Year: 2020

(Bloomberg) — In the 19th century California gold rush, the surest way to a fortune, according to Mark Twain, was to be in the “pick and shovel business.”If 2020 gold fever has an equivalent, it’s the ETF business.Exchange-traded funds backed by physical gold and silver accumulated more than $50 billion of bullion this year. ETFs now hold more gold than every central bank with the exception of the Federal Reserve.That’s generated windfall fees for ETFs and has been a boon for everyone involved in the business of servicing those enormous hordes of shiny metal. That includes the financial firms that …read more […]

Lowe’s ramped up its quarterly cash dividend by 9% after the home-improvement retailer last week reported stellar earnings for the second quarter, outpacing the consensus for sales and profit expectations.Lowe’s (LOW) announced that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 60 cents per share, which takes the third quarter payout to about $455 million. The dividend, which presents a 9% hike over the previous quarterly payout, is payable on Nov. 4 to shareholders of record as of Oct. 21. The company has declared a cash dividend every quarter since going public in 1961.”Based on our confidence in …read more […]

(Bloomberg Opinion) — Don’t dismiss the leak of oil from the MV Wakashio that ran aground last month on a reef off the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius so quickly. The volume lost may seem tiny, but its location, mixed with other pressures already faced by the oil industry, means that it will have an impact far beyond its size.The empty bulk carrier was 11 days into a month-long voyage from Singapore to Brazil, where it was due to pick up a cargo, when it ran aground just a mile off the island’s southern tip on July 25. About three-quarters …read more […]

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It’s a busy week ahead. Geopolitics, economic data, COVID-19, and the Jackson Hole symposium are all in focus in the week ahead. …read more […]

* This weekend’s Barron’s suggests ways to play the unusual back to school season. * Other featured articles look at some “special stocks” and at the one company responsible for the all-time high stock market. * Also, the prospects for a standout hotel stock, a cloud giant in need of a boost, a surprise electric vehicle play and more.’Back to School’ Is Not the Same. Here Are 4 Stocks to Play the Changes.” by Teresa Rivas and Avi Salzman examines the different strategies Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE), Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT) and others are using to win over …read more […]

What happened: Jack Ma’s Ant Group Ant Group intends to file for dual listings in Hong Kong and Shanghai targeting a valuation of about $225 billion, a Bloomberg report said.Ant Group is Alibaba Group Holding Ltd – ADR’s (NYSE: BABA) fintech arm and one of China’s dominant mobile payments company and it intends to pull off one of the largest IPOs in recent history.Why It’s Important: Ant Group is said to be one of the prized assets for the Alibaba founder. It reportedly made $1.3 billion in profit in the March quarter. The group has a huge subscriber base as …read more […]

The U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic has led to domestic travel confusion and countries across the world limiting American tourists. …read more […]

* Benzinga has examined the prospects for many investor favorite stocks over the past week. * This past week’s bullish calls included automaker and retail giants. * Fast food and semiconductor stocks were among the bearish calls.The stock market returned to record highs last week as a remarkably strong earnings season began to wrap up, and it saw its first trillion market cap. Yet the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrials ended the week only fractionally higher, while the Nasdaq fared a little better.The week brought some good news for aerospace and industrial giants, as …read more […]

The tale of Trump University is instructive to problems arising from purported educational institutions operating primarily for financial gain. …read more […]

Tesla stock (TSLA) is still soaring today even though registrations for its vehicles made in China plunged in July. It seems a price target increase from an analyst and a five-for-one stock split are boosting investor euphoria to the point that bad news from China doesn’t even matter. China registrations don’t weigh on Tesla stock Bloomberg reported […] …read more […]

​Google (GOOGL) just made a statement. On August 3, Google announced that it’s investing $450 million in home security company ADT Corp (ADT). The investment will give Google a 6.6% stake in the company. You might be wondering why the tech giant wants anything to do with ADT. Simple. Google’s asserting its dominance in one of today’s biggest […] …read more […]

How far would you go to protect your retirement savings?
As the old Wall Street adage goes, “It’s not what you make, it’s what you keep” – and what you keep could be the main factor in deciding your quality of life in your golden years.
But while the saying is often used to describe taxes, there are more threats to your retirement…

Recently, rock-bottom interest rates have left fans of Treasurys crestfallen. And inflation threatens to take a bigger bite out of our savings each year…
And due to the economic slowdowns that came from COVID-19, many companies have suspended or cut their …read more […]

Known as the Oracle of Boston, Seth Andrew Klarman is the manager of the Baupost Group hedge fund. The Baupost Group was founded in 1982 by Harvard professors Bill Poorvu and his partners. Seth Klarman had recently graduated from the Harvard Business School when he was requested to manage this fund. The Baupost Group started […] …read more […]

Oil producers shut 13% of offshore crude oil production by Saturday in the U.S.-regulated northern Gulf of Mexico as tropical storms Laura and Marco were forecast to cross the region next week, the U.S. government said. Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it began shutting down production at most of its offshore operations on Saturday, joining energy majors BP Plc and Chevron Corp , which began shutdowns on Friday. In addition to the 240,785 barrels per day (bpd) in oil production shut in as energy companies were evacuating workers, 4.39%, or 119 million cubic feet per day …read more […]