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☆ AMC Move to Raise Cash Boosts Value of Theater Chain
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Eric Wallerstein | Charley Grant | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

AMC says it will raise $110 million by selling preferred equity units to a hedge fund. The value of publicly traded AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. equity securities jumped nearly 12% after the theater chain said it was raising cash and would ask shareholders to approve a 1-for-10 reverse stock split. The company said Thursday that it would raise $110 million by selling preferred equity units, known as APEs, to the hedge fund Antara Capital at a weighted average price of 66 cents each. The fund would also exchange $100 million of AMC debt for roughly 91 million additional units, AMC said.

☆ Stocks Rally, Bolstered by Consumer Data
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Eric Wallerstein | Anna Hirtenstein | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-markets-dow-update-12-21-2022-11671623755

☆ Stocks Fall, Pressured by Mounting Recession Concerns
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Joe Wallace | Eric Wallerstein | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Stocks fell again Friday, with investors forced to wrestle anew with the prospect of higher-for-longer interest rates and the potential for recession. The S&P 500 dropped 43.39 points, or 1.1%, to 3852.36 a day after falling 2.5%. Each of the index’s 11 sectors finished in the red.

☆ Quants Are Headed for Best Year in Decades as Fed Stokes Volatility
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Eric Wallerstein | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A cadre of quant investment strategies that benefit during times of tumult are on pace for their best year since at least 2000—and those funds are counting on markets remaining volatile to extend their banner run. The funds wager on various assets as they rise or fall, building their bets as a trend strengthens. When algorithmic warning signs flash, they pivot into fresh positions. Those strategies have been a rare haven for much of the year as the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate increases have pummeled stocks and bonds. The SG CTA Index, run by Société Générale and BarclayHedge to track the 20 largest such strategies, is up 19% in 2022, on pace for its best year since launching in 2000.

☆ Bond Investors Swap Mutual Funds for ETFs at Record Pace
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Eric Wallerstein | Heather Gillers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The aggressive pace of Federal Reserve tightening has led to a difficult year in the bond market. Worn down from record losses, investors have fled bond mutual funds en masse. But many aren’t quitting on bonds—they are just turning to exchange-traded funds. Some investors sell beaten-down positions in bond funds to harvest tax losses. In many cases this year, investors have opted to put cash into similar ETFs to maintain bond exposure in their portfolios.

☆ FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried: Your Guide to the Crypto Crash
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Eric Wallerstein | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Sam Bankman-Fried was heralded as the savior of crypto. In recent weeks, his empire collapsed. Here’s what you need to know about the unraveling of FTX, including its founder’s rise to fame, how the firm failed and the collateral damage to customers and the crypto industry at large. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was the paragon of crypto. Mr. Bankman-Fried, often referred to as SBF, vaulted to celebrity with his attempts to make his crypto exchange into a household name.

☆ U.S. Remains ‘Only Game in Town’ for Stock Investors
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Eric Wallerstein | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Despite a bruising year for U.S. stocks, few investors are ready to call an end to the long run of American exceptionalism. Investors have poured more than $86 billion into U.S. equity mutual and exchange-traded funds in 2022, according to Morningstar Direct data through the end of October. That is on track to mark the second-highest sum since 2013, following last year’s inflows of $156 billion.

FTX suffered a “complete failure of corporate controls” that culminated in an “unprecedented” debacle, its new chief executive said. In a filing to federal bankruptcy court, John J. Ray , who has helped oversee some of the biggest bankruptcies ever, including Enron’s, said he’s never seen anything as bad in 40 years of restructuring firms.

☆ Stocks Slip After Retail Sales Top Forecasts
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Chelsey Dulaney | Eric Wallerstein | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Traders Expect Higher Interest Rates to Stay for Foreseeable Future
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Eric Wallerstein | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Most investors expect Federal Reserve officials to lift the benchmark federal-funds rate by 0.75 percentage point at the central bank’s November meeting. Traders are betting higher interest rates will linger for the foreseeable future. Ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next decision on Wednesday, derivatives markets show the federal-funds rate sitting at around 3.5% for the long run. That is a full percentage point higher than the central bank’s own latest forecast. Those wagers have crept higher throughout most of the year, and are now nearing levels not seen since the 2013 bond-market rout known as the “Taper Tantrum.”

☆ Stocks Rise Amid Earnings Stampede, Hopes for Easier Fed Policy
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Will Horner | Eric Wallerstein | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

U.S. stock indexes rose on Tuesday following a market rally that propelled the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a six-week high. The S&P 500 rose 1.2% on Tuesday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 1.9%. The blue-chip Dow industrials edged higher by 0.8%. The moves come after two days of strong gains for the major indexes—and as investors continue to gauge company earnings reports.

☆ Investors Jump Into Risky ETFs to Supersize Bets Amid Market Turmoil
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Eric Wallerstein | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Inverse and leveraged ETFs have raked in nearly $25 billion this year, on pace to top 2008’s record. Investors are plowing record amounts of cash into risky funds that turbocharge investment bets during a market rout that is roiling stocks and bonds. Nearly $25 billion has flowed into leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds this year, according to Morningstar Direct. This is already above 2008’s record haul of $17 billion.

☆ U.S. Stocks Fall as Nasdaq Hits Lowest Level in Over Two Years
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Anna Hirtenstein | Eric Wallerstein | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

U.S. stocks fell Monday, continuing a stretch of volatility as concerns about Federal Reserve tightening, escalation in the Ukraine war, and China-trade policy shake markets. The S&P 500 turned lower after opening with slight gains, shedding 27.27 points, or 0.7%, to close at 3612.39. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 93.91 points, or 0.3%, to 29202.88, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 110.30 points, or 1%, to 10542.10.

☆ Low-Volatility Funds Are Back in Vogue After Struggling in Pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Eric Wallerstein | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Investors are flocking to funds that tout their ability to shelter investors from major market swings even though they didn’t perform exactly as advertised during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Roughly $6.5 billion has poured into low-volatility mutual and exchange-traded funds this year, putting the funds on track for their first annual inflows since 2019, according to Morningstar Direct. Low-volatility funds promise a smoother market ride by holding stocks with the smallest one-day swings—higher or lower. That bias often lends itself to shares of utilities, consumer-goods and real-estate companies that tend to be less sensitive to economic booms and busts.

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