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☆ Trump Is Owed an Extra $1 Billion Stake in Truth Social
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Jason Karaian | Joe Rennison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Former President Donald J. Trump’s already sizable stake in his social media company is set to jump by more than $1 billion, as he’s rewarded with additional shares in the parent of Truth Social — the result of its stock price staying high in recent weeks. Mr. Trump is already the largest shareholder of Trump Media & Technology Group with 79 million shares, a stake currently worth nearly $3 billion. He’s now due 36 million more shares under what is known as an “earnout,” additional stock that would push the value of his stake to over $4 billion. Trump Media merged with a public shell company last month and made its debut on the Nasdaq on March 26. The new shares would raise Mr. Trump’s stake to about 65 percent of the company.

Persons: Donald J, Trump’s, Trump, He’s Organizations: Republican, Trump Media & Technology Group, Trump Media, Nasdaq

☆ ‘It’s Clearly Bleak’: Stocks Set for Longest Losing Streak in Months
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Joe Rennison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Stocks are on course for their longest losing streak in many months, as geopolitical turmoil rattles Wall Street and investors slash their bets on the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates any time soon. The S&P 500, one of the most widely followed stock indexes in the world, recorded a fifth consecutive decline on Thursday. Premarket trading on Friday was flat; a sixth straight day of losses would be the worst run since October 2022. The slide has dragged the S&P 500 down by more than 2 percent for the week, setting it up for a fourth straight weekly decline. By that measure, it would be the longest weekly losing streak for the index since September, when concerns over rising government debt and a potential government shutdown compounded worries about the effects of high interest rates.

Organizations: Federal Reserve

☆ Trump Media Stock Plunges, Extending Recent Losses
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Matthew Goldstein | Joe Rennison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Shares of former President Donald J. Trump’s social media company plunged on Monday after the company filed to register the potential sale of tens of millions of additional shares. Trump Media & Technology’s stock fell 18 percent, erasing hundreds of millions of dollars from the company’s market value — and putting a dent in Mr. Trump’s majority stake, worth more than $3 billion. Since a surge in its first days of trading as Trump Media, which lifted the value of the company to about $8 billion at one point last month, the company’s shares have dropped by more than 50 percent. Trump Media was expected to register the potential sale of new shares after the completion of its merger last month with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a cash-rich shell company known as a SPAC. When a SPAC goes public, it issues warrants to investors that can later be converted into shares.

Persons: Donald J Organizations: Trump Media, Companies, Truth

☆ Stocks Suffer Sharpest Weekly Decline of 2024
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Joe Rennison | More About Joe Rennison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Stocks slumped to a second consecutive weekly loss on Friday, as intensifying tension in the Middle East prompted caution among investors, adding to concerns about lingering inflation that had set off a retreat earlier in the week. The S&P 500 fell 1.5 percent on Friday in its worst day of trading since January, and ended the week with a drop of 1.6 percent, its worst weekly decline of the year. Other major indexes, including the Nasdaq Composite and Russell 2000, also fell on Friday. The Vix Volatility Index, a measure of investor expectations for market swings over the next 30 days — known across trading floors as Wall Street’s “fear gauge” — was elevated. The drop this week began after an inflation report on Wednesday showed unexpectedly stubborn increases in consumer prices, throwing into doubt the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in the near future as the central bank seeks to keep the brakes on the economy and further slow the pace of rising prices.

Persons: Stocks Organizations: Nasdaq, Russell, Federal Reserve

☆ Wall Street Shudders on Signs of Unexpectedly Strong Inflation
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Joe Rennison | More About Joe Rennison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Signs of stubborn inflation rattled Wall Street on Wednesday, with stock prices sliding and government bond yields, which underpin interest rates throughout the economy, jolting higher. Other major indexes, including the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies, also fell. The moves followed a consumer inflation report that came in hotter than expected, with prices rising 3.5 percent in March from a year earlier, marking another month of stubbornly high inflation. That made it harder for investors to dismiss earlier signs that the progress in cooling inflation was patchy. “The stalled disinflationary narrative can no longer be called a blip,” said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management.

Persons: Russell, ”, Seema Shah Organizations: Nasdaq, Asset Management

☆ Price of Gold, Seen as Hedge Against Inflation, Soars to New Heights
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Joe Rennison | More About Joe Rennison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Gold, typically seen as a haven in periods of economic turmoil, especially as a hedge against inflation, has risen sharply in price over the past month, even as the outlook for the economy has improved and inflation, although still elevated, is well below recent highs. The precious metal has set a series of record highs as it surged roughly $300, to $2,350 per troy ounce, since the start of March. The move has been attributed, at least in part, to a burst of gold buying from central banks around the world, including China. But investors said that central bank purchases did not fully explain such a sudden price increase. “It’s perplexing to anybody in the gold market,” said Chris Mancini, a gold portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds.

Persons: ”, Chris Mancini Organizations: Gabelli Funds Locations: China

☆ Traders Are Betting Millions That Trump Media Will Tumble
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Joe Rennison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Before former President Donald J. Trump’s social media company made its stock market debut, many investors were lining up to bet on its collapse. After the company’s share price plunged following an initial surge, the appetite to bet against the stock has grown even more ravenous. Trump Media is the most “shorted” special purpose acquisition vehicle in the country, according to the financial data company S3 Partners. Short-sellers bet that the price of a stock will fall. The demand to short Trump Media, the parent company of the social media platform Truth Social, is so great that stock lenders can charge enormous fees, making it hard for short-sellers to turn a profit unless the shares fall significantly.

Persons: Donald J Organizations: Trump Media & Technology Group, Trump Media, Partners

☆ Trump Media Shares Slump as Early Fervor Fades
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Joe Rennison | Matthew Goldstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Shares of former President Donald J. Trump’s social media company slumped more than 20 percent on Monday, as the fervor around the company’s debut on public markets last week appeared to subside. The sell-off cut the market value of Trump Media & Technology Group, which trades under the ticker “DJT,” by some $2 billion, to about $6.5 billion. The value of Mr. Trump’s majority stake in the company fell to about $3.7 billion, from over $6 billion at its peak last week. Still, shares of Trump Media were higher than they were immediately before the firm merged with a public shell company on Tuesday and began trading on the Nasdaq. Strong support for the merged company after it began trading pushed its market value as high as $10 billion at one point last week.

Persons: Donald J Organizations: Trump Media & Technology Group, Trump Media, Nasdaq

☆ Stock Market Surges to Start the Year: 22 Record Highs in 3 Months
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Joe Rennison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It’s been a blistering start to the year for the stock market. The S&P 500, one of the most widely watched stock indexes in the world, has risen more than 10 percent over the first three months of 2024, buoyed by 22 record highs. Roughly 40 percent of the stocks in the index are trading above where they were 12 months ago. And even when the index has lost ground, it hasn’t been by much, with only three days so far in 2024 in which the S&P 500 has fallen more than 1 percent by the close. Investors in March poured roughly $50 billion into funds that buy stocks in the United States, according to data from EPFR Global.

Persons: It’s Organizations: Investors, EPFR, Reserve Locations: United States

☆ Trump’s Media Company Gets Lofty Valuation on First Trading Day
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Matthew Goldstein | Joe Rennison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

There’s a new high-flying stock on Wall Street that some investors are eagerly piling into. His social media company, Trump Media & Technology Group, began trading on the Nasdaq on Tuesday, under the ticker DJT, and immediately surged in value, gaining 40 percent in early trading. Trump Media — the parent of Truth Social, the online platform that is Mr. Trump’s main megaphone for reaching supporters and going after critics — closed its merger with a cash-rich public shell company on Monday. The shell company’s stock had jumped higher ahead of the deal, in a frenzied trade that has fueled the company since it proposed the merger with Mr. Trump’s firm in 2021. Trump Media has an estimated market value well over $6 billion, more than established corporations like Alaska Airlines, Western Union and American Eagle Outfitters.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, —, Trump’s Organizations: Trump Media & Technology Group, Nasdaq, Trump Media, Truth, Mr, Alaska Airlines, Western Union, American Eagle Outfitters

☆ Japan Raises Interest Rates for First Time in 17 Years
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Joe Rennison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Japan’s central bank raised interest rates for the first time since 2007 on Tuesday, pushing them above zero to close a chapter in its aggressive effort to stimulate an economy that has long struggled to grow. Negative interest rates — which central banks in some European economies have also applied — mean depositors pay to leave their money with a bank, an incentive for them to spend it instead. But Japan’s economy has recently begun to show signs of stronger growth: Inflation, after being low for years, has sped up, cemented by larger-than-usual increases in wages. Even after Tuesday’s move, interest rates in Japan are far from those in the world’s other major developed economies. The Bank of Japan’s target policy rate was raised to 0.1 percent from minus 0.1 percent.

Organizations: Bank of Japan Locations: Japan

☆ Stocks in Japan Hit Record High, Surpassing 1989 Peak
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Joe Rennison | Jason Karaian | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Stocks in Japan have looked cheap because of a weak yen, which has been a boon to exporters that make their profits overseas. Important changes to the corporate sector have also given shareholders more rights, allowing them to push for changes that favor their stock holdings. Earnings at large Japanese companies are set to rise by more than 40 percent in their latest quarterly results, according to Goldman Sachs. The biggest companies, like Toyota and SoftBank, have also reported some of the biggest earnings surprises, the bank’s analysts noted. Toyota recently rose to a record market value for a Japanese company, about $330 billion, surpassing the mark set in 1987 by the telecom conglomerate NTT.

Persons: haven’t, Goldman Sachs Organizations: Japan Exchange Group, Toyota, NTT Locations: Japan, China

☆ Stocks Jump as Nvidia Sets Off Tech Rally
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Joe Rennison | More About Joe Rennison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Stocks on Wall Street recorded their biggest gain in more than a year on Thursday, a day after Nvidia, which has become an emblem of the growth potential offered by artificial intelligence, reported record profits. The S&P 500 rose 2.1 percent, its best one-day performance since January 2023. The Nasdaq Composite index, which is chock-full of tech stocks like Nvidia, rose 3 percent, also its biggest one-day jump in over a year. After markets closed on Wednesday, Nvidia, which designs microchips used in the development of artificial intelligence, reported record revenue of over $22 billion for the final three months of 2023. Stock markets in China, Germany, France and Britain all ended the day higher.

Persons: microchips Organizations: Wall, Nvidia, Stock Locations: Japan, China, Germany, France, Britain

☆ Nvidia Is a Must-Buy. Or Is It?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Joe Rennison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In 2002, after the dot-com bubble burst and Sun Microsystems swooned, the company’s co-founder Scott McNealy highlighted the folly of Wall Street analysts who favored one particular financial metric to gauge a stock’s worth: its price relative to the company’s sales. Mr. McNealy was musing about the “price to sales” ratio — an important measure of a company’s value relative to how much cash it generates. A high ratio can be justified if investors think a company has room to grow; a low ratio typically signals that investors think the company is accurately valued. Even if Sun passed on every dollar it was making at the time to investors, it would have taken them a decade to recover their investment. “Do you realize how ridiculous those basic assumptions are?” Mr. McNealy told Businessweek.

Persons: Scott McNealy, McNealy, Sun Organizations: Sun Microsystems, Street, Businessweek

☆ Wall Street Is Already Placing Bets on the Biden-Trump Rematch
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Joe Rennison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Nine months ahead of the presidential election, investors are already thinking about how financial markets might respond to the outcome of the vote, and how they should trade to prepare for it. Stock markets have soared to record highs in recent weeks, while government bond yields, which underpin interest rates for consumers and companies, are down from a recent peak in October. Despite the uncertainty of making political predictions, money managers are already contemplating how the election could alter the mood in markets. Red wave, blue wave or divided government? Those policies, which cut the government’s revenue and raised its borrowing needs, also propelled a sharp rise in government bond yields.

Persons: Donald J, Trump Organizations: Stock, Republican, Republicans Locations: —

☆ Stocks Sink as Stubborn Inflation Resets Fed Rate Forecasts
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Joe Rennison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Stock markets tumbled on Tuesday as investors slashed their bets on the Federal Reserve taking the brakes off the economy in the coming months, after hotter-than-expected inflation data led traders to expect interest rates will remain higher for longer. The benchmark S&P 500 stock index fell over 1 percent in early trading. Investors still expect the Fed to pull inflation back to manageable levels without inflicting too much pain on the broader economy. But that forecast was put under pressure on Tuesday by a consumer inflation report that showed prices rising more quickly than had been forecast. The consumer data “came in stronger than either the Fed or the market wanted or expected,” said Greg Wilensky, head of U.S. fixed income at Janus Henderson Investors.

Persons: ”, Greg Wilensky, Janus Henderson Organizations: Federal Reserve, Janus, Janus Henderson Investors

The NumbersThe S&P 500 climbed 0.6 percent on Friday to close at 5,026.61. Tech giants, including Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Alphabet, have enormous sway over the index because of their size, and after they reported earnings last week, several of these stocks have soared. The rally hasn’t been limited to tech stocks: Disney, Ford and Chipotle, for instance, also reported earnings in the past week that beat analyst estimates and pushed their shares higher. Nearly 70 percent of the companies in the S&P 500 had reported earnings as of Friday, with three-quarters of those reports better than expected, according to FactSet. The gains in the S&P 500 have continued even after the Fed signaled that it wouldn’t move as quickly as investors had initially hoped.

Persons: Russell, —, underscoring, Jerome H, Powell Organizations: Nasdaq, Technology, Tech, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Disney, Ford, Federal Reserve, Investors

☆ The S&P 500 Through the Prism of a ‘Magnificent 7’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-27 | by ( Joe Rennison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The group’s name, an allusion to a 1960s western starring Steve McQueen, was coined by the Bank of America analyst Michael Hartnett early last year. It consists of Google’s parent, Alphabet; Amazon; Apple; Facebook’s parent, Meta; Microsoft; Nvidia; and Tesla. These stocks rose an average of 105 percent in 2023, led by Nvidia. Microsoft itself rose 57 percent. The S&P 500 index also had a good run in 2023, much better than was expected at the start of the year, when inflation and higher interest rates clouded the outlook.

Persons: Steve McQueen, Michael Hartnett Organizations: Bank of America, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia

☆ As China’s Markets Stumble, Japan Rises Toward Record
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Joe Rennison | Alexandra Stevenson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There’s a shift underway in Asia that’s reverberating through global financial markets. Stocks stemmed their slide only when Beijing recently signaled its intention to intervene but remain far below previous highs. But there’s one unforeseen reversal already underway: a change in perception among investors about China and Japan. Seizing on this shift, Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, addressed more than 3,000 global financiers gathered in Hong Kong this week for a conference sponsored by Goldman Sachs. It was the first time a Japanese prime minister had given a keynote address at the event.

Persons: Stocks, Fumio Kishida, Goldman Sachs Organizations: Asia that’s, Nikkei Locations: Asia, China, Stocks, Beijing, Japan, Hong Kong

☆ These Seven Tech Stocks Are Driving the Market
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Karl Russell | Joe Rennison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

These Seven Tech Stocks Are Driving the MarketThe S&P 500 is at a new high, and investors have just a handful of stocks to thank for it. Market value of S&P 500 companies These seven companies account for 29% of the S&P 500’s market value Alphabet $1.8 tril. Amgen Linde Qualcomm Intel Pfizer These seven companies account for 29% of the S&P 500’s market value Market value of S&P 500 companies Thermo Fisher Scientific McDonald's Cisco Sys. Berkshire Hathaway UnitedHealth Costco These seven companies account for 29% of the S&P 500’s market value Market value of S&P 500 companies Thermo Fisher Scientific Abbott Labs. Indeed, based on price alone, the seven big tech stocks were not the best performing in the S&P 500.

Persons: Jan, it’s, Berkshire Hathaway Tesla, Health Eli Lilly, Johnson Procter, Netflix Walt Disney, Amgen Linde, Wells, Merck Mastercard Eli Lilly Johnson, Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, Berkshire Hathaway, Wells Fargo Walt Disney Pfizer Amgen, Phillips Goldman, Mastercard Eli Lilly Abbvie Johnson, Chase Organizations: Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tesla, Berkshire, JPMorgan Chase United, Health, Broadcom Johnson, Gamble Exxon Mobil Home Depot Mastercard Costco Walmart Oracle Merck Accenture, Mobile Wells Fargo PepsiCo Comcast, Intuit, Fisher, Netflix Walt, Netflix Walt Disney Cisco Sys, Verizon Abbott Labs, Amgen, Amgen Linde Qualcomm Intel Pfizer, Cisco Sys, Abbott Labs, Accenture Netflix Linde Intel PepsiCo Oracle Walmart, Wells Fargo Walt Disney Qualcomm, Mobile Comcast Intuit, Verizon, Pfizer, Merck Mastercard, Johnson Nvidia, Visa Exxon Mobil Apple, Broadcom, JPMorgan, JPMorgan Chase Procter, Gamble, Costco, Fisher Scientific Abbott Labs, Cisco Systems Accenture PepsiCo, Netflix Linde Intel Oracle Walmart, Wells Fargo Walt Disney Pfizer, Mobile, Comcast Intuit Verizon Qualcomm Amazon, Merck Uber Tech, P Global American, Phillips Goldman Sachs IBM UPS Honeywell Boeing, Mastercard, Adobe Exxon Mobil Apple, Broadcom Chevron Home, Micro Devices, Chase Procter, Berkshire Hathaway UnitedHealth Bank of America Costco, Royal, General, Amazon, Big Tech, IBM, Exxon, General Electric, & & + + + Locations: Berkshire, Royal Caribbean

☆ Stocks Hit New High for the Year, Reversing the Summer’s Swoon
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Joe Rennison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

After several twists and turns this year, stock investors are in a celebratory mood. The reversal has come as investors have cheered signs that the Federal Reserve has finished raising interest rates, the primary tool in the central bank’s effort to slow inflation. Those high rates have been a drag on corporate valuations because they raise costs for consumers and companies and give allure to investments outside the stock market. Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, appeared to add to investors’ bullish mood on Friday, suggesting that the economy continues to cool as expected. “We’re getting what we wanted to get, we now have the ability to move carefully,” Mr. Powell said at an event.

Persons: Jerome H, Powell, ’, “ We’re, Mr Organizations: Federal Reserve

☆ With Charlie Munger’s Death, Berkshire Loses a Custodian of Its Culture
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Joe Rennison | More About Joe Rennison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Shares of Berkshire Hathaway barely budged on Wednesday, a day after its vice chairman, Charlie Munger, died, reflecting the view among shareholders that Mr. Munger’s absence on the conglomerate’s day to day would have little impact on its future, even as they mourned the loss of the man who helped shape Berkshire’s culture. Mr. Munger, who helped build Berkshire into a global investing powerhouse, died at a California hospital on Tuesday morning, according to an announcement from Berkshire. He was just over a month short of his 100th birthday. Warren Buffett, the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, who built the company over decades with Mr. Munger’s steering, said it was his partner’s “inspiration, wisdom and participation” that had proved vital to Berkshire’s success. “Berkshire Hathaway could not have been built to its present status without Charlie,” Mr. Buffett said.

Persons: Berkshire Hathaway, Charlie Munger, Munger, Warren Buffett, Charlie, ” Mr, Buffett Organizations: Berkshire Locations: Berkshire, California

Maybe I won’t set up that factory. These companies — the small, private enterprises that are responsible for roughly half the private-sector employment in the country — are already having to pay much more for debt. They fund their operations using cash from sales, business credit cards and private loans — all of which are generally more expensive options for financing payrolls and operations. Now, they’re paying 10 percent interest on short-term loans. Hiring within these firms has slowed, and their credit card balances are higher than they were before the pandemic, even as spending has slowed.

Persons: Ms, Sheth Organizations: National Federation of Independent Business, Bank of America Locations: ”

She said that it was still her basic expectation that the Fed would need to raise rates further. Investors appeared buoyed by the Fed officials’ comments. The two-year Treasury yield, which is sensitive to changes in investors’ interest rate expectations, fell noticeably on Tuesday morning. Fed officials have been nervously watching continued strength in the economy: Gross domestic product expanded at a breakneck 4.9 percent annual rate in the third quarter. The concern has been that continued solid demand will give companies the wherewithal to continue raising prices quickly.

Persons: Michelle Bowman, ”, ” Ms, Bowman Organizations: Fed, Treasury, Gross

☆ Stocks Rally as Inflation Report Cements View the Fed Is Done With Raising Rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Joe Rennison | More About Joe Rennison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Stocks soared on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 on course for its best day of the year, after an inflation reading raised hopes that the Federal Reserve’s campaign to slow inflation may have reached its limits. The S&P 500 rose roughly 2 percent by midday on Tuesday, a gain it has failed to maintain for an entire trading day yet in 2023. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies’ stocks, which are more exposed to the ups and downs of the economy, also rose sharply, climbing 4.5 percent. The stock gains reflected expectations that the Fed may not need to raise interest rates again, after new data showed consumer price inflation slowed in October. But Tuesday’s report helped cement a view in financial markets that the Fed’s efforts are working.

Persons: Stocks, Russell, — Organizations: Federal

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