DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Berkshire Hathaway’s big mystery stock wager could be revealed soon
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Hugh Son | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Berkshire Hathaway , led by legendary investor Warren Buffett, has been making a confidential wager on the financial industry since the third quarter of last year. The identity of the stock — or stocks — that Berkshire has been snapping up could be revealed Saturday at the company's annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. So the 93-year-old Berkshire CEO may decide to explain his rationale to the thousands of investors flocking to the gathering. The bet, shrouded in mystery, has captivated Berkshire investors since it first appeared in disclosures late last year. Under Buffett, Berkshire has trounced the S&P 500 over nearly six decades with a 19.8% compounded annual gain, compared with the 10.2% yearly rise of the index.

Persons: Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, Buffett, —, Bill Stone Organizations: Glenview Trust Co, Buffett Locations: Berkshire, Omaha , Nebraska, U.S, Glenview

☆ 4 cheap stocks to buy and hold for the next decade, according to the pros
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Weizhen Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Many shares look expensive in today's market, but there are still cheap stocks to be found — some of which can be held for the next 10 years, according to the pros. They shared with CNBC Pro their tips for picking cheap stocks that hold long-term promise, as well as their top picks. How to pick cheap stocks Morningstar's Susan Dziubinski says she believes in owning stocks that offer "some sense of certainty" in terms of cash flow and company fundamentals. Freddie Lait, chief investment officer at Latitude Investment Management, says a willingness to invest in some cyclical stocks is key. Cheap stocks to hold for the long term Morningstar's Dziubinski named three cheap stocks that investors can hold for the next decade: U.S. consumer health firm Kenvue , regional U.S. bank U.S. Bancorp , and medical equipment firm Zimmer Biomet .

Persons: Susan Dziubinski, isn't, Freddie Lait, Lait, he's, Dziubinski, Zimmer Biomet, Morningstar, Bancorp Morningstar, AutoZone Organizations: CNBC, Latitude Investment Management, U.S . Bancorp, Companies, Bancorp Locations: U.S, AutoZone

☆ Dollar poised for weekly decline; US jobs data up next
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The dollar index was last at 103.02 and on track for its first weekly decline for the year. The New Zealand dollar rose 0.07% to $0.6149 and was on track for a weekly rise of nearly 1%, its best performance in over a month. It was poised for a weekly gain of nearly 1.3%, its best week in over a month. That highlighted a growing view within the board that conditions were falling in place to soon pull short-term interest rates out of negative territory, which would be Japan's first interest rate hike since 2007. Data on Thursday showed euro zone inflation eased as expected last month but underlying price pressures fell less than forecast, likely boosting the European Central Bank's argument that rate cuts should not be rushed.

Persons: Jerome Powell, Ray Attrill, Raf Choudhury, BoE, Thierry Wizman Organizations: Federal Reserve, New Zealand, National Australia Bank, Friday's, Analysts, Bank of Japan's, Bank of England, Monetary, European Locations: Abrdn, U.S

☆ Dollar hovers near 7-week high as Fed cut bets shift to May
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In this photo illustration, a person seen holding a 100 US dollar bill in his hand. The dollar has been buoyed by U.S. economic data suggesting the Fed can wait longer before cutting interest rates. Powell gave the currency another push overnight by calling a cut in March "not the base case." Traders are now pricing in a 38% probability the Fed will cut rates in March, down from 59% ahead of the Fed decision. Against Japan's currency, the dollar drifted 0.06% lower to 146.81 yen , adding to Wednesday's 0.47% decline.

Persons: Jerome Powell, Powell, Hogan, Riley, Sean Callow Organizations: Federal, Treasury, U.S, New, Bancorp, Fed, Traders, New York Community Bancorp, Investors, UST, Westpac, U.S . Locations: U.S, New York

☆ Gold prices gain as traders assess hopes for sizeable Fed rate cut
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Spot gold rose 0.5% to $2,046.63 per ounce by 0355 GMT. The Fed left interest rates unchanged and knocked down the idea that the U.S. central bank could cut rates in the spring, but dropped a long-standing reference to possible further hikes. Futures pared bets for a rate cut in March to 35.5% from 90% at 2023-end, but increased chances of a reduction in May to 96%, according to LSEG's interest rate probability app IRPR. Traders are pricing in about 142 basis points (bps) of Fed rate cuts for this year, up from bets of about 130 bps of reductions on Wednesday morning. Data showed U.S. private payrolls rose far less than expected in January.

Persons: Gold, Jigar Trivedi Organizations: Korea Gold Exchange, Reserve, Reliance Securities, Traders, U.S, New, New York Community Bancorp, Treasury, Investors Locations: Seoul, South Korea, U.S, New York

The Swiss National Bank and the Swiss Finance Ministry are part of the conversations with lenders, one source said. A representative for the finance ministry said that the issue of bank runs is part of an overall evaluation of the too-big-to-fail regulatory framework in Switzerland. Regulators worldwide have since been grappling with the risk of bank runs, which in the era of digital banking have accelerated in speed. Financial regulators will need to make sure that banks retain adequate financial buffers as advances in technology increase the risk of bank runs, Bank of England executive director for markets, Andrew Hauser, said on Friday at a conference in London. They risk penalizing Swiss banks if they were to be introduced only in Switzerland, one of the sources said.

Persons: SNB, Zürcher, PostFinance, Raiffeisen, Andrew Hauser, Thomas Jordan, Stefania Spezzati, Oliver Hirt, Elisa Martinuzzi, John O'Donnell, Paritosh Bansal, Nick Zieminski Organizations: UBS, Swiss National Bank, Swiss Finance Ministry, Reuters, Swiss, Raiffeisen, Credit Suisse, Regulators, Bank of England, Thomson Locations: ZURICH, Switzerland, Swiss, Zurich, U.S, London, Bern

☆ US advises its citizens in Gaza to move closer to Egypt's Rafah crossing
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-14 | by ( Humeyra Pamuk | Thomson Reuters | Humeyra Pamuk Is A Senior Foreign Policy Correspondent Based In Washington Dc. She Covers The U.S. State Department | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Washington has been working with Egypt, Israel and Qatar to open the Rafah crossing on Saturday afternoon to allow Palestinian-Americans to leave, a senior State Department official said earlier. "We have informed U.S. citizens in Gaza with whom we are in contact that if they assess it to be safe, they may wish to move closer to the Rafah border crossing," a U.S. State Department spokesperson said. "There may be very little notice if the crossing opens and it may only open for a limited time." [1/6]Palestinians with dual citizenship gather outside Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the hope of getting permission to leave Gaza, amid the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip October 14, 2023. "And we're working together to do exactly that, in particular working on establishing safe areas in Gaza, working on establishing corridors so that humanitarian assistance can reach people who need it.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Blinken, Prince Faisal Bin Farhan, Abu Mustafa, Wang Yi, Matthew Miller, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Humeyra Pamuk, Matt Spetalnick, James Mackenzie, Helen Popper, Sharon Singleton, Mark Potter, Daniel Wallis Organizations: U.S, Saturday, State Department, Hamas, U.S . State Department, Palestinian, Saudi Foreign, REUTERS, United Arab, Saudi Crown, Thomson Locations: ABU DHABI, Gaza, Rafah, Egypt, Israel, Washington, Qatar, Palestinian, Antony Blinken . Washington, U.S, Riyadh, American, Beijing, it's, Saudi, United Arab Emirates

☆ Blinken to Israel on Middle East mission to prevent a wider war
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Humeyra Pamuk | Thomson Reuters | Humeyra Pamuk Is A Senior Foreign Policy Correspondent Based In Washington Dc. She Covers The U.S. State Department | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed to Israel on Wednesday on a Middle East mission to prevent a wider war from erupting after an attack and hostage-taking by Palestinian Hamas militants and an Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip. In a show of solidarity with Washington's closest Middle East ally, Blinken was due to meet senior Israeli officials, possibly including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to discuss further boosting military support. At least 22 Americans were killed during the attack, Blinken said. Biden has stopped short of an overt plea to Israel to show restraint to avoid Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza. It was unclear whether Blinken might make such an appeal when he meets Israeli officials behind closed doors.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Frantz, Blinken, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Washington, Alex Vatanka, Biden, Mahmoud Abbas, Humeyra Pamuk, Matt Spetalnick, Simon Lewis, Michelle Nichols, Howard Goller Organizations: Hamas, White, REUTERS, Rights, U.S . State Department, Health Ministry, BANK, United, United Arab Emirates, United Arab Emirates . U.S, Middle East Institute, Wednesday, Israel, West Bank, Palestinian Authority, Thomson Locations: Israel, Washington , U.S, Gaza, East, United States, U.S, Iran, Lebanese, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, United Arab, United Arab Emirates .

[1/4] The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. The IMF adjusted this year's stress test to probe the impact of its baseline economic scenario of higher interest rates for longer, as well as the possibility of consumers yanking deposits. "Under the baseline, it's about 5% of banks that are relatively weak in terms of their capital. And in severe stress, that number goes up to 30% or sometimes higher," Adrian said. The IMF did not identify the banks that could be in trouble if those economic circumstances arose, but they included both small and large lenders.

Persons: Yuri Gripas, Tobias Adrian, Adrian, There's, Pete Schroeder, Michelle Price, Paul Simao Organizations: Monetary Fund, REUTERS, Rights, International Monetary Fund, IMF, Valley Bank, Switzerland's Credit Suisse Group, Monetary, Capital Markets Department, Palestinian, World Bank, U.S, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, California, Israel, Gaza, Marrakech, Morocco, Italy, Federal, U.S

☆ UK's IG Group ekes out revenue rise from interest income, U.S. trading
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dealers work on the IG Group trading floor in London, Britain June 30, 2015. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 14 (Reuters) - British online trading platform IG Group (IGG.L) on Thursday reported a marginal rise in its first-quarter revenue after a big boost from net interest income and strong U.S. trading helped offset a fall in the number of active clients. However, the company's net interest income on client balances was boosted by rising interest rates and stability in the amount of cash maintained by clients in their accounts. Net interest income during the quarter was 34.4 million pounds compared to 7.1 million pounds a year earlier. IG Group posted total revenue of 242.9 million pounds ($303.5 million) for the reported period, compared with 241.8 million pounds a year earlier.

Persons: Neil Hall, Khushi, Rashmi Aich, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: IG Group, REUTERS, Bank, IG, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, Ukraine, U.S, Bengaluru

Ahead of the High Holidays that begin this week, a network of Jewish security experts and religious leaders hosted several webinars to help prepare for the season. Among the topics: How to respond to an “active threat” targeting the Jewish community, and how to stop severe bleeding. Over recent years — in the face of increased antisemitic threats and violence — the season also is a time of heightened vigilance. “The High Holidays are about renewal — about trying to build a better world,” said Rabbi Noah Farkas, president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. Earlier this month, the Orthodox Union, the largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, announced a partnership with the Community Security Service, a leading Jewish security organization, to encourage more Orthodox congregation members to volunteer for security training.

Persons: ”, Noah Farkas, ” Farkas, Ryan Scott Bradford “, Martin Estrada, Farkas ’, Robert Bowers, ” —, Eric Fingerhut, —, Rosh Hashana, “ It’s, Jeffrey Abrams, Larry Mead, Mead, it's “, “, ” Mead, Mead “, Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, Rabbi Charlie Cytron, Walker, Tim Torell, ” Torell, ’ We’re, Torell Organizations: Jewish Federation of, Attorney’s, Los Angeles CSI, Reseda . Security, Jewish Federations of North, Secure Community Network, Jewish Federations of, Nationwide, Orthodox Union, Jewish, Community Security Service, Defamation League, Los Angeles, ADL Los Angeles, Los Angeles federation’s Community Security, Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, “, FBI, Jewish Federation of Northern, Lilly Endowment Inc, AP Locations: Rosh, Yom Kippur, Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Reseda, U.S, Reseda ., Pittsburgh, Jewish Federations of North America, Canada, Southern California, Angeles, California, Texas, New Jersey, Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey

☆ Asian shares sit tight ahead of Nvidia results, yields near highs
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Stella Qiu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

S&P 500 futures climbed 0.3% while Nasdaq futures rose 0.4%. Its blockbuster report last quarter fueled a rally in tech stocks and artificial intelligence hopes, propelling the S&P 500 this year. Shares of Nvidia hit an all-time high of $481.87 overnight, with options data showing traders are expecting a larger-than-usual swing in shares after the quarterly results. The Dow Jones (.DJI) fell 0.5%, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 0.1%. Financial shares underperformed, with the S&P 500 banks (.SPXBK) sliding 2.4%, after S&P joined Moody's to downgrade multiple regional U.S. lenders.

Persons: Issei Kato, Powell's Jackson, Nvidia NVDA.O, Stuart Humphrey, Humphrey, Dow Jones, Moody's, Treasuries, Thomas Barkin, Jerome Powell, Sam Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, Markets, Nvidia, SYDNEY, Nasdaq, Japan's Nikkei, JPMorgan, Financial, Richmond Fed, U.S ., Brent, . West Texas, Thomson Locations: Tokyo, Japan, Asia, Pacific, United States, U.S, China, Jackson Hole , Wyoming

☆ Dow, S&P 500 end down as US interest-rate worries mount, bank shares slip
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Caroline Valetkevitch | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A Wall Street sign is pictured outside the New York Stock Exchange in New York, October 28, 2013. Financials (.SPBK) were the biggest drag on the S&P 500. An S&P downgrade of multiple regional U.S. lenders weighed on bank shares, with both the KBW regional banking index (.KRX) and the S&P 500 banks index (.SPXBK) sharply lower. According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 11.90 points, or 0.27%, to end at 4,387.87 points, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) gained 10.01 points, or 0.07%, to 13,507.60. Shares of Nvidia hit an all-time high of $481.87 early but were lower on the day.

Persons: Carlo Allegri, Jerome Powell, Peter Tuz, Caroline Valetkevitch, Amruta Khandekar, Shinjini Ganguli, Maju Samuel, David Gregorio Our Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Nvidia, NEW YORK, Dow, Reserve, Nasdaq, Investors, Chase Investment, Treasury, Dow Jones, . Department, Kohl's Corp, Nordstrom Inc, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, Jackson Hole , Wyoming, Charlottesville , Virginia

☆ Moody's cuts ratings of 10 U.S. banks and puts some big names on downgrade watch
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Moody's cut the credit ratings of a host of small and mid-sized U.S. banks late Monday and placed several big Wall Street names on negative review. Moody's also changed its outlook to negative for 11 banks, including Capital One , Citizens Financial and Fifth Third Bancorp . Among the smaller lenders receiving an official ratings downgrade were M&T Bank , Pinnacle Financial , BOK Financial and Webster Financial . "Meanwhile, many banks' Q2 results showed growing profitability pressures that will reduce their ability to generate internal capital. Though the stress on U.S. banks has mostly been concentrated in funding and interest rate risk resulting from monetary policy tightening, Moody's warned that a worsening in asset quality is on the horizon.

Persons: Moody's, Cullen, Frost, Jill Cetina, Ana Arsov Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, Bank, New York Mellon, U.S . Bancorp, Truist, Frost Bankers, Northern Trust, Capital, Citizens Financial, Fifth Third Bancorp, T Bank, Pinnacle Financial, BOK, Webster, Regional, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, Credit Suisse, UBS, Federal Reserve, Fed Locations: New York City, U.S, Regional U.S, Silicon, Europe, Swiss

☆ Geopolitical risks are a top global threat to businesses, survey finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Sumathi Bala | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Around 36% of businesses polled view geopolitical tensions as top risks currently — such as those related to issues over Taiwan, South Korea, and Russia-NATO. The latest third quarter 2023 Global Risk Survey covered 127 businesses from July 6-27 this year. Risks aheadGeopolitical risks continue to factor prominently for businesses as a major concern for the next five years. "As reported last quarter, more than three-fifths of respondents view geopolitical risks as a very significant risk to the global economy over the medium term," said Thompson. "An intensification of geopolitical tensions could potentially trigger significant deglobalization of trade and the financial system," he added.

Persons: Fred DUFOUR, FRED DUFOUR, Fred Dufour, Jamie Thompson, Fitch, Biden, Vladimir Putin, Thompson, Kevin O'Leary Organizations: Getty, Afp, Oxford Economics, Fitch downgrades, UBS, NATO, U.S, Reuters, Atlantic Treaty Organization, . Federal, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank Locations: Beijing, Taiwan, South Korea, Russia, Washington, U.S, China, it's, Ukraine, Republic, Silicon

☆ Man Group shares tumble as fund performance disappoints
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Nell Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - British hedge fund manager Man Group (EMG.L) posted forecast-beating first-half pretax profit and record assets under management on Tuesday, but a disappointing performance across several of its funds roiled investors, sending shares lower. Man reported negative investment performance at its AHL Evolution Fund and Numeric Global Core Relative Return fund for the first half of 2023, as well as its actively managed GLG Global Emerging Markets Debt Total Return Fund. Performance fees in both Man's AHL Evolution and funds marked "other alternatives" both fell by over 80% from a year earlier. Despite the first quarter volatility, Man reported net inflows of $2.6 billion for the period, coming in around 2.5% higher than industry peers. Man recommended an interim dividend of 5.6 cents a share, in line with guidance offered a year ago.

Persons: Antoine Forterre, Man, Luke Ellis, Man's, Robyn Grew, Ellis, Group's Forterre, Jefferies, Nell Mackenzie, Sinead Cruise, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Man, Credit Suisse, Reuters, AHL Evolution Fund, GLG, Varagon Capital Partners, Thomson Locations: U.S

☆ 'Things are going to break': Kevin O'Leary predicts Fed hikes will lead to more U.S. regional bank failures
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Clement Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

"Shark Tank" investor Kevin O'Leary predicts the ongoing cycle of U.S. Federal Reserve rate hikes could lead to more regional U.S. bank failures. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is not yet fully confident that inflation is defeated even though recent headline reads show that price increases have cooled significantly. The consumer price index rose 3% from a year ago in June — the lowest level since March 2021. But Powell said the Fed would need to "hold policy at a restrictive level for some time" and be prepared to raise rates further, given that core inflation is still above 3% — higher than its 2% annual target. "I am just predicting — and I am very cautious on this — it will break down in the regional banks, which supports 60% of the economy," he said, adding that the rapid rise in the cost of capital is "killing them on their real estate loans."

Persons: Kevin O'Leary, Jerome Powell, Powell, O'Leary, CNBC's Organizations: . Federal, O'Leary Ventures Locations: U.S

☆ CME Group to lay off 3% of its workforce, reallocate positions
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 21 (Reuters) - CME Group (CME.O), the world's largest derivatives exchange, eliminated about 100 positions, or 3% of its workforce, this week while reallocating some positions, a spokesperson said on Friday. "The company plans to reallocate the majority of those positions to new, cloud-focused technology roles," the spokesperson said in an emailed statement, adding that the overall headcount will remain the same. The spokesperson declined to comment on how many people would be reallocated or whether CME will hire additional people to maintain headcount. Chicago-based CME operator is to announce second-quarter results on Wednesday. Reporting by Yana Gaur and Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Editing by William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Terry Duffy, Yana Gaur, Urvi, William Mallard Organizations: CME, Thomson Locations: U.S, Chicago, Bengaluru

☆ Stress test shows top 8 UK banks have enough capital, says Bank of England
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] A worker cleans a Barclays logo outside a bank branch in the financial district of London, Britain July 8, 2019. The test also measured how well the lenders would cope with a global rise in interest rates. "Major UK banks’ capital and liquidity positions remain robust and profitability has increased, which enables them both to improve their capital positions and to support their customers." The Bank said it had decided to maintain its counter-cyclical capital buffer (CCyB) for banks unchanged. Given its successful completion of the stress test, Virgin Money said it anticipated resuming its share buyback programme during this year, sending its shares 3% higher in early trading.

Persons: Simon Dawson, BoE, Virgin Money, Huw Jones, Sinead Cruise, Mark Potter Organizations: Barclays, REUTERS, Bank of England, Lloyds, HSBC, NatWest, Santander UK, Standard Chartered, Nationwide Building Society, Virgin Money, The Bank, Bank, Virgin, Britain's, Nationwide, Standard, Silicon Valley Bank, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, United States, Silicon Valley, U.S

Banks' commercial real estate portfolios performed better than expected, showing $65 billion in losses or 8.8% of average loan losses, slightly down on last year's 9.8%, the Fed said. "Some may ask how all the banks can get a regulatory thumbs-up when the industry just went through a period of turmoil. The test assesses whether banks would stay above the required minimum 4.5% capital ratio. The average capital ratio for the 23 banks was 10.1%, the Fed said. That compares with 9.7% last year, when the central bank tested 34 lenders against a slightly easier scenario.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Charles Schwab, Michael Barr, ” Barr, Banks, Barr, Lindsey Johnson, Dennis Kelleher, Ian Katz, Pete Schroeder, Caroline Valetkevich, Deepa Babington, Stephen Coates Organizations: Federal, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Charles Schwab Corp, Deutsche Bank's, Financial Corp, U.S . Bancorp, Valley Bank, Wells, JPMorgan, Industry, Consumer Bankers Association, U.S, Treasury, T Bank, PNC Financial, Citizens Financial, Better, Fed, Capital Alpha Partners, Thomson Locations: Big U.S, Wells Fargo, U.S

☆ UBS strategist: There’s too much risk in Big Tech right now — here's where to invest instead
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

He explained that while stocks on the Nasdaq Composite require significant growth to deliver returns, European banks can offer similar returns at lower risk. One of the main reasons for his confidence in European banks is their resilience amid changing interest rates. The strategist said UBS expects interest rates to rise further and stay "high for longer." European banks are accessible to investors through ETFs such as the iShares STOXX Europe 600 Banks ETF in the U.S. and the Lyxor STOXX Europe 600 Banks in Europe. However, higher interest rates have increased the cost of borrowing and depressed valuations in the property sector, potentially increasing the risk to lenders.

Persons: Gerry Fowler, Fowler, CNBC's, they're Organizations: Nasdaq, Big Tech, Tech, Nvidia, UBS, Banks, Citi Locations: U.S, Europe

It's not even midyear yet, but the full gamut of scenarios has been juggled in just five months. World markets have swung from "hard landing" fears of late 2022 to the "soft landing" hopes of the new year and then even unnerving thoughts of "no landing" at all - just before the banking stress hit of March forced them to return to square one. "The economy is more resilient than the market realizes," BlackRock's Chief Executive Larry Fink said on Wednesday, adding more interest rates rises will be necessary but that he saw no "evidence that we're going to have a hard landing." A "soft landing" typically relates to the ability of the Federal Reserve and other central banks to get inflation back close to 2% targets without crashing the economy into a deep contraction with surging unemployment via extreme rate rises. If correct - and not all agree - the prospect of a sustained return to 2% inflation targets would surely turn off the seatbelt sign.

Persons: Larry Fink, Willem Sels, Simona Mocuta, Mocuta, Mike Dolan, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: Federal Reserve, Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics, HSBC Global Private Banking, Nasdaq, Street Global Advisors, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Reuters, Twitter, Thomson Locations: U.S, Wall, United States, Europe

☆ Gold slips as dollar advances with US debt talks dragging on
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Gold slipped as the dollar firmed, cutting some safe- haven flows into bullion from the looming risk of a U.S. debt default as talks entered a critical stretch. "Overwhelmingly, the debt ceiling headlines are at play.... Gold gained in the previous session "despite headwinds from a rising broad dollar, which reveals notable demand behind the scenes." Wall Street's main indexes opened lower as the debt ceiling impasse kept investors on edge. If regional U.S. banking troubles were to subside and agreement reached over the debt ceiling, gold could fall further, said Edward Gardner, commodities economist at Capital Economics.

Persons: Gold, Joe Biden, Kevin McCarthy, Daniel Ghali, TD Securities . Gold, Edward Gardner, Bullion Organizations: Democratic, TD Securities ., Capital Economics Locations: Moscow, U.S

☆ Markets on edge as US debt ceiling talks approach crunch time
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Stella Qiu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A failure to lift the debt ceiling would trigger a default, sparking chaos in financial markets and a spike in interest rates. In early trade on Monday, S&P 500 futures lost 0.1% while Nasdaq futures were flat. On Friday, reports that debt ceiling negotiations had reached an impasse rattled markets even as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said U.S. interest rates might not need to rise as much given the tighter credit conditions from the banking crisis. In Asia, China is expected to keep its key lending rates unchanged on Monday even as the ongoing economic recovery disappointed. U.S. crude futures were up 0.1% to $71.6 per barrel, while Brent crude futures rose 0.2% to $75.75 per barrel.

NEW YORK, May 16 (Reuters) - Silicon Valley Bank's former CEO Greg Becker told senators at a hearing that he was unaware the bank was in trouble when he sold stock in the months leading up to the regional U.S. lender's collapse. Becker, who sold SVB shares through the first quarter - the largest sale of which occurred on Feb 27, less than two weeks before the bank collapsed on March 10, triggering a rout in banking shares globally. Responding to questions from senators, Becker painted a picture of an unprecedented, unpredictable crisis at the bank. He said the bank took risk management seriously and had liquidity of around $80 billion at the end of last year. [1/2] Greg Becker, former president and CEO of SVB, speaks at the 2022 Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., May 3, 2022.

Search resuls for: "Regional U.S"

25 mentions found