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☆ Here are 5 questions investors should consider when jumping into the huge rally in the 'Magnificent 7' stocks this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-16 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

There are five key questions for investors looking at the heavily concentrated rally in stocks this year. Though recent commentary points to artificial intelligence as the catalyst for the current tech stock surge, BofA chalks ut up to a few other factors as well. But while that period ended in consolidation and some steep losses for investors, the current tech rally differs in an important way. Today's top seven firms are much bigger than many tech firms in 2000, which signals that they can afford to deal with stiffer regulation. Investors can expect opportunities to broaden beyond the seven mega-cap stocks, and valuations for the equal-weighted S&P will exceed them.

Persons: —, BofA, Bubbles, COVID Organizations: Service, Bank of America, Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Big Tech, Tech, Investors Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Big Tech fund manager reveals how to trade expensive valuations — and the stocks to buy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Investors should focus on trading momentum rather than worry too much about lofty valuations in Big Tech stocks, according to chief investment officer Patrick Armstrong. "I've kept the mega-cap tech stocks that have really been the driver of returns for my portfolio and for the market," Armstrong told CNBC's Squawk Box Europe Monday. Yet Big Tech valuations have pushed the index's forward average price-to-earings ratio to 21 times, its highest level since 2004, barring a brief period in 2018 and 2021, according to FactSet data. Despite his discomfort about these steep valuations, Armstrong said he's not selling yet for two reasons. Armstrong added that if the economy slips into a recession, the recent tech rally could become a period of stagnation, with Big Tech stocks treading water as they attempt to grow into their lofty valuations.

Persons: Patrick Armstrong, Armstrong, I've, CNBC's, It's, he's, you've Organizations: Global Equity Strategy, Big Tech, Tech, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, Investors Locations: Big Tech

☆ 'Real' meat maker Cargill may emerge big winner in plant-based food as buzzy startup boom fades
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Bob Woods | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Additionally, Cargill began marketing several plant-based protein ingredients, made from soy, pea and wheat, to food and beverage manufacturers worldwide. What to expect for plant-based meat in next decade Cargill's calculated approach to plant-based meats coincides with the nascent industry's trajectory. And then there's the consumer's appetite to pay a premium price for plant-based meat. So Cargill's biggest competition will be the established plant-based meat companies, like Beyond and Impossible, he said. The future of plant-based meat might be analogous to the ongoing transition to electric vehicles.

Persons: Florian Schattenmann, Cargill Cargill, Cargill, Schattenmann, it's, John Baumgartner, Baumgartner, Caroline Bushnell, Bushnell, that's, Seth Goldstein, Goldstein, Tyson's Organizations: Cargill, Foods, Tyson Foods, Hormel Foods, Smithfield Foods, Cargill Inc, The, Bloomberg, Getty, Foods Cargill, Mizuho Securities USA, Good Food Institute, Cubiq Foods, FDA, North, Food and Drug Administration, Morningstar Research Services, Nielsen, annualized Nielsen, Nestle, Tesla, tiptoed, Ford, GM, Hyundai, Volkswagen Locations: U.S, Minneapolis, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Spanish, Berkeley , California, Puris, North American, Netherlands, Bflike, Belgian, North America

☆ Here's how Bank of America is telling traders to invest up and down the spectrum from large cap to small to book maximum profits while playing smart defense
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Marley Jay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Its equity strategists say that value criteria tend to work best in small- and mid-cap stocks. They added that small caps are an especially good pathway to diversification right now. But they noted that investors can use small caps to diversify their portfolios while also being rewarded for better stock picking. "High Projected Long-Term Growth has not been a strong stock selection factor over the long-term," they wrote. "The best way to pick stocks within small caps over the long-term has been buying stocks with high free cash flow to enterprise value" and other metrics based on free cash flow yields.

Persons: Subramanian, it's, Jill Carey Hall, Nicolas Woods, Woods, Russell, Russell MidCap Organizations: of America, Bank of America, US Equity, Materials, Nasdaq, Bank of

☆ Welcome to the final phase of software eating the world. SaaS companies beware, you're on the menu this time.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

This could disrupt the way software is created, distributed, and used, VCs and startup founders say. This outcome would flip the traditional software industry on its head, calling into question the value of SaaS companies in a world where everyday people can build software themselves. "This is the final chapter of software eating the world, where a bunch of people can create enterprise software within the enterprise." A 'healthy pressure' for traditional SaaS providersTo be sure, the death of the traditional software company still seems a long way off. However, even skeptics admit that the threat of generative AI to traditional SaaS will push established software companies to prove their worth.

☆ Buybacks are a great tool to reward shareholders — but the timing has to be right
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Now, as all good businesses do, it comes time for XYZ to start returning cash to its shareholders. Of course, for a buyback to make financial sense for a company, shares need to be purchased at an appropriate price. Assume that XYZ Corp. generated $10 billion in sales with a 10% net profit margin and has 1 billion shares outstanding, resulting in EPS of $1. The structure aligns management with shareholders, as their compensation is tied to the success of the company and, therefore, the stock. While that's a net positive for shareholders, it's not the same as, say, Apple' s (AAPL) approach to buybacks.

☆ Trader Joe’s reveals why it still refuses to offer grocery pickup or delivery, even as fans beg the chain for online options
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Trader Joe's has avoided offering delivery or pick-up orders for decades. According to an episode of Trader Joe's podcast, released on Monday: A combination of cost and company culture. Trader Joe's shoppers have been asking for the chain to provide delivery for years. Walmart has also expanded its grocery delivery capabilities, hiring drivers and offering unlimited deliveries for members of its own subscription program. Avoiding delivery and pick-up is just one way that Trader Joe's has kept its costs low.

☆ As the wind power industry looks to super-sized turbines, disruptors are betting on radical designs
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Anmar Frangoul | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Wind Catching Systems wants to develop a floating, multi-turbine system. With their considerable height and sweeping blades, wind turbines are perhaps the most visually striking sign of the world's shift to a more sustainable future. The overarching idea behind the Windcatcher system, as it's known, relates to maximizing "power generation from a concentrated area." Illustrations of what the Windcatcher would look like are certainly striking, resembling a vast, water-based wall of rotating blades. Following the pilot, Heggheim said his firm would "most likely build an intermediate size, probably around 40 megawatts, before we go for the large size."

☆ Thailand's Thaksin lauds 'disruptors' Move Forward for election triumph
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Chayut Setboonsarng | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Before Sunday's vote, Thaksin's populist political juggernaut had won every election since 2001, despite being ousted from office three times. Move Forward had strong appeal and organisation in university towns, Thaksin said, adding many young people convinced their parents to vote for Move Forward. "Pheu Thai got hammered because we did not disrupt ourselves enough. Move Forward's trend overcame Pheu Thai and the other parties that had money," he said. Thaksin also pledged loyalty to the palace and stressed Pheu Thai would not back any actions by Move Forward that would impact the monarchy.

☆ Fintech CEO Chris Britt of Chime on reasons Americans don't trust banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Ian Thomas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The disruption of traditional bricks-and-mortar banks by fintech companies was already occurring when the pandemic sent startups offering banking services faster, cheaper, and more digitally accessible into overdrive. A rush of venture capital followed, with fintech companies raising more than $130 billion in 2021 alone, creating more than 100 new unicorns, or companies with at least $1 billion in valuation. Legacy banks have seen their efforts to disruptor these disruptors fall short of expectations – for example, Goldman Sachs recently pulled back on its fintech ambitions. But Chris Britt, CEO of Chime, which ranked No. "Big banks do a pretty good job with high income, high FICO score folks who have big deposits and are credit worthy, but for most Americans, the 65% that live paycheck to paycheck, the only way that big banks can make the math work on serving them is by being very punitive on fees."

☆ Chime: 2023 CNBC Disruptor 50
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Cnbc.Com Staff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Several years of success for fintechs resulted in a significant disruption of the traditional banking industry and significant responses from big players in the space. Chime, which was valued at $1.5 billion in 2019, reached a valuation of $25 billion in 2021. The company became profitable on an EBITDA basis during the pandemic, co-founder and CEO Chris Britt told CNBC in September 2020. Chime was among the companies expected to have pursued an IPO by now, but it has been waiting out a frozen market for new offerings. In November, Chime laid off 12% of its workforce, or about 160 people, in a move that Britt said would help the company thrive "regardless of market conditions."

☆ The 2023 CNBC Disruptor 50: How we chose the companies
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( David Spiegel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The last Disruptor 50 company to go public was Gojek, which debuted on the Indonesia Stock Exchange more than a year ago. The last Disruptor 50 IPO in the U.S. market, Nubank , happened on December 9, 2021. Here's how we chose them:All private, independently owned startup companies founded after Jan. 1, 2008, were eligible to be nominated for the Disruptor 50 list. The 2023 list also features the first founder to have two companies make the Disruptor 50 (Rodney Williams of SoLo Funds). Imagine what that number could have been a year or two ago …Special thanks to the 2023 CNBC Disruptor 50 Advisory Council, who again offered us their time and insights.

☆ These are the 2023 CNBC Disruptor 50 companies
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Cnbc.Com Staff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In the eleventh annual Disruptor 50 list, CNBC highlights private companies that are chasing some of the market's biggest opportunities, and growing despite a tough capital markets environment and slowing economy. At least 35 are unicorns, with valuations of $1 billion or more – 12 are valued at over $10 billion. As many of the highest-flying start-ups have seen valuations pressured, this year's list also identified many younger firms testing novel ideas earlier in their fundraising trajectories. Many of the Disruptor 50 companies have a social or environmental purpose that is core to their business model, including climate change, sustainable development, health care, financial inequities, and an inefficient global supply chain. The 50 companies selected using the proprietary Disruptor 50 methodology have raised over $54 billion in venture capital, according to PitchBook and company data, at an implied Disruptor 50 valuation of more than $362 billion.

☆ A.I. and blockchain the 2 biggest disruptors: Franklin Templeton
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailA.I. and blockchain will be the 2 biggest 'disruptors' to any industry, says Franklin Templeton CEOJenny Johnson, CEO of Franklin Templeton Investments CEO, says "bitcoin is the greatest distraction from the greatest disruption."

☆ Fake volunteers hope to disrupt Paris Olympics
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Layli Foroudi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

PARIS, April 26 (Reuters) - An anti-Olympics collective is aiming to disrupt next year's Paris Games by recruiting fake volunteers. Saccage and other critics of the Paris Olympics say the event will negatively impact the environment and benefit big businesses and elites, rather than locals. Paris 2024 organisers did not immediately respond to a request for comment but have said in the past that they would organise "popular and spectacular Games" that will bring in millions of visitors. The Olympics organisers are looking to recruit 45,000 volunteers. Paris organisers said they would take the time to ensure the "sincerity" of candidates and that volunteers would have a background check.

☆ The former CEO of Aetna shares how he plans to turn around the struggling health insurer Oscar
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Oscar Health struggled to upend the entrenched health insurance industry. Oscar Health has been trying and struggling to upend the US health-insurance industry and the entrenched giants that dominate it for the past 10 years. Oscar Health incoming CEO Mark Bertolini Bridgewater AssociatesLast year, Oscar lost a $60 million contract with its first client, Health First Health Plans. Bertolini wants Oscar to disrupt health-insurance giantsMario Schlosser, founding CEO of Oscar Health Eduardo Munoz/ReutersDespite losing the Health First deal, Bertolini is betting that Oscar will disrupt the insurance industry through partnerships. Oscar has developed health plans with health systems in the past.

☆ The tech world is thrown into chaos as Silicon Valley loses faith in its go-to bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

At the time of the email, Musk was battling a cave rescue diver who was suing him for defamation. Before grabbing some ice cream — I'll probably get cookies and cream — let's dive into today's tech. The tech world was thrown into chaos as Silicon Valley lost faith in its go-to bank, SVB Financial. If startups are worried the bank can't give them all their money back, then they might pull their accounts. Investors are sinking millions into startups like MARZ and Runway to bring AI tech to film and TV.

☆ Elemy is ditching autism care to sell healthcare software instead.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

At the time of the email, Musk was battling a cave rescue diver who was suing him for defamation. Before grabbing some ice cream — I'll probably get cookies and cream — let's dive into today's tech. The tech world was thrown into chaos as Silicon Valley lost faith in its go-to bank, SVB Financial. If startups are worried the bank can't give them all their money back, then they might pull their accounts. Email dsiu@insider.com or tweet @diamondnagasiu) Edited by Matt Weinberger (tweet @gamoid) in San Francisco and Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.

☆ Goldman Sachs pitching wealth clients on investing in Stripe shows how Wall Street drums up exclusive deals for its richest customers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

To that point, Insider's Hayley Cuccinello has a story on how Goldman Sachs offered its richest clients the opportunity to invest in the buzzy fintech Stripe. If I can take the startup client my investment bankers are working with and leverage my wealth clients to help them fundraise, that's a win-win. Even better if the cofounders and employees of said startup turn around and come back to me as wealth clients once I help them get rich. More broadly, this is also just another example of how banks are always finding ways to cater to their rich clients. Click here to read more about how Wall Street is leveraging clients in its investment bank for its wealth business*(OK, I couldn't help myself.

☆ The era of health insurance disruptors is over
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Today, they're mostly the poster children of just how challenging it is to break into the insurance industry. Clover Health; Bright Health; Oscar Health; Olivia Reaney/Business InsiderOscar, founded in 2012, and Bright, in 2015, set out to sell health plans to people buying coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Elevance Health, the parent company of Anthem health plans, is No. Health insurance remains overly complex and mind-numbingly frustrating. Established health insurers haven't been able to stem the rise in health costs, which are mostly determined by the prices for medical care.

☆ Can an AI 'angel' help find thousands in Mexico who were forcibly disappeared?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Marina E. Franco | Noticias Telemundo | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

The software is able to process thousands of documents and databases and find connections and patterns that elude the human eye. Relatives of people who were forcibly disappeared during the counterinsurgency period in Mexico between 1964 and 1985, at a march in 2001. Jorge Uzon/AFP via Getty ImagesAngelus is currently focused on reviewing facts about people who were forcibly disappeared between 1964 and 1985. He noted that when it comes to cases of missing persons as part of government repression, it's never about just one person missing. Angelus' reach is widening now that prosecutors are beginning to show interest in it to help them solve their cases, Yankelevich said, visibly frustrated for the delay.

☆ Banks vs. Fintechs: Why all the billions in the world can't help Wall Street crush its digital rivals
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Bianca Chan | Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

To compete, banks have written fat checks to acquire fintechs — tech, talent, and all. But on Wall Street, old habits die hard, and Goldman has struggled to make Marcus, a big fintech bet, a success. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Wall Street leaders have been at the helm of a push to get their employees back to their desks. It's more that the very things that make Wall Street, well, Wall Street are preventing it from embracing the ethos of Silicon Valley. And perhaps, for Wall Street, that's the moral of the story.

☆ Could ChatGPT challenge Google? Morgan Stanley says the search giant has nothing to worry about.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Morgan Stanley says the pessimistic case for Google is natural language search models like ChatGPT could swipe users that would otherwise use Google to find information. ChatGPT has a lot of catching up to meet the same number of users Google gets in a day. Morgan Stanley said the company is considered the leading tech giant in research and investment into the space, which will not change. For example, DeepMind, a Google-owned AI research lab, announced a new app called Dramatron that generates film scripts. What is becoming clear, Morgan Stanley said, is that the interest in ChatGPT will attract more money into AI.

☆ Xi Jinping's Biggest Crisis yet: China Lockdown Protests, Stumbling Economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Linette Lopez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Over what has been a stunning week, China has erupted in mass protests calling for an end to the country's restrictive COVID lockdowns. Easing the COVID lockdowns could spur a potentially devastating public health crisis. Accepting Western vaccines or rolling back zero COVID would be a tacit admission that he is fallible. There's lots of money to be made in China, and its economy would almost certainly improve if zero COVID restrictions were loosened. Under Xi, China was already shuttering its doors long before the pandemic struck.

☆ DoorDash is laying off 6% of its staff, and it's a warning for the entire food delivery business
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Jordan Hart | Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

CEO Tony Xu said DoorDash is laying off 1,250 people in a Wednesday memo, Bloomberg reports. In the third quarter, DoorDash logged a $308 million loss from operations. The Covid-19 pandemic served as a big boost for DoorDash and food delivery services like it. Hundreds of workers have lost their jobs at restaurant tech startups like Nextbite, Sunday, ChowNow, Lunchbox, Gopuff, and Reef. The company has been pouring its resources into expanding outside of traditional restaurant delivery over the past year by striking delivery partnerships with supermarkets, convenience stores, and retailers.

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