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☆ Southeast Asia’s worst-performing stock market is UBS’s ‘top pick’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Audrey Wan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of Move Forward Party, attends a press conference of the Thai pro-democracy parties in Bangkok. While the benchmark SET index initially rose when the results came through, but eventually gave up those early gains. In fact, Thai stocks are the worst performers in Southeast Asia this year, but Tay says Thailand is his "top pick" in the region. Thailand's SET index is down 9.22% this year, the biggest laggard in the broader Asia Pacific region. The Move Forward party has called for reforms to the monarchy, including changing its defamation law.

Foreign holdings of Italian government paper increased in February after 10 consecutive monthly declines, according to Bank of Italy data. "This is a magic moment for Italian bonds," he told Reuters. The share of Italian government debt held by foreign investors fell to below 20% at the end of 2022 from around 50% before the 2008 financial crisis, Bank of Italy data shows. The Italian Treasury has already taken steps to shore up demand for its bonds as the ECB retreats, by boosting purchases among domestic households and companies. Together, Italian families and firms now hold around 215 billion euros, or 9%, of Rome's debt, UniCredit's Cazzulani said, the highest level since mid-2015.

☆ Apple's AI strategies, especially for Siri, aren't very smart
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Michael Gartenberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

But when it comes to artificial intelligence, particularly Siri, Apple has gone from leader to laggard. Siri was introduced to the world in 2011 – 12 years ago – and was lauded at the time as a breakthrough in AI technology. Open-source technology allows developers to collaborate and contribute to a project, leading to faster and more efficient development cycles. Still, Google, which has a long history of open-source involvement, publishes hundreds of AI research papers yearly. While that's helpful (especially for selling Macs to AI developers), it's not the kind of kumbaya sharing that the open-source community relies on.

Toyota's board on Wednesday recommended that shareholders vote against the resolution, to be put to the company's annual general meeting in June. On Wednesday Toyota said it expects a five-fold jump in pure electric vehicle (EV) sales this business year. "We need concrete policy changes and a better annual review drawing on independent data to calm international investors." LONG ENGAGEMENTIt will be the first time that Toyota faces such a climate-related resolution at its annual general meeting, the funds said. It first planned to submit a shareholder proposal in 2021, but withdrew that after it received assurances that Toyota would review its climate lobbying.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Uber, Chegg, Dell, PacWest, SoFi & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Uber — Shares of the ride-hailing giant jumped more than 8% after the company reported first-quarter revenue that beat analysts' expectations. Still, the company did beat expectations for the quarter and provide strong guidance. NXP Semiconductors — Shares of the chipmaker added more than 2% after the company beat analysts' expectations for first-quarter revenue and operating income. Revenue guidance for the second quarter was better than anticipated as well. The global bank also announced an upcoming $2 billion share buyback program and restored its quarterly dividend.

☆ Why Warren Buffett Runs Berkshire Hathaway His Way - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Roger Lowenstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Not surprisingly, Mr. Buffett has become a target for progressive institutional investors. (A resolution calling for Mr. Buffett to step down as board chairman, though not as C.E.O., fared the worst.) CalPERS, which manages retirement funds in California, demands that Berkshire publish an annual “assessment” on how it manages climate risks. (This is a good place to note: I’m not only a Warren Buffett biographer, I’m also a long-term Berkshire stockholder.) Mr. Buffett was the son of a conservative Republican who served four terms in Congress.

☆ Tuesday, May 2, 2023: Cramer exits this tech position
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Joshua Natoli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Tuesday, May 2, 2023: Cramer exits this tech positionJim Cramer and Jeff Marks preview Wednesday's Federal Reserve decision and several economic data releases this week. Jim shares why he is exiting a tech position in the portfolio and says the move reflects their desire to shed a laggard and caution ahead of four possible landmines for the market, including the debt ceiling. Jim also breaks down why now is not the right time to buy one Club stock set to report earnings today after the closing bell.

☆ White House says Toyota 'fully committed' to electrifying auto fleet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/2] A Toyota bZ Compact SUV Concept electric car is displayed during the press day at the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S. November 17, 2022. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File PhotoWASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - White House senior adviser John Podesta said Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) is "fully committed" to electric vehicles after he met recently with senior company officials. Podesta told Reuters reporters and editors in a roundtable meeting on Tuesday the Japanese automaker "had been the laggard" but was now committed to electric vehicles. "I think they're going to stick with plug-in hybrids for a while, maybe longer than some of the other companies but they're fully now committed under their new leadership to electrification," he said. Reporting by David Shepardson Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Club meeting recap: Stocks gain, Eli Lilly, Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) 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. Stocks head for winning week Discipline with Eli Lilly Stick with Amazon 1. Watch Eli Lilly The Club is looking to book some profits in pharmaceuticals giant Eli Lilly (LLY) when our trading restrictions are lifted. But the Club continues to see a bright future ahead for Eli Lilly, which raised its full-year outlook this week. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER .

☆ Amazon is the growth laggard of the cloud industry now
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon said cloud revenue trended down by 500 basis points in April, suggesting year-over-year growth of 11%. The three largest cloud companies reported results in recent days and the growth picture for Amazon Web Services is, well, cloudy. Microsoft's Azure cloud unit grew sales by 31% year over year in the first quarter, while Google Cloud reported a 28% increase. So that suggests a year-over-year growth rate of just 11% for the early part of the second quarter. AWS is still the largest cloud provider, but if Microsoft continues to outgrow Amazon every quarter, the gap will narrow.

☆ Microsoft, Google just told us AI is for real, right now. Here's a broad selection of stocks that will benefit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

(I've said it over and over if First Republic were to collapse it would not be a systemic industrywide problem.) When I say listen to what the market is telling you, I like to look at stocks that have no news but are ramping anyway. This move in these stocks could turn into a change in mindset about these stocks because AI may mean an acceleration of laggard tech, including personal computers (PCs) and servers. Despite the endless obsession with trying to sound like Microsoft when it comes to AI — mentioned like 50 times on the call. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

☆ Tangaraju Suppiah: Singapore executes man for trafficking two pounds of cannabis
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Heather Chen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Tangaraju Suppiah, a 46-year-old Singaporean, was hanged early on Wednesday in Changi Prison and the family have received a death certificate, his sister Leelavathy Suppiah told CNN. Tangaraju was first sentenced to death in 2018 for “abetting the trafficking of more than one kilogram of cannabis (1,017.9 grams),” according to a statement from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB). The court found he was in phone communication with two other men caught trying to smuggle cannabis into Singapore. “As is the case for many people currently on death row in Singapore, Tangaraju was forced to represent himself to seek a review of the Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold his conviction. Singapore has a strong reputation as a rule of law country so this concerning omission is not normal,” Perrett added.

☆ Club meeting recap: Stocks edge down, Halliburton, Humana
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) 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. The firm said Humana stock is undervalued, given "multiple levers of upside" to management's guidance, along with Medicare Advantage market-share gains. 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 . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB.

The PMI was driven by the services sector as consumer spending on travel, leisure and entertainment showed strength while manufacturing remained weak. S&P Global's input price index - a good guide to future inflation pressures - showed the slowest growth in costs for firms since March 2021, although overall cost pressures remained high by historical standards. There were also signs of recovery in Friday's consumer confidence survey by polling firm GfK which rose to its highest since February last year, albeit to weak levels. There was a reminder of the problems facing many consumers in official retail sales data also published on Friday. "A strong performance from retailers in January and February means the three-month picture shows positive growth for the first time since August 2021," he said.

That makes the business less than half the size of Bank of America Corp's (BAC.N) Merrill Wealth Management arm, the $18-billion behemoth Sieg ran until he left last month. Another challenge is that Citi has historically been undersized and a bit of a laggard in the space...especially in the wealth business where it’s all about existing relationships." In some ways, Citigroup is playing catchup after selling its old wealth business, Smith Barney, a decade ago to Morgan Stanley, which then leaned heavily into wealth management. That bet paid off - Morgan Stanley's wealth unit, led by Andy Saperstein, brought in record revenue last year. Two years ago, Citigroup unified its various wealth businesses into a single organization led by Jim O'Donnell that included its private bank and personal wealth division.

ET (1413 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) was up 26.71 points, or 0.13%, at 20,591.2. The heavily-weighted financials sector (.SPTTFS) added 0.4%, mirroring gains in big U.S. banks. "The read through to Canada is largely from the banks (in the U.S.) because the banks comprise about 20% of the weight of the Toronto Stock Exchange," said Brian Madden, chief investment officer at First Avenue Investment Counsel. "It is good news for the Canadian banks in general because they have operations in the United States, so that should bode well for their results in their US operations." Reporting by Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi MajumdarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

EURNOK and inflationGoldman Sachs and UBS said that the rising cost of borrowing would likely support the Norwegian crown. But those daily sales are well down from the 4.3 billion crowns per day the central bank sold in October. "Any budget surplus that was generated from the commodity exports was basically being neutralized by the Norges bank," said Simon Harvey, head of FX analysis at Monex. Much of the crown's fate could also depend on what the U.S. central bank does. If the Fed stops hiking rates, this would likely boost global equities, which have a strong positive correlation to the Norwegian crown.

☆ Market veteran says we may be 'a long way from a new bull market' and shares what to buy and avoid
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Zavier Ong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

That puts the index in a technical bull market — widely defined as a gain of at least 20% from a 52-week low. That outperformance is getting investors excited and is prompting talk that a new bull market is in the cards. But market veteran David Dietze said he believes the stock market is getting ahead of itself. "Others have trouble calling a market movement a new bull market until the market at least attains its prior all-time high point. How he's positioning For starters, he said, investors should remain invested in the stock market, despite the appeal of higher-yielding money market funds and short-dated Treasurys.

☆ Italy, digital payment firms and retailers at odds over deal to cut fees
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Giuseppe Fonte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The cost of digital payments has taken centre stage in Italy, with the right-wing administration led by nationalist Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni trying to deal with complaints by retailers about the fees. Rome wants the parties to agree to reduce fees on electronic transactions worth up to 30 euros ($32.87) for businesses with annual revenues of up to 400,000 euros. A meeting between all involved parties is now scheduled for April 20, a second source said confirming the deal is still elusive. Meloni promoted the talks to cut fees after her government in December backtracked on a proposal to cut sanctions against shopkeepers refusing to accept digital payments, following criticism from the European Commission. Tax evasion in Italy is estimated by the Treasury at around 90 billion euros, down from 106 billion euros of 2015.

[1/2] The processing facility at an oil sands operations near Fort McMurray, Alberta, September 17, 2014. The company joins Canada's biggest oil producers in urging policymakers to boost public funding for the costly technology that is seen as key to cutting emissions from the carbon-intensive oil sands. Until then, the company will pay Canada's carbon tax, set to rise to C$170 a tonne by 2030, Nicholson said. Canada's oil sands produced a record 3.15 million bpd in 2022 and are forecast to hit 3.7 million bpd by 2030, according to S&P Global. "The oil sands are long-life, low-decline assets," said Wood Mackenzie analyst Scott Norlin.

☆ Column: East Asia set to win scramble for wind power dominance by 2030
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

EAST ASIAN DOMINANCEChina will remain the largest wind producer and top wind capacity developer, but South Korea, Japan and Taiwan will all post faster growth rates than China through 2030, according to GEM. While no other country will match the sheer scale of China's wind power additions, many will dwarf its growth rate as they play catch up with the world's green power leader. Combined, these East Asian countries are set to account for 36.2% of world wind capacity by 2030, GEM data shows, with the region remaining the largest hub for wind power. Wind power capacity breakdownGermany, Spain, France and Sweden plan to boost their collective capacity by nearly 40,000 MW by 2030, and will all rank among the top 10 global wind producers. Saudi Arabia looks set to be the largest wind power producer in the Middle East once it raises current capacity by 125% to 900MW.

☆ Column: Philippines set to go from renewable laggard to leader in SE Asia
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The rapid expansion in renewable energy supplies comes at a potentially critical time for the country's energy sector. Previously, those strict ownership rules limited foreign participation in the Philippines' energy sector to a handful of oil and gas majors. More clean power generation should also help the Philippines close the clean energy gap with the rest of Asia. Philippines electricity generation mix by sourceIn turn, a greater proportion of power from clean sources should help the Philippines attract more manufacturing and other industries. Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia are all also expected to rapidly increase renewable energy supply capacity over the coming years, and may sporadically compete with the Philippines as green energy hot spots.

☆ Biden promised 'no more drilling on federal lands, period.' He just broke that pledge to approve a massive oil project in Alaska.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

On the campaign trail in 2020, Biden promised to ban all new oil drilling on federal land. But he just broke a key campaign pledge to stop all new oil drilling on federal land in a major way. A Biden administration official insisted that the government's hands were tied by leases granted to ConocoPhillips by prior administrations. Despite these protections, the Willow project is expected to come with significant environmental costs, aside from contributing to planet-warming emissions. March 13, 2023: This story has been updated with comment from a Biden administration official.

☆ Here are the biggest Dow winners and losers since Fed rate hikes began — And where they go from here
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Goldman Sachs , JPMorgan , Visa and American Express have all registered gains since the Fed started hiking rates. Industrial giants Boeing , Caterpillar and Honeywell also emerged as some of the biggest winners during the tightening period. Intel has been the biggest laggard during the tightening period with a 42% loss. However, Wall Street analysts expect the tech sector to lead the market comeback as the Fed slows down its rate-hiking campaign. Disney has fallen 25% since the Fed began tightening, but Wall Street analysts believe the theme park giant could rebound 25% in the next 12 months.

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