 7% after morgan stanley downgraded the company from neutral to underweight, and lowered the price target from $3.5 to $3. read now: investors pour billions to aggressive bond etfs, banking on multiple fed rate cuts in 2024 photo: shutterstock | 2023-12-06 |
microsoft corp (nasdaq: msft ) president brad smith met with china's commerce minister wang wentao to discuss artificial intelligence and trade relations between the u.s. and china . the engagement between smith and wang follows a recent meeting between u.s. president joe biden and chinese president xi jinping, indicating an attempt by both nations to cooperate in areas like ai and to improve the business environment for foreign companies, cnbc reports . wang expressed china's commitment to enhancing services for foreign enterprises and hoped microsoft would play a constructive role in ai cooperation between china and the u.s. microsoft, known for its significant investment in ai through its backing of chatgpt developer openai , is a critical player in this field. china's tech giants, including alibaba group holding limited (nyse: baba ), baidu, inc (nasdaq: bidu ), and tencent holding ltd (otc: tcehy ), are also developing their own ai models and competing products. technology remains a contentious issue in u.s.-china relations, with the u.s. attempting to limit china's access to critical technologies like semiconductors. recent u.s. export restrictions have targeted nvidia's corp (nasdaq: nvda ) chips used in ai training. meanwhile, nvidia is testing the hgx h20 chip with chinese server suppliers, but it likely has only about 20% of the computing power of nvidia's h100. nvidia, which holds over 90% of china's $7 billion ai chip market, announced that the company is working closely with the u.s. government to ensure its new chips for the chinese market comply with recent export restrictions . the biden-xi meeting underscored the need to address risks associated with advanced ai systems. smith and wang's meeting reflects similar objectives. due to increased tensions, u.s. tech firms' interactions with the chinese government have become scarce. however, recent visits by apple inc (nasdaq: aapl ) ceo tim cook and tesla inc (nasdaq: tsla ) ceo elon musk to china, where their companies have significant market presence, suggest a thawing in relations, aided by eased covid-19 travel restrictions and beijing's push to attract foreign businesses. smith stated microsoft's eagerness to participate in china's digital transformation and its commitment to fostering economic and trade cooperation between china and the u.s. price action: msft shares are down 0.24% at $367.90 premarket on the last check thursday. | 2023-12-07 |
major u.s. indices were in the green on wednesday with the dow jones rising 1.4% to 37,090.24, the s&p 500 gaining 1.37% to 4,707.09 and the tech-heavy nasdaq appreciating 1.38% to 14,733.96. on the same day, federal reserve chair jerome powell signaled a peak in interest rates and foresaw cuts in the coming year. transitioning to individual stocks, these are the top stocks that gained the attention of retail traders and investors throughout the day: apple inc. (nasdaq: aapl ) apple closed with a 1.67% increase at $197.96, fluctuating between $194.85 and $198.23, and compared to its 52-week range of $124.17 to $198.23. the tech giant faces an eu antitrust lawsuit over its app store practices, a move that reflects the eu’s ongoing efforts to regulate big tech. despite this, apple’s stock neared its all-time highs, showing resilience in the face of regulatory challenges. adobe inc. (nasdaq: adbe ) adobe’s stock dipped by 1.48%, closing at $624.26, with an intraday range of $618.03 to $633.89. the company’s q4 earnings beat expectations, but its weak first-quarter fy24 revenue forecast led to a decline in its stock price. despite strong performance in various business segments, investor concerns were evident in the after-hours trading session. pfizer inc. (nyse: pfe ) pfizer experienced a significant drop of 6.72%, closing at $26.66. the stock’s performance ranged from a low of $25.76 to a high of $26.73, against a 52-week range of $25.76 to $54.93. the pharmaceutical giant’s lowered revenue forecast for fy24, including the impact of the seagen acquisition, led to a negative market reaction, compounded by mixed results from a weight loss drug trial. alibaba group holding ltd (nyse: baba ) alibaba saw a marginal increase of 0.10%, closing at $71.46. the stock’s daily movement was between $70.12 and $71.48, with a 52-week range of $70.08 to $121.3. challenges such as leadership changes, restructuring difficulties, and regulatory pressures have impacted alibaba’s performance, as evidenced by its year-to-date decline. tesla, inc. (nasdaq: tsla ) tesla’s stock closed up 0.96% at $239.29, with an intraday high of $240.3 and a low of $228.2. the electric vehicle maker’s year has been marked by a 71% gain, despite a recall affecting over 2 million vehicles for a software update. analysts remain optimistic about tesla’s future, particularly with advancements in full self-driving technology. photo by pixels hunter on shutterstock prepare for the day's trading with top premarket movers and news by benzinga. read next: the average american couple has saved this much money for retirement — how do you compare ? engineered by benzinga neuro , edited by shivdeep dhaliwal the gpt-4-based benzinga neuro content generation system exploits the extensive benzinga ecosystem, including native data, apis, and more to create comprehensive and timely stories for you. learn more. | 2023-12-14 |
in a significant development, beijing’s court has accepted the application for bankruptcy liquidation from zhongzhi enterprise group , a renowned wealth management firm in china. what happened : the beijing-based wealth management company, which has substantial exposure to china’s real estate sector, justified its bankruptcy application due to its inability to clear its debts, reuters reported. the court accepted the application on friday, noting that the company’s assets were insufficient to cover its debts. zhongzhi, in a letter to its investors in november, had admitted to being heavily insolvent with a debt of around $64 billion, overshadowing its estimated total assets of $27.95 billion, according to the court statement. the company had previously signaled financial difficulties in july when zhongrong international trust co, a prominent trust company under zhongzhi’s control, failed to meet payments on numerous investment products. see also: why the december jobs report is a crucial indicator for us economy’s trajectory these events have sparked concerns about the impact of china’s property debt crisis on the broader financial sector. the country’s property sector, heavily indebted since 2020, has faced a liquidity crunch. the defaults by developers in late 2021 have not only hindered economic growth but also rattled global markets. why it matters : the recent bankruptcy application comes in the wake of a series of financial challenges faced by zhongzhi. in august 2023, the company missed payments on several high-yield investment products, triggering concerns about the stability of china’s shadow banking industry. this development led to a tumble in chinese stocks, including those of major companies listed on the u.s. market such as alibaba group holding limited (nyse: baba ), netease , inc. (nasdaq: ntes ), and tesla . by november 2023, the company’s liabilities had surged to a staggering $64 billion, a figure that significantly outweighed its total assets, sparking concerns over the potential contagion in the financial market despite the anticipated intervention by regulators. read also: investor sentiment edges lower ahead of jobs report; nasdaq tumbles for 5th consecutive day image by poetra.rh via shutterstock engineered by benzinga neuro , edited by pooja rajkumari the gpt-4-based benzinga neuro content generation system exploits the | 2024-01-05 |
on monday, u.s. indices ended the trading day in the green with the nasdaq gaining 2.2% to 14,843.77. the s&p 500 rose 1.14% to 4,763.54 while the dow jones index appreciated nearly 0.6% to 37,683.01. these are the top stocks that gained the attention of retail traders and investors throughout the day: nvidia corp (nasdaq: nvda ) saw a notable increase of 7.34% in its stock value. despite facing challenges due to u.s. regulations barring high-performance ai chip sales to china, nvidia is adapting with a new lineup of lower-powered ai chips. these regulatory challenges have led to a shift in demand from major chinese cloud companies, such as alibaba group holding limited (nyse: baba ) and tencent holding ltd (otc: tcehy ), who are now looking to reduce their reliance on nvidia’s products. this shift is partly due to the growing interest in local alternatives and in-house developments by companies like baidu inc (nasdaq: bidu ) and bytedance, turning towards domestic producers like huawei technologies. despite these challenges, nvidia’s ceo jensen huang remains committed to competing in the chinese market, with plans to mass-produce a new ai chip, the h20, specifically designed for china in compliance with u.s. export regulations. boeing co (nyse: ba ) experienced a significant drop of 7.83% in its share price following an incident involving a section of fuselage blowing out on an alaska airlines (nyse: alk ) flight. this event led to a temporary grounding of the 737 max 9 jets and an emergency landing, though no serious injuries were reported. the incident has raised concerns about boeing’s reputation, especially given the history of the max-family of jets. in response, global air safety regulators, including the faa and ntsb in the u.s., have ordered immediate safety inspections. this development has affected not only boeing but also airlines operating the 737 max 9, such as united airlines holdings inc (nasdaq: ual ) and copa holdings (nyse: cpa ), with varying impacts on their stock prices. analysts from goldman sachs and bank of america maintain their buy ratings on boeing but acknowledge the potential reputational risks and the need for cautious navigation through this situation. ardelyx, inc. (nasdaq: ardx ) saw a remarkable increase of 30.4% in its share price, following a strategic business update. the company’s optimism is centered around its fda-approved ibs treatment , ibsrela, which is projected to achieve significant market share and revenue. in their update, ardelyx announced expectations for ibsrela to capture more than ten percent market share at its peak, with the potential to generate over $1.0 billion in annual u.s. net product sales revenue before patent expiration. for the full year of 2024, the company anticipates u.s. net product sales revenue for ibsrela to be between $140 million and $150 million. ceo mike raab expressed confidence in the company’s direction, emphasizing efforts to grow sales of marketed therapies and pursue business advancement through various initiatives. the significant stock price movement may also be influenced by a high percentage of shares being sold short, as per data from benzinga pro. crocs, inc. (nasdaq: crox ) experienced a significant surge of 20.7% in its share price, following an optimistic update on its fourth quarter 2023 outlook and preliminary guidance for 2024. the company’s performance exceeded market expectations and its own forecasts. crocs reported an expected fy23 revenue of approximately $3.95 billion, marking an 11% growth compared to 2022 and slightly surpassing its initial growth projection of 10%-11%. this growth is driven by a more than 13% increase in crocs brand revenues, crossing the $3 billion threshold, and heydude revenues of about $949 million. for the fourth quarter of fy23, the company anticipates a revenue growth of 1% year-on-year, which is notably above its previous guidance of a decline of (4%) – (1%). additionally, crocs has made significant strides in reducing its net debt by approximately $277 million and repurchasing $25 million in stock during the fourth quarter. looking ahead to fy24, crocs projects a growth of 3% – 5%, with the crocs brand expected to grow by 4% – 6% and the heydude brand remaining stable or slightly increasing. tesla inc. (nasdaq: tsla ) saw a modest increase of 1.20% in its stock price. this uptick comes in the wake of ceo elon musk hinting at the introduction of new products from the electric vehicle giant, sparking interest and speculation in the market. musk’s cryptic yet suggestive commen t about “a few other products coming too” has fueled curiosity about tesla’s future offerings. the company is known for its diverse range of products and services, including its electric vehicles, the tesla supercharger network, and solar roof solutions. tesla’s commitment to innovation is evident in its significant investment in research and development, which accounted for approximately 48% of its total operating expenses in the third quarter. musk’s vision for tesla extends beyond traditional automotive boundaries, viewing the company as an ai/robotics entity with projects like the full self-driving software, tesla robotaxi, and humanoid robots for factory work. despite the challenges, tesla’s track record under musk’s leadership in delivering on ambitious goals remains impressive. photo by jirapong manustrong on shutterstock prepare for the day's trading with top premarket movers and news by benzinga. engineered by benzinga neuro , edited by shivdeep dhaliwal the gpt-4-based benzinga neuro content generation system exploits the extensive benzinga ecosystem, including native data, apis, and more to create comprehensive and timely stories for you. learn more. | 2024-01-09 |
benzinga examined the prospects for many investors' favorite stocks over the last week — here's a look at some of our top stories. all three major indexes ended the week higher as the s&p 500 increased by 1.8%, the nasdaq by 3.1%, and the dow by 0.3%. the consumer price index rose to 3.4% yoy in december, surpassing november's 3.1% and the expected 3.2%, and signaling potential impacts on financial markets and federal reserve policies. in banking, jpmorgan chase & co. (nyse: jpm ) reported strong earnings with a positive net interest income outlook despite economic concerns, while bank of america corp. (nyse: bac ) experienced a 10% revenue decline, wells fargo & company (nyse: wfc ) saw a 9% profit increase but expects lower future revenue, and citigroup inc (nyse: c ) faced reduced revenue and announced significant job cuts amid restructuring. the week's highlight was the sec's approval of spot bitcoin etfs, marking a significant milestone for bitcoin by broadening its investor base . benzinga provides daily reports on the stocks most popular with investors. here are a few of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look. the bulls "microsoft back on top, dethrones apple as world's most valuable company" by chris katje , highlights that microsoft corporation (nasdaq: msft ) has surpassed apple inc (nasdaq: aapl ) to become the world's most valuable company, driven by its investments in artificial intelligence. "'credits to the tesla team:' elon musk applauds his workers as ev giant eclipses legacy automakers' sales growth over 8 years" by shanthi rexaline , highlights elon musk 's praise for the tesla team as the company outperformed legacy automakers in u.s. sales growth from 2015 to 2023. "cathie wood reveals how much bitcoin she owns personally for first time" , by mehab qureshi , reports that cathie wood , ceo of ark investment management , disclosed that at least 25% of her financial net worth, excluding her firm and real estate, is invested in bitcoin (crypto: btc ). for additional bullish calls of the past week, check out the following: who should tesla be most worried about? not ford or gm, but rivian and an unlikely korean rival semiconductor supply in automotive industry has caught up with demand, amd and nvidia set for prominent ai and automotive role: analyst blackrock ceo larry fink: 'i'm a big believer,' sees value in having ethereum etfs the bears "congresswoman laurel lee sells alibaba stock after criticizing china: why her trade is drawing scrutiny" by chris katje , discusses the scrutiny over rep. laurel lee (r-fla.) selling her alibaba group holding (nyse: baba ) stock amid her criticism of china and her role on a cybersecurity subcommittee. "'ethereum killer' solana plummets 12%, max keiser says 'rug pull has begun'" by mehab qureshi , reports a 12% drop in solana (crypto: sol ), with broadcaster max keiser suggesting the beginning of a "rug pull" following the cryptocurrency's recent hype and airdrop-driven surge. "boeing faces 'reputational minefield' after midair door blowout: 4 analysts on collateral damage from 737 max 9 grounding" by surbhi jain , discusses how boeing co (nyse: ba ) is grappling with regulatory scrutiny and potential reputational damage following a door blowout incident on an alaska air group, inc. (nyse: alk )-operated 737 max 9 aircraft. for more bearish takes, be sure to see these posts: apple analyst mark gurman deems vision pro's virtual keyboard a 'complete write-off' ahead of first sale analyst cautions on plug power and sunpower, flags financing concerns, slow recovery stagflation in 2024? red sea crisis could trigger domino effect for global costs keep up with all the latest breaking news and trading ideas by following benzinga on twitter . | 2024-01-13 |
the u.s. stock market resumed its decline on tuesday following a one-day closure for martin luther king jr. day. the major indices were all red at the end of the trading day in new york as investors continued to monitor corporate earnings season and prospects for future interest rates. the s&p 500 declined 0.4% to 4,765.98, while the dow jones industrial average fell 0.6% to 37,361.12. the tech-heavy nasdaq dropped 0.2% to 14,944.35. these are the top stocks that gained the attention of retail traders and investors throughout the day: digital world acquisition corp (nasdaq: dwac ) dwac surged 29.04% to close at $22.35, with an intraday high of $22.98 and a low of $18.38. the 52-week range is $12.34 – $25.85. the stock rallied following former president donald trump’s significant lead in the iowa caucus. advanced micro devices, inc. (nasdaq: amd ) amd’s stock rose 8.31% to end at $158.74, hitting a high of $159.72 and a low of $149.98. its 52-week range is $67.27 – $159.72. analysts at keybanc capital markets see over 30% upside potential in amd shares, citing strong ai-related demand. spirit airlines, inc. (nyse: save ) save plummeted by 47.09% to close at $7.92, with a day’s high of $15.52 and a low of $5.8. the 52-week range is $5.8 – $20.99. the stock tumbled after a federal judge blocked its acquisition by jetblue airways corporation (nasdaq jblu). alibaba group holding limited (nyse: baba ) baba shares fell 3.31% to $69.46, with an intraday range of $69.3 to $70.53. the 52-week range is $69.3 – $121.3. the decline comes amid broader concerns about chinese internet firms and military-affiliated ai testing. tesla, inc. (nasdaq: tsla ) tesla’s stock saw a modest gain of 0.47%, closing at $219.91. it fluctuated between $212.18 and $223.49, with a 52-week range of $124.31 – $299.29. the company faced its fifth possible day of losses, earlier in the day, influenced by market concerns and ceo elon musk’s comments on ai and robotics. photo by whyframe on shutterstock prepare for the day's trading with top premarket movers and news by benzinga. engineered by benzinga neuro , edited by shivdeep dhaliwal the gpt-4-based benzinga neuro content generation system exploits the extensive benzinga ecosystem, including native data, apis, and more to create comprehensive and timely stories for you. learn more. | 2024-01-17 |
wall street took a breather on tuesday, with the major u.s. stock indices trading near the flatline or showing slight declines during midday trading in new york as investors closely await a series of relevant earnings reports and crucial economic data slated for the remainder of the week. both the s&p 500 and the nasdaq 100 remained stable at their respective all-time highs, while the dow experienced a slight decrease of 0.4%. small caps, as represented by the ishares russell 2000 etf (nyse: iwm ), weakened by 0.7%. the dollar and treasury yields moved higher, likely exerting some resistance on the stock market’s rally. the likelihood of a fed rate cut in march has decreased to 40% and traders now anticipate a total of five rate cuts, down from six, by december 2024. with yields rising across various treasury maturities, the ishares 20+ year treasury bond etf (nasdaq: tlt ) declined by 1.1%. chinese stocks traded in new york saw a strong jump as beijing announced measures totaling $278 billion to stabilize the country’s troubled stock market. both alibaba group holdings ltd. (nyse: baba ) and baidu inc. (nasdaq: bidu ) rose 6.7%, while electric vehicle maker nio inc. (nasdaq: nio ) gained 4.5%. bitcoin (crypto: btc ) remained relatively flat, after reaching intraday lows at $38,550, while gold experienced a slight increase of 0.3%. tuesday’s performance in us major indices, etfs major indices price % nasdaq 100 17,338.84 0.0% s&p 500 4,851.32 0.0% dow jones 37,831.33 -0.4% russell 2000 1971.67 -0.7% the spdr s&p 500 etf trust (nyse: spy ) held steady at $483.31, the spdr dow jones industrial average (nyse: dia ) fell 0.5% to $378.22 and the tech-heavy invesco qqq trust (nasdaq: qqq ) was unchanged at $421.69, according to benzinga pro data . sector-wise, the consumer staples select sector fund (nyse: xlp ) outperformed, up 0.9%. the real estate select sector fund (nyse: xlre ) fell the most, down 0.7%. tuesday’s stock movers shares of united airlines holdings inc. (nasdaq: ual ) rose more than 6% after the company’s strong earnings and revenue results last quarter. the airline released weak guidance for the first quarter after the boeing 737 max groundings. other companies reacting to earnings were verizon communication inc. (nyse: vz ), up 5.4%, and procter & gamble (nyse: pg ) up 4.4% after earnings and revenue topped estimates. 3m company (nyse: mmm ) sank more than 11% after the company’s full-year outlook disappointed. general electric (nyse: ge ) fell nearly 1% after disclosing weaker-than-expected guidance. johnson & johnson (nyse: jnj ) fell 1.5% despite an earnings and revenue beat, while lockheed martin corp. (nyse: lmt ) fell over 4% as the company’s ceo announced that profits from f-35 sales could weaken into the third quarter amid global supply chain disruptions. netflix inc. (nasdaq: nflx ) was flat ahead of its earnings release, scheduled after market close. the streaming giant secured wwe rights from january 2025, striking a $5-billion agreement with tko group holdings inc. (nyse: tko ), which rose 13%. texas instruments (nasdaq: txn ) and intuitive surgical (nasdaq: isrg ) will also report after the closing bell. read now: elon musk’s tesla confronts ‘black cloud’: q4 earnings must draw ‘line in the sand around margins,’ analyst says photo via shutterstock. | 2024-01-23 |
major u.s. indices were mixed on tuesday with the dow jones industrial average down 0.25% at 37,905.45 at the end of trading. the s&p 500 rose 0.29% to 4,864.60, while the tech-heavy nasdaq ended the session up 0.43% at 15,425.94. these are the top stocks that gained the attention of retail traders and investors throughout the day: netflix inc. (nasdaq: nflx ) netflix closed with a 1.33% increase at $492.19, reaching an intraday high of $498.96 and a low of $481.4, with its 52-week range between $285.33 and $503.41. the streaming giant reported a revenue beat in its fourth-quarter earnings , adding 13.12 million net paid subscribers. despite missing eps estimates, netflix’s focus on its ad-supported platform and a raised operating margin forecast for fiscal 2024 highlight its growth trajectory. digital world acquisition corp. (nasdaq: dwac ) dwac’s stock rose by 2.13% to $50.75, with a high of $58.72 and a low of $40.13, and a 52-week range of $12.34 to $58.72. the company, linked to former president donald trump , saw its stocks surge following his advancement in the republican presidential nomination, reminiscent of the meme-stock saga. it should be noted that trump has won the new hampshire primary in which he went heads on against opponent nikki haley, a former governor and an erstwhile ambassador to the united nations. alibaba group holding limited (nyse: baba ) alibaba ended the day up 7.87% at $74.02, with an intraday peak of $74.5 and a low of $72.55. its 52-week range is between $66.63 and $121.3. the stock rallied alongside other chinese peers following china’s announcement of a $278 billion stimulus package aimed at stabilizing the slumping stock market. nuvve holding corp. (nasdaq: nvve ) nvve saw an impressive surge of 85.23%, closing at $5.52. the stock hit a high of $7.27 and a low of $2.88, with its 52-week range spanning from $2.78 to $105.6. the company’s shares jumped following the announcement of a $16 million project for fleet electrification with the fresno economic opportunities commission. tesla inc. (nasdaq: tsla ) tesla’s stock witnessed a modest increase of 0.16%, closing at $209.14. the stock fluctuated between $207.75 and $215.65 during the day, with a 52-week range of $138.07 to $299.29. as tesla prepares to report its fourth quarter earnings , investors are keenly observing its margin and demand outlook, especially after its strategic price cuts in 2023. prepare for the day's trading with top premarket movers and news by benzinga. photo by jirapong manustrong on shutterstock engineered by benzinga neuro , edited by shivdeep dhaliwal the gpt-4-based benzinga neuro content generation system exploits the extensive benzinga ecosystem, including native data, apis, and more to create comprehensive and timely stories for you. learn more. | 2024-01-24 |
this week, the three major u.s. stock market indices jointly reached new record highs, driven by investors’ enthusiasm for ai-related investments and expectations for upcoming fed rate cuts. the u.s. economy continues to exceed growth expectations, driven by strong spending, and as inflation eases, this creates a welcome scenario for stock investors. it was a stellar week for netflix inc. (nasdaq: nflx ), with the streaming giant achieving its best weekly performance in over a year. on the flipside, it was a tumultuous week for tesla inc. (nasdaq: tsla ), as disappointing quarterly data led to a negative streak of six consecutive weeks in the red for the electric vehicle stock for the first time since 2016. here’s a summary of more business news from the week that you need to know: netflix's wwe deal netflix ‘s fourth-quarter results exceeded revenue expectations but missed earnings per share estimates. the streaming service ended the year with 260.28 million global paid members. analysts highlighted the transformative potential of netflix’s 10-year deal with wwe to stream "raw" live, starting in 2025, to boost audience and advertising revenue. tesla downgraded following tesla’s disappointing fourth-quarter results, analysts lowered their projections for the stock, citing concerns over vehicle delivery growth and margin pressures. analysts called the stock “egregiously overvalued” this week and expressed difficulty in remaining optimistic about tesla's short-term prospects. musk’s wealth plunges tesla ‘s stock plunge after earnings report drops elon musk’s net worth below $200 billion. this shift brings musk’s financial standing closer to jeff bezos, who trails behind in wealth rankings. microsoft hits $3-trillion valuation microsoft corp. (nyse: msft ) reached a $3-trillion market valuation, driven by artificial intelligence optimism and strong financial performance. this milestone challenges apple’s position as the world’s most valuable company. alibaba’s strong revival alibaba group holdings ltd (nyse: baba )’s stock surged over 7% as co-founders jack ma and joe tsai heavily invested in shares, bolstering market confidence in the chinese e-commerce giant. this move coincides with china’s plans to support capital markets, offering a positive outlook for the company. trump-linked stocks surge stocks linked to donald trump, including phunware and digital world acquisition corp., skyrocketed this week following his rising momentum in the 2024 white house race. read next: tesla stock rescue plan: analyst lays out 10 items for musk to consider including ai, buyback, acquisitions photo: shutterstock | 2024-01-26 |
in the past half-year, china has approved over 40 artificial intelligence (ai) models for public use, following the introduction of an approval process. what happened : the recent surge in ai approvals is part of china’s strategy to rival u.s. ai development. in the latest wave, chinese regulators endorsed the use of 14 large language models (llms), benefiting companies like xiaomi corp (otc: xiacf ), 4paradigm , and 01.ai , as reported by reuters. the requirement for tech companies to seek regulatory approval before public use of their llms was introduced by beijing in august. this policy underscores china’s commitment to bolstering ai technology development while ensuring control and oversight. see also: warren buffett-backed byd’s sales executive warns tesla ahead of earnings: ‘you’ll face serious challenge companies like baidu inc (nasdaq: bidu ), alibaba group holding ltd (nyse: baba ), and bytedance were among the first to receive approval for their ai models in august, shortly after the policy inception. while a complete list of approved firms remains undisclosed, over 40 ai models have reportedly been approved to date. the drive to create ai products in china was largely fueled by openai ‘s chatbot chatgpt’s global success in 2022. why it matters : this development follows predictions by mckinsey that china would invest trillions in ai over the next decade, viewing it as a critical research and economic growth area. however, the anticipated ai boom has not translated into a significant increase in cloud services spending in the country. simultaneously, china’s ai advancement has raised concerns over potential misuse for espionage , with the fbi voicing worries about ai serving as a tool for china’s alleged hacking activities. china’s intelligence agency, the mss, is reportedly using ai to challenge the cia and gather intelligence on u.s. companies developing emerging technologies. at the time, china had 130 llms, or 40% of the global total, just behind the us with 50%, according to clsa. baidu’s ernie bot, a leading chinese chatbot like chatgpt, reached 100 million users in december. read next: amid tensions with china, us navy sends first warship through taiwan strait post-election image via pixabay engineered by benzinga neuro , edited by kaustubh bagalkote the gpt-4-based benzinga neuro content generation system exploits the | 2024-01-29 |