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☆ Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: Meta, Tesla, Disney, Amazon, Boeing, Walmart, Uber & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Here are Monday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Bank of America upgrades Alliant to buy from neutral Bank of America said shares of the Wisconsin and Iowa energy company are attractive. UBS upgrades Moderna to buy from neutral UBS said the biotech company's pipeline is underappreciated. UBS downgrades Alphabet to neutral from buy UBS said it sees "near-term monetization risk" for the tech giant. Bank of America reiterates Paramount Global as buy Bank of America said the media company is "unique." Loop reiterates Disney as buy Loop said it's standing by its buy rating on the entertainment and parks giant.

Persons: LNT, Goldman Sachs downgrades Tesla, Goldman, Morgan Stanley, TD Cowen, Coinbase, underperform TD Cowen, Wells, Brinker, Williams, Tesla, Bernstein, Uber, Davidson, Roth, Roth MKM, Piper Sandler, Lululemon, Piper, LULU Organizations: Bank of America, of America, UBS, Moderna, Walmart, Amazon Prime, BTC, BMO, Sherwin, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche, Citi, Boeing, WSFS Financial Corporation, Networks, TAM, Meta, Paramount Global, Brunswick Locations: Wisconsin, Iowa, China

☆ 5 stocks that are best-positioned over the next 10 years to capitalize on the AI boom promising to transform the economy, according to Global X's lead AI researcher
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( William Edwards | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Tejas Dessai says AI is still in its early stages, and he's taking a long-term investing outlook. Dessai is the lead AI researcher at Global X. The firm's AI ETF is up 38% this year. According to Dessai, the lead AI research analyst at ETF issuer Global X, AI adoption throughout the economy will be a slow process and likely span the next decade. Dessai's research helps inform the holdings in the Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (AIQ), which is up 38.6% this year.

Persons: Dessai Organizations: Tejas, Global, Nvidia, Meta, Tejas Dessai, Intelligence, Technology, TrueMark Technology, Learning, Facebook, Google

☆ They said we were getting a recession. Instead, we’re getting a bull market
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

A recipe for a bull market, apparently. “The key difference for us is that you tend to see bull markets coincide with economic expansions, not economic contractions.”Still, since the last bull market, we’ve had a pandemic, a war in Europe, a banking crisis and a debt crisis among other dramas. “Such narrowness is not what new bull markets are built on.”The bottom line: Investors should “avoid getting sucked into this as a new bull market,” said Samana. A nationwide UPS strike would be the largest work stoppage in US history, reports my colleague Vanessa Yurkevich. US Bankruptcies reach highest level in 13 yearsChapter 11 filings in the US have reached their highest levels since the end of the Great Recession, according to new data from S&P Global Market Intelligence..

Persons: “ We’re, ” Sameer Samana, we’ve, ”, Kevin Gordon, Charles Schwab, Lisa Shalett, they’ve, Vanessa Yurkevich, We’ve, Fred Zuckerman, pare Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN, Federal, Wells, Wells Fargo Investment Institute, CNN, Tech, Nvidia, US, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, UPS, Teamsters, –, Brotherhood of Teamsters, 1st, “, ”, P Global Market Intelligence, Bed, P, Retail, City Locations: New York, Wells Fargo, Europe, Samana, America

☆ The hype in AI stocks isn't a bubble yet, and little buy in from retail investors means there's room for more upside
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The research firm said retail investors have yet to pile into AI stocks and fuel a bubble frenzy like they did during the pandemic. "Interest in 'tech stock' is nowhere near levels reached during the Pandemic Era speculative tech bubble," DataTrek said. "Interest in 'tech stock' is nowhere near levels reached during the Pandemic Era speculative tech bubble," DataTrek Research co-founder Jessica Rabe said. In other words, not enough retail investors have been sucked into these Big Tech stocks yet to indicate a bubble," Rabe said. "On the plus side, there's not enough retail interest to indicate a bubble is forming, and there's a lot more room for retail investors to get involved in these names."

☆ A portfolio manager who runs 3 of the 10 best large-cap funds in the past year shares his surprisingly simple investing strategy — and the 4 places he's putting his money now
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Leading fund manager Matt Fruhan found success this year by continuing to prioritize valuations. Two of those standout funds, the Fidelity Mega Cap Stock Fund (FGRTX) and the Fidelity Advisor Mega Cap Stock Fund (FGTAX), are virtually identical, except for their class and ticker. The fund manager told Insider that he applies the same investing process and principles across all of his funds. "Some investors are kind of reactive to the market and let the market tell them what to think," Fruhan said. And that's how you get separation from the stock market over time."

☆ The CEO of a $900 million asset manager shares 6 stocks to buy to take advantage of the coming AI revolution — and explains how investors can diversify their holdings to capitalize on emerging tech tr
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Lisa Kailai Han | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

She also oversees the Defiance Quantum ETF (QTUM), which invests in quantum computing and machine learning companies. "They're clear leaders and no matter what happens, they'll invest in artificial intelligence, data pricing, machine learning, and quantum computing," she explained. "But even if that happens, you're still okay because you have the high-quality tech companies to hedge your basket … We look at it as balance plus opportunity." Besides the Defiance Quantum ETF (QTUM), other options include Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ), the ALPS Disruptive Technologies ETF (DTEC), and the iShares Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Multisector ETF (ITRBO). Amazon (AMZN) is another stock that has been propelled higher thanks to its web services and machine learning division.

☆ Here are Friday's biggest analyst calls: Amazon, VF Corp, Deere, Netflix, Rivian, Nvidia & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Here are Friday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Bank of America reiterates Amazon as buy Bank of America said it's standing by its buy rating on the stock. "Our Buy rating is based on: 1) positive feedback from our proprietary Sleep survey that points to healthy underlying US volumes, 2) lingering pent-up demand due to US staffing shortages." William Blair reiterates Charles Schwab as outperform William Blair said it's standing by its outperform rating on the stock heading into earnings next week. Barclays reiterates Disney as equal weight Barclays said it sees slowing streaming growth heading into Disney earnings in early May. " Stifel reiterates Microsoft as buy Stifel said it's standing by its buy rating on Microsoft heading into earnings later this month.

☆ Amazon is ‘investing heavily’ in the technology behind ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Amazon wants investors to know it won’t be left behind in the latest Big Tech arms race over artificial intelligence. In a letter to shareholders Thursday, Amazon (AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy said the company is “investing heavily” in large language models (LLMs) and generative AI, the same technology that underpins ChatGPT and other similar AI chatbots. Since ChatGPT was released to the public in late November, Google (GOOG), Facebook (FB) and Microsoft (MSFT) have all talked up their growing focus on generative AI technology, which can create compelling essays, stories and visuals in response to user prompts. With that in mind, Amazon on Thursday unveiled a new service called Bedrock. It essentially makes foundation models (large models that are pre-trained on vast amounts of data) from AI21 Labs, Anthropic, Stability AI and Amazon accessible to clients via an API, Amazon said in a blog post.

☆ Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Netflix, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, FedEx, Pinterest & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Raymond James upgrades FedEx to outperform from market perform Raymond James said and "undeniable" positive change is underway at the shipping giant. "We are initiating coverage of XPO, one of the largest less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers, in North America, with an Outperform rating and a $44 target price." "We are initiating coverage of Skyworks Solutions, with a Buy rating and $150 target price. Raymond James upgrades Wells Fargo to strong buy from outperform Raymond James said the banking giant is well positioned in the current environment. Raymond James initiates Pinterest as outperform Raymond James said it sees "steady user growth" for Pinterest.

☆ GM plans to phase out Apple CarPlay in EVs, with Google’s help
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto systems allow users to mirror their smartphone screens in a vehicle’s dashboard display. GM is designing the on-board navigation and infotainment systems for future EVs in partnership with Alphabet’s Google. GM’s Chevrolet brand in the past boasted of offering more models with CarPlay or Android Auto than any other brand. GM plans to continue offering Apple CarPlay and Android Auto mirroring systems in its combustion models. Owners of vehicles equipped with the mirroring technologies will still be able to use the systems, GM said.

☆ Bank turmoil is boosting appetite for specific sector ETFs. Here’s why
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Sean Conlon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

It appears specific sector ETFs are gaining popularity as a way to cushion bank-turmoil fallout. According to VettaFi's Todd Rosenbluth, the trend applies to ETFs holding only a few large companies in particular industries. "We're seeing this year that active management and actively managed ETFs in particular have been relatively popular in complement to an existing core strategy." Rosenbluth asserts the narrow focus of big-cap sector ETFs can boost potential gains. Yet, last week on "ETF Edge," Astoria Advisors' John Davi suggested bank upheaval could expose problems lurking in ETFs tied to specific sectors.

☆ Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, author of ‘Moore’s Law’ that helped drive computer revolution, dies at 94
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, a pioneer in the semiconductor industry whose “Moore’s Law” predicted a steady rise in computing power for decades, died Friday at the age of 94, the company announced. Intel (INTC) and Moore’s family philanthropic foundation said he died surrounded by family at his home in Hawaii. It’s been a phenomenal ride.”In recent years, Intel rivals such as Nvidia (NVDA) have contended that Moore’s Law no longer holds as improvements in chip manufacturing have slowed down. He went to work at the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory where he met future Intel cofounder Robert Noyce. In 1968, Moore and Noyce left Fairchild to start the memory chip company soon to be named Intel, an abbreviation of Integrated Electronics.

☆ Here are Friday's biggest analyst calls: Nvidia, Tesla, Wendy's, Microsoft, Coinbase, Netflix & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Here are Friday's biggest calls on Wall Street: UBS reiterates Tesla as buy UBS said it's recent survey checks show Tesla is "best positioned" to win the EV race. Wells Fargo reiterates Microsoft as a top AI pick Wells said Microsoft is one of the biggest beneficiaries of AI. Jefferies downgrades UBS to hold from buy Jefferies said it sees too much uncertainty after the banking giant's acquisition of Credit Suisse. Jefferies upgrades Regeneron to buy from hold Jefferies said it's bullish on several of the pharmaceutical company's products. Citi reiterates Nvidia as buy Citi said Nvidia is a top beneficiary of AI.

☆ Google stacks its legal team with former DOJ employees as it faces antitrust cases
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

Former DOJ employees make up both its in-house team and members of outside counsel firms it employs. Google also uses four different outside counsel firms loaded with nearly 20 former DOJ officials, many of whom worked in the Antitrust Division at various times. The DOJ made the accusation in a legal filing after Epic Games raised the concern in its own antitrust litigation against Google. Those firms collectively have around 20 former DOJ employees on their staff, many of them working in antitrust. For example, DOJ antitrust chief Jonathan Kanter previously worked for clients including Microsoft and Yelp which have complained of Google's allegedly anticompetitive behavior.

☆ Tech shares were the hot play this week but investors should beware the Fed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Patti Domm | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Big cap tech drew in investors in droves this past week, as the market struggled against volatile interest rates and fears of banking sector contagion. The futures market Thursday was pricing in strong odds of a quarter-point rate hike from the Federal Reserve next week. The big cap tech names are benefiting from a flight-to-quality within the sector, since those stocks have strong cash flow and reliable earnings. The 2-year Treasury yield , for instance, rose above 5% last week but this past week it was well below 4%. Tech and growth names have reacted poorly when rates rise, since investors tend to pay a premium for the promise of future earnings growth.

☆ Google execs tell employees in testy all-hands meeting that Bard A.I. isn't just about search
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

In the lead up to the Bard announcement, Google executives repeatedly said the technology it was developing internally would integrate with search. “We’re working to bring these latest AI advancements into our products, starting with Search,” the company said in a blog post. That same week, at an event in Paris, Google search boss Prabhakar Raghavan unveiled some fresh examples of using Bard within search. "You see the stories of ChatGPT coincides with an event that we’re having that was actually focused on search," Krawczyk said. Specifically, the question asked why Google lost so many key people who were listed on a paper about much of the AI technology behind Bard.

☆ Premarket stocks: Why traders are so infatuated with inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

What’s happening: Investors will get some market direction clarity on Tuesday morning with the release of key inflation data. It’s not all about the Fed: Traders are infatuated with CPI, but it’s likely going to affect markets more than it will future Fed policy. “CPI is the big inflation report that affects markets more than any other,” he said. Even beyond housing, the services sector has seen year-over-year inflation higher than 3.9% every month since March 2021, said Chaudhuri. And as Powell noted in Washington last week, the stickiness of core services inflation is his greatest concern.

☆ Amazon is the latest threat to Facebook as ad targeting suffers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

"So many people start their shopping on Amazon," Hassett said in an interview. People take selfies in front of the logo of Facebook parent company Meta on November 9, 2022 in Menlo Park, California. Liu Guanguan | China News Service | Getty ImagesFor Loftie, Amazon and Google provide better value because a shopper is showing intent by searching for a particular item. "In the near term, we expect Meta ad share to decline further in '23 given macro headwinds and the pivot to Reels," they wrote. Rachel Tipograph, CEO of marketing technology firm MikMak, said there are other unforeseen costs tied to Amazon advertising.

☆ The AI war set off by ChatGPT is ramping up and Google stock is poised to spike 21% as it joins the fray, Bank of America says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Google is ready for 'battle' in the AI-services space, and the stock could rise by another 21%, says Bank of America. Microsoft and Baidu have joined the race to capitalize off the growing hunt for AI tools set off by ChatGPT. Google introduced its Bard AI service on Monday. Google introduced Bard on Monday, with CEO Sundar Pichai describing it as "an experimental conversational AI service" - which sounds much like ChatGPT, which launched in November. "Per industry experts … Google may have more data to access than ChatGPT, Google has extensive computing infrastructure to build on and, of course, Google search has a large distribution advantage with iOS and Android," said Post.

☆ Apple and Google’s app stores wield ‘gatekeeper’ power and should be reined in, Commerce Department says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington CNN —The Biden administration on Wednesday took its biggest swipe yet at app stores run by Apple and Google, with a new report accusing the two tech giants of exercising “gatekeeper” power that has led to “suboptimal” levels of competition in digital markets. In a statement, Apple said its app store has benefited developers and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs. In the past, Apple has argued that its control over iOS app distribution helps promote users’ privacy and security. Many of the report’s recommendations echo provisions in federal legislation that received bipartisan support last Congress, but that failed to become law. The findings had been informed by public comments submitted to the Department in the months leading up to the report.

☆ Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: Tesla, Apple, Netflix, Amazon, Chevron, Meta, Shopify & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Morgan Stanley upgrades Colgate-Palmolive to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said in its upgrade of Colgate that it sees an attractive entry point. "We upgrade shares from Neutral to Buy as we see the last of tough comparables for SHOP subsiding entering '23." Bank of America reiterates Meta as neutral Bank of America says it's cautious heading into Meta earnings on Wednesday. Berenberg upgrades Tesla to buy from hold Berenberg said in its upgrade of Tesla that "factory innovations support long-term margins." Morgan Stanley reiterates Southwest Airlines as overweight Morgan Stanley says it's sticking with shares of the airline.

☆ How the Supreme Court could soon change free speech on the internet
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +19 min

Musk's actions since closing the deal last year have illuminated how he sees the balance internet platforms must strike in protecting free expression versus user safety. The Supreme Court has yet to decide if or when to hear the cases, though many expect it will take them up at some point. The Age-Appropriate Design Code requires internet platforms that are likely to be accessed by kids to mitigate risks to those users. Google said such a change would also make the internet less safe and less hospitable to free expression. The Supreme Court of the United States building are seen in Washington D.C., United States on December 28, 2022.

☆ The DOJ's antitrust case against Google is ambitious but risky
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

But alongside the possibility of great reward comes significant risk in seeking to push the boundaries of antitrust law. "All antitrust cases are an uphill battle for plaintiffs, thanks to 40 years of case law," said Rebecca Haw Allensworth, an antitrust professor at Vanderbilt Law School. But, Allensworth added, the government's challenges may be different than those in many other antitrust cases. Like all antitrust cases, this one is unlikely to be concluded anytime soon. "This is clearly the blockbuster case so far from the DOJ antitrust division," Francis said.

☆ Google CEO defends job cuts in animated town hall as employees demand clarity on process
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Google CEO Sundar Pichai led the companywide meeting and told employees that executives will see their bonuses cut. "I understand you are worried about what comes next for your work," Pichai said. Prior to the job cuts, Google had made the decision to pay out 80% of bonuses this month with the rest expected in March or April. Thomas Kurian, the CEO of Google Cloud, offered some perspective on the areas that saw cuts. Last month, Google employees asked executives at an all-hands meeting whether the AI chatbot ChatGPT represents a "missed opportunity" for Google."

☆ Amazon is emerging as a force in digital ads, but here's why we remain cautious on the stock
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Amazon 's (AMZN) advertising business is emerging as a primary competitor to Alphabet (GOOGL) and Meta Platform s (META), according to a new Wall Street survey. While encouraged by the growth in its ad business, we still don't think the tech and e-commerce giant has done enough to cut costs to protect margins. In the survey, 50 senior U.S. ad buyers said they anticipate Amazon's ad market share to rise from 6% in 2022 to 7% in 2024. Moreover, 40% of ad buyers believe Amazon will "emerge as a meaningful ad platform alongside GOOG and META." The analysts cited lower revenue from the company's cloud business, Amazon Web Services (AWS).

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