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MIAMI, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The mood at the annual 'Miami hedge fund week' gatherings this week was as bright as the winter sunshine, with one notable dark cloud on the 2023 horizon: U.S. stocks. But right now in the hedge fund and alternative market investor community, reluctance to get sucked in is trumping fear of missing out. And there is no shortage of reasons why - inflation, weak earnings, squeezed margins, recession, 'higher for longer' interest rates. Despite massive Fed tightening and the prospect of liquidity drying up significantly this year, investors see opportunities out there. This suggests equity investors are betting heavily on the Fed successfully engineering a 'soft landing' - possible, but far from certain.

☆ The Western-made tanks heading to Ukraine are unique — but that creates unique problems for Ukraine's military
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

While most modern tanks run on diesel, the Abrams uses a Honeywell 1,500-horsepower gas-turbine engine that functions best when burning JP-8 jet fuel. Challenger tanks were credited with destroying 300 Iraqi tanks. When Turkish Leopard 2s battled ISIS fighters in Syria in 2016, the results were less than impressive. Leopard manufacturer Rheinmetall has 22 Leopard 2s and 88 older Leopard 1s in its inventory, but those can't be made battle-ready until at least 2024. What matters is how many Ukraine will receive — 31 Abrams and 14 Challenger 2s are not a lot — and how Ukraine's military uses them.

☆ Iran blames Israel for Isfahan drone attack, vows revenge -ISNA
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Eyewitness footage shows what is said to be the moment of an explosion at a military industry factory in Isfahan, Iran, January 29, 2023, in this still image obtained from a video. "This action undertaken by the Zionist regime (Israel) goes against international law." Iran has accused Israel in the past of planning attacks using agents inside Iranian territory. Several nuclear sites are located in Isfahan province, including Natanz, the centrepiece of Iran’s uranium enrichment programme, which Iran accuses Israel of sabotaging in 2021. There have been a number of explosions and fires around Iranian military, nuclear and industrial sites in recent years.

☆ This company says it can cut building costs with AI technology that herds contractors and measures their progress. See the pitch deck it used to raise $10 million.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Construction relies on myriad contractors, making it hard for developers to fully follow projects. OnsiteIQ raised $10 million to bring AI vision on board so developers can see and record progress. The company's CEO walked Insider through the deck the firm used to raise the funds. According to Khosrowpour, that's why 72% of construction projects experience delays. Khosrowpour walked Insider through the pitch deck that helped the firm raise $10 million.

☆ The US's powerful Abrams tanks are heading to Ukraine, but generals disagree over how hard it'll be to use them on the battlefield
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Sebastien Roblin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

The US has pledged to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine, joining a bevy of Western-made tanks. Here comes the M1 Abrams for UkraineA M1A2 Abrams tank fires at a target during an exercise. The same day, word spread that US President Joe Biden would announce he was sending 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. But Hertling disagreed that withholding the M1 Abrams was a "political decision" and didn't find the examples of non-US Abrams operators persuasive. M1 Abrams: training and sustainmentAn M1A2 Abrams drives into the woods during an exercise in Hohenfels, Germany.

☆ Turkey's push into Iraq risks deeper conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Amina Ismail | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

REUTERS/Amina IsmailSARARO, Iraq, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Looming over the deserted village of Sararo in northern Iraq, three Turkish military outposts break the skyline, part of an incursion that forced the residents to flee last year after days of shelling. Turkey's advances across the increasingly depopulated border of Iraqi Kurdistan attract little global attention compared to its incursions into Syria or the battle against Islamic State, but the escalation risks further destabilising a region where foreign powers have intervened with impunity, analysts say. EMPTY VILLAGESA Kurdish official, who declined to be named, also said Turkey now had about 80 outposts in Iraq. NEW TARGETSBeyond the humanitarian impact, Turkey's incursion risks widening the conflict by giving carte blanche to regional rival Iran to step up intelligence operations inside Iraq and take its own military action, Kurdish officials say. According to a Washington Institute report, attacks on Turkish military facilities in Iraq increased from an average of 1.5 strikes per month at the start of 2022 to seven in April.

☆ Warren Buffett is the only top-10 billionaire to become poorer this year after Berkshire Hathaway missed out on the stock market's rally
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Berkshire Hathaway stock is trailing the S&P 500's 5% gain and the Nasdaq's 10% jump this month. Amazon stock has jumped 17% this year, while Microsoft stock has inched up 1%. Investors flocked to Berkshire stock in 2022, sending its stock price up about 3% even as the S&P 500 slumped 19% and the Nasdaq tumbled by one-third. While Buffett is the only top-10 billionaire in the red this year, he's still ranked fifth in the index. Adani Group's stock price has plunged in recent days after short-seller Hindenburg Research released an incendiary report on the company.

☆ Bank of America reveals its top stocks ahead of earnings, including a favorite solar name
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

There still are plenty of stock-buying opportunities as earnings reports continue to roll out, according to Bank of America analysts. CNBC Pro combed through Bank of America's recent research to find the most attractive stocks that are well-positoned ahead of their reports. Fox Buy shares of the "best positioned" company in media, analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich said recently about Fox . "We find Grab well positioned to balance revenue growth with profitability in both its core businesses— delivery & mobility," Salgaonkar said. Thesis: 1) We find Grab well positioned to balance revenue growth with profitability in both its core businesses - delivery & mobility.

☆ Here comes the biggest week of earnings. Plus an AI ode to the Dow
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

While only six companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average are reporting next week, about 20% of the S & P 500 reports, making it the biggest week of earnings this season. The Dow and the S & P 500 gained 2.2% and 2.9% this week, respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 4.7%. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB.

☆ Wall Street sees many of the big winners this week cooling off from here—with one notable exception
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Hakyung Kim | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The three major averages are heading toward a positive week during a frenzy of fourth-quarter earnings. For instance, Nvidia is on pace to rise more than 13% this week, while Seagate Technology is up more than 17%. Here are the top ten biggest gainers: Western Digital , a semiconductor producer on the list, rose 14.2% this week. It is also one of the few stocks analysts anticipate will continue its rally—it has a target upside of 11%. Out of the big winners this week, analysts are the most optimistic about Tesla.

☆ France and Iraq sign comprehensive strategic partnership agreement
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

France and Iraq signed a treaty seeking to strengthen bilateral relations in anti-corruption, security, renewable energy and culture, the Elysee Palace said in a statement issued in the early hours of Friday. "In terms of alternative energies, they showed their commitment to the implementation of TotalEnergies's (TTEF.PA) multiple-energies project (...) based on solar energy and investments in gas." When TotalEnergies and Baghdad in 2021 signed an agreement to build four giant solar, gas, power and water projects in southern Iraq over 25 years, hopes for an exodus reversal were high. Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), Shell (SHEL.L) and BP (BP.L) have all sought to scale back their operations in Iraq in recent years. Reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru and Benoit Van Overstraeten in Paris; Editing by Tom Hogue and Sudip Kar-GuptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A more useful way to measure intelligence, XQ is 'the new EQ,' says USC research scientist
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Natasha Piñon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

There's a new way to predict success: XQ, or experiential intelligence. Rather than book smarts or empathetic abilities, experiential intelligence is a measure of how your life experiences have shaped the way you think, what you know and how you use that knowledge. "[It's] the combination of mindsets, abilities and know-how gained from your past experiences," Soren Kaplan, author of the book "Experiential Intelligence: Harness the Power of Experience for Personal and Business Breakthroughs," tells CNBC Make It. And while you might work to improve your EQ, for example, you don't require training to start applying experiential intelligence to your own life. "Everyone has experiential intelligence," Kaplan says.

DUBAI/LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Qatar is in talks to acquire a stake from French company TotalEnergies' (TTEF.PA) $27 billion cluster of energy projects in Iraq, three sources told Reuters, as Baghdad hopes to stem efforts by Western energy companies to exit the country. The TotalEnergies deal with Iraq, which will require an initial investment of $10 billion, followed a visit from French President Emmanuel Macron in September 2021. Sources told Reuters last year that disputes over terms had risked scrapping the project. A senior Iraqi oil ministry official said he was not aware of QatarEnergy plans to acquire a stake in the TotalEnergies' project. One of the sources told Reuters Sudani would also meet TotalEnergies Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne in a bid to end the deadlock.

☆ Jim Cramer reminds investors to maintain a diversified portfolio
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Wednesday told investors that diversification remains key to keeping a successful portfolio. "I can't say a diversified portfolio is bulletproof. The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 closed lower on Wednesday as investors digested the latest slew of corporate earnings. Well, that's why you've got to stay diversified," Cramer said. He added that he still doesn't recommend that investors add to their tech positions, even after the recent declines.

☆ Analysis: Iraqi PM walks diplomatic tightrope in crackdown on dollars smuggled to Iran
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Ahmed Rasheed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The New York Federal Reserve introduced tighter controls on international dollar transactions by commercial Iraqi banks in November. "Americans are using the dollar transfer rigid restrictions as warning messages to Prime Minister Sudani to stay tuned with the American interests. The new system has slowed down dollar transactions, said Nabil al-Marsoumi, economics professor at Basra University. Meanwhile the price of consumer goods has increased and the Iraqi currency has taken a beating. The Iraqi prime minister replaced the central bank governor after the slide in the dinar, the state news agency said on Monday.

U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo speaks during a press conference with Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein at the State Department in Washington on Aug. 19, 2020. A demonstrator holds a poster with a picture of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi outside the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, Turkey October 25, 2018. "And as even the New York Times reported, Khashoggi was cozy with the terrorist-supporting Muslim Brotherhood," Pompeo wrote. I confirm it to you," Khashoggi's widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, told NBC News on Monday. Hanan Elatr Khashoggi Widow of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

☆ January Monthly Meeting: Cramer shares his outlook for 2023 and why he's more optimistic than most
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Matthew J. Belvedere | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The stock market rally that kicked off 2023 has run into a brick wall over the past two days. We never thought the turn of the calendar from last year's train wreck would leave all our problems behind. However, Jim Cramer said during the Club's January "Monthly Meeting" on Thursday, that he's more optimistic about the year ahead than many strategists. The past two days aside, tech started 2023 as a bright spot as many investors thought that the sector's suffering made it a good place to get back in. Wednesday's decline ended the Nasdaq's seven-session winning streak, a run we never thought was real.

☆ Jim Cramer's top 10 things to watch in the market Thursday: Sell-off Day 2, P&G outlook raise
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Club holding Procter & Gamble (PG): earnings-per-share in fiscal second quarter of 2023 of $1.59 matches estimates; revenue of $20.77 billion slightly beats. Club holding Apple (AAPL) has been holding in at roughly 22x forward earnings estimates compared to the S & P 500's 17.5x multiple. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB.

Before the market opened, U.S. economic data showed retail sales and producer prices declined more than expected in December, while production at U.S. factories fell more than expected and November output was weaker than thought. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 613.89 points, or 1.81%, to 33,296.96 and the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 62.11 points, or 1.56%, to 3,928.86. Today's economic data served as a trigger to initiate a profit taking spell and the groups with most profits to take have been the ones that have done best last year," said Stovall. Earlier in the day, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester stressed on the need to raise rates beyond 5% to bring inflation to heel. The S&P 500 posted nine new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 78 new highs and 20 new lows.

At least 15 U.S. oil refineries plan maintenance ranging from two to 11 weeks through May, tallies by Reuters and refining intelligence firm IIR Energy show. By mid-February, U.S. refiners will drop some 1.4 million barrels per day of processing capacity, double the five-year average, according to IIR. PBF Energy's (PBF.N) Toledo, Ohio, refinery remains largely offline from December, according to two people familiar with the matter. Heating oil margins are $58 per barrel, more than double the year-ago level. U.S. gasoline inventories are 226.8 million barrels, compared to 240.7 million at this time last year, while refinery capacity is 8% lower than before storm Elliott.

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 17 (Reuters) - A long-running dispute on oil revenue-sharing between Iraq's national government and the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region may be resolved within months with agreement on a hydrocarbons law, Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said on Tuesday. Agreement on regular budget payments from Baghdad would help authorities in the Kurdish Regional Government resolve payment delays to international oil companies in the region, as well as easing a backlog in salary payments for KRG employees. Asked about the timing for agreement on the hydrocarbon law, Barzani said it should be within months. Under the Iraqi constitution, the KRG is entitled to a portion of the national budget. The standoff has affected the KRG's ability to pay international oil companies (IOCs) operating on its territory and to pay thousands of local employees.

☆ The 3 best tanks on earth
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Brent M. Eastwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The three best tanks on Earth, let the debate begin: Are tanks still useful in the 21st century? I can offer three tanks that deserve clear recognition as the three best tanks on Earth, although I will admit, there is room for debate. Here are all of the reasons why:3 best tanks on earth: Meet the M1 AbramsAn M1A2 Abrams fires a sabot round. 3 best tanks on earth: Meet the K2 Black PantherA South Korean K-2 tank in June 2012. 3 best tanks on earth: the German LeopardGerman army Leopard 2 tanks in Munster in October 2015.

☆ Germany in talks with Iraq over possible gas imports - Chancellor
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani hold a news conference at the Federal Chancellery in Berlin, Germany January 13, 2023. REUTERS/Michele TantussiBERLIN, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Germany is in talks with Iraq over the possibility of importing natural gas from the oil-rich country, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday, as Berlin scrambles to diversify its energy sources to replace a drop in Russian fossil fuel shipments. "We also talked about possible gas deliveries to Germany and agreed to stay in close contact," Scholz told journalists in a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Berlin. Scholz did not give further details on the volumes of gas Germany hopes to import from Iraq. Baghdad has offered opportunities to German companies to invest in using Iraq's natural gas and the gas generated as a byproduct from oil production, al-Sudani said, adding that Iraq wants to deliver gas through a pipeline via Turkey to Europe.

☆ Siemens Energy signs agreement to develop Iraq's power grid
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Siemens Energy AG FollowBERLIN, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Siemens Energy (ENR1n.DE) plans to boost its cooperation with Iraq in the coming years, the company said on Friday, as its CEO inked a deal with the Iraqi government to develop the country's power network. Siemens Energy CEO Christian Bruch signed a memorandum of understanding with Iraqi Electricity Minister Ziyad Ali to provide an additional 11 gigawatts for local power production, a statement from the German Economy Ministry said. "Siemens Energy will play a key role in in this development," Habeck added. The planned projects include constructing and developing power generation facilities for both conventional and renewable energy sources, the ministry statement said. Electrification of large parts of an entire country is therefore one of the most important tasks of our business," Siemens Energy CEO Christian Bruch said in a statement to Reuters ahead of the meeting.

☆ Stock futures are little changed after Nasdaq's third-straight winning day
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Stock futures were quiet on Tuesday evening as Wall Street looked to build on what has been a positive start to 2023 so far. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 19 points, or less than 0.1%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed. The moves come after the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.01% on Tuesday to clinch its first three-day winning streak since November. There is some evidence that when rates start to decline from the Federal Reserve, better markets are ahead.

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