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☆ The wreckage of the Titanic was found nearly 39 years ago during a secret US Navy mission to recover nuclear submarines
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Gabbi Shaw | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

But the dive initially had nothing to do with the Titanic at all — it was a secret mission to find the wrecks of two nuclear submarines, the USS Scorpion and the USS Thresher. The USS Thresher sank in April 1963, and the USS Scorpion followed five years later, in May 1968. They remain the only nuclear submarines the Navy has ever lost, reported the United States Naval Institute. Xavier Desmier/Gamma-Rapho/GettyWith 12 days left in the mission, Ballard found the Titanic using a hunch that the ship had split in two and left a trail of debris. Correction: July 18, 2023 — An earlier version of this story misstated when the USS Scorpion disappeared.

Persons: —, Robert Ballard, Jean, Louis Michel, Ballard, Bettmann, Getty Ballard, Ronald Thunman, Xavier Desmier Organizations: Service, Titanic, Navy, New York Times, Business, USS, Geographic, National Geographic, US Navy, United States Naval Institute, Soviet Union Locations: American, French, Soviet

☆ Some Fed officials worry inflation remains stubbornly high, minutes show
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington CNN —Federal Reserve officials said during their March policymaking meeting that inflation will likely continue to slow this year, according to minutes released Wednesday, but some still fretted over the possibility that inflation could remain stubbornly high. While Fed officials “observed that significant progress had been made over the past year” despite disappointing inflation readings for January and February, some also “noted that the recent increases in inflation had been relatively broad based,” the minutes said. The Fed kept its key interest rate at a two-decade high for the fifth straight meeting last month, at a range of 5.25-5.5%. The odds that the first rate cut will come in June also dropped after CPI was released, according to futures. Goldman Sachs pushed back its call for the first rate cut to July from June and Bank of America is now projecting a June rate cut with “low confidence.”“The likelihood of a June Fed rate cut declined materially today,” Ronald Temple, chief market strategist at Lazard, said in a note Wednesday.

Persons: “, Jerome Powell, Goldman Sachs, ”, ” Ronald Temple, Powell Organizations: Washington CNN — Federal, Fed, CPI, Bank of America, Lazard, “

☆ Small-cap stocks are the cheapest they've been since 2000 and are an under-the-radar way to profit from AI, a strategy chief predicts. Here are 5 ways to play their upcoming rally.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

A soft landing would greatly boost small caps since they're economically sensitive, meaning they tend to thrive in expansions and fall during contractions. Marcelli also made note of smaller companies' weaker balance sheets, though those are arguably accounted for in valuations. With that said, those positive forces appear to be intact, so small caps could finally break out. Instead of selling AI chips or products, smaller companies can enhance their productivity by using the technology, the strategy chief said. 5 sectors where small caps can thriveWithin small caps, Temple said he's less focused on what sector a company falls into and more concerned with whether that firm is financially healthy.

Persons: haven't, Russell, Marcelli, Ronald Temple, Temple, couldn't, there's, Jack Janasiewicz, Janasiewicz, he's, you've, I'd, they've Organizations: Business, Yahoo Finance, UBS Global Wealth Management, Lazard Asset Management, Temple, Reserve, Savings, Nvidia, Devices, Microsoft

☆ The S&P 500 just hit an all-time high – but many other US stocks are still in a bear market
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewBlue-chip US stocks are trading at record levels – but small caps are still feeling the pain. That means the widely-followed gauge is technically still in a bear market, with high interest rates hammering lower-market-cap stocks even as AI powers the "Magnificent Seven" Big Tech titans to massive gains. "40% of Russell 2000 companies lose money, so these are companies that rely on credit to stay afloat." But the Russell 2000 is still in a bear market," he added. Economic bellwetherThe Russell 2000 isn't just a gauge of smaller-cap stock prices – it's also an economic bellwether.

Persons: —, Russell, they've, Ronald Temple, Lazard, Charles, Henry Monchau, That's, isn't, it's, JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, Steve Hanke, David Rosenberg, Hanke, Rosenberg, it'd Organizations: Service, Business, Big Tech titans, Federal Reserve, Facebook, Big Tech, Microsoft, Nvidia, Syz, LinkedIn, JPMorgan Locations: Swiss

☆ Get ready for a 2024 election that could have an outsized impact on stocks and the world economy, Lazard's top strategist says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But the 2024 presidential election could change that, according to Lazard's top strategist. "Whether the US continues to finance and support Ukraine is basically on the ballot," Ronald Temple told Business Insider. Advertisement"I typically try to convey to people that a presidential election is not a game-changer for stocks," he told BI. Geopolitical watershedTemple is highlighting the 2024 election as a potential watershed moment because of how the contest could affect the global geopolitical balance. AdvertisementInflation is still kingUkraine and the presidential election aren't the only two issues Temple is keeping an eye on.

Persons: Ronald Temple, —, hasn't, that's, Donald Trump –, –, Joe Biden, Wall, Temple, Biden, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Vladimir Putin, it's, Lazard, Russell Organizations: Business, Service, of Foreign Relations, Washington, Federal, Bureau of Labor Statistics, . Traders Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, Russia, China

Target's bright outlook lifted shares of other retailers including Macy's (M.N), which rose 7.5%, and Kohl's (KSS.N), which closed up almost 9%. The S&P 500 consumer staples index (.SPLRCS), which includes Target, was the top sector gainer, adding 0.7%. "Those two data points reaffirmed the message from Tuesday that the Fed seems to be navigating the soft landing quite well," said Ronald Temple, chief market strategist at Lazard. Among individual stocks, retailer TJX's (TJX.N) shares fell 3.3% after it forecast current-quarter profit below Wall Street expectations, signaling spiraling costs weighing on margins. The S&P 500 posted 42 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 106 new highs and 89 new lows.

Persons: ValueAct, Stocks, Ronald Temple, Wall, Temple, Brendan McDermid, Walt Disney, Russell, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Biden, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, decliners, Sinéad Carew, Sruthi Shankar, Amruta, Shinjini Ganguli, Maju Samuel, Pooja Desai, Richard Chang Organizations: Dow, Nasdaq, Federal, Target, Reuters, Lazard, Dow Jones, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Walt, ValueAct Capital, Money, U.S . House, Senate, Republican, TJX's, Sirius XM, NYSE, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, New York, Bengaluru

[1/3] Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., November 15, 2023. The bright outlook lifted shares of other retailers including Macy's (M.N) and Kohl's (KSS.N), while the S&P 500 consumer staples index (.SPLRCS), which includes Target, was among the top sector gainers. "Those two data points reaffirmed the message from Tuesday that the Fed seems to be navigating the soft landing quite well," said Ronald Temple, chief market strategist at Lazard. The benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (.IXIC) had posted their biggest daily percentage gains in more than six months on Tuesday, after the consumer prices data. The S&P 500 posted 42 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 104 new highs and 69 new lows.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, ValueAct, Stocks, Ronald Temple, Temple, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Biden, Walt Disney, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, decliners, Sinéad Carew, Sruthi Shankar, Amruta, Shinjini Ganguli, Maju Samuel, Pooja Desai, Richard Chang Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Companies, Dow, Nasdaq, Federal, Reuters, Lazard, Dow Jones, U.S . House, Senate, Republican, ValueAct Capital, Sirius XM, NYSE, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, New York, Bengaluru

A recently edgy bond market gobbled all that up. Funds' bonds allocation in November soared 18 points over the month to leave them net 19% overweight - almost 3 standard deviations above long-term averages. Asset managers' overweight bond positions - or at least those in government bonds and U.S. Treasuries - tends to be mirrored by big short positions in Treasury futures among speculative hedge funds. CFTC numbers show the scale of that speculative 'Big Short' on the flipside of the mounting 'Big Long' built by regular asset managers. Lamont points out that U.S. Treasury yields and investment grade corporate debt yields would have to rise about another 100bps for the capital losses to wipe out current yields.

Persons: Sarah Silbiger, Lazard, Ronald Temple, Lombard Odier's Florian Ielpo, Duncan Lamont, Lamont, Jason Pride, Mike Dolan, Susan Fenton Organizations: El Progreso Market, Washington , D.C, REUTERS, Bank of America's, Treasury, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Mount Pleasant, Washington ,, what's

[1/3] Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., September 26, 2023. "It has all the hallmarks of intervention in all honesty," said Michael Brown, market analyst at Trader X in London. The dollar fell 0.71% to 149.165 yen hovered near break-even against the euro . The yen is a particular casualty of the dollar's march to 10-month highs and the rise in Treasury yields, given a yawning gap between U.S. and Japanese interest rates. Gold prices languished near a seven-month low, weighed down by a robust dollar and elevated bond yields as the likelihood of U.S. rates staying higher for longer dominated sentiment.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Michael Brown, Ronald Temple, Raphael Bostic, Bostic, Shunichi Suzuki, Suzuki, Brent, Ankur Banerjee, Jamie Freed, Susan Fenton, Jan Harvey, Deepa Babington, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Global, Federal Reserve, Trader, Labor, Survey, Lazard, U.S, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Atlanta Fed, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, London, New York, Japan, Singapore

☆ ‘Monster Fracks’ Are Getting Far Bigger. And Far Thirstier.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Hiroko Tabuchi | Blacki Migliozzi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +23 min

Dallas TEXAS Austin Houston San Antonio Dallas TEXAS Austin Houston San Antonio TEXAS TEXAS Amarillo Lubbock Dallas El Paso TEXAS Austin Houston San Antonio Corpus Christi UNCHARTED WATERS ‘Monster Fracks’ Are Getting Far Bigger. Water wells that supply fracking Nationwide, fracking has used up nearly 1.5 trillion gallons of water since 2011. Now they account for almost two out of every three fracking wells in Texas, the Times analysis found. ‘Monster fracks’ take off in Texas Proportion of fracks Source: FracFocus chemical disclosure database as of Aug. 1, 2023. In 2020, New Mexico halted sales of water supplies to oil and gas companies fracking on state land.

☆ Gloomy data makes investors more cautious on world economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Lawrence Delevingne | Thomson Reuters | Delevingne Works Primarily On Enterprise Stories Related To Finance. He Joined Reuters In | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., July 26, 2023. European stocks (.STOXX) fell 0.9%, stepping back from a 2% increase in July, the index's second month of gains. UK stocks (.FTSE) also fell 0.4%, though HSBC (HSBA.L) climbed 1.3% after announcing a $2 billion share buyback and raising its key profitability target. U.S. Treasury yields rose on Tuesday with 30-year paper touching a new year-high as investors expected an increase in government debt issuance and anticipated more signs of economic resilience, despite data showing a slowdown in activity. China's stumbling post-pandemic recovery remained in focus, for instance, after a surprise contraction in manufacturing in a private-sector survey released Tuesday.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Michael Hewson, Ronald Temple, Brent, Lawrence Delevingne, Tom Wilson, Kevin Buckland, Angus MacSwan, Susan Fenton, Deepa Babington Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Treasury, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Merck & Co, Pfizer, Caterpillar Inc, HSBC, . Federal, CMC Markets, U.S, Lazard, Fed, Energy, BP, Bank of, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, China, Asia, Boston, London, Tokyo

☆ How the wreckage of the Titanic was found during a secret US Navy mission to recover nuclear submarines
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Gabbi Shaw | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

It took 73 years to find the wreckage of the Titanic in the North Atlantic Ocean. Decades later, Ballard revealed that the dive was actually a secret Cold War Navy mission. But the dive initially had nothing to do with the Titanic at all — it was a secret mission to find the wrecks of two nuclear submarines, the USS Scorpion and the USS Thresher. Of course, nobody knew that until 2008, when Ballard revealed the true nature of the mission to National Geographic. So, 23 years later, Ballard revealed the truth about his mission.

Persons: Robert Ballard, Ballard, Jean, Louis Michel, Bettmann, Ronald Thunman, Xavier Desmier Organizations: Navy, Service, Titanic, USS, Geographic, National Geographic, US Navy, Soviet Union Locations: Wall, Silicon, French, Soviet

☆ Job openings fell more than expected in March to lowest in nearly two years
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

An employee hiring sign with a QR code is seen in a window of a business in Arlington, Virginia, April 7, 2023. Employment openings pulled back further in March, hitting a nearly two-year low in a sign that the ultra-tight U.S. jobs market is loosening up and possibly putting less pressure on inflation, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. The department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed that job vacancies totaled 9.59 million for the month, down from 9.97 million in February and below the FactSet estimate for 9.64 million. The level of job vacancies was the lowest total since April 2021 and cut the ratio of open jobs to available workers to 1.6 to 1 after being around 2 to 1 for most of the past two years or so. Markets are assigning a nearly 100% probability that the central bank on Wednesday will announce a 0.25 percentage point interest rate increase.

The Labor Department data showed headline and core CPI in March rose 0.1% and 0.4%, respectively, on a month-on-month basis. Stubbornly high rents kept underlying inflation pressures simmering, likely ensuring that the U.S. central bank will raise interest rates again next month. US inflation, Fed rates and MarketsMajor technology and other growth stocks such as Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and Apple Inc (AAPL.O) edged higher as Treasury yields slipped. Minutes from the U.S. central bank's policy meeting in March will also be watched closely by investors later in the day for further clues on the trajectory of interest rates. The Fed raised rates by 25 bps last month and signaled it was on the verge of pausing further rate hikes.

☆ US stocks trade mixed as investors assess outlook for rates after Powell testimony
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Fed Chair warned steeper rate hikes may be needed due to strong economic data. Higher interest rates could also raise the risk of recession, which is weighing on investors. "The labour market remains extremely tight despite 450 basis points of rate hikes in the last year," Lazard chief market strategist Ronald Temple said in a statement. Higher interest rates are also raising investors' fear of an incoming recession. This combination of a weakening economy and more rate hikes would surely push the economy into a recession," Main Street Research chief investment officer James Demmert said.

☆ Did investors learn nothing from last year’s market meltdown?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Shares of movie theater chain AMC (AMC) have soared nearly 65% so far in 2023, and AMC (AMC)’s companion preferred stock (which trades under the ticker APE as a nod to the nickname AMC (AMC) fans have given themselves on social media) has more than doubled. So did investors learn nothing from last year’s market meltdown? I don’t agree with this market rally in meme stocks,” said Erik Ristuben, chief investment strategist with Russell Investments. Another strategist agrees this recent rally for meme stocks and other speculative bets may not end well. If they’re upbeat about spending, that could keep the rally in consumer stocks going.

☆ Nasdaq climbs 2% as US stocks rise following smaller rate hike from the Fed
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

US stocks rose in volatile trading on Wednesday after the Fed hiked interest rates 25 basis points. That brings the fed funds rate target to 4.5%-4.75%, the highest since 2007. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell hinted more hikes are coming and warned rates would need to stay high for "some time." The latest increase brings the fed funds rate target to 4.5%-4.75%, the highest since October 2007. "The FOMC announcement indicates that additional rate hikes may be appropriate, while markets are only pricing one more increase," Temple said in a statement.

“There have been about 1,300 Russian tank losses … so the actual numbers of new tanks [for Ukraine] in a military sense are not that significant. There’s a lot of Ukraine and 20, 30, 40 tanks does not go that far,” said Ronald Ti, an expert in military logistics at King’s College, London. Nevertheless, the move to create a new “tank coalition,” as some officials called it, has been widely welcomed in Ukraine. Zelenskyy has said Ukraine requires around 300 tanks in order to successfully defend its territory from an expected Russian spring offensive, and to begin winning back territory ceded to Moscow since the invasion began last February. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, seen in Berlin on Wednesday, has faced prolonged criticism for a reluctance to send military equipment to Ukraine.

☆ The US Navy backed the hunt for Titanic in part because the explorer who found it argued it would 'drive the Soviets crazy,' book reveals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The hunt for the Titanic was cover for a secret Navy mission to investigate two submarine wrecks. It was also part of a psychological warfare game the US was playing with the Soviets, Ballard revealed in a 2021 book. But his most recognizable discovery was the British passenger ship Titanic that sank in the North Atlantic on April 15, 1912, ending more than 1,500 lives. "I wanted to do a bang-up job for the Navy, but I was also constantly thinking about how to find Titanic," Ballard wrote. "There it was, one of 29 boilers that had created steam for Titanic's engines," Ballard wrote in his book.

☆ US stocks fall as the Fed delivers smaller rate hike but maintains hawkish stance heading into 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Stocks ended lower Wednesday after the Fed hiked rates by 50-basis-points. The move was widely expected, though the Fed may have struck a more hawkish tone than what traders wanted to hear. The Fed funds rate is now at its highest level since 2007, with officials expecting to hike rates past 5% through next year. Today's move brought the Fed funds rate to 4.25%-4.5%, the highest policy rate since 2007. "The effects of the tightening in 2022 will continue to be felt in 2023 through a weaker labour market, recession in Europe, and potentially a recession in the US.

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