DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ US stocks jump to close strong 2nd quarter as Nasdaq has best first half in decades
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Mega-cap stocks helped end the second quarter with a bang. The Nasdaq 100 ended just shy of a previous first half record, with a 32% gain. The Nasdaq 100 gained nearly 32% in the first half, nearly breaking its first-half record, set in 1983. The S&P 500 gained 17.6% in the first half while the Dow climbed 3.7%. In the second quarter, the Nasdaq closed at 13% higher, while the S&P and Dow climbed 8.8% and 2.5%.

Persons: —, Dow Organizations: Nasdaq, Service, Here's, Dow Jones

Average 15-year fixed mortgage rates have generally remained in the 5.7% to 5.9% range. So far, the economy has been cooling somewhat, which should eventually push mortgage rates down. But if the Federal Reserve feels that it needs to raise the federal funds rate to get inflation down to its target rate, mortgage rates could spike temporarily. But whether mortgage rates will drop in 2023 hinges on if the Federal Reserve can get inflation under control. This means your entire monthly mortgage payment, including taxes and insurance, shouldn't exceed 28% of your pre-tax monthly income.

Persons: we'll, you'll, Fannie Mae Organizations: Federal Reserve, Zillow, Mortgage, Association, Sky Locations: Chevron

☆ Gold steadies near three-month lows; focus shifts to Powell
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Gold held near three-month lows on Wednesday after strong U.S. economic readings offset the bullion's traditional safe-haven status, while traders positioned for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech and more data for clues on rate hikes. Spot gold rose 0.1% to $1,915.45 per ounce by 0524 GMT, hovering close to its lowest level since March 16 at $1,910. Data on Tuesday indicating that the economy remained on solid footing could lead to more Fed rate hikes to bring down inflation. Powell will speak at a policy panel on Wednesday before the European Central Bank Forum on Central Banking in Sintra along with other central bank members. Spot silver rose 0.2% to $22.93 per ounce, platinum fell 0.9% to $916.83 while palladium dropped 1.1% to $1,281.48.

Persons: Gold, Jerome Powell's, Matt Simpson, Simpson, Powell, Tim Waterer Organizations: Federal, City, Open, Committee, European Central Bank, Central Banking, KCM Locations: U.S, Sintra

June 26 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever, financial markets columnist. It is unclear what the immediate impact of Russian mercenaries' advance on Moscow, retreat and apparent deal with President Vladimir Putin will be on risk appetite and demand for traditional 'safe haven' assets like gold, Treasuries, the Japanese yen or the U.S. dollar. These assets would likely have attracted strong investor demand first thing on Monday morning had the Wagner group's march on Moscow continued. The S&P 500, Nasdaq, MSCI World Index, China's major indices and Japan's Nikkei 225 index all posted their biggest losses since March last week. The MSCI Asia ex-Japan index, a broad measure of Asian stocks, slumped 4.2%, its worst week since September.

Persons: Jamie McGeever, Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Antony Blinken, Diane Craft Organizations: U.S ., Investors, . Stock, Nasdaq, Nikkei, Thomson, Reuters Locations: Russia, Moscow, U.S, Beijing, Asia, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Germany

☆ Why some central banks are rushing to hike rates now
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Elisabeth Buchwald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Even though inflation is slowing in many countries after more than a year of interest rate hikes, it remains above the 2% level many central banks are targeting. Raising interest rates is the primary tool central bankers have at their disposal to get inflation down. That’s why the Federal Reserve paused interest rate hikes at its June meeting after 10 consecutive hikes since last March. It’s harder for central banks to clamp down on inflation when it becomes sticky, or persistently high. That’s because research shows that inflation, if unaddressed, could become even more sticky and harder for central banks to control with rate hikes.

Persons: Andrew Bailey, Bailey, don’t, Christine Lagarde, ” Lagarde, it’s, Michael Bordo, “, ” Organizations: New, New York CNN, ” Bank of England, Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Center for Monetary, Rutgers University, CNN Locations: New York

☆ Pakistan's economic meltdown spurs more people to risk lives to reach Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

He is missing and presumed dead, according to his brother, highlighting the perils faced by people who seek to enter Europe illegally. Cash-strapped Pakistan's $350 billion economy is in a meltdown, with inflation at a record 38%. Pakistan's information ministry did not respond to questions from Reuters about economic factors fuelling migration. 3 nationality registered in Italy coming from Libya, after Egyptians and Bangladeshis, a Frontex spokesperson told Reuters in an email. At least 209 Pakistanis were believed to be on board, according to official data based on information provided by relatives.

Persons: Muhammad Sarwar Bhatti, Hameed Iqbal Bhatti, Salahuddin, Bhatti, Hafeez Pasha, Muhammad Nadeem, Nadeem, Kosar Bibi, Bibi, Sarwar Warraich, Muhammad Zubair, Muhammad Nazim, Nazim, Muhammad Ali, Anish Raza, Haji Ilyas, Ilyas, puffing, Israr Mirza, Mirza, Gibran Peshimam, Ariba Shahid, David Crawshaw Organizations: Reuters, REUTERS, Cash, Federal Investigation Agency, FIA, OF, International Monetary Fund, Migrant Resource Centre, College, Thomson Locations: Greece, Khuiratta, Pakistan, Kashmir, Saudi Arabia, Europe, Libya, Italy, Gujrat, Italian, Ferrara, Turkey, Bhojpur, Gujrat district, Spain, EU, Lahore, Islamabad

☆ UK food production costs fall for first time since 2016: Lloyds
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) - British food manufacturers reported the first drop in their production costs since 2016 in May as lower commodity and energy prices and cheaper shipping outweighed a jump in wage bills, a Lloyds Bank report showed on Tuesday. "It will still take some time before we see the benefit in terms of shelf prices," said Annabel Finlay, a managing director at Lloyds Bank. Food price inflation, as measured by Britain's Office for National Statistics, hit its highest since 1977 in April at 19.1% and only eased fractionally in May. Last week Tesco, Britain's biggest supermarket chain, said food price inflation had peaked and it and others have said they are cutting the prices of some foodstuffs and freezing others. The Lloyds Bank report is based on an analysis of S&P Purchasing Managers' Index data covering around 1,300 companies.

Persons: Annabel Finlay, Andrew Bailey, David Milliken, William Schomberg Organizations: Lloyds Bank, Manufacturers, United Nations, Britain's, National Statistics, Tesco, Bank of England, P, Thomson Locations: British

☆ How Palantir is helping hospitals with tasks that used to require spreadsheets and whiteboards
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

In this article PLTR Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTThe Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S., on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020. The Cleveland Clinic was in the midst of trying new AI-powered software from Palantir . But by accurately predicting patient discharges, Palantir's system saved Pappas, her team and the emergency department a lot of time and effort. Palantir partnered with two health-care systems, Cleveland Clinic and Tampa General Hospital in Florida, during the summer of 2021 to develop software called Palantir for Hospital Operations. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Schedule review within Palantir for Hospital Operations Palantir

Persons: Dustin Franz, Rita Pappas, Pappas, —, Palantir, Shyam Sankar, Sankar, Alex Karp, Dr, Peggy Duggan, Drew Goldstein, Jeremy David, Palantir Drew Goldstein, Palantir's, I'm, David, Goldstein, whiteboards, Drew didn't, They've Organizations: Cleveland Clinic, Ohio Department of Health, Bloomberg, Getty Images Bloomberg, Getty, Cleveland, CNBC, Tampa General Hospital, Hospital Operations, U.S, Intelligence, Hospital Operations Palantir Nurses, American Medical Association . Companies, Tampa General, Cleveland Clinic's, Microsoft Locations: Cleveland , Ohio, U.S, Ohio, Tampa, Florida, Palantir, Florida and Ohio

☆ Why economists say it's a near certainty that housing inflation will soon fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

That gives housing an outsized influence on the overall direction of inflation data. Housing inflation has been stubbornly high for months, according to CPI data. But economists think it has peaked and is on the precipice of a reversal. "I know this with about as high a degree of confidence as one could have," Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, said of falling housing inflation being near at hand. The latest CPI reading, issued Tuesday, showed a monthly increase in shelter inflation, to 0.6% in May from 0.4% in April.

Persons: Richard Newstead, Mark Zandi, Andrew Hunter, Jason Furman, Obama Organizations: Moody's, Capital Economics, CNBC, Finance, Social Security, U.S . Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS, Harvard University, White House Council, Economic Advisers, Twitter, CPI

☆ The Federal Reserve paused its interest-rate hikes after 10 consecutive increases
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Noah Sheidlower | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Federal Reserve announced it's pausing interest-rate hikes at its Wednesday meeting. This comes after 10 consecutive interest-rate increases in 15 months. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced it's holding interest rates steady at its Wednesday meeting, putting a pause on the central bank's 10 consecutive increases in 15 months. "Without a meaningful downside surprise in both jobs and inflation, a final interest-rate hike remains in the cards for July." Following the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank, credit conditions tightened, in part pushing the Fed to skip this month's rate hike amid a lending pullback.

Persons: —, Jerome Powell, Powell, Seema Shah, Shah, Thomas Simons, Simons, Marta Norton, Kathy Gramling, Gramling, Norton, there's, Price Organizations: Federal Reserve, Service, Market, Fed, Asset Management, Jefferies, Valley Bank, First Republic Bank, Morningstar Wealth's America, EY, Consumer, Morningstar Wealth, Norton

☆ Social Security cost-of-living adjustment may be 2.7% in 2024, new estimate finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

New government data shows the annual rate of inflation dipped to the lowest level in about two years as of May. But that may be bittersweet news for Social Security beneficiaries, as they may receive a much lower cost-of-living adjustment in 2024 than they did this year. The Social Security COLA could be 2.7% in 2024 based on the latest consumer price index data, according to The Senior Citizens League, a nonpartisan senior group. The CPI rose 4% from a year ago as of May, the U.S. Department of Labor said Tuesday, and 0.1% for the month. The subset of the index used to determine next year's cost-of-living adjustment, the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers, or CPI-W, was up 3.6% year over year — the lowest level since March 2021, The Senior Citizens League noted.

Organizations: Social, Social Security, Senior Citizens League, Finance, GOP, U.S . Department of Labor

☆ US consumer price increases slow; underlying inflation sticky
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Lucia Mutikani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

But food prices rose 0.2% after being unchanged for two consecutive months as fruits and vegetables, nonalcoholic beverages and other food products became more expensive. While the unemployment rate rose to a seven-month high of 3.7%, that was from a 53-year low of 3.4% in April. The so-called core CPI increased 0.4% in May, rising by the same margin for the third straight month. Beyond May, however, overall core inflation is expected to slow, driven by a moderation in rents and resumption in price declines for used cars and trucks. "We expect a more noticeable deceleration in core prices in the coming months," said Michael Pugliese, a senior economist with Wells Fargo in New York.

Persons: Kathy Bostjancic, Joe Biden, I've, Biden, nonfarm, Michael Pugliese, Wells, Lucia Mutikani, Chizu Nomiyama, Paul Simao, Andrea Ricci Organizations: Federal Reserve, Labor Department, Fed, Nationwide, Reuters, Treasury, Reuters Graphics, Thomson Locations: WASHINGTON, New York, U.S, Ukraine

The dollar made little progress as investors opted for riskier assets, with the Fed widely expected on Wednesday not to hike rates for the first time since January 2022. "Investors have been looking forward to a Fed pause in the rate hiking cycle since they started over a year ago. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 202.78 points, or 1.53%, to 13,461.92 in its biggest one-day percentage gain since May 26. Traders are pricing in a roughly 75% chance of the Fed keeping rates steady, and a 25% chance of a 25-basis-point rate hike, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Given said a Fed hike "would likely be very dollar-positive as it would go against current market expectations."

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Price, Burns McKinney, McKinney, Sterling, Helen, Brent, Sinéad Carew, Gertrude Chavez, Dreyfuss, Elizabeth Howcroft, Andrew Heavens, Nick Zieminski, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, U.S, CPI, PPI Fed, Treasury, U.S . Federal Reserve, Brent, Consumer, Index, PPI, NFJ Investment, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Traders, Reserve Bank of Australia, Bank of Canada, European Central Bank, Bank of Japan, Monex USA, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Dallas, Washington

☆ Gold eases on stronger dollar, focus on central bank meetings
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Gold prices dipped on Monday as the U.S. dollar edged higher, and investors positioned for a series of major central bank policy meetings this week, with a likely pause in interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Spot gold fell 0.3% to $1,954.78 per ounce by 0235 GMT. The release of U.S. consumer price index and producer price index data on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, are also on investors' radar, as a hotter CPI number could alter rate expectations. Fed fund futures show a 71.2% probability that the U.S. central bank will keep its benchmark overnight interest rate in the 5.00%-5.25% range when its two-day meeting ends on Wednesday. Palladium fell 0.7% to $1,313.77 after hitting its lowest since May 2019 on Friday.

Persons: Matt Simpson, Simpson Organizations: U.S, U.S . Federal Locations: Australia, U.S, China, India

☆ How to invest in AI: New York Life Investments shares 3 ways to sensibly put money into the growing sector as 'its true impact is still uncertain' despite investors rushing to buy the stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( William Edwards | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Lauren Goodwin says investors should keep in mind that AI's eventual impact remains unknown. She said to invest thematically, focus on quality, and look at adjacent industries AI will rely on. Stocks like Nvidia and Microsoft — leaders in the AI space — have alone contributed to about 43% of the index's gains. "The excitement about generative AI has distracted investors from the possible risks of a looming recession," Goodwin said in a note on Tuesday. "The direct winners from AI technology may not be known yet.

Persons: Lauren Goodwin, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Goodwin Organizations: Nvidia, Microsoft, New York Life Investments, Nasdaq Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Intelligence, iShares Robotics, Companies, X Data, Digital Infrastructure ETF, Computing Fund

☆ Eurozone investor mood darkens due to 'problem child' Germany, survey finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, June 5 (Reuters) - Investors got more gloomy on prospects for the euro zone economy in June, dragged down by negative expectations for Germany, Europe's biggest economy, a survey showed on Monday. "A look at the Sentix data of the largest economy then clearly shows that the cause of the misery in Euroland is probably linked to the weakness of the German economy," it said. "The biggest problem child in the Eurozone remains Germany." The Sentix index for Germany in June fell to the lowest since November last year, at minus 21.1, from minus 14.5 the previous month. "No matter how hard the (German) Federal Minister of Economics tries, the story he is writing is not a positive summer fairytale," the survey said.

Persons: Sentix, Riham Alkousaa, David Holmes Organizations: Analysts, Reuters, Germany, Federal, of Economics, Thomson Locations: BERLIN, Germany, Europe's, Euroland

Since the release of their last economic projections in March, the unemployment rate has fallen and inflation has largely moved sideways. She expects the Fed to keep its policy rate steady this month "while hinting at potential further hikes," a way to compromise among different views and keep pressure on financial conditions. Fed Chair Jerome Powell and others insist that sort of erratic path is not their base case. The intent, rather, is to reach a "sufficiently restrictive" policy rate and remain at that level until it is clear inflation is falling towards the Fed's 2% target. "I do think they are done" with rate increases, he said, but "I cannot rule out another hike in June."

Persons: they've, Tiffany Wilding, PIMCO, Jerome Powell, Philip Jefferson, Larry Meyer, Ian Shepherdson, Howard Schneider, Paul Simao Organizations: Federal Reserve, Market Committee, Reuters Graphics Reuters, North, Fed, Consumer, Reuters, Reuters Graphics, Labor Department, Pantheon, Thomson Locations: U.S, North American, Washington

☆ Measuring inflation can be tricky and quirky. Here are 3 examples
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

HousingRichard Newstead | Moment | Getty ImagesHousing is perhaps the most consequential category in the consumer price index, a key inflation barometer. But Covid-19 warped that dynamic: Housing costs shot up but have slowed and even started to fall in some areas, economists said. Overall inflation is expected to slow sharply during the second half of the year as the CPI incorporates the housing price cooldown, economists said. The government doesn't calculate health insurance inflation by measuring consumers' direct costs, such as monthly premiums. Health insurance inflation readings may flip positive in fall 2023 and persist into 2024 due to this dynamic, Zandi said.

Persons: Housing Richard Newstead, Zandi, Price, Mark Zandi, Andrew Hunter, Hunter, There's, Jordi Mora Igual Organizations: Housing, Capital Economics, U.S . Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS, CPI, Health, Images, Kaiser Family Foundation, Consumers

CNN —Amazon has agreed to pay more than $30 million to settle two federal lawsuits alleging that the tech giant violated users’ privacy — including that of children — through its Alexa voice assistant and its Ring doorbell cameras. Amazon acquired Ring in 2018, paving the way for the e-commerce giant to get into the home security business. According to the FTC, Amazon kept Alexa voice recordings of children “indefinitely” unless a user specifically instructed the company to delete the recordings. Amazon also agreed to send consumers notices about the FTC settlement, and to implement a privacy program for geolocation data. Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Alexa settlement.

Persons: “, Ring, ”, Amazon Organizations: CNN, Amazon, Federal Trade Commission, FTC Locations: U.S

May 31 (Reuters) - Specialized cloud computing provider CoreWeave has raised $200 million in funding from its existing investor Magnetar Capital, highlighting investor interest in backing infrastructure powering the generative AI boom. The funding, which valued the company at more than $2 billion, comes weeks after CoreWeave raised $221 million from investors including Magnetar Capital and Nvidia (NVDA.O). CoreWeave specializes in providing cloud computing services based on graphics processing units (GPUs), the category of chip pioneered by Nvidia that has become central to artificial intelligence (AI) services like OpenAI's ChatGPT. CoreWeave sells computing power to those AI companies, competing with cloud computing service providers such as Microsoft Azure and Amazon's AWS. (MSFT.O), (AMZN.O)CoreWeave aims to stand out by building its data centers differently for AI work, using a networking technology called InfiniBand to link computers together instead of Ethernet cables that are the current standard in most data centers, McBee said.

Persons: CoreWeave, Brannin, McBee, Krystal Hu, Stephen Nellis, Himani Sarkar Organizations: Magnetar, Magnetar Capital, Nvidia, ChatGPT, Microsoft, AWS, Thomson Locations: New York, San Francisco

The European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE), hosted in Geneva, kicks off on Tuesday and brings together everyone from brokers, planemakers to engine producers. CO2 emissions from private jets in Europe grew by 31% between 2005 and 2019, according to environmental group Transport and Environment. Protesters are expected to gather on Tuesday outside the conference location in Geneva to highlight the rising number of private jet flights amidst a worsening global climate crisis. "The big innovations are usually deployed first in our industry," Kok said. Business jet flights have dropped in Europe by around 6% compared with the same time in 2022, WINGX data showed.

Musk revealed those plans on Tuesday at the company's annual meeting, an about-face for the celebrity executive who recently acquired social media platform Twitter. Musk told CNBC he did not yet have a "fully formed strategy" for Tesla advertising. Tesla spent $151,947 on advertising in the U.S. in 2022, according to advertising intelligence firm Vivvix, which measured ads across places including TV, social media, Web banners and billboards. Diaz-Ortiz is a former Twitter manager who has written books about the social media company. Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Tesla shareholder Globalt Investments, sees Musk's embrace of advertising as a positive.

☆ Mortgage rates tick down for the second week in a row
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington, DC CNN —Mortgage rates ticked down last week for the second week in a row, as progress on inflation is keeping rates calmer. “This week’s decrease continues a recent sideways trend in mortgage rates, which is a welcome departure from the record increases of last year,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. Mortgage rates topped 5% for the first time since 2011 a little more than a year ago, and have remained over 5% for all but one week during the past year. But over the last month rates have averaged about 6.37% and have been going up and down, but staying under 6.5%. “This should bode well for the trajectory of mortgage rates over the long term.”The average mortgage rate is based on mortgage applications that Freddie Mac receives from thousands of lenders across the country.

☆ Gold holds steady ahead of U.S. inflation print
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Gold bars are displayed at a bullion merchant's, Baird & Co., in London, U.K., on Friday, March 14, 2008. Gold prices were flat on Wednesday, as traders positioned themselves for key U.S inflation data due later in the day, which could impact the Federal Reserve's policy stance. Although gold is considered a hedge against inflation, rising interest rates dull non-yielding bullion's appeal. "The outlook of a weak U.S. currency and yields reignite the safe haven status of gold. Spot silver fell 0.1% at $25.58 per ounce, platinum edged 0.1% higher to $1,105.82, and palladium gained 0.1% at $1,571.23.

☆ Here's the best time to redeem Series I bonds to maximize your interest
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Kate Dore | Cfp | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Meanwhile, annual inflation rose to 4.9% in April, the smallest jump in two years, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Wednesday. But after a series of interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, alternatives like Treasury bills, certificates of deposit or money market accounts have emerged as competitive options for cash. "You lose that last three months of interest," said Ken Tumin, founder and editor of DepositAccounts.com. watch nowIf you're selling I bonds within five years, it's easy to get confused by how much interest you're giving up. (You can find the rate by purchase date here and rate change by purchase month here.)

Search resuls for: "X Data"

25 mentions found