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It may not seem unusual that a corporate CEO would want to focus on increasing shareholder value, but in October this was treated as big news. A Financial Times headline announced that "Unilever's new chief says corporate purpose can be 'unwelcome distraction.'" That new CEO, Hein Schumacher, went on to explain that he rejected the idea that "every brand should have a social or environmental purpose." He intended, he said, to build a "performance culture" instead. Why would it be newsworthy for a CEO to be focused on corporate performance? Not long ago, that was simply assumed. What changed? The...

This year the US has to roll over 7 trillion USD in bonds and finance an annual deficit of around 2 trillion on top of it. BRICS and Japan are nor going to buy US treasuries anymore. Up to now, US bond auctions did not fail because financial institutions had enough excess reserves deposited at the federal reserve to adsorb newly issues treasuries. However, this liquidity seems to dry up rapidly.

Congressman Tim Burchett is now exposing insider trading in Congress. Watch out Pelosi!

It is a true shame that the WSJ contributes so much to the economic illiteracy plaguing the media and the American people.This article, by Sam Goldfarb at The Wall Street Journal, talks about stock market investors and their “hope” that 2024 is a “return to long-lost normalcy.” Yet Goldfarb says investors can’t hope for a repeat of the 24% gain in 2023, which essentially “erased” the 2022 losses—but this is completely misleading. If you lose 24% in one year, you have to make a much higher return in the following year to make up for that loss.For example: In 2022,...

Several establishment members of Congress were among the top lawmakers to successfully trade stocks in 2023, a report by Unusual Whales found Tuesday. The findings raise concerns that many members of Congress trade stocks based on information unavailable to the public. Some of the most notable establishment members to beat the market were: Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) — up 38.2 percent Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) — up 65.5 percent Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) — up 18.1 percent Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) — up 52.8 percent Rep. John Curtis (R-UT) — up 25.3 percent

Algos don’t understand economic reality along with the laws if supply and demand. The market where the magical symbols representing a real company reside, is a screwed up version of Tron, where computer programs are fighting each other, with the Fed representing Master Control.

In a surprising development, CITIGROUP has decided to exit the distressed-debt trading business, sending shockwaves through financial markets. This move is not just a business decision; it’s a signal that the economy might be entering a distressed cycle. Several indicators point to an economic downturn on the horizon. Employment growth has slowed, and the 30-Year Treasury Yield recently closed below 4% for the first time since July. Investors seem to be following an old playbook of buying stocks before an anticipated rate-cutting cycle. However, history warns us that this strategy often ends in tears, as rate cuts are typically a...

In 2018, Bank of the West issued policy statements vowing to limit the business it would do with fossil fuel companies. The bank’s decision was made entirely on an ideological opposition to fossil fuels and not out of any concern that the investments weren’t paying off, saying that they were withdrawing support for companies and business activities that are "detrimental to our environment and our health." In those days, few had ever heard of environment, social and governance (ESG), a form of corporate responsibility that rates funds according to certain progressive-friendly markers. Among them is a commitment to fighting climate...

Investors dedicate countless hours to solving the mystery of how to beat the stock market - and many lose millions of dollars in the process. But the answer might be simple: Just copy Congress. A tool which copies trades made by members of Congress and their families has gained nearly 20 percent this year – performing twice as well as the stock market average of eight to ten percent.

The S&P 500 is having an incredible year. The benchmark U.S. stock market index is up 19.7% on the year as bulls test the resistance around 4600. For Stifel’s analysts, known for accurately predicting the rally in the first half of 2023, this rally has largely played out. The analysts upgraded their mid-2024 price target for the S&P 500 to 4650 from 4400 previously.

If, and when, a recession ever occurs again in any of our lifetimes - certainly not in the golden age of Bidonomics, pain will be felt disproportionately as usual.Sectors which fare better will typically exhibit;Less cyclical exposureLower rate sensitivityHigher cash levelsLower capital expendituresAs such, Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld takes a look at the sectors most resilient to recession risk and rising costs, using data from Allianz Trade. Recession Risk, by SectorAs slower growth and rising rates put pressure on corporate margins and the cost of capital, we can see in the table below that this has impacted some sectors more...

Look out, Apple (AAPL)! Microsoft (MSFT) is right on your tail and gaining fast. Supercharged by its AI chops, Microsoft's market value is now $2.8 trillion — just 5.7% shy of Apple's at $2.98 trillion. That means Microsoft's share price only needs to hit 400.53 — it's already at 377.80 — to dethrone Apple as the most valuable S&P 500 company. Given Apple's reliance on now-ubiquitous smartphones, it's only a matter of time when it bows out to faster-growing Microsoft, analysts say. "As markets and investors start to wrap up the year, Microsoft seems destined to be the most valuable...

You can't beat Dow Jones stocks for stability and defense in a down market. By the same token, the blue chip average won't always keep up in a rising market.Case in point: equities are having a strong 2023, with the S&P 500 delivering a price gain of 15% for the year-to-date through November 10. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, which is both riskier and "growthier," soared 32% over the same span. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, by comparison, is very much lagging the pack. The elite bastion of 30 mostly mature industry leaders delivered a comparatively poky price gain of 3.4%...

Billionaire Warren Buffet believes he is special. He doesn't think he should be forced to inform the SEC when he is amassing shares in a stock because if people knew they might push up the price of additional shares. Everyone should pull out their violin. Sadly, the SEC, which is supposedly for transparency and equal administration of regulations, has allowed this nonsense, and in a sense, given him a huge kickback for almost thirty years by allowing him to amass bigger positions in secret. Here's a news item I found dating from 1997: Berkshire Trading Kept Secret Sec Grants Buffet...

***[T]he ESG movement, which pushed big investors and money management firms to consider progressive environmental responsibility, social justice issues and corporate governance policies when making investments and voting shares at stockholder meetings. This is a legitimate, if not necessarily successful, investment strategy for the individual investor. Still, it creates conflicts for large asset managers such as BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street which — until the onset of the Biden administration, at least — the law and convention dictated should consider only the need to generate the maximum return on investment possible for their clients when making investment decisions. *** Eventually,...

Another flashing warning sign that China’s struggling economy may not be bouncing back as quickly as it has in the past. For the first time in about 25 years, China’s measure of foreign investment turned negative.Outflows of foreign direct investment in China have exceeded inflows for the first time as tensions with the U.S. over semiconductor technology and concerns about increased anti-spying activity heighten risks.The shift was reflected in balance-of-payments data for the July-September quarter released Friday by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.FDI came to minus $11.8 billion, with more withdrawals and downsizing than new investments for factory construction...

IBM is set to shake up its retirement benefits in 2024 much to the alarm of at least some staff. The IT giant on Wednesday informed its US workers that starting on January 1, 2024, the corporation will no longer match employee contributions to their 401(k) retirement plans. Instead, it will offer a new benefit called a Retirement Benefit Account (RBA).

The Treasury-bond rout that's rattled US markets this month is forcing investors to zero in on the government's spiraling debt. The accelerated increase in America's indebtedness has already sparked concern for investors in 2023, with lawmakers only narrowly avoiding a catastrophic default in June thanks to President Joe Biden and then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy brokering an 11th-hour deal to raise the federal borrowing limit. Now, some of Wall Street's best-known names are raising the possibility that so-called "bond vigilantes" – who dump fixed-income assets in a bid to stymie what they see as imprudent policymaking – have helped fuel the...

Foreign investments are leaving China. Half of the $250 billion to $300 billion foreign bond investments since 2019 have exited, and U.S. private equity and venture capital investments in China have fallen by more than 50 percent, according to a JP Morgan report last month. Foreign direct investment into China in the second quarter of this year reached a 25-year low at $4.9 billion, with a year-on-year decline of 87 percent, according to Chinese official data.Bloomberg and fDi Markets data on new investment projects—a more telling indicator of whether foreign firms are still investing in the country—show a 40 percent...

Consumers are about to feel the impact of soaring bond yields, Blackstone president Johnathan Gray told the FT. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury continued to rise on Thursday, edging closer to 5%. Higher bond yields are raising borrowing costs all over the economy, from mortgages to personal loans. American consumers are about to feel the sting of soaring bond yields, Blackstone president Johnathan Gray said. Bond yields, which impact borrowing costs for all kinds of loan products, moved higher this week as investors fretted over higher-for-longer interest rates. After notching a 16-year-record earlier this month, the yield on...