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☆ Boardrooms will rediscover the value of gray hair
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

To firms keen to avoid repeating past mistakes, the graying of the Western workforce may not be a bad thing in 2023. The share of European over-55s in jobs grew to 20% in 2019, from 12% in 2014, according to official data. The typical incoming CEO is 55, a decade older than the average in 2005, according to Crist Kolder Associates. Money markets are pricing in U.S. rates of 5% by the summer. Financial markets will always love the next new thing, but for the time being, gray is good.

Focusing on environmental, social or governance-related issues, ESG in industry parlance, could hit returns to investors, critics said. Other states followed, with Texas accusing BlackRock and banks including Bank of America (BAC.N) of 'boycotting' fossil fuel companies in the transition to a greener economy. WHY IT MATTERSThe criticism comes at a critical time for global climate efforts. A landmark U.N. report earlier this year said time was running out to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050. With a number of investigations into finance-linked ESG activities still in train across various states, the prospect of a let-up in pressure in 2023 is slim.

Last year, the industry handed out the biggest awards since 2006 as the economy roared back from the pandemic. It's a head-spinning reversal for dealmakers who racked up record profits for their firms last year and clinched eye-watering payouts for themselves. Compensation for FICC traders will probably rise slightly or stay flat, said Bell at Sheffield Haworth, while stock traders could see a small drop. Worsening economic conditions have already prompted firms including Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Citigroup Inc (C.N), to trim their workforces. In the United Kingdom, most big firms are discussing and allocating bonuses now, with decisions not usually announced until early next year.

Dec 22 (Reuters) - Scott Minerd, global chief investment officer at investment and advisory firm Guggenheim Partners and a prominent Wall Street bond investor, has died, his firm said on Thursday. During his 25-year stint with Guggenheim, Minerd became a prolific commentator on financial markets and was often quoted by the media. He will be greatly missed by all," Mark Walter, chief executive and a founder of Guggenheim Partners, said in the firm's statement. Guggenheim said it had implemented a succession plan, with Anne Walsh, managing partner and CIO of Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, assuming many of Minerd's responsibilities on an interim basis. Minerd was regarded in the past few years as one of the U.S. "bond kings," along with Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive of DoubleLine, and Dan Ivascyn, chief investment officer of bond giant PIMCO.

☆ U.S. business equipment borrowings rise 9% in November - report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 20 (Reuters) - U.S. companies borrowed 9% more to finance their equipment investments in November from a year earlier, industry body Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) said on Tuesday. "Labor markets are stable, inflation woes appear to be abating, consumers are spending, and businesses continue to expand and grow: a recipe for stable growth by providers of equipment financing," Petta added. ELFA, which reports economic activity for the nearly $1-trillion equipment finance sector, said credit approvals totaled 77.7%, slightly above the October level. The Washington-based body's leasing and finance index measures the volume of commercial equipment financed in the United States. ELFA's non-profit affiliate, Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation, said the confidence index in December stood at 45.9, compared with 43.7 in November.

☆ Three big calls in focus on Three-Stock Lunch: DIS, AMZN & BAC
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThree big calls in focus on Three-Stock Lunch: DIS, AMZN & BACJeff Mills, Bryn Mawr Trust CIO, joins 'Power Lunch' to break down three major calls released today on a Three-Stock Lunch featuring Disney, Amazon and Bank of America.

☆ Who will be Wall Street’s un-American idol?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Europeans have been losing the battle against Wall Street’s cozy club for a decade. Deutsche Bank has done the former. BNP has made smaller steps, buying Bank of America’s prime broking business in 2008, then Deutsche Bank’s in 2019. Even with the best intentions, European banks must contend with their own regulators, which affects their ability to take risk elsewhere. JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs together took the top five slots for debt capital markets and merger advisory, as they also did in 2021.

☆ Wall St Week Ahead U.S. bank stocks falter as recession worries take hold
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Lewis Krauskopf | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The S&P 500 banks index (.SPXBK) has slumped some 11% this month against a 5.5% drop for the broader index (.SPX) in the same period. While bank stocks have traded broadly in line with the S&P 500 throughout the year, their decline accelerated in recent weeks, with the S&P 500 bank index now off over 24% in 2022. The S&P 500 is down 19% year-to-date, on pace for its biggest annual percentage drop since 2008. Expectations of a slowdown led Todd's firm to sell some of its bank shares earlier this year. King Lip, chief strategist at Baker Avenue Wealth Management, said his firm recently bought bank stocks, convinced that any hit to U.S. growth will likely be moderate.

☆ Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Tesla, Amazon, Nike, Nio, Verizon, Disney, Snap & more
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Guggenheim names Nike a top 2023 pick Guggenheim said Nike's brand remains "healthy and strong." Bank of America names Amazon a top 2023 pick Bank of America said Amazon is a "share gainer" that will continue in 2023. " Morgan Stanley upgrades Verizon to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said Verizon shares are "historically" attractive. Morgan Stanley downgrades AT & T to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley said it sees a more balanced risk/reward. Morgan Stanley downgrades Lockheed Martin to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley said it sees more "limited upside" for shares of the defense company. "

☆ Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway are beating the market this year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But Warren Buffett has no reason to be worried. Shares of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) are up about 5.5% in 2022. Berkshire has big stakes in Coca-Cola (KO) and Kraft Heinz (KHC), which are each up around 10% this year. Buffett turns 93 next August while Berkshire vice chair and long-time Buffett confidant Charlie Munger will celebrate his 99th birthday on New Year’s Day. Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren has introduced a bill with Republican Sen. Roger Marshall that would crack down on money laundering in the crypto world.

☆ Here are Wednesday's biggest analyst calls: Tesla, Apple, Amazon, Exxon Mobil, Nike, Best Buy & more
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Morgan Stanley names Exxon Mobil a top 2023 pick Morgan Stanley said Exxon Mobil is one of the best-positioned stocks heading into 2023. Morgan Stanley reiterates Apple as overweight Morgan Stanley said concerns about App Store competition are overdone. Bank of America downgrades Best Buy to underperform from neutral Bank of America said the environment is too challenging right now for Best Buy. Bank of America reiterates Nike as neutral Bank of America said it's cautious going into Nike earnings next week. Bank of America reiterates Alphabet as buy Bank of America said it's sticking with its buy rating on Alphabet but that investors need to hear more about the Google parent's cost-cutting initiatives.

Bonus payout discussions are currently underway at Morgan Stanley globally, they said. Morgan Stanley, which does not disclose details of bonus payouts, declined to comment. Wall Street investment bankers can expect much smaller bonuses this year as the economy slows, according to projections published last month by Johnson Associates Inc, a compensation consultant in New York. This year's bonus discussions are taking place after Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said earlier this month that the bank was making "modest job cuts" worldwide. Morgan Stanley reported a 30% slump in third-quarter profit in October, missing analysts' estimate as a slowdown in global dealmaking hurt its investment banking business.

☆ Musk's bankers mull new Tesla margin loans to slash Twitter debt - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 7 (Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk's bankers are considering providing the Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Officer with new margin loans backed by the U.S. automaker's stock to replace some of the high interest debt on his Twitter deal, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday. The margin loans are one of the options that the Morgan Stanley (MS.N)-led bank group and Musk's advisers have discussed to ease the $13 billion debt Twitter took on as part of Musk's $44 billion deal, the report said, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Morgan Stanley (MS.N), Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), Barclays Plc (BARC.L) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (8306.T) led the $13 billion financing for the bid by Musk. The banks are not expected to offload any of the Twitter debt to institutional investors until the new year, Bloomberg reported. Reuters reported in October that banks had abandoned plans to sell the debt to investors because of uncertainty around Twitter's fortunes and losses.

☆ Blackstone gets a slap from efficient markets
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Jonathan Guilford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

NEW YORK, Dec 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Private markets seemed, for a while, the perfect antidote to the weirdness of public markets. Those models typically move much more slowly than the rapidly changing prices served up by public markets. These charms became much more potent during the stresses of Covid-19, when it became clear that public markets are not always a ruthlessly efficient price-discovery mechanism. RESILIENCE OR INTRANSIGENCECovid briefly scrambled the world, but bigger changes are coming that may scramble the calculus for private markets. During Covid, public markets seemed backward-looking, overreacting to the present moment while private markets were able to focus on the future.

☆ Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Amazon, Chevron, Chipotle, Lowe's, Hershey, AT&T & more
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Here are Wall Street's biggest calls on Thursday: Bank of America reiterates Chevron as buy Bank of America said it's standing by its buy rating on the oil and gas giant after it announced its 2023 capital budget on Wednesday. JPMorgan upgrades Vulcan Materials to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said risks for the construction materials company are already priced in. UBS initiates Shopify as sell UBS said it's concerned about increasing competition. UBS upgrades Hershey to buy from neutral UBS said it's becoming bullish on the chocolate and candy maker's long-term growth. Bank of America reiterates Lowe's as buy Bank of America said shares of Lowe's remain attractive.

☆ S&P, Nasdaq extend losing streaks amid rising recession worries
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( David French | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., November 29, 2022. For the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX), it was the fifth straight session that it has declined, while the Nasdaq (.IXIC) finished down for the fourth time in a row. The S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 7.34 points, or 0.19%, to close at 3,933.92 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) dropped 56.34 points, or 0.51%, to finish at 10,958.55. The S&P 500 is on track to snap a three-year winning streak. The S&P 500 posted seven new 52-week highs and seven new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 61 new highs and 307 new lows.

The benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) fell for the fifth straight session on Wednesday. The Nasdaq (.IXIC) was down for the fourth straight session, dragged lower by a 1.3% drop in Apple Inc (AAPL.O) on Morgan Stanley's iPhone shipment target cut and a 3.9% fall in Tesla Inc (.IXIC) over production loss worries. The CBOE volatility index (.VIX), also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, rose to a two-week high to 23.01 points. The S&P 500 is on track to snap a three-year winning streak, down 17.4% so far in 2022. The S&P index recorded six new 52-week highs and seven new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 36 new highs and 226 new lows.

[1/2] Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., November 29, 2022. "From the bigger picture, the Fed has hiked rates to a point where markets are expecting monetary policy to be restrictive enough to cause a mild recession." The CBOE volatility index (.VIX), also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, rose to a two-week high at 23.01 points amid increased investor anxiety. Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) slumped 2.9%, down for a third straight session over production loss worries at its Shanghai plant. The S&P index recorded two new 52-week highs and six new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 25 new highs and 149 new lows.

SummarySummary Companies Apple down, Morgan Stanley cuts Dec shipment estimateCarvana tumbles, Wedbush slashes PT to Street lowFutures down: Dow 0.25%, S&P 0.48%, Nasdaq 0.82%Dec 7 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes were set to open lower on Wednesday after warnings of a looming recession from major Wall Street bankers offset optimism around China relaxing its strict zero-COVID rules. Fears of a recession due to the U.S. Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes to curb inflation pulled the S&P 500 (.SPX) lower for a fourth straight session on Tuesday, with all major Wall Street indexes ending down 1%-2%. "From the bigger picture, the Fed has hiked rates to a point where markets are expecting monetary policy to be restrictive enough to cause a mild recession." The CBOE volatility index (.VIX), also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, rose to a two-week high at 23.01 points amid increased investor anxiety. ET, Dow e-minis were down 85 points, or 0.25%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 19 points, or 0.48%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 94.75 points, or 0.82%.

☆ Futures fall on growing fears of recession
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SummarySummary Companies Futures down: Dow 0.11%, S&P 0.21%, Nasdaq 0.30%Dec 7 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged lower on Wednesday after warnings of a looming recession from major Wall Street bankers offset optimism around the easing of China's strict zero-COVID rules. Fears of a recession due to the U.S. Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes to curb inflation pulled the S&P 500 (.SPX) lower for a fourth straight session on Tuesday, with all major Wall Street indexes closing down 1-2%. ET, Dow e-minis were down 36 points, or 0.11%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 8.25 points, or 0.21%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 34.75 points, or 0.3%. Among other stocks, GameStop Corp (GME.N) jumped 1.1% ahead of its third-quarter results where it is expected to report a 4.5% rise in revenue. Reporting by Shubham Batra and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] Banknotes of Chinese yuan and U.S. dollar are seen in this illustration picture taken September 29, 2022. Yet the euro was flat against the dollar at $1.048, after falling 0.2% in the previous session. In Asia, China's yuan firmed as the government announced measures that marked a sharp change to its tough, three-year-old zero-COVID policy that has battered its economy and sparked historic protests. "Anticipation of further easing of measures in China should continue to favour RMB (and) RMB-linked assets." "China's reopening will be bumpy in coming months and economic data will likely get worse before it gets better."

☆ Morning Bid: Hat-trick
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

For the euro zone, commentary by officials is hinting at a peak in rates but anaemic growth and stubbornly high inflation are haunting investors. ECB policymaker Constantinos Herodotou said on Tuesday that interest rates will go up again but are now "very near" their neutral level. Markets will focus on industrial output data due from Germany, while euro zone third-quarter GDP and employment numbers, and UK house prices are among the other economic indicators for the day. Euro zone government bond yields dropped for the first time in three days on Tuesday in the run-up to a raft of major central bank decisions next week. The central bank has made conservative estimates on inflation despite Russia cutting gas supplies to Europe in response to Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.

☆ Dollar edges up as darkening growth outlook hurts sentiment
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Rae Wee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SINGAPORE, Dec 7 (Reuters) - The dollar crept higher on Wednesday as top executives from the biggest U.S. banks warned of an impending recession, which dampened risk appetite and kept the greenback supported. Against the dollar, sterling fell 0.4% overnight, and was last 0.05% lower at $1.2128. It's part of our baseline," said Joseph Capurso, head of international and sustainable economics at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Against a basket of currencies, the U.S. dollar index was last 0.05% higher at 105.60. The offshore yuan was last marginally higher at 6.9845 per dollar, having been supported by an easing of China's strictest COVID-19 restrictions.

☆ ‘There is a slowdown happening’ – Wells Fargo, BofA CEOs point to cooling consumer amid Fed hikes
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Hugh Son | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

After two years of pandemic-fueled, double-digit growth in Bank of America card volume, "the rate of growth is slowing," CEO Brian Moynihan said Tuesday at a financial conference. It was a similar story at rival Wells Fargo , according to CEO Charlie Scharf, who cited shrinking growth in credit-card spending and roughly flat debit card transaction volumes. Fortified by pandemic stimulus checks, wage gains and low unemployment, American consumers have supported the economy, but that appears to be changing. "There is a slowdown happening, there's no question about it," Scharf said. Bank of America's Moynihan said he expects three quarters of negative growth next year followed by a slight uptick in the fourth quarter.

☆ S&P posts 4th straight decline as recession talk weighs on Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( David French | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] The Wall Street entrance to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is seen in New York City, U.S., November 15, 2022. However, technology names generally suffered as investors applied caution toward high-growth companies whose performance would be sluggish in a challenging economy. Most of the 11 major S&P sectors declined, with energy and communications services (.SPLRCL) joining technology (.SPLRCT) as leading laggards. Future economic growth prospects were in focus on Tuesday following comments from financial titans pointing toward uncertain times ahead. The S&P 500 posted three new 52-week highs and nine new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 52 new highs and 262 new lows.

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