Stocks

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline Shares of Carnival Corp., one of the world's largest cruise liners, collapsed to a three-decade low on Friday after the company reported worse-than-expected earnings—disappointing investors despite its cash flow turning positive for the first time since it resumed cruise operations during the pandemic. Key Facts Carnival stock collapsed more than 20% Friday to $7.02 by 10:10 a.m. ET—hitting its lowest level since 1992 after the company reported a net loss of $770 million for the third quarter and revenue of $4.3 billion—far less than the $4.9 billion analysts were expecting. The shortfall came even as the company reported its cash flow (as measured by Ebitda) turned positive for the first time since the resumption of cruise operations—hitting roughly $300 million but still less than half of expectations calling for $730 million. In a statement, CEO Josh Weinstein said the company has seen … [Read more...] about Carnival Stock Plunges 20% To 30-Year Low After Worse Than Expected Loss

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline Fed officials on Thursday reiterated calls for aggressive policy to combat stubbornly high inflation—fueling expectations for bigger rate hikes amid a stock-market selloff that’s seen major indexes hit new lows for the year—and some analysts project that the losses could only deepen. Key Facts Real interest rates, which remained negative since July 2020, “have to be in positive territory and held there for a time,” Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester told CNBC Thursday morning, lamenting that inflation remains too high and warning the Fed still has room to raise rates more: “We’re still not even in restricted territory on the funds rate.” In a speech on Thursday, St. Louis Fed president James Bullard issued a similarly hawkish call, saying it “does look like” the Fed is expecting a “fair amount of additional moves this year” to put “meaningful” downward pressure on inflation. Expectations for … [Read more...] about Stock Market Gloom ‘Worse Than Ever’ As Fed Signals It May Keep Tightening Until Recession

- A + A BENGALURU (Sept 30): Emerging Asian currencies inched higher on Friday (Sept 30) as the US dollar remained subdued, with the Chinese yuan firming after a report that the country's major state banks were told to stock up the yuan to stem its descent against the greenback. Reuters reported that the People's Bank of China (PBOC) had instructed state banks to ask their offshore branches to review their holdings of the offshore yuan and ensure US dollar reserves were ready to be deployed, the scale of which could be rather big. The yuan reversed early losses to climb 0.5%. The Indonesian rupiah climbed 0.2%, while the South Korean won and Taiwan dollar also edged higher. The dollar index, meanwhile, continued to hover near one-week lows. "Stabilisation measures can help to restore market confidence and act as speed bumps to slow the pace of local currency's depreciation," said Christopher Wong, currency strategist at OCBC. "However, these efforts may only … [Read more...] about Asian currencies climbs on subdued US dollar, stocks slump on growth woes

- A + A LONDON (Sept 30): The crisis of confidence in UK assets is running so deep that the country is close to losing its crown of Europe's biggest equity market. This year's decline in London stocks has reduced the combined market capitalisation of companies with a primary UK listing to within touching distance of its nearest challenger, Paris. At the equivalent of US$2.5 trillion (RM11.57 trillion), the gap between them is only US$156 billion, close to the lowest on record, according to an index compiled by Bloomberg . The differential between the UK and French markets has been gradually eroding since Britons voted to leave the European Union in 2016. But the unprecedented market turmoil unleashed in the past week by Prime Minister Liz Truss' unfunded tax cuts has dealt a crucial blow, damaging economic confidence, and sending the pound to a record low. "London's crown as the top European trading centre was already losing its shine even before this latest … [Read more...] about London’s European stock market crown under threat from Paris

HONG KONG  – Asian stocks fell on Wednesday as investors failed to find any cheer in strong U.S. economic data and instead considered what it might mean for a hawkish Federal Reserve, with a surging dollar weighing heavily on regional currencies. Tracking Wall Street’s losses, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 1.5 percent in early trading and Japan’s benchmark Nikkei average opened down 1.12 percent. Fixed-income markets came under heavy pressure with U.S. 10-year treasuries yields rising to 3.365 percent on Wednesday, the highest since June 16. Data overnight showed the U.S. services industry picking up in August for the second straight month amid stronger order growth and employment. While that reinforced views the economy was not in recession, it also added to expectations the U.S. central bank would not be slowing the pace of interest rate hikes any time soon. “The good news for the real economy has now become bad news for the market – both … [Read more...] about Asian stocks, currencies fall as strong data fans hawkish Fed bets

Shares of Warren Buffet-backed Snowflake more than doubled during its IPO on September 16, with the company raising nearly $3.4 billion during its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of the cloud-based data warehouse firm started trading at $245, even going up to $300, which is 150 percent above its IPO price of $120, CNN Business reported. The California-based company began trading on the NYSE with the tickr "SNOW", selling 28 million shares. Snowflake's shares closed at $245, valuing it at over $70 billion. Before the IPO, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and Salesforce Ventures had each agreed to purchase $250 million worth of Snowflake stock. Close "This is just one day. Things will normalize and shake out and become more settled as time moves on," Snowflake Chief Executive Officer Frank Slootman said, as quoted by Reuters. Prior to Snowflake, only Royalty Pharma and Warner Music Group have had bigger stock market debuts this year. Snowflake … [Read more...] about Warren Buffett-backed Snowflake’s value doubles on stock market debut

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s stock trading ban bill for members of Congress, their spouses, and other individuals like U.S. Supreme Court Justices was introduced Wednesday. The bill intends to stop conflicts of interest from occurring but has a provision that is a “loophole” because it allows the government to approve blind trusts, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “This kind of defeats the whole purpose,” said Dan Savickas, tech policy director at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, a nonpartisan group seeking to lower federal spending. “ If you’re thinking about it, it’s not actually blind and lawmakers can decide what goes in there and what happens to that trust while they’re in office. There’s really no way to ensure the lawmakers are not talking to the people who manage the blind trust.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s congressional stock trading bill has one major “loophole,” experts who have backed ban proposals told the Daily Caller News Foundation. … [Read more...] about ‘Defeats The Whole Purpose’: Nancy Pelosi’s Stock Trading Ban Bill Contains A Major ‘Loophole,’ Experts Warn

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The Utilities Sector Select Sector SPDR Fund is having a tough September after the Fed began the interest rate hikes. The fund hit its high price of the year early in the month up there above 77 and has now descended to 68 in about 2 weeks time. That’s a quick 11.6% drop for the benchmark utilities ETF. Although each individual utility company has its own characteristics, it’s the overall dynamic of interest rate increases that greatly affects all of them. Since they pay interest, investors might see “risk free” bonds as the better choice since higher yields are now more competitive. Here’s the daily price chart for the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund , a benchmark of sorts for the sector: It’s almost straight down since that peak up near 78 earlier in the month. The ETF is slicing downward through its 50-day moving average and its 200-day moving average, both of which had been trending upward. The relative … [Read more...] about Interest Rate Sensitive Utility Stocks Are Having A Bad September

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin As the bleed-out in stocks continues, the bearish mood sweeps Wall Street. Last week, Morgan Stanley MS reiterated their earnings recession call. They predict stocks are in for another haircut because the market overshot with earnings projections. And then there’s an issue of rising real yields. Real yields are also the reason Goldman Sachs trimmed their year-end forecast for the S&P 500 from 4,300 to 3,600 and called equities “underweight.” Meanwhile, Blackrock went as far as to advise its clients to “shun most stocks.” Why are real yields so important that they scared most of Wall Street into the fetal position? From “TINA” to “TARA” There are two main asset classes that fight for a place in each portfolio: stocks and bonds. As a rule, bonds are a safer investment that gives investors a steady income with a relatively low risk. The catch is that investment-grade bonds pay out little and don’t … [Read more...] about Stock Market Enters Dangerous ‘TARA’ Regime

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin No doubt, it has been a tough go of it for corporations and their stock prices this year. Higher interest rates and fears of recession have led folks to bail on stocks no matter their valuations. Market participants have decided that the proverbial glass is half empty, no matter if companies have met or exceeded expectations. And those that have turned in below-par results or issued weak guidance have seen their stocks taken out to the woodshed for a beating. Not surprisingly, perhaps, some of those that disappointed traders added extra lemons to the mix in hopes of making better-tasting lemonade down the road. Indeed, some companies threw as much bad news as they could into their announcements, understanding that long-term-oriented investors would rather take greater near-term lumps today in exchange for much easier comparisons tomorrow. Nothing wrong with this, as I am not investing for short-term gains. Also, as … [Read more...] about Everything But The Kitchen Sink – Resetting The Bar Sharply Lower At Foot Locker And FedEx