Author: Press Room

By Ambar Warrick Investing.com — Most Asian currencies rose sharply on Friday, while the dollar sank to near one-year lows as soft inflation data spurred increased bets that a pause in the Federal Reserve’s rate hike cycle was imminent. The was among the best performers for the day, up 0.5% as a surprise rebound in spurred a stronger daily midpoint fix by the People’s Bank. PBOC Governor Yi Gang also reiterated the government’s 5% GDP target for 2023. While Chinese economic data has painted a somewhat middling picture of an economic recovery, a sustained improvement in exports could feed a…

By Noreen Burke Investing.com — U.S. inflation data and Federal Reserve minutes will be scrutinized by investors for clues on the near-term path of interest rates. The uneasy calm in equity markets will be tested as banks kick off first quarter earnings and the IMF is to release updated global growth forecasts. U.S. CPI March inflation figures on Wednesday will be closely watched to see if price pressures have eased enough to dampen the Federal Reserve’s appetite for further aggressive rate hikes. Economists expect core consumer price inflation, which excludes food and fuel costs, to rise on a month-over-month basis,…

Two months ago, we wrote that after realizing gains of 31%, it was time to take a time out on Tesla at the $208.31 price when our firm stated: “Right now, our technical analysis is at odds with our fundamental analysis, which is often good news, as it means we will be afforded a lower entry on a stock position we plan to build.” This analysis proved accurate as the stock topped around the time our last article was written and is trading at $180 today. Price action is key, yet what’s most important from our last article is that…

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) will report its Q1 2023 results on Tuesday, April 18. We expect it to post downbeat results, with its revenue falling in line and earnings slightly below the street expectations. Supply chain constraints and elevated costs will likely pressure the company’s earnings. Not only do we expect the company to post a downbeat Q1, our forecast indicates that LMT stock is fully valued at its current levels, as discussed below. Our interactive dashboard analysis of Lockheed Martin Earnings Preview has additional details. (1) Revenues expected to be in line with the consensus estimates Trefis estimates Lockheed…

The infamous “blue check” was once a symbol of notability and status across major social media platforms. Mostly reserved for athletes, entertainers, government officials, and members of the media, for the aspiring content creator it was the goalpost to measure impact and success. With Elon Musks Twitter takeover, it lowered the barrier to entry to a simple monthly fee. All but removing the prestige associated with being verified and giving anyone willing to pay, a shot at claiming a blue check of their own. With Twitter’s successful launch of Twitter Blue, META (the parent company for Facebook and Instagram) rolled…

Higher interest rates are making annuities more popular than ever. But despite rising annuities sales, misunderstandings keep many people from taking advantage of annuities. Insurers have been dealing with waves of applications in 2023 as yields on multi-year guaranteed annuities (MYGAs) leapt to 3%, 4%, and then above 5%. Let’s look at the misunderstandings that keep people from adding annuities to their financial plans and consider the ways annuities can be customized to meet different goals. There are several types of annuities. In this post, I focus on the more conservative, low-cost annuities that should be considered in many retirement…

Cryptocurrency investors are facing delays to withdraw funds deposited on the Ethereum blockchain after its major software upgrade, highlighting persistent headaches for Ethereum which aims to have the technology widely used for instant payments. The software upgrade, known as “Shapella,” was set to unlock more than $30 billion worth of ether, the second-biggest cryptocurrency, which investors had deposited on the Ethereum blockchain in return for interest.Until Wednesday’s upgrade, investors could not withdraw funds they had deposited via this method, known as “staking,” on the Ethereum blockchain. As of Thursday, ether worth around $1.4 billion was stuck in a withdrawal queue,…

Wells Fargo reported growing profits Friday as the bank benefited from higher interest rates, despite building up loan loss reserves.Here’s how the bank did compared with Refinitiv estimates:Earnings per share: $1.23 per share GAAP versus 90 cents a year ago and $1.13 expected.Revenue: $20.73 billion versus $20.08 billion expected.The bank’s shares were up more than 3% in premarket trading after the earnings report.Wells Fargo increased its net income by more than 30% to nearly $5 billion in the first quarter from a year ago. The bank said its net interest income, what it makes lending money minus what it pays…

European Central Bank policymakers are reconsidering the path of interest rate hikes in light of last month’s banking turmoil, but remain committed to reining in core inflation.Contagion fears set in motion by the collapse of U.S.-based Silicon Valley Bank in early March led to the downfall of several other regional lenders stateside, and culminated in the emergency rescue of Credit Suisse by fellow Swiss giant UBS in Europe.Though panic at the time led to a flight of investors and depositors from the global banking sector, the market has since calmed amid a consensus that the bank failures were the result…

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) on Friday reported first-quarter profit and revenue that roundly beat expectations, as tumult in the financial sector last month continues to fuel recession fears. The New York-based bank posted a profit of $12.6 billion or $4.10 per share. That’s up from $8.3 billion, or $2.63 per share from the same period a year before. Analysts expected earnings of $3.41 per share, according to Refinitiv. The company is the largest bank in the United States, with $3.67 trillion in assets, making it a bellwether for the US economy. “The US economy continues to be on generally healthy footings…