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☆ This could be a 'banner year' for cruise stocks. Why Citi says it's time to reconsider the industry as a long-term trade
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

After a long port of call, it may be anchors aweigh time for investors in cruise stocks, according to Citigroup. Royal Caribbean is favored thanks to its solid track record of maintaining costs, and offers the best risk-reward opportunity within the group. So far this year, Royal Caribbean shares are off to a solid start, up more than 41% after tumbling about 36% in 2022. Citi reestablished a price target on RCL shares of $80, implying 19% upside from Wednesday's close. Hardiman retained a neutral but high risk rating on Carnival, lifting his price target to $13 from $9 a share.

☆ In a health system in crisis, Britain's heart care suffers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Alistair Smout | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

Britain's cardiology departments are a microcosm of the problems that have spread through the system. In November, around 8,000 people like Cogan had been waiting more than a year for heart treatment, up from a couple of dozen pre-pandemic. Reuters GraphicsTeams were still trying to restore cardiac services to pre-pandemic levels, NHS England said. Pandemic disruptions to diagnosis and treatment, in addition to delays in emergency care, had an outsized impact on cardiological care, she said. On one visit to his local Colchester hospital, staff could not find a working ECG machine to read his heart's electrical activity when he felt a twinge.

As the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England and other Western central banks to varying degrees drained the liquidity punchbowl this year by raising rates and initiating quantitative tightening, the BOJ was on the other side with People's Bank of China filling it back up again. Liquidity support for world markets next year was always going to dwindle, but few would have had a possible BOJ halt to asset purchases on their bingo card so soon. ROCKY ROAD AHEADThis year has been one of the worst ever for world markets, hammered by multi-decade high inflation and interest rates across much of the developed world, and a rampant dollar. "The largest expansion of central bank balance sheets in history will give way to the largest contraction in history," they said. The ECB last week laid out plans to stop replacing maturing bonds from its 5 trillion euro ($5.31 trillion) portfolio.

☆ Analysis: As Bank of Japan switches gears, roaring dollar hits the skids
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Amanda Cooper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Reuters GraphicsThe dollar has risen 9% this year, as the Federal Reserve has jacked up interest rates to combat inflation at 40-year highs. As other central banks, from the Bank of England, to the European Central Bank, and the Reserve Bank of Australia, have raised their own rates, dollar bulls have run out of puff. The close relationship between Japanese monetary policy and U.S. Treasuries adds another twist to the story. It all boils down to whether Japanese investors have hedged their Treasury exposure or not, he said. But the stress is on "at the margin", not least because of the sheer size of Japanese investors' holdings of U.S. debt, analysts said.

LONDON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The market for old oil tankers is booming, and it's all down to efforts by Western nations to curb trade in Russian crude. The European Union banned all seaborne Russian crude imports from Dec. 5, with a fuel import ban to follow in February. PRICE SURGEMajor Western oil companies typically stop using tankers when they are about 15 years old, and many would be scrapped. More tankers are now being used for voyages taking weeks, shipping Russian oil from the Baltic and Black Sea to Asia, whereas Russian oil was mainly sold in Europe previously and the voyages only took a few days. Ship broker Braemar also said that some of the vessels involved in shipping Iranian and Venezuelan oil were shifting to transporting Russian oil.

☆ With Debt Coming Due, Investment-Grade Companies Are Paying Up, Too
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Nina Trentmann | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

What’s more, volatile markets have resulted in fewer opportunities for companies to sell their debt. Investment-grade U.S. companies have between $550 billion and $750 billion coming due per year from 2023 through 2027, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., with about $59 billion left to pay off or refinance in 2022. Of the $615.54 billion, $504.31 billion were new issuances, compared to $111.23 billion in refinancings, Dealogic said. But investor demand for bonds has been stronger in recent days, leading Amazon.com Inc. and others with near-term debt coming due to the market. Among the businesses that recently took out bond debt at a higher cost is retail giant Walmart Inc.

☆ Long Covid may be 'the next public health disaster' — with a $3.7 trillion economic impact rivaling the Great Recession
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Norpel is one of millions of Americans with long Covid, also known as long-haul Covid, post-Covid or post-acute Covid syndrome. Key symptoms: Long Covid has been linked to more than 200 symptoms, according to The Rockefeller Foundation. Duration: There's no consistent definition of how long symptoms must persist for someone to be considered a long Covid patient. What experts do know is that for some, long Covid symptoms can last months or even years. "I don't know if it's for the rest of my life or not," Hurst said of feeling long Covid symptoms.

☆ 'Compelling' and 'attractive': These stocks are firing on all cylinders, JPMorgan says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Analysts at JPMorgan said this week there's a whole host of stocks that they say are flying under the radar. CNBC Pro combed through top JPMorgan research to find some unique stocks that are just too compelling to ignore. At the same time, Allstate's low stock valuation is "compelling," with a "depressed multiple on depressed earnings." With visibility improving, now's the time to buy the stock, JPMorgan concluded. ... .Our positive view reflects an expected recovery in margins & ALL's compelling valuation.

☆ BoE must sell emergency bond purchases in 'timely' way - Hauser
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( David Milliken | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The Bank of England must sell in "a timely and orderly" way the 19.3 billion pounds ($21.7 billion) of government bonds which it bought as part of its recent emergency operation to support the market, a senior BoE official said on Friday. When the programme was launched, the BoE said it would sell the bonds purchased "in a smooth and orderly fashion once risks to market functioning are judged to have subsided". Hauser said the BoE still needed "to remain sensitive and, if necessary, appropriately responsive to still-febrile market conditions". However, Hauser said liquidity in the gilt market had not yet fully recovered. ($1 = 0.8910 pounds)Reporting by David Milliken Editing by William SchombergOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Top economist David Rosenberg shares 20 ETFs and investment themes that are critical plays for 'long-term return prospects' — including one that's an optimum hideout during bear markets
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Top economist David Rosenberg breaks down key investment trends for the bear market and long-term. In a recent note, Rosenberg says these 12 ETFs have "long-term return prospects." But these conditions have brought valuations back to more reasonable levels and thereby improved long-term investors' return prospects, he added. Water scarcity and food insecurityFirst, there's water scarcity. Investors who want exposure to water companies could look to exchange-traded products like Invesco's Water Resources ETF and First Trust's Water ETF, he says.

☆ RBC calls this stock the most compelling long-term growth story it covers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Shopify 's valuation will likely continue to be hurt by the uncertain economic outlook even if its bottom line isn't showing warning signs, RBC said. He cut Shopify's price target to $55 from $60 despite keeping the stock at an outperform. The revised target implies the stock could almost double in value from closing price of $29.75. These stocks include companies like Shopify that haven't had a long track record of profitable growth. But Treiber says there is a chance Shopify will top both RBC and Wall Street's expectations for third-quarter revenue growth, when it reports its results on Thursday.

☆ How to Find a Financial Advisor
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +12 min

Read on to get started:Types of financial advisorsMany financial professionals, including financial planners, securities brokers, investment managers, and insurance brokers call themselves financial advisors so it’s important to know exactly what services an advisor provides before hiring one. Financial advisor designationsThere are myriad designations for financial advisors but only a handful that indicate the expertise most consumers need. Advisor fees and minimumsHow a financial advisor gets paid can be as important as how much you pay them because you want an advisor whose paramount consideration is your best interest, not their own, and whether or not that is the case is largely determined by how you pay them. How to find a financial advisorFinding a financial advisor is not so different from finding any other specialized service you’re in the market for. The right financial advisor can help navigate your financial life, from budgeting everyday spending to fulfilling long-term financial goals over a lifetime including the purchase of a home and a comfortable retirement.

☆ Here are Friday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Netflix, Bank of America, Amazon, AT&T, Snap & more
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Telsey downgrades Under Armour to market perform from outperform Telsey said it's concerned about too much inventory weighing on the stock. Bank of America downgrades Snap to neutral from buy Bank of America downgraded the stock after its "mixed" earnings report. " JPMorgan reiterates Apple as overweight JPMorgan said investors are too focused on iPhone growth heading into Apple earnings next week. Raymond James downgrades KB Home, Toll Brothers and PulteGroup to market perform from strong buy and D.R. Horton to outperform from strong buy and Lennar to market perform from outperform Raymond James downgraded several homebuilders due to rising mortgage rates.

☆ Here are all five parts of our series on how to analyze an earnings report
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +85 min

Operating income Once we remove operating expenses from gross margin dollars , we are left with what is known as operating income. This is especially important from a cash flow perspective as many companies define free cash flow (a non-GAAP metric) as "operating cash flow less expenditures on property, plant and equipment." Part 3: Cash flow analysis The cash flow statement is the middle child in a financial report — it gets overlooked. Investors may look to use operating cash flow or free cash flow for this equation. AMC's cash flow Let's finish by taking a look at the cash flow statement.

☆ The Fed is draining the stock market and even the 'healthy fish' will die, billionaire investor Barry Sternlicht says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Fed's scramble to hike rates and lower liquidity is draining the stock market, Barry Sternlicht warned. "So you thought the healthy fish would survive and the sick fish would die. But the Fed is draining the entire pond, so everyone's going to die." … So you thought the healthy fish would survive and the sick fish would die. But the Fed is draining the entire pond, so everyone's going to die," he said.

☆ Snap has many workers operating under 'code red' conditions in a drastic new effort to improve advertising and user growth on Snapchat
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Adding older users to Snapchat is also a renewed focus, people told Insider. As Snap struggles to reverse slowing growth and improve its advertising business, parts of the company are operating with a "code red" mentality and more aggressively working to entice older users to join Snapchat. Snap wants Snapchat to 'Age Up'Still, workers are feeling pressure to deliver more revenue growth by the end of the year. For the second quarter, Snap posted revenue growth of 13%. During the fourth quarter of 2021, the company boasted user growth of 20% or more "for five consecutive quarters."

☆ How an oil fracking boom to bust startup plans to thrive in the climate change era
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Eric Rosenbaum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +17 min

And in a way, Duncan thought the science wasn't a good match for the blunt process of oil and gas drilling. The Covid downturn in 2020 capped close to a decade of a bear market for oil and culminated in the negative spot prices in the oil market in May 2020. Oil and gas was changing from a growth business to a value business, and oil company management were much more focused on fiscal discipline. That concentration of equipment and infrastructure's resulting reduced costs was not good for an oil services company. And there have been a lot of surprises along the way – how the shale boom became its biggest business, followed by how quickly the science became commoditized in the oil market.

☆ Europe's severe drought is unearthing ancient artifacts from 'Spanish Stonehenge' to Emperor Nero's bridge
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-17 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Receding water levels due to drought in Europe are unearthing old sites and artifacts. Since early 2022, Europe has experienced an extended period of unusually high temperatures and severe lack of rainfall. From megalithic monuments to ancient bridges, sites and artifacts continue to be unearthed by the 2022 drought in Europe. Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty ImagesIn late July, receding water levels in Spain's Valdecanas reservoir dropped to 28% percent of its capacity, revealing the Dolmen of Guadalperal, dubbed "Spanish Stonehenge," Reuters reported. In June, receding water levels due to the intense drought resurfaced a sunken shipwreck of a World War II-era barge.

The White House struck a tentative deal Thursday to avoid a rail strike that risked major disruptions across the United States, with freight workers securing a key demand. Pandemic pressures, including those that scrambled supply chains, worked in freight workers’ favor, logistics experts said. A rail strike would dent many industries, as about 40% of goods that are shipped long-distance rely on the nation’s rail system. Rail workers often are on-call 24/7 year-round and are allotted time off only after being called to a number of consecutive on-call shifts. A labor union source told NBC News that getting rail carriers to negotiate on attendance policies was a major breakthrough.

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