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☆ 'Uber crowded' trades from professional investors are crushing the market, Jefferies says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Professional investors' high-conviction bets have paid off this year, significantly beating the S & P 500 , according to Jefferies. These stocks have led the market this year amid Wall Street's obsession with what investors consider safe earnings, and all things tied to artificial intelligence. Microsoft is another red-hot AI bet as the company recently expanded a multiyear, multibillion-dollar investment in ChatGPT maker OpenAI, marking the third phase of their partnership. Microsoft shares are up about 39% in 2023. The company recently increased its projections for income and net new recurring revenue from its Digital Media business for the full year.

Persons: Jefferies, Bill Ackman, Stanley Druckenmiller, Dan Loeb Organizations: Big Tech, Microsoft, Meta, Google, Nvidia, Software, Adobe, Digital Media, Horizon Therapeutics

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Dollar General, Salesforce, C3.ai, Chewy and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Dollar General — Shares sank nearly 20% after the company reported an earnings and revenue miss for the first quarter. Its second-quarter revenue guidance also beat expectations, per StreetAccount. The company also reduced its full-year revenue guidance in the low single-digits range from the prior midsingle-digit range estimates. The drop in shares came as cost concerns and dwindling demand for consulting deals overshadowed better-than-expected results and an improved full-year earnings outlook. The company also raised its full-year earnings per share guidance.

Persons: Chewy, Hormel, Wednesday's, CrowdStrike, Salesforce, Okta, JPMorgan Chase, Veeva, Samantha Subin, Yun Li, Alex Harring, Tanaya Macheel Organizations: StreetAccount, Revenue, Refinitiv, JPMorgan, Veeva Systems, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Barclays Locations: Vallejo , California

☆ S&P 500 futures are flat as House prepares to vote on debt ceiling bill: Live updates
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Stock futures held steady in overnight trading Wednesday after the market wrapped the month of May, marked by a dramatic rally in artificial intelligence-related stocks. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were both flat. The S&P 500 inched up 0.3% in the month, while the blue-chip Dow fell almost 3.5%, dragged down by Nike , Walt Disney and Chevron . Investors are closely watching a bill that would raise the debt ceiling and cut government spending. Beyond the debt ceiling battle, investors are looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's June 13-14 policy meeting as another possible market catalyst.

Persons: Nordstrom, Salesforce, Dow, Walt, Craig Johnson, Piper Sandler, Adam Turnquist, Patrick Harker Organizations: NYSE, Stock, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Nvidia, Nike, Walt Disney, Chevron, Investors, LPL, Philadelphia Fed Locations: Washington, Philadelphia

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: C3.ai, Nordstrom, Salesforce, CrowdStrike and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Nordstrom — Shares of the high-end department store jumped 9% in extended trading after its fiscal first-quarter sales beat Wall Street's expectations. CrowdStrike — The cybersecurity firm's stock tumbled nearly 12% in after-hours trading after the company reported slowing revenue growth. CrowdStrike reported quarterly revenue of $692.6 million, marking a 42% year-over-year increase, which is slower than the 61% growth it reported in the year-ago quarter. C3.ai expects to see fiscal first-quarter revenue of between $70 million and $72.5 million, which is less rosy than Wall Street had expected. Analysts called for earnings of 4 cents per share on $559 million in revenue, according to Refinitiv.

Persons: Nordstrom, Salesforce, CrowdStrike, Okta, Chewy, —, Darla Mercado Organizations: StreetAccount, Revenue, Wall Locations: Refinitiv

☆ These are the top stocks to play the A.I. theme, Goldman Sachs tells clients
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Given the growth potential, Goldman looked to recent earnings call transcripts to identify the companies that are actively discussing the potential opportunities, and risks, from AI. Goldman found a basket of 24 companies that are pursuing AI or can help enable new technologies across software, semiconductors, tech hardware, media, internet and information technology services. Alphabet has been a popular AI play among high-profile investors such as Bill Ackman and Stanley Druckenmiller. Meanwhile, Meta Platforms has touted AI computer chips, which will eventually power more advanced metaverse-related tasks, including virtual reality and augmented reality, as well as generative AI. Goldman also highlighted software names that are either pursuing AI or would act as enablers of AI, including Datadog , CrowdStrike , Snowflake and Salesforce.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Goldman, Bill Ackman, Stanley Druckenmiller, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Goldman, Big Tech, Microsoft, Meta, Apple, Google, Nvidia, AMD, Micron Technology, Marvell Technology, Palo Alto Networks Locations: CrowdStrike, Snowflake

☆ Family offices are lifting their exposure to bonds and emerging-market equities, UBS survey says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Family offices are making major shifts in their portfolios, increasing their exposure to bonds and emerging-market equities, according to a UBS survey. The wealthy cohort plans to raise developed market fixed income investments in 2023, with more than one-third of family offices aiming at high-quality, short-duration bonds, according to the survey, which earlier this year polled 230 global family offices. "The shift that's going on is very telling," Charles Otton, head of UBS' global family and institutional wealth business, told CNBC. "Developed market fixed income and government bonds are strongly attractive to family offices as they look to 2023 in a very different rate environment." Duquesne Family Office's Stanley Druckenmiller, for one, has been calling for a recession for a while .

Persons: Charles Otton, Otton, Office's Stanley Druckenmiller Organizations: UBS, CNBC, Federal, Duquesne

"Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war," more than 350 signatories wrote in a letter published by the nonprofit Center for AI Safety (CAIS). As well as Altman, they included the CEOs of AI firms DeepMind and Anthropic, and executives from Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Google (GOOGL.O). Elon Musk and a group of AI experts and industry executives were the first ones to cite potential risks to society in April. AI pioneer Hinton earlier told Reuters that AI could pose a "more urgent" threat to humanity than climate change. Last week OpenAI CEO Sam Altman referred to EU AI - the first efforts to create a regulation for AI - as over-regulation and threatened to leave Europe.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Nvidia, Tesla, Coinbase and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Visitors at the Nvidia stand at the 2022 Apsara Conference in Hangzhou, China, Nov 3, 2022. Nvidia — Shares of the chipmaker and artificial intelligence beneficiary popped nearly 6%, building on its recent gains on the heels of a blowout quarter. Tesla — Shares gained 6% following a Reuters report a private jet used by CEO Elon Musk arrived in China, his first visit in three years. ChargePoint — Shares rose nearly 11%. Devon Energy , Diamondback , Chevron , ExxonMobil — Energy stocks were under pressure Tuesday as prices for oil and natural gas slid.

☆ Stocks making the biggest premarket moves: ChargePoint, Ford, Nvidia, Tesla and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Check out the companies making some of the biggest moves in premarket trading:ChargePoint — Shares of the electric vehicle charging station company jumped 5% premarket after Bank of America upgraded the stock to buy. Tesla — Shares gained 3% premarket. Last Thursday, Tesla and Ford announced a partnership giving Ford owners access to Tesla Superchargers. Coinbase — Shares gained 4% in premarket trading. Nvidia — Shares continued to near $1 trillion in market value, up 3.7% in premarket trading.

☆ Exclusive: EU's Breton to discuss AI rules with OpenAI CEO in June
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, May 30 (Reuters) - EU industry chief Thierry Breton will meet OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in San Francisco next month to discuss how the company will implement the bloc's world-leading rules on artificial intelligence (AI), EU officials said on Tuesday. Breton will also discuss an AI pact with Altman with the goal of getting OpenAI to join a group of European and non-European companies to apply the AI rules ahead of their enforcement in 2026, the EU officials said, asking not to be named. "Breton will discuss the practical aspects of the implementation of the AI Act. It will be a working session, with an in-depth discussion on datasets," one of the EU officials said. Last week, after meeting Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Breton said the U.S. tech giant and the European Commission will discuss a voluntary AI pact to help companies anticipate implementation of the AI legislation.

Persons: Thierry Breton, Sam Altman, Breton, Altman, OpenAI, irked Breton, Sundar Pichai, Foo Yun, Mark Potter, Barbara Lewis Organizations: European, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, San Francisco, U.S

☆ RBC raises year-end stock market forecast, sees buying opportunity in small caps
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

RBC Capital lifted its year-end target for the S & P 500 as the tech-led market rally continued, seeing double-digit gains for 2023. The new target is only about 1% higher than the S & P 500's Friday close of 4,205.45 but it would represent a 10% gain for the year. The firm said it's worth looking at cheap small caps right now. "Small Caps are at an attractive entry point for patient investors." Additionally, Calvasina said periods of economic stress are usually good buying opportunities for small caps as the cohort tends to underperform heading into a recession and starts to outperform midway through a downturn.

☆ Cathie Wood's Ark Invest misses out on Nvidia's powerful rally — dumped stock too early, citing high valuation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Ark Invest's Cathie Wood, known for her investments in next-generation technologies, missed out on the jaw-dropping rally in Nvidia — the biggest winner in artificial intelligence this year. Her flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) exited Nvidia entirely in early January, before the chipmaker went on to enjoy a powerful rally that propelled it to a $1 trillion market capitalization. She even trimmed Nvidia holdings in her smaller funds on Thursday when the stock spiked 26% on a huge forecast beat driven by AI chip demand. & Robotics ETF (ARKQ) now has 4.4% in Nvidia, while its biggest holding is Tesla with a 14% weighting. In its base case, Ark believes Exact Sciences could compound at an average annual rate of 25%, reaching $140 by 2027.

☆ Uganda enacts harsh anti-LGBTQ law including death penalty
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda, as in more than 30 African countries, but the new law goes much further. It imposes capital punishment for some behaviour including transmitting a terminal illness like HIV/AIDS through gay sex, and stipulates a 20-year sentence for "promoting" homosexuality. Uganda receives billions of dollars in foreign aid each year and could now face another round of sanctions. The bill's sponsor Asuman Basalirwa told reporters that parliament speaker Anita Among's U.S. visa was cancelled after the law was signed. "Our data shows that this law runs counter to the interests of economic progress and prosperity of all people in Uganda," he said.

☆ NATO head urges Kosovo to ease tensions with Serbia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Sabine Siebold | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Stoltenberg, the transatlantic military alliance's Norwegian secretary-general, said he had spoken to European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell about Kosovo. Ethnic Albanians make up more than 90% of the population in Kosovo as a whole. Local Serbs, backed by Belgrade, said they will not accept the mayors and that they do not represent them. The situation remained tense on Sunday with heavily armed police in armoured vehicles still guarding the mayors' offices. Reporting by Sabine Siebold, writing by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Sharon SingletonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ This winning fund puts a spin on emerging markets investing with bets from Nvidia to Chinese spirits
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Artisan Developing World Fund (ARTYX) is crushing the market this year by tilting the traditional investing principles in emerging markets. "These are companies that are based in developed markets but economically tied to emerging markets," Kaufman said in an interview. By domicile, Artisan Developing World Fund has just 57% of its portfolio in emerging markets. However, the emerging markets exposure should rise to 70% when looking at the economic exposure by revenue, Kaufman said. Other than those passport companies, the fund also invests in a slew of companies domiciled in emerging markets.

☆ NATO urges Kosovo to de-escalate tension with Serbia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The resulting clashes on Friday between Kosovan police and protesters opposed to the ethnic Albanian mayors prompted Serbia to put its army on full combat alert and to move units closer to the border. "We urge the institutions in Kosovo to de-escalate immediately and call on all parties to resolve the situation through dialogue," said Oana Lungescu, a spokeswoman for the transatlantic military alliance, in a Twitter post. She said KFOR, the 3,800-strong NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, would remain vigilant. It is also the right of citizens to be served by those elected officials," Kurti said on Twitter on Saturday. Ethnic Albanians form more than 90% of the population in Kosovo, with Serbs only the majority in the northern region.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Ford, Marvell Technology, Paramount, Gap and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Tesla 's stock gained 4.72%. Marvell Technology — The semiconductor stock soared 32.42% after the company's earnings beat analyst expectations. Despite reporting an earnings and revenue beat, shares fell on the company's reduced operating margin outlook for the full year. Paramount — Shares of the media company gained 5.89% after National Amusements, Paramount's majority voting shareholder, announced a $125 million preferred equity investment by BDT Capital Partners. Workday also raised the low end of its full-year subscription revenue guidance and named a new chief financial officer, Zane Rowe.

☆ Twitter cannot hide from EU rules after exit from code, EU's Breton says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, May 26 (Reuters) - Twitter cannot run away from its obligations even after quitting a voluntary EU code of practice to tackle disinformation, EU industry chief Thierry Breton warned the company late on Friday. Companies which signed up to the code are required to provide regular progress reports with data on how much advertising revenue they had averted from disinformation actors. "Twitter leaves EU voluntary code of practice against disinformation. You can run but you can't hide," Breton said in a tweet. Twitter, which no longer has a public relations department, responded to an emailed request for comment with a poop emoji.

☆ Paramount pops after Buffett's favorite banker makes 'interesting' bet in media giant's key shareholder
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

National Amusements, Paramount's majority voting shareholder, announced Thursday afternoon that it has entered into an agreement for a $125 million preferred equity investment from BDT Capital Partners, an affiliate of BDT & MSD Partners. Paramount Global shares jumped nearly 6% on Friday after an investor known as Warren Buffett's favorite banker piled into the media company's controlling shareholder. BDT & MSD Partners' chairman and co-CEO is Byron Trott, who has long been known as Buffett's preferred and trusted banker. "It's not good news when any company passes its dividend, or cuts its dividend dramatically," Buffett said. Upgrade from LoopLoop Capital on Friday upgraded Paramount to a hold rating from a sell in light of the BDT investment.

SummarySummary Companies OpenAI CEO reverses earlier threat to leave EuropeSays had productive week of conversations about regulating AIEU lawmakers were critical about OpenAI's threat regionMay 26 (Reuters) - OpenAI has no plans to leave Europe, CEO Sam Altman said on Friday, reversing a threat made earlier this week to leave the region if it becomes too hard to comply with upcoming laws on artificial intelligence. "We are excited to continue to operate here and of course have no plans to leave," Altman said in a tweet on Friday. His threat of quitting Europe had drawn criticism from EU industry chief Thierry Breton and a host of other lawmakers. He called his tour a "very productive week of conversations in Europe about how to best regulate AI!" OpenAI first clashed with regulators in March, when Italian data regulator Garante shut the app down domestically, accusing OpenAI of flouting European privacy rules.

☆ Hedge funds are loading up on Nvidia and these other tech stocks, Goldman data shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Hedge funds piled into Nvidia in the first quarter just in time for the chipmaker's eye-popping rally following a blowout forecast. The smart money hedge funds also loaded up on other tech stocks tied to artificial intelligence, according to Goldman Sachs. The Wall Street investment bank analyzed the holdings of 740 hedge funds with $2.2 trillion of gross equity positions at the start of 2023, based on regulatory filings. Goldman then identified technology, media and telecom (TMT) stocks with the largest net changes in hedge fund popularity during the first quarter. A total of 34 hedge funds added Nvidia to their portfolio in the first quarter, according to Goldman.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Goldman, Jensen Huang, Stanley Druckenmiller, Druckenmiller, David Tepper's Organizations: Nvidia, Wall, Billionaire, Duquesne, National Instruments, KLA Corp, Silicon Laboratories, Dynatrace

☆ Here are big Wall Street investors' favorite A.I. bets, other than Nvidia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

But it's not just Nvidia the smart money is betting on to power AI growth. Dan Loeb's Third Point also purchased Alphabet in the first quarter, making it the fund's fifth-biggest holding. Shares of Alphabet have rallied almost 40% this year as investors grew optimistic about the company's AI capabilities. AI software Druckenmiller revealed recently his Microsoft stake was also a bet on AI. Another AI software maker, Palantir, lately attracted buying from Ark Invest's Cathie Wood.

Persons: it's, Stanley Druckenmiller, Dan Loeb's, Bill Ackman's, Philippe Laffont’s Coatue, Stephen Mandel’s, Druckenmiller, David Tepper, Daniel Sundheim, Meta, Laffont’s Coatue, —, Samantha Subin Organizations: Nvidia, Wall Street's, Billionaire, Duquesne, Office, Google, Bill Ackman's Pershing, Capital Management, Taiwan Semiconductor, Tiger Global Management, Coatue Management, Devices, Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital, Microsoft, Meta Locations: Wall

☆ These financial stocks were most loved—and hated—by hedge funds during the banking crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The banking crisis wreaked havoc in the industry in recent months, and hedge funds have been picking winners and losers among financial stocks, according to Goldman Sachs. Goldman then identified financial and real estate stocks with the largest recent changes in ownership among hedge funds. As for financial and real estate stocks that hedge funds sold the most in the first quarter, Welltower topped the list with 26 funds dumping the name. A number of hedge funds also decreased their exposure to Visa and CME Group . East West Bancorp , Aon , First Interstate BancSystem and Discover Financial Services were other names that hedge funds hated last quarter amid the banking chaos.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Goldman, Charles Schwab, Welltower, Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway Organizations: Focus Financial Partners, Investors, Valley Bank, First, Fidelity National, SLM Corp, Everest, Visa, CME Group, U.S . Bancorp, East West Bancorp, Aon, Discover Financial Services Locations: BlackRock, First Republic, U.S, Omaha

In spite of all the predictions that they'll fall soon, mortgage rates have remained stubbornly high so far this year. "The combination of job gains, limited inventory, and fluctuating mortgage rates over the last several months have created an environment of push-pull housing demand." See more mortgage rates on Zillow Real Estate on ZillowMortgage CalculatorUse our free mortgage calculator to see how today's interest rates will affect your monthly payments. 30-Year Fixed Mortgage RatesThe current average 30-year fixed mortgage rate is 6.39%, according to Freddie Mac. 15-Year Fixed Mortgage RatesThe average 15-year fixed mortgage rate remained flat at 5.75% this week, according to Freddie Mac data.

☆ Stocks making the biggest premarket moves: Apple, Meta, Micron, PacWest and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Check out the companies making the biggest moves in premarket trading:Apple — Shares of the iPhone maker fell about 1% premarket after Loop Capital downgraded Apple's stock to hold from buy. Nike , Foot Locker — Shares of Nike and Foot Locker declined 1.5% and 2.4%, respectively, in premarket trading. Foot Locker missed on the top and bottom lines in its first fiscal quarter, and lowered its guidance. UBS upgraded shares to a buy from neutral rating, saying that expansion into new markets should fuel growth. Norfolk Southern , CSX — Shares of the railroads added 1.8% and 1.5%, respectively, in premarket trading.

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