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☆ Will Japan's bull run continue? Here's what the pros say — and how to invest
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Weizhen Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The enthusiasm for Japan's stocks was reflected on Tuesday when its benchmark index Nikkei 225 climbed to a 34-year high. Will its bull run continue though, and how should investors play this Asian market? Here’s what Wall Street and other pros say, and how to invest — including the stocks to buy. Jeremy Schwartz, global chief investment officer at WisdomTree, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Friday that Japanese stocks are a “catalyst-rich” asset class. How – and what – to invest Global investors may find it more accessible to invest in Japan markets via exchange-traded funds.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Jesper Koll, Monex, Jeremy Schwartz, CNBC’s, ”, buybacks, ” Schwartz, Eastspring, Oliver Lee, Morgan Stanley’s, Morningstar, Kao, industrials, CNBC's Ganesh Rao Organizations: Nikkei, Eastspring Investments, —, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Ivailo Locations: Japan, China, Tokyo

☆ Why Lamar Jackson is in a league of his own
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

He’s had some up-and-down years through injury and offensive woes, but this season Jackson has been back to his best, leading a No. 1 playoff seed and, while the year ended in playoff disappointment, Jackson had delivered one of the best regular seasons ever by an NFL quarterback. Jackson speaks after winning the NFL MVP award at the end of the 2019 season. “To be honest with you, I really didn’t care for other teams, really,” Jackson told reporters during his signing press conference. That’s the accolade that I really want so bad.”And now, with a second NFL MVP almost certainly sewn up, don’t bet again Jackson lifting the Vince Lombardi Trophy on February 11.

Persons: CNN —, LeBron James, Lamar Jackson, Michael Vick, He’s, Jackson, Jackson scrambles, Michael Owens, Jim Rassol, Lance Zierlein, quarterbac Vick, Julie Jacobson, “, ”, “ It’s, LeBron James ’, Reassuringly, Ozzie Newsome, Joe Flacco, Flacco, hadn’t, Tom Brady, David J, Phillip, There’s, ” Jackson, Thearon, Henderson, ’ Jackson, wasn’t, ’ …, Nick Shook, Rob Carr, Jim Gray, don’t, Vince Lombardi Organizations: CNN, NBA, NFL, Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins, Boynton Beach High School, Sun Sentinel, Tribune, Service, Louisville Cardinals, Atlantic Coast Conference, Louisville, Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore, Bowl, San Francisco 49ers, Levi's, Getty, AFC, Los Angeles Rams Locations: Florida, Jackson, Baltimore, Maryland

☆ S&P 500 rises to 20-month high with a soft landing in sight. Can investors finally relax?
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-09 | by ( Michael Santoli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

The S & P 500 , which had consolidated with a low-volatility sideways slide for three weeks, nudged to a new 20-month high just above 4600, almost precisely a 20% year-to-date gain. Just because the S & P 500 is at 4600 and Federal-funds futures markets project high odds of several rate cuts next year, it doesn't mean the former is reliant on the latter. Yet — just relax — in seven of the past 12 years, the S & P 500 went on to surpass this year-ahead analyst composite target. It's pretty popular to cast doubt on the achievability of the consensus 11.8% forecast S & P 500 earnings growth for 2024. A broadening beyond 2023's growth leadership is necessary for further S & P 500 gains.

Persons: YTD, Jerome Powell, Powell, John Butters, Scott Chronert Organizations: Federal, Fed, Bank of America, Wall, Merck, Pfizer, Citi, Treasury

WASHINGTON (AP) — The last Omer Neutra's parents heard from him, he told them reassuringly that he anticipated a quiet weekend. They would later learn that their son, a dual Israeli-U.S. citizen, had been ambushed and pulled out of his tank. He was taken to Gaza, where he is believed to remain as a hostage more than 50 days later. The Israeli military said Wednesday that Hamas had begun releasing 12 hostages from captivity in Gaza, the sixth release of Israeli hostages under the cease-fire agreement. Several days later, two police officers knocked on their door to tell them that their son had been abducted by Hamas and was in Gaza.

Persons: Omer Neutra's, ”, Orna Neutra, Neutras, Abigail Edan —, “, it’s, Ronen Neutra, Ruby Chen, Itay, we've, wasn't, Chen, Abigail, Joe Biden, she’s, Liz Hirsh Naftali, “ Abigail, Hirsh Naftali, Benjamin Netanyahu, Noa Naftali Organizations: WASHINGTON, ., Capitol, Biden, Hamas Locations: New York, Gaza, Israel, United States, Washington

☆ You can get Covid-19 and flu vaccines at the same time, but should you? What the science says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —With holiday season underway, you may be realizing that you forgot to get your Covid-19 and flu vaccines, and now you’ll be sitting across the table from your elderly relatives. Covid-19 vaccines were updated this year to target one strain of the coronavirus rather than two. “The flu vaccine might have been an adjuvant for the Covid vaccine,” she said. Moss led a recent study that compared neutralizing antibody responses of 53 Israeli health care workers who received their bivalent Covid-19 vaccines separately or with a flu shot. Blood samples from these health care workers were equally able to prevent Covid-19 and flu viruses from infecting cells, whether they got their vaccines together or separately.

Persons: Mandy Cohen, ” Cohen, “, ”, Susanna Barouch, Barouch, they’re, Stephen Moss, Moss, ” Moss, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, William Schaffner Organizations: CNN, US Centers for Disease Control, CDC, US Food and Drug Administration, University of Michigan, Pfizer, CNN Health, Vanderbilt University Locations: Boston, Cambridge , Massachusetts, Netherlands

☆ Brawn relives highs and lows of his team's 2009 fairytale
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Formula One - F1 - Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai, China - 6/4/17 - Formula One Managing Director of Motorsports Ross Brawn walks at the Shanghai International Circuit ahead of the Chinese F1 Grand Prix. The story has now been re-told in a four-part series 'Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story' on Disney+, with Hollywood A-lister Keanu Reeves the host and narrator. They had no engine to power the car until Mercedes, with the help of then-McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh, came to the rescue. "We had that wonderful period at the beginning (of 2009) when everyone assumed it was a slam dunk, you know? Brawn, a Formula One employee, avoided comment on that situation with the steady hand of a man who has steered his own ship through far choppier waters.

Persons: Motorsports Ross Brawn, Aly, Ross Brawn, Jenson Button, lister Keanu Reeves, Brawn, Mercedes, Martin Whitmarsh, Lewis Hamilton, Michael Andretti, Alan Baldwin, Christian Radnedge Organizations: Prix, Motorsports, Shanghai, Circuit, Brawn, Disney, Hollywood, Ferrari, Honda, Reuters, Mercedes, McLaren, General Motors, FIA, Formula, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, Britain, Paris

☆ The stock market's report card one year since the bottom of the 2022 bear market
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-07 | by ( Michael Santoli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

A report card for the stock market as it approaches one year since the October 2022 bottom of the mini-bear market would probably read, "Good effort, shows perseverance, needs improvement." The equal-weight S & P 500 is up less than 12% from its low. The median stock in the index is up between 3% and 4% over the past 12 months. All four times since 1979, the S & P 500 and Russell 2000 were both higher in the fourth quarter. The S & P 500 is now at 17.7-times 12-month forward profit forecasts, according to FactSet, down from almost 20 in late July.

Persons: Doug Ramsey, Russell, Stephen Suttmeier, Jurrien Timmer, Stocks Organizations: Leuthold, Nasdaq, Bank of America, Fidelity Investments, Fed, Federal Reserve, Deutsche, Treasury

☆ Your Fitbit and Apple Watch may wind up hurting you
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Kelli María Korducki | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

AdvertisementAdvertisementWhen numbers take overThe 10,000-step benchmark has generally been the baseline goal for smartphone apps and fitness trackers. When the Fitbit tracker launched in 2009, 45 years after Yamasa's gadget cemented the 10,000-steps ideal in the public consciousness, it kick-started a boom in fitness wearables and spawned a frenzy for health data. This flood of easily accessible health data has certainly had some positive effects. Many fitness-tracking products also incorporate social-sharing features, which can give us a better perspective on how our exercise habits stack up against our friends', providing a little healthy competition as motivation. Many health- and fitness-tracking apps and wearables issue notifications throughout the day to urge their users toward their movement goals.

Persons: I've, Amanda Paluch, —, Paluch, John Toner, Toner, Cathleen Kronemer, Louis, she's, Kronemer, there's, I'm, Kelli María Korducki Organizations: Apple, US Department of Health, Human Services, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Hull, Health, Washington University School of Medicine, — Locations: East Asia, St, New York City

☆ The stock market is stuck in a typical but anxious seasonal pullback
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( Michael Santoli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

.SPX YTD mountain S & P 500 YTD My last column before a late-summer hiatus, published July 15 with the S & P about 1% higher than Friday's close, began: "Enough for now? There's been no net progress since then after a modest push higher, 5% pullback and partial bounce. There's no doubt the market is sensitive to these yield moves, unsure how the economy and market might handle them. There's an insistence among plenty of cautious market participants that stocks are only as high as they are because eventual Fed rate cuts are anticipated. Not to be too literal, but this at least would suggest some more seasonal choppiness before a potential break higher.

Persons: There's, Oleg Melentyev, –, Goldman Sachs, Tony Pasquariello, China's Organizations: Federal Reserve, U.S ., Federal, Treasury, Labor, Bank of, UAW, Atlanta Fed, Investment Locations: Europe, China, U.S

☆ UBS cost-cut gains are a double-edged sword
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, Aug 31 (Reuters Breakingviews) - UBS’s (UBSG.S) acquisition of Credit Suisse looks increasingly good – maybe a little too good. There were three key questions for shareholders ahead of UBS’s delayed second-quarter results on Thursday, its first since completing the emergency rescue of Credit Suisse in June. And what would UBS do with Credit Suisse’s local business? He’s keeping Credit Suisse’s Swiss business, which allows him to establish a dominant position at home and wring out juicy cost savings. And while some Credit Suisse businesses are disappearing, Ermotti won’t mind.

Persons: Boss Sergio Ermotti, Ralph Hamers, UBS’s, Ermotti, it’s, Sergio Ermotti, Neil Unmack, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, Credit Suisse, UBS, Credit, Suisse’s, Suisse, Swiss Competition, Thomson Locations: Suisse’s Swiss, Switzerland, Schweiz

☆ Oil prices firm on upbeat demand growth forecasts
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Ahmad Ghaddar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A 3D-printed oil pump jack is seen in front of displayed OPEC logo in this illustration picture, April 14, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File PhotoSummary IEA says tighter inventories could push prices higherOPEC flags healthy oil market fundamentals in second halfU.S. consumer prices rise moderately in JulyLONDON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Oil prices gained ground on Friday amid optimistic demand forecasts from the OPEC producer group and the International Energy Agency (IEA). The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Thursday said it expects global oil demand to rise by 2.25 million bpd in 2024, compared with growth of 2.44 million bpd this year. In 2024 "solid" economic growth amid continued improvements in China is expected to boost oil consumption, it added. Data this week also showed China's consumer prices fell into deflation and factory gate prices extended declines in July, raising concerns about fuel demand in the world's second-largest economy.

Persons: Dado, Brent, Tamas Varga, Ahmad Ghaddar, Andrew Hayley, David Goodman, Jason Neely Organizations: REUTERS, International Energy Agency, West Texas, of, Petroleum, Thursday's U.S, Federal Reserve, Thomson Locations: OPEC, China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Ukraine, June's, Beijing

☆ Next job-market challenge: the Great Unresignation
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The U.S. economy has weathered inflation without widespread layoffs so far, but a Great Unresignation could make seemingly healthy job numbers harder to read. But a big input in firms’ hiring plans is “attrition” – the number of workers expected to quit. The so-called quit rate in the finance and insurance sector dropped to 1.1%, well below a peak of 2.4% in April 2022. Wells Fargo flagged “slower than expected” attrition as a driver of higher severance costs during the bank’s July 14 earnings call. The U.S. economy added 187,000 nonfarm payrolls in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Aug. 4.

Persons: haven’t, Wells, That's, –, John Foley, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, Wall, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Companies, of Labor Statistics, Citigroup, payrolls, Thomson Locations: U.S, United States

☆ Collective embrace of soft landing economic scenario extends 2023 rally after welcome drop in CPI
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( Michael Santoli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Now, especially after the sturdy June jobs report as week ago and the reassuringly cool CPI print on Wednesday, this is something closer to the prevailing view. The market all year has been acting as if inflation and the Fed's aggressive war against it were mostly 2022 problems. The wobble in early July after a blockbuster ADP employment report sent Treasury yields flying was over in a day. Passing these tests, and now having seen market strength broaden significantly since the end of May, belief is replacing doubt. And last quarter, the S & P went choppily sideways for the first month of reporting season.

Persons: it's, what's Organizations: Federal, Treasury, Investment, National Association of Active Investment, Deutsche, Nasdaq, Bulls, Wall, & $ Locations: what's

☆ Dolly Parton says she doesn’t want to live on through AI after she dies: ‘When I’m gone, I want to fly with it’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Alli Rosenbloom | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Dolly Parton isn’t interested in living on through artificial intelligence. The “Jolene” singer was asked about AI technology during a press conference in London that she appeared at to promote her upcoming album “Rockstar.”“I think I’ve left a great body of work behind,” Parton said, adding she doesn’t know how “they’ll keep me around.”She went on to say that she hopes albums like “Rockstar” will preserve her everlasting legacy, and that she’ll “have to decide on how much of that high-tech stuff I want to be involved in because I don’t want to leave my soul here on this Earth.”With a laugh, Parton said she feels like with that kind of technology she’d be “grounded here forever, so when I’m gone I want to fly with it.”“But I’ll be around, we’ll find ways to keep me here,” she said reassuringly, going on to thank the person who asked her the question and saying “I’m glad to know you still want me around.”For the time being, at least, Parton isn’t going anywhere. The country music star is set to release her hotly-anticipated album “Rockstar,” marking her first-ever rock and roll record featuring collaborations with music legends such as Sir Paul McCartney, Elton John and Stevie Nicks. The album also features collaborations with her goddaughter Miley Cyrus, Lizzo and Pink. Parton’s foray into rock genre comes after she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022 after initially opting to “respectfully bow out,” saying in a statement on her Instagram at the time that she didn’t feel she’d “earned that right.”“Rockstar” will be released globally on November 17.

Persons: Dolly Parton, Jolene ”, ”, ” Parton, Parton, I’m, reassuringly, “ I’m, Sir Paul McCartney, Elton John, Stevie Nicks, Miley Cyrus, Lizzo, she’d “ Organizations: CNN, ”, Hall of Fame, Rockstar Locations: London, ”

☆ For only the second time in its history, the US Navy is beginning the slow, tricky process of taking apart a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In April, the Navy published a notice announcing the beginning of planning to scrap the USS Nimitz. But Nimitz will be only the second nuclear-powered carrier to go through deactivation and defueling. The Nimitz would only be the second American nuclear-powered carrier scheduled to be scrapped. The first is the USS Enterprise, which was commissioned in 1961 and was also the world's first nuclear-powered carrier. The private shipyard will probably be in Alabama, Texas, or Virginia, according to a draft environmental impact statement posted on a special Navy carrier disposal website.

☆ EUROPE US recession worries weigh in Asia
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Kevin BucklandEurope wakes up to more weakness in equities after stock markets across Asia took cues from Wednesday's slump on Wall Street. But perhaps reassuringly, financials fared relatively better in markets including Hong Kong and Tokyo, suggesting little fear of widening contagion from First Republic's woes. Technology shares in the region didn't benefit much from Microsoft's earnings boost though, which had buoyed the Nasdaq. Meanwhile, the United States continued to cozy up to long-time regional allies South Korea and Japan. Away from geopolitics, the Bank of Japan began its first policy meeting with new governor Kazuo Ueda at the helm.

Since the early days of the invasion, Mr. Putin has conceded, privately, that the war has not gone as planned. “I think he is sincerely willing” to compromise with Russia, Mr. Putin said of Mr. Zelensky in 2019. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. “I think this war is Putin’s grave.” Yevgeny Nuzhin, 55, a Russian prisoner of war held by Ukraine, in October.

☆ Central banks ramp up rates again but the pace slows
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Central banks in Britain, Norway, Switzerland, the euro zone and the United States have all raised interest rates this week. The central bank raised its forecast for its peak interest rate to 5.5%, up from a previous forecast of 4.1%. Money markets moved after the statement to forecast UK interest rates will top out at around 4.5% in August. Markets anticipate an 80% chance of a 50 bps hike when the Riksbank meets next in February. But market players do not expect any significant change from the world's lone major central bank dove.

☆ ‘America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation’ Review: Tinkering With the Ingredients
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( John Anderson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The universe won’t collapse because of what happens on a cooking show, but “America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation” is symptomatic of larger disturbances in the force of food TV—including creative stasis, casual shoplifting of ideas and the fact that too many borrowed ideas can spoil a perfectly presentable broth. The taste-test segment involves familiar brands available at a local supermarket and end in some surprising results. (Hershey’s wins the cocoa-powder faceoff again!) Among its “flaws” is a menu that’s anachronistically meat-centric and on-air talent who are on air because of their food knowledge, not their media training. Bridget Lancaster and Julia Collin Davison are the no-nonsense hosts-chefs; the taste-test guy, Jack Bishop , is reassuringly uncomfortable at being on TV at all; equipment assessor Adam Ried is burly, affable and you believe what he tells you.

☆ Breakingviews: Time for Britain to try technocratic government
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Peter Thal Larsen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Technocratic governments tend to take charge after an elected administration has collapsed, and rule for a short period with a limited mandate. Prime Minister Liz Truss’s technosceptic administration recklessly attempted to boost growth by cutting taxes, startling investors and forcing the Bank of England to step in. For example, Alec Douglas-Home parachuted into a parliamentary seat shortly after becoming prime minister in 1963. A more fundamental concern is that technocratic governments undermine faith in democracy. If Britain is going to replace another prime minister without an election, it could do a lot worse than a technocrat.

☆ Time for Britain to try technocratic government
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Peter Thal Larsen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Technocratic governments tend to take charge after an elected administration has collapsed, and rule for a short period with a limited mandate. Prime Minister Liz Truss’s technosceptic administration recklessly attempted to boost growth by cutting taxes, startling investors and forcing the Bank of England to step in. Britain could surely find a vacant constituency for a reassuringly technocratic new leader. A more fundamental concern is that technocratic governments undermine faith in democracy. If Britain is going to replace another prime minister without an election, it could do a lot worse than a technocrat.

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