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☆ Alphabet offers reasons to believe it is closing the gap in the AI race
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

AI Agents The launch of "AI Agents" demonstrated the real-world applications of Alphabet's generative AI advancements — a key box that investors want to see checked in the search for money-making opportunities . These applications are clearly the next phase of the generative AI revolution beyond the development of LLMs and deployment of general-purpose chatbots. So, too, will their customers that harness the power of the AI agents to better serve their own clients, increase employee productivity, and drive corporate efficiencies. Updates to Vertex AI Alphabet updated Vertex AI — its platform for building and deploying AI models — to include an agent-building feature. That essentially allows businesses to create customized AI agents on top of Gemini models.

Persons: —, We'd, Long, catchup, Thomas Kurian, chipmaker, Kurian, it's, Blackwell, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Beata Zawrzel Organizations: Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon Web Services, Intel, Devices, AMD, Google Cloud, CNBC, Nurphoto, Getty Locations: Gliwice, Poland

☆ The portfolio’s 5 best-performing stocks since the February Annual Meeting
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Ahead of Wednesday's Monthly Meeting, here's a look at the best-performing Club stocks since Feb. 23, the session before the annual gathering, through Tuesday's close. NVDA mountain 2024-02-23 Nvidia's stock performance since the close of Feb. 23, 2024. DIS mountain 2024-02-23 Disney's stock performance since the close of Feb. 23, 2024. ETN mountain 2024-02-23 Eaton Corp.'s stock performance since the close of Feb. 23, 2024. STZ mountain 2024-02-23 Constellation Brands' stock performance since the close of Feb. 23, 2024.

Persons: Bob Iger, Nelson Peltz's Trian, Peltz, Eaton, it's, didn't, Wedbush, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Jensen Huang, Lam, Fei Organizations: Nvidia, Blackwell, Apple's, Disney, Club, ESPN, Nelson Peltz's Trian Partners, Eaton Corp, Street, Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing, Wall Street, Constellation Brands, Nielsen, Wedbush Securities, Wine, DuPont, Barclays, CNBC, Nvidia Corp, Bloomberg, Getty Locations: U.S, Tuesday's, STZ, Taipei, Taiwan

☆ Nvidia has a parade of partners, but these two stocks are my favorite beneficiaries
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-24 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +23 min

That's what Nvidia needed semiconductor design firm Synopsys to do to make this next generation of chips. Right now, Nvidia has had not one, but two different breakthroughs: Accelerated computing at a ridiculously fast speed and generative artificial intelligence. I think Jensen regards Dell as a crucial partner when it comes to installing Nvidia's systems anywhere. Do I think Nvidia would like to do more business with Apple? I think Nvidia would like to do more business with everyone, including alleged opponent Intel .

Persons: Abraham Lincoln, David Herbert Donald, Jensen, It's, Jensen Huang, Lincoln, Leonardo da Vinci, da Vinci, he's, Blackwell, Grace Hooper Superchip, –, Moby Dick –, that's, they've, Adam Selipsky, Jensen laughingly, Claude, Anthropic, Dell, Michael Dell, Jensen's, it's, dink, I'm, Johnson, J, Abbott, Reckitt Benckiser, we've, CrowdStrike, ServiceNow, Bill McDermott, Tesla, Elon Musk, Lora Kolodny, That's, Frank Slootman, Ansys, Synopsys, isn't, Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, Larry Ellison, Nvidia's Blackwell, Mark Zuckerberg, Jim, Tim Cook, Cook, Apple, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Josh Edelson Organizations: Lincoln, GTC, Nvidia, GTC –, CNBC, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Dell Technologies, Club, Dell, Siemens, Rockwell Automation, Cadence Design Systems, Nvidia's, Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, GE Healthcare, cybersecurity, Palo Alto, Palo, Snowflake, AMD, Autodesk, Cadence, Computer, Oracle, Apple, Justice Department, Intel, Vision, Jim Cramer's Charitable, SAP Center, AFP, Getty Locations: U.S, Silicon Valley, Lincoln, Here's, Palo Alto, Pittsburgh, Switzerland, San Jose , California

“They are shooting at us,” 15-year-old Layan told the Palestinian Red Crescent. The Palestinian Red Crescent accused Israeli forces of targeting the ambulance as it pulled up near the family's vehicle. He connected her with the Palestinian Red Crescent office in Ramallah, which hoped to instruct her how to save herself and anyone else alive. The Palestinian Red Crescent dispatched an ambulance after Layan went silent. Palestinian Red Crescent spokesperson Raed al-Nims said Israel has killed 20 of its staffers and wounded about 30 others since the war began.

Persons: Hind, Layan, Hamada, Bashar Hamada, Omar, Yousef Zeino, Ahmed al, Raed, Nims, Israel Organizations: JERUSALEM, Palestinian, Crescent, Health Ministry Locations: Israeli, Gaza, Israel, Rafah, Gaza City, Ramallah, Palestinian, israel

☆ More than a million Palestinians are trapped in Rafah. As Israeli troops approach, there’s nowhere left to run
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Rob Picheta | Paul P. Murphy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

“We hear (drones) very, very loud, and we hear the sounds of bombing at night,” Kareem Dahman, a displaced Palestinian in the city, told CNN. He said conditions in Rafah are “very difficult,” describing a “large number of people, chaos, and high prices.”A satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows Rafah, Gaza, on October 26, 2023. Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies A satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows Rafah, Gaza, on February 3, 2024. Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies Rafah's makeshift tent city Satellite image ©2024 Maxar TechnologiesDahman, like countless others, found himself in the city after a “very arduous” journey through the besieged enclave. Water is available but we need an hour to fill water from a water station,” Dahman told CNN.

Persons: ” Kareem Dahman, Khan Younis, “, ” Dahman, Abed Rahim Khatib, Yahya Sinwar, Yoav Gallant, Gallant, Sinwar, ” Gallant, Raed, Ismail Al, Belal Khaled, OCHA, Dahman, Youssef Abu Kwaik, ”, Jens Laerke Organizations: CNN, Maxar Technologies, Israel Defense Forces, “, Anadolu, Getty, Israeli, Hamas, Palestinian Red Crescent Society, Media Office, United Nations Office, Humanitarian Affairs, UN Office Locations: Rafah, Gaza, Palestinian, Gaza City, Egypt, ”, Israel, Mawasi

That pushed net profit from the bank's institutional unit up 53% to overtake its retail unit, by dollar value, in the year to September, and helped the Melbourne-listed company grow overall profit 14% to A$7.4 billion ($4.7 billion), just missing a Visible Alpha consensus forecast of A$7.56 billion. But analysts expressed concern about a faster-than-expected narrowing of profit margin from the bank's retail unit, the only one of Australia's so-called big four lenders that has persisted with offering cash handouts to lure mortgage customers looking for a cheaper deal. The logo of the ANZ Bank is seen at Lambton Quay, in Wellington, New Zealand November 10, 2022. ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott denied forgoing margin to grow mortgages faster than the market, and challenged comments from other banks that have said they were intentionally slowing mortgage growth while competition eroded profit. ANZ declared a final dividend of 94 Australian cents per share, up from 74 cents a year ago.

Persons: NIM, Lucy Craymer, Shayne Elliott, we've, Byron Kaye, Rishav Chatterjee, Roushni Nair, Lisa Shumaker, Stephen Coates Organizations: ANZ, Westpac, National Australia Bank, midsession, ANZ Bank, REUTERS, UBS, Thomson Locations: Melbourne, Lambton Quay, Wellington , New Zealand, Sydney, Bengaluru

☆ Here are 3 stocks in our portfolio that Goldman Sachs think will rally on earnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

It's encouraging to see three Club stocks on the bullish side of Goldman Sachs' new list of 25 tactical trades for earnings season. The Goldman research analysts think Wells Fargo's management has "adequately de-risked its NIM [net interest margin] guidance to incorporate potentially higher-for-longer policy rates." HUM YTD mountain Humana YTD Humana (HUM) — which trades at 15.8 times forward earnings estimates — was highlighted by Goldman analysts who are "positive on the company's 2024 outlook." Nvidia — the Club's only other "own it, don't trade it" stock besides Apple (AAPL) — trades at 31.1 times forward earnings estimates. The Goldman Sachs logo is seen on at the New York Stock Exchange on September 13, 2022 in New York City.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Goldman, Wells, YTD Goldman Sachs, It's, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Michael M Organizations: Humana, Nvidia, WFC, Apple, CNBC, New York Stock Exchange, Santiago, Getty Locations: Wells, Wells Fargo, New York City

The logo of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is pictured at the entrance to its branch in Beijing, China April 1, 2019. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) (601398.SS), the country's biggest lender, and Bank of China (BoC) (601988.SS) posted in exchange filings first half profit growth of 1.2% and 0.78%, respectively, from a year earlier. "There are some regional risks that have begun to emerge," Liu said, adding that asset quality has declined slightly but remains under control. BoC's NIM narrowed to 1.67% at end-June from 1.7% at end-March. "Chinese banks are likely to continue to face earnings pressure from margin compression," said Ming Tan, director at S&P Global Ratings.

Persons: Florence, Liu Jiandong, Liu, NIM, BoC's NIM, ICBC, Ming Tan, Tan, BoC's, Ziyi Tang, Engen Tham, Selena Li, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Mark Potter, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Industrial, Commercial Bank of China, REUTERS, BoC, Commercial Bank of China Ltd, Bank of China, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, BEIJING, SHANGHAI, HONG KONG, ICBC's

☆ Norwegian woman and Nepali guide set record for summit of 14 ‘super peaks’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Caolán Magee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A Norwegian woman and a Nepali man smashed the record on Thursday for the fastest summit of all 14 of the world’s 8,000-metre (26,000-feet) mountains, their team said in a statement. The pair surpassed Nepal-born British adventurer Nirmal Purja’s record of six months and six days, set in 2019. Purja is now attempting to set the record for the fastest ascent of all 14 peaks without supplemental oxygen, he said on Twitter. Mount Everest, the tallest of the 14 highest peaks, issued permits for a record number of climbers this year, for this spring season’s expeditions. According to Nepali officials as the spring climbing season came to an end in June, 12 people died and five were missing on Everest.

Persons: Kristin Harila, Lama –, “, Nirmal Purja’s, Nirmal Purja, Mount Everest, Nirmal, ” Lama, Everest Organizations: CNN, Twitter Locations: Norwegian, Nepal, Purja, Mount

☆ UK banks are appropriate airbag for mortgage crash
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( George Hay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Last year this was 2.9% on average for Lloyds, NatWest and Barclays. Hunt may be able to get banks to hike their savings rates merely by veiled threats. After all, the government would only be getting banks to do what they should be doing anyway. “It is taking too long for the increase in interest rates to be passed on to savers, particularly with instant access accounts,” Hunt told parliament. Around 60% of household deposits are held in instant access accounts, the committee said.

Persons: Banks, Jeremy Hunt, shouldn’t, it’s, Hunt, ” Hunt, “, Neil Unmack, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Monday, Banking Group, NatWest, Barclays, Lloyds, JPMorgan, NatWest –, Alpha, Treasury, Bank of England, Labour Party, National Savings and Investments, of, Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC, Barclays –, Thomson

May 8 (Reuters) - Australia's Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX) on Monday threw out a cost-cutting target citing inflation and flagged thinner profit margins going ahead, but investors pushed its shares higher after it handily beat expectations for first-half profit. Westpac shares closed 2% higher, ahead of a broader market advance (.AXJO) of 0.8%, as the market cheered the better-than-expected profit. Costs for Westpac came to A$5 billion for the half, down from A$5.2 billion a year earlier. Westpac declared an interim dividend of 70 Australian cents per share, up from 61 Australian cents last year. ($1 = 1.4810 Australian dollars)Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ AIB upgrades guidance after 70% jump in first quarter income
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Padraic Halpin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Bank increases FY net interest income guidance by 10%New savings products to be introduced in H2CFO comfortable with market consensus for 2024, 2025DUBLIN, May 4 (Reuters) - Ireland's largest mortgage lender AIB (AIBG.I) revised its full year guidance upwards across the board on Thursday after its total income jumped 70% year-on-year in the first quarter due to record increases in official interest rates. The bank said it expects net interest income of 3.3 billion euros this year versus the 3 billion guided in March, increased its net interest margin forecast to above 2.70% from 2.40% and forecast 2023 return on tangible equity (ROTE) to be a high-teens percentage. A 215 million euro direct share buyback last week cut the government's stake in the bank to 53%. The bank's net interest margin (NIM), a key metric showing the profitability of its lending, rose to 2.78% in the first quarter versus 1.45% a year ago when it was still operating in a negative interest rate environment. AIB Chief Financial Officer Donal Galvin said the market consensus for NIMs of 2.40% and 2.50% in 2024 and 2025 seemed reasonable.

☆ World record-breaking mountaineer Nimsdai Purja on his determination to succeed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Tania Bryer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWorld record-breaking mountaineer Nimsdai Purja on his determination to succeedCNBC's Tania Bryer sits down with Nimsdai "Nims" Purja for The CNBC Conversation to discuss the resilience behind his record-breaking expeditions.

☆ Mountaineer Nimsdai Purja on his world record-breaking journey
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Tania Bryer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailMountaineer Nimsdai Purja on his world record-breaking journeyHe climbed 14 of the world's highest peaks in just six months and six days. CNBC's Tania Bryer sits down with record-breaking mountaineer Nimsdai "Nims" Purja to discuss his extraordinary journey.

Australia's biggest lender said loan impairment expenses increased by A$586 million ($409 million) and business credit growth slowed, reflecting strong inflationary pressures, rising interest rates and a decline in property prices. "We expect business credit growth to moderate and global economic growth to slow during 2023," said Chief Executive Officer Matt Comyn. "We are conscious that many of our customers are feeling significant strain from rising interest rates, alongside the rising costs of electricity, groceries and other household items,” Comyn said in an analyst and investor briefing. Higher interest rates are yet to hit many CBA mortgage customers as many cheaply priced fixed rate loans are expected to come off by the end of the year. The bank also announced it would buy back additional shares worth A$1 billion, on top of a A$2 billion share buy-back announced last February.

☆ Citi's high deposit betas to squeeze interest margins - Moody's
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Mehnaz Yasmin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 8 (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc (C.N) may see more net interest margin (NIM) pressure than the other four big U.S. banks this year due to its high deposit betas, or the percentage of changes in interest rates that banks pass on to consumers, a Moody's report showed. That would make it harder for Citi to catch up with rivals on profitability as a higher deposit rate increases a bank's interest expense. Wall Street banks have enjoyed healthy NIMs so far as the Federal Reserve pumped up interest rates to rein in inflation, but deposit betas have also leapt and are now threatening to erode margin expansions. Reuters GraphicsIn a further sign of NIM pressure ahead, Citigroup's cost of interest-bearing deposits swelled to 2.10% from 0.28% during the period, a company presentation showed. Reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika SyamnathOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ India ICICI Bank’s profit jumps 34% in October-December
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, Jan 21(Reuters) - India's ICICI Bank (ICBK.NS) on Saturday reported a 34.2% increase in net profit for the October-December quarter, on the back of improved revenues and healthy loan growth. Net profit for the quarter was 83.12 billion Indian rupees ($1.03 billion) up from 61.94 billion rupees in the same quarter a year earlier. That was in line with analysts' forecast of 81.25 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv IBES data. Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and paid, rose 34.6% to 164.65 billion rupees from 122.36 billion rupees last year. However, provisions and contingencies increased to 22.57 billion rupees from 16.44 billion rupees in the September quarter.

☆ India's SBI sees loan growth staying strong after record profit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The bank reported a 74% surge in quarterly net profit on Saturday, driven by higher loan growth and improving asset quality. Net profit rose to a record 132.64 billion Indian rupees ($1.62 billion) in June-September, beating analysts' forecast of 105.30 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv IBES data. Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and paid out, rose 13% to 351.82 billion rupees. "We should have credit growth of 14-16% in the current financial year," Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara said in a press briefing. Total provisions declined to 30.39 billion rupees in June-September from 43.92 billion rupees the previous quarter.

☆ China's smaller banks cut deposit rates to ease margin pressure
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Several Chinese city commercial banks and rural commercial lenders have cut their rates on a range of deposits this week, according to statements released on the banks' websites. The smaller lenders followed in the footsteps of some of China's biggest state-owned banks, which implemented rate cuts earlier this month. Peiqian Liu, China economist at Natwest Markets, noted the commercial banks' deposit rate cuts are part of the monetary policy transmission mechanism after the central bank cut key policy rates in August. "This rate cut by commercial banks will help improve the profit margin slightly and is technically opening up more space for further (benchmark lending) rate cuts." Four of the five of China’s largest banks, except for Bank of China, reported falling net interest margins (NIMs) in the second quarter.

☆ Hilaree Nelson's body found after fall from Nepal's Mount Manaslu
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Chantal Da Silva | Chantal Da Silva Is A Breaking News Editor For Nbc News Digital Based In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Nelson's body was eventually found and retrieved on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Shangri-La Nepal Trek, the company that organized the expedition, told NBC News. The spokesperson said Nelson's body would be transported to Kathmandu. Tour company Elite Exped and mountaineer Nims Purja, its co-founder, said in an Instagram post that the company's team had successfully recovered Nelson's body. On Monday, an avalanche at a lower elevation on Mount Manaslu swept away several climbers, killing a Nepali guide and injuring others. Nepal’s government has issued permits to over 500 climbers looking to attempt to scale high mountain peaks during the autumn season, with most of them setting their sights on Mount Manaslu.

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