California’s Leaders Focus on Climate Change While its Finances are not Sustainable! I have been an investment manager and financial analyst for over 30 years. During that time, I have evaluated hundreds of companies as stock or bond investments. Many times, I have seen once marque companies gradually fall into the financial ruin due to poor decision making. While I am not a municipal bond expert, I do see comparisons with California’s current financial mess to those infamous corporate disasters. Here are my business minded observations: 1. Losing High Paying Clients: California has lost a substantial amount of large tax…

The DividendRank formula at Dividend Channel ranks a coverage universe of thousands of dividend stocks, according to a proprietary formula designed to identify those stocks that combine two important characteristics — strong fundamentals and a valuation that looks inexpensive. Pfizer presently has a stellar rank, in the top 10% of the coverage universe, which suggests it is among the top most “interesting” ideas that merit further research by investors. Start slideshow: 10 Oversold Dividend Stocks » But making Pfizer Inc an even more interesting and timely stock to look at, is the fact that in trading on Friday, shares of…

Bank of America’s potential net interest income trough opens an opportunity for top-line growth. By Daniel Urbina Summary Despite Warren Buffett selling shares, Bank of America’s net interest income recovery and fair valuation make it a strong investment opportunity. Lower rates and a steepened yield curve position Bank of America for growth in net interest income that has been lagging. Although the bank has gained over 60% over the last year, the valuation still looks attractive. Over the recent months, Bank of America (BAC, Financial) has been in the headlines as legendary investor Warren Buffett sold many of his shares…

Marketers are learning that most consumers can detect AI-created ads, which tends to undermine brand authenticity Recent advances in artificial intelligence have given merchants and marketers powerful tools for mining customer data, but relying on AI to create slick marketing content tends to make shoppers wary and “apprehensive.” That was the lead finding in a broad, global survey conducted earlier this year by London-based YouGov, a technology research consultancy. It has been confirmed by other studies measuring the effect on consumers of artificially created marketing imagery and text. YouGov said its research across 17 global markets found that about half…

At times like these, with the economic outlook uncertain and volatility likely, we want to be certain of one thing: We’re still in stocks (and stock-focused funds)! But of course, we want to make sure we’re tempering our risk, as well. Because one thing we can be sure of is that any volatility, no matter if it’s tied to an election or any other outside event, will pass. The last thing we want is to be out of the market when it does. (And of course, we want to keep our dividends rolling in, especially in volatile times.) That brings…

Managing risk is something Wells Fargo Advisor Michael Riherd often finds himself explaining to clients. The situation is particularly acute in technology centric Northern California where many business owners and top executives have most their net worth tied up in the stock of one company. “They might have $20 million or even $100 million in the appreciated stock of one company,” Riherd said. “This stock was paid to them over time and they figure that if a stock has been good, then why sell it.” Riherd said he and his partner, Christopher West, run into this problem all the time.…

Interest rates are finally on the decline again, leaving investors considering where to focus their money next. At this point, the markets could tip in either direction, as the Fear and Greed Index sits at neutral right now, and economic and market pundits are sharing a wide array of commentary that calls for everything from a recession to a soft landing or even the potential for a continuation of greener pastures. In recent years, the runaway valuations of growth stocks have caused some investors to think value investing is dead, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Interviews with…

Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, discussed on the No Priors AI-focused podcast the concept of “Hyper Moore’s Law.” He suggested that AI computing performance could follow a curve even steeper than Moore’s Law, which traditionally represents a doubling of transistor count every two years. Huang stated, “I wouldn’t be surprised if the way people think about Moore’s Law, which is 2X every couple of years, we’re going to be on some kind of hyper Moore’s Law curve.” He added to this concept by explaining the compounding effect, saying, “When you double or triple every year in just a few…

Best Trade Between Election Day and the Inauguration As the 2024 presidential election approaches, savvy investors are eyeing a compelling opportunity in small-cap stocks, particularly through the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM). Historical data suggests small-cap companies tend to outperform following presidential elections, and current market conditions make this pattern especially intriguing. The timing appears particularly opportune given the historically wide performance gap between large and small-cap stocks. Small-caps have significantly lagged their larger counterparts, creating a potential springboard for mean reversion. This disparity sets up an attractive entry point for investors looking to capitalize on post-election market dynamics. Several…

Key News Asian equities were mixed overnight despite a very strong US dollar as the US 10-year Treasury Year Yield rose to over 4.6%, while Japan and India were higher, and Hong Kong, Indonesia, and the Philippines underperformed. The Renminbi’s weakness, as it fell by -0.99%, garnered media attention even though the Yen fell by -1.65%, the South Korea Won fell by -1.50%, and the Euro fell by -2.01%. Trump’s win and potential for a Red Sweep were the sole focus overnight, though Friday’s post-NPC press conference and stimulus announcement are arguably far more important. A Trump win and threat…