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☆ Wall Street ends lower, pausing rally as Powell testimony looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Stephen Culp | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

All three major U.S. equity indexes ended the session in the red but off session lows, with oil super-majors Exxon Mobil Corp weighing on the S&P 500 and the Dow. Including Tuesday's loss, the benchmark S&P 500 has advanced 14.3% so far this year. Of the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 all but consumer discretionary stocks (.SPLRCD) ended in negative territory. The S&P 500 posted 14 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 68 new highs and 87 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 11.15 billion shares, compared with the 11.36 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.

Persons: Jerome, Robert Pavlik, Pavlik, We've, Rivian, Morgan Stanley, Daniel Zhang, Eli Lilly, Stephen Culp, Shristi Achar, Shubham Batra, Johann M, Aurora Ellis Organizations: Fedex, Dow, Nasdaq, Federal, Exxon Mobil Corp, Dakota Wealth, U.S . House Financial, Dow Jones, Energy, Rivian Automotive Inc, Tesla Inc, PayPal Holdings, KKR & Co, Nike, Alibaba Group, Adobe Inc, Dice Therapeutics, Fedex Corp, NYSE, Thomson Locations: Fairfield , Connecticut, China, Europe, Bengaluru

☆ S&P 500 ends lower, pausing rally with Powell testimony in view
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Stephen Culp | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's congressional testimony Wednesday looms as a potential market mover. All three major U.S. equity indexes ended the session in the red but off session lows, with oil super-majors Exxon Mobil Corp weighing on the S&P 500 and the Dow. The broad sell-off comes on the heels of the Nasdaq's longest weekly winning streak since March 2019, and the S&P 500's longest since November 2021. As of Friday's close, the benchmark S&P 500 had advanced 20% in the last twelve months, and over 14% so far this year. According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 20.79 points, or 0.47%, to end at 4,388.80 points, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) lost 22.28 points, or 0.16%, to 13,667.29.

Persons: Jerome, Robert Pavlik, Pavlik, We've, Morgan Stanley, Daniel Zhang, Eli Lilly, Stephen Culp, Shristi Achar, Shubham Batra, Johann M, Aurora Ellis Organizations: Federal, Exxon Mobil Corp, Dow, Dakota Wealth, U.S . House Financial, Nasdaq, Dow Jones, Rivian Automotive Inc, Tesla Inc, Rivian, PayPal Holdings, KKR & Co, Nike, Alibaba, Adobe Inc, Dice Therapeutics, Fedex Corp, Thomson Locations: Fairfield , Connecticut, China, Europe, Bengaluru

Fed Governor Christopher Waller warned on Friday "core inflation is not coming down like I thought it would." Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said he was "comfortable" with further rate increases given that inflation was still not on the path back to 2%. Markets now await comments from more Fed officials including Fed Vice Chair Michael Barr later in the day, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's semiannual monetary policy testimony to the U.S. House Financial Affairs Committee on Wednesday. Adding to the dour mood, China cut its benchmark lending rates by a smaller-than-expected 10 basis points. U.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies including Alibaba Group , JD.com and PDD Holdings (PDD.O) fell between 1% and 6% in premarket trading.

Persons: Eli Lilly, Christopher Waller, Thomas Barkin, CMEGroup's, Waller, Barkin, Michael Barr, Jerome Powell's, Powell, Hogan, Daniel Zhang, Shristi Achar, Shubham Batra, Johann M, Vinay Dwivedi Organizations: Therapeutics, Dow, Nasdaq, Federal Reserve, Richmond Fed, Traders, Microsoft, U.S . House Financial, Housing, Capitol, Riley, Fed, Alibaba, PDD Holdings, Dow e, Adobe Inc, Ford, General Motors, Tesla Inc, Dice Therapeutics, Thomson Locations: China, U.S, Bengaluru

Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sub-sectors were in the red, with the energy index (.SPNY) leading declines. U.S. markets ended lower on Friday as comments from Fed officials curtailed optimism that the central bank was nearing the end of its aggressive interest rate hikes. Traders now see a 72% chance of Fed hiking its key benchmark rates by 25 basis points in July, according to CMEGroup's Fedwatch Tool. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 2.43-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.82-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P index recorded 11 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 38 new highs and 40 new lows.

Persons: Eli Lilly, Tesla, Rivian, homebuilding, Sam Stovall, CMEGroup's, Michael Barr, Jerome Powell's, Morgan Stanley, Daniel Zhang, advancers, Shristi Achar, Shubham Batra, Johann M, Vinay Dwivedi, Shounak Organizations: Therapeutics, Nike, Dow, Nasdaq, U.S . Federal Reserve, CFRA Research, Tesla Inc, Reuters, EV, U.S . House Financial, PayPal Holdings, KKR & Co, Alibaba, PDD Holdings, Dow Jones, Adobe Inc, Dice Therapeutics, NYSE, Thomson Locations: U.S, Europe, China, Bengaluru

☆ Adobe's $20 bln deal to acquire Figma under threat from EU regulators - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 20 (Reuters) - European antitrust regulators are preparing to launch a formal investigation into software giant Adobe's (ADBE.O) $20 billion buyout deal for cloud-based designer platform Figma later this year, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. EU authorities plan to push forward with a detailed investigation, over anti-competition concerns, which could take many months and may ultimately derail the deal altogether, FT said, citing people with knowledge of the move. These moves underline global regulators' worries that large tech firms acquiring smaller innovative rivals could throttle competition. Adobe is in the preliminary phase of the regulatory process and having constructive discussions with British, EU, and U.S. regulators about the deal while Figma looks forward to continued conversations with regulators, the companies said in separate emailed statements to Reuters. EU regulators have earlier said that Adobe would need to secure antitrust approval for the Figma deal even though the deal falls short of the bloc's turnover threshold for a review.

Persons: Lavanya Ahire, Anusha S, Jose Joseph, Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Rashmi, Dhanya Ann Thoppil Organizations: Financial Times, Adobe, EU, Reuters, Bloomberg, U.S . Justice Department, Thomson Locations: U.S, Bengaluru

☆ Here's what an overbought market and endless negativity tell me to do this week
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

There are too many articles and postings about how we are overdoing artificial intelligence, and how there's not enough substance to justify recent market moves. Still, I am worried about this week because for the first time in a bit I think we need to do some serious digesting. Given the market is officially overbought, I think I will wait until we have a couple of days down before it's worth pulling the trigger. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio.

Persons: That's worrisome, Joe Biden's, Campbell, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Squawk, Virginia Sherwood Organizations: Nasdaq, Nvidia, Microsoft, Google, Oracle, Broadcom, Marvell, Research, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Walmart, Costco, Adobe, Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Federal Reserve, CNBC

☆ Adobe tops quarterly results and forecast estimates driven by AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Samrhitha A | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 15 (Reuters) - Adobe Inc (ADBE.O) surpassed Wall Street estimates for quarterly results and forecast on Thursday as the Photoshop maker's efforts to drive up demand with generative artificial intelligence (AI) integrations paid off. Adobe's spree to boost AI innovation has been evident by AI features being introduced into Acrobat, Express, Photoshop and Premiere Pro. Analysts see generative AI as both a near- and long-term benefit to both the creative and experience businesses, which could be a catalyst to 2024 revenue growth. Focus continues to remain on the impact of generative AI and the pending close of the Figma deal. Adobe has been waiting to finalize its $20 billion buyout deal for the cloud-based designer platform, with management expecting an initial ruling this month.

Persons: integrations, Dan Durn, Samrhitha, Pooja Desai Organizations: Adobe Inc, Acrobat, Adobe, Users, Reuters, Analysts, Zoom Video Communications, Airbnb Inc, Revenue, Thomson Locations: San Jose , California, Bengaluru

☆ 'I don't like the tape here,' Cramer warns on certain stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | In Kevinstankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a "Morning Meeting" livestream at 10:20 a.m. 'Don't like the tape' Stick with Apple Stay bullish on Wells Fargo 1. Stay bullish on Wells Fargo Wells Fargo (WFC) shares still look attractively valued, Jim said, despite their more-than-2% pop Tuesday. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER .

Persons: Jim Cramer, Jim, he's, Wells, Charlie Scharf, Mike Santomassimo, Wells Fargo, Jim Cramer's Organizations: CNBC, Labor, Federal Reserve, Oracle, Adobe, Apple, UBS Locations: Wells Fargo, U.S, India, Wells Fargo Wells Fargo, Wells

☆ Futures rise as focus shifts to inflation data, Fed meet
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Goldman Sachs on Friday raised its year-end price target for the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) to 4,500 from 4,000, citing the broadening of the market rally. The CBOE volatility index (.VIX) edged up after hitting pre-pandemic levels in the previous week, up 0.71 point to 14.5. Adobe (ADBE.O) shares gained 1.9% after Jefferies raised the Photoshop maker's price target to $530, the second highest on Wall Street. Oracle (ORCL.N) rose 4.1% as J.P. Morgan hiked its price target to $109, ahead of the cloud and enterprise software firm's fourth-quarter results later in the day. Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ.O) slid 7.5% after the exchange operator said it would buy Thoma Bravo-owned software firm Adenza for $10.5 billion.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, stoking, Jefferies, Morgan, Thoma, Shristi Achar, Vinay Dwivedi Organizations: Dow, Nasdaq, U.S, Labor, Traders, Dow e, FDA, . Oracle, HK, Nasdaq Inc, Thoma Bravo, Thomson Locations: megacap, Nio, Bengaluru

"Until we see several months of low or declining inflation, the headline number is still going to be above the 2% target that the Fed has set. Goldman Sachs on Friday raised its year-end price target for the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) to 4,500 from 4,000, citing the broadening of the market rally. Oracle (ORCL.N) advanced 4.3%, hitting an all-time high as J.P. Morgan hiked its price target to $109, ahead of the cloud and enterprise software firm's fourth-quarter results later in the day. Technology stocks (.SPLRCT) led gains among the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 while energy stocks (.SPNY) fell 0.5%, tracking a decline in crude prices. Adobe (ADBE.O) shares gained 1.6% after Jefferies increased the Photoshop maker's price target to $530, the second highest on Wall Street.

Persons: Melissa Brown, Goldman Sachs, Morgan, Thoma, Jefferies, Shristi Achar, Sruthi Shankar, Vinay Dwivedi Organizations: Nasdaq, Dow, Oracle Corp, U.S, Labor, Traders, Oracle, Dow Jones, Nasdaq Inc, Thoma Bravo, FDA, NYSE, Thomson Locations: megacap, Bengaluru

☆ The S&P climbs into bull market territory, with the Fed back in focus next week
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

This past week proved be another win for the bulls, as the market rally broadened out beyond the big players in the tech sector. The S & P 500 is officially in bull market territory, closing up over 20% from its October 2022 low. ET: Federal Open Market Committee Meeting After the bell: Lennar (LEN) Thursday, June 15 8:30 a.m. On Thursday, initial jobless claims increased by 28,000 for the week ending June 3, to 261,000, well above the 235,000 expected by the market. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

Persons: we'll, LEN, Jabil, Jim Cramer's, Friday's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Spencer Platt Organizations: Federal Reserve, CPI, PPI, Kroger, KR, Micro Devices, Jim Cramer's Charitable, AMD, U.S, West Texas, Treasury, CNBC, Street Bull, Financial, Getty Locations: U.S, New York City

The benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) built on Thursday's 20% rise from its Oct. 12 finishing low, heralding the start of a new bull market as defined by some market participants. The S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 4.93 points, or 0.11%, at 4,298.86, taking this week's advance to 0.38% and extending its winning streak to four weeks, the longest since the July-August 2022 period. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 43.17 points, or 0.13%, to 33,876.78, for a weekly gain of 0.33%. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.49-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.84-to-1 ratio favored decliners. The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and five new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 84 new highs and 53 new lows.

Persons: Dow Jones, Tim Holland, Brendan McDermid, Rick Meckler, Wells, Sruthi Shankar, Shristi, Vinay Dwivedi, Richard Chang Organizations: Adobe, Citi, Nasdaq, Tesla Inc, General Motors Co, GM, Orion, Dow Jones, Apple Inc, Devices, Nvidia Corp, NYSE, American Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Brendan McDermid Traders, Cherry Lane Investments, Target Corp, Adobe Inc, Netflix Inc, Thomson Locations: Wells Fargo, New York City, U.S, Bengaluru

☆ Final Call: TSLA & ADBE
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | 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 EmailFinal Call: TSLA & ADBEThe final calls this week with CNBC's Melissa Lee and the Options Action traders.

Persons: CNBC's Melissa Lee Organizations: Options

☆ Here are Friday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Netflix, Target, Tesla, Corning, Adobe, Meta & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Wells Fargo upgrades Adobe to overweight from equal weight Wells said it's bullish on the company's AI opportunity. Morgan Stanley reiterates General Motors as overweight Morgan Stanley said GM and Tesla's charging agreement could be a game changer. Morgan Stanley reiterates Carvana as equal weight Morgan Stanley said it's getting a little more constructive on the stock after the company announced improved second-quarter guidance. " Loop reiterates Best Buy as buy Loop said Best Buy could be a long-term beneficiary of virtual reality after Apple announced its launch earlier this week. Morgan Stanley upgrades Corning to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said in its upgrade of the glass company that it sees an attractive risk/reward.

Persons: Tesla, Wells, it's bullish, Morgan Stanley, KeyBanc, Key, Carvana, it's, Roth, Mgmt, Jefferies, Archer, EVEX, Ulta, Corning, Guggenheim Organizations: UBS, Motors, GM, Apple, Citi, Target, Walmart, Netflix, Apple Vision, Meta, Embraer, BMO, Microsoft, Nike Locations: WMT

☆ A.I. should help this software stock rally nearly 20%, Wells Fargo says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Artificial intelligence is a boon to Adobe that can't be ignored, according to Wells Fargo. Analyst Michael Turrin upgraded the software stock to overweight from equal weight and raised his price target to $525 from $420. "The AI debate continues to drive ADBE," he said in a note to clients Friday. He also said organizations attempting to cut costs within IT should help increase the popularity of Adobe's DM and DX platforms. As a stock, he said Adobe has a stand-out profile given the fact that profitability stats support valuation.

Persons: Michael Turrin, Turrin, Adobe's, Adobe, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Adobe Locations: Wells Fargo, Adobe's

Traders have priced in a 73% chance of the U.S. central bank holding interest rates at the current 5%-5.25% range during its monetary policy meeting on June 13-14, according to CMEGroup's Fedwatch tool. "Today's data in terms of higher claims shows that the Fed policy is having a clear effect," said David Russell, vice president of Market Intelligence at TradeStation. The CBOE Volatility index (.VIX), also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, dropped to a fresh pre-pandemic low of 13.73. The U.S. Labor Department is due to release inflation data on June 13, the first day of the Fed meeting. The S&P index recorded six new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 38 new highs and 29 new lows.

Persons: David Russell, Wells, Ryan Cohen, Piper Sandler, Zhu Jiang, Sruthi Shankar, Shristi, Vinay Dwivedi Organizations: GameStop, Dow, Nasdaq, Treasury, Traders, Market Intelligence, Fed, Nvidia Corp, Apple Inc, Tesla Inc, GameStop Corp, U.S . Labor Department, Bank of Canada, BoC, Dow Jones, Adobe, Lucid, NYSE, Thomson Locations: Wells, U.S, Wells Fargo, China, Bengaluru

☆ Adobe pushes Firefly AI into big business, with financial cover
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 8 (Reuters) - Adobe Inc (ADBE.O) said on Thursday it will offer Firefly, its artificial intelligence tool for generating images, to its large business customers, with financial indemnity for copyright challenges involving content made with the tools. Adobe earlier this year released a test version of Firefly, its own service which it says was created with legally safe image data. On Thursday, San Jose, California-based Adobe said it will start offering Firefly to its corporate customers as part of Adobe Express, a tool aimed at helping business users who do not specialize in design to create images and documents. "Rather than someone going over and pulling the data for a time range and generating the report, now you can see it. Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Adobe, Ashley Still, Suman Basetty, Basetty, Stephen Nellis, Sonali Paul Organizations: Adobe Inc, Adobe Express, Firefly, Adobe, Reuters, Thomson Locations: San Jose , California, San Francisco

☆ Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls of the day: Tesla, Apple, FedEx, Adobe, AT&T, Coinbase and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Bank of America upgrades McCormick to buy from underperform Bank of America said it sees an improved cost outlook for McCormick. "Our prior Underperform rating was predicated on negative revision risk to revenues and margins. Bank of America upgrades Molson Coors to neutral from underperform Bank of America said Molson is poised for share gains after the Bud controversy. Bank of America upgrades Cigna to buy from neutral Bank of America said it sees an attractive risk/reward outlook for the stock. Piper Sandler reiterates Tesla as overweight Piper said Tesla shares aren't cheap but is standing by its overweight rating.

Persons: D.A, Davidson, Goldman Sachs, it's, We're, McCormick, Molson, Bud, MoffettNathanson, JPMorgan Chase downgrades Cabot, JPMorgan Chase, Cabot, Morgan Stanley, AMCX, Piper Sandler, Tesla, Piper, Mizuho, Coinbase, … Organizations: . Deutsche Bank, Shell Deutsche Bank, Shell, Apple, Holdings, Bank of America, underperform Bank of America, Molson Coors, Bud Light, Barclays, Adobe, " Bank of America, of America, JPMorgan, FedEx, UPS, RBC, AMC Networks, UW, U.S . Securities, Exchange, SEC, Binance Locations: Washington, Americas, China

☆ Apple to sell Vision Pro AR headset for triple Meta's top-line price
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/4] People use cameras as Apple's Vision Pro headsets are on display at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California, U.S. June 5, 2023. Apple's headset will be available early next year in the U.S. with more countries coming later in 2024. The Vision Pro has two hours of use with an external battery, which Apple said would reduce the weight on the user's head. Investors and tech fans alike are focused on how much Apple's view of the virtual reality market overlaps with Meta's. In addition to Meta, Sony Group Corp (6758.T) and ByteDance-owned Pico both recently released virtual reality devices.

Persons: Loren Elliott CUPERTINO, Apple, Alan Dye, Tim Cook, Walt Disney's, Mark Zuckerberg, there's, John Ternus, Apple's, Craig Federighi, Stephen Nellis, Yuvraj Malik, Dawn Chmielewski, Katie Paul, Peter Henderson, Aditya Soni, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: Developers, REUTERS, Apple Inc, Pro, Apple, Vision, Reuters, Adobe, Microsoft, Unity, Meta, Sony Group Corp, Pico, Research, IDC, Mac Pro, Mac, Intel, Thomson Locations: Cupertino , California, U.S, Loren Elliott CUPERTINO , California, Bengaluru, Dawn, Los Angeles, New York

☆ Here's what Apple unveiled at WWDC: Vision Pro, 15-inch MacBook Air, OS updates
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Vision Pro sports 12 cameras and a digital crown similar to the Apple Watch to toggle between the AR and VR environments. M2 ULTRA CHIPApple unveiled M2 Ultra, its most-powerful processor so far, that comes to its desktop computers Mac Pro and Mac Studio. LARGER MACBOOK AIR, POWERFUL DESKTOPSApple launched a 15-inch MacBook Air featuring the M2 chip and an 18-hour battery life. The company beefed up its desktop computers, introducing a new version of its flagship Mac Pro with the M2 Ultra chip, starting at $6,999. WIDGETS FOR APPLE WATCH, OS UPGRADES, JOURNALING APPApple announced fresh versions of operating systems across its products.

Persons: Apple, Yuvraj Malik, Maju Samuel Organizations: Apple Inc, Meta, PlayStation VR, Sony Group, Apple Watch, Disney, Microsoft, Adobe Inc, Vision, Apple, Mac, Mac Pro, Max, APP Apple, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Jim Cramer: An economic wave is about to hit that will be fantastic for investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Ultimately, I have gotten to know my way around the CPI and it's a sloppy way to figure out pricing. Don't be frightened of the wave of deflation or misinterpret it as anything but fantastic for investors. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade.

☆ Analysis: Bearish fundamentals, buoyant charts complicate outlook for US stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Saqib Iqbal Ahmed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Technical indicators such as equity price movement largely show stocks are poised to continue a rally that has seen the S&P 500 climb 8% year-to-date, analysts who track them said. TECHNICALLY SPEAKINGThe S&P 500 (.SPX) has traded in a 9.7 percentage point range year-to-date, its narrowest range for comparable periods since 2017. Johnson, who has a year-end S&P 500 target of 4,625, is encouraged by the reversals in downtrends for many U.S. stock indexes. The S&P 500 has traded higher 83% of the time for the full year, returning an average 13.73%, when it hasn't dropped below the preceding year’s December low in the first quarter, a Piper Sandler analysis showed. The S&P 500 is trading at about 18 times 12-month forward earnings estimates compared to its long-term average P/E of 15.6 times, according to Refinitiv Datastream.

☆ Adobe to add generative AI tools into its video editing software
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] An example of Adobe Inc generative artificial intelligence features for video editing is seen in this undated screenshot of the company's software obtained by Reuters on April 13, 2023. April 17 (Reuters) - Adobe Inc (ADBE.O) on Monday said it plans to introduce new artificial intelligence (AI) features into its video editing software used by the film and television industries. The tools build on a new system called Adobe Firefly that the company introduced last month for generating still images and text. But after Getty Images sued Stability AI alleging that the startup misused Getty's copyrighted images in training its AI system, legal questions clouded whether the output of such AI systems can be used in commercial work. Adobe is testing the system now and plans to release the video tools later this year.

☆ Activist investor urges Getty to partner with Meta, Microsoft to grow revenue
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Meta Platforms Inc's logo is seen on a smartphone in this illustration picture taken October 28, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationApril 17 (Reuters) - Activist investor Trillium Capital said on Monday stock-photo company Getty Images Holdings Inc (GETY.N) should expand and create partnerships with technology firms and publishers to grow its revenue. Last week, Trillium asked Getty for a board seat and urged the company to evaluate strategic options including a sale. The investor, which holds more than 500,000 shares of Getty, said the platform should expand its library of generic stock photos to special events including religious functions, weddings, graduations and family celebrations. Trillium also listed Nvidia, Microsoft, Adobe and Meta as potential takeover suitors for the company.

WASHINGTON, April 13 (Reuters) - Photoshop maker Adobe Inc (ADBE.O) has agreed to pay $3 million to settle U.S. kickback allegations involving federal software sales, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement on Thursday. The settlement resolves allegations that Adobe made improper payments under its Solution Partner program to companies that had a contractual or other relationship with the government that allowed them to influence federal purchases of Adobe software, the Justice Department said. Between January 2011 and December 2020, Adobe allegedly paid the companies a percentage of the purchase price of the software, according to the Justice Department. The United States contends that these payments constituted prohibited kickbacks that resulted in Adobe causing false claims for payment to be submitted to federal agencies. "We will continue to use all appropriate tools to safeguard the integrity of the federal procurement process," Boynton said.

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