Author: Press Room

Key News Asian equities were largely higher/mixed on lower volume while Taiwan and India were off on holiday. There are many market holidays this week which explains the light volumes in the region which can lead to more volatility. It was interesting that Mainland China was mixed/higher but on very high volumes, reaching 146% of the 1-year average. Both the Shanghai and Shenzhen appear to be in intermediate uptrends with the Shanghai outperforming the Shenzhen. Shanghai’s mega/large cap State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) are outperforming Shenzhen’s large/mid/small cap private companies. SOE reforms are a factor but also sector composition. Another factor…

We’re all about the dividends here at Contrarian Outlook. Often we take it for granted that we’re not looking to lose 17% in just just a few weeks while we collect income! The share-price chart for Bank of America BAC (BAC) may appeal to dividend dumpster divers. And heck, it may work, as BAC stands to gain as more people pull their savings from regional banks and plunk them into “too big to fail.” Why deal with this nonsense? This is exactly why we’re fading “cardiac” price charts like BAC’s and shifting toward the smooth and steady growth of dividends…

Since the Roth IRA was created in 1997, a portion of the financial services community warned the Roth IRA was a trap. Congress would wait until Roth accounts held trillions of dollars, then repeal all or some of the tax benefits. From the start, I’ve been skeptical of the arguments that Roth IRAs are a trap and encouraged taxpayers to use them. I think there’s even less reason today to fear that there’s a Roth IRA trap. Life insurance and annuities have maintained their tax advantages for many decades despite academic and political arguments against them. That’s because insurance companies…

President Biden’s fiscal year 2024 budget would revive 2021’s enhanced child tax credit (CTC) with some new twists that seek to make the credit work better for families. But in doing so, the plan would likely deliver extra benefits to some very well-off families. It could also increase complexity – pushing against a key argument for operating benefit programs through the tax system. First, the good stuff. The proposal would extend full refundability permanently, allowing even very low-income families to receive the full benefit of the CTC. Full refundability is critical to reducing child poverty, especially among Black and Hispanic…

With continual interest rate hikes made by the Federal Reserve beginning in 2022, housing markets across the United States have been experiencing significant disruptions in activity. And this disruption is particularly noticeable in the levels of available housing inventory. Over the course of one year, from 2022 to 2023, countless American housing markets have seen record high percentage increases in their available for-sale inventory. This build-up of homes for sale is a reflection of a slowdown in many housing markets across the nation. Based on a list of American cities with populations of 200,000 or more, we analyzed 119 housing…

Our goal here at Credible Operations, Inc., NMLS Number 1681276, referred to as “Credible” below, is to give you the tools and confidence you need to improve your finances. Although we do promote products from our partner lenders who compensate us for our services, all opinions are our own. Based on data compiled by Credible, mortgage rates for home purchases are mixed today, with two key rates falling, one rising, and one holding steady since yesterday. Rates last updated on March 24, 2023. These rates are based on the assumptions shown here. Actual rates may vary. Credible, a personal finance…

Shares of Western Alliance Bancorp cut steep losses Wednesday after the regional bank gave a new update showing deposit outflows stabilizing amid the banking crisis.The Phoenix-based lender said in a filing that its net outflows have fallen sharply and returned to normalized levels by March 17. Deposit balances grew about $900 million to quarter end since March 30, the bank added.The stock closed down more than 12% losing as much as 20% earlier Wednesday. Investors were initially disappointed the lack of detail in an earlier update released Tuesday evening.Stock Chart IconStock chart iconWestern Alliance BankcorpWestern Alliance had suffered an exodus…

Wall Street can — and will — turn against stocks the Club holds in high regard. In some cases, our move is to run toward the wreckage, not away from it. “I want to be greedy on the downside. I want to be giving on the upside,” Jim Cramer said on Tuesday’s edition of the “Homestretch.” “When I see a stock getting tossed out that I love, that is fantastic.” Building on Jim’s philosophy, we analyzed the Club’s portfolio to identify beaten-down stocks that trade at reasonable valuations. The specific circumstances around each stock vary, and impact our ultimate view…

As the tech sector races to develop and deploy a crop of powerful new AI chatbots, their widespread adoption has ignited a new set of data privacy concerns among some companies, regulators and industry watchers. Some companies, including JPMorgan Chase (JPM), have clamped down on employees’ use of ChatGPT, the viral AI chatbot that first kicked off Big Tech’s AI arms race, due to compliance concerns related to employees’ use of third-party software. It only added to mounting privacy worries when OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, disclosed it had to take the tool offline temporarily on March 20 to fix…

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