Did you know corporate bankruptcies hit a 14-year high in 2024? Almost 700 companies filed for bankruptcy, and among them were big name companies like Red Lobster, Spirit Airlines, Big Lots, Party City and more. As Trump shakes up the global economic landscape, many business models look increasingly wobbly. I’m not surprised to see many stocks plummet even if the company beat earnings expectations. For example, AI chipmaker Marvell Technology (MRVL) beat both revenue and EPS estimates, but its stock fell more than 18% on the day of earnings. Even beats aren’t sending shares soaring anymore, as investors look past…

Kuaishou Q4 Earnings Review Online video platform and social media company Kuaishou Technology (1024 HK) reported Q4 and 2024 financial results after the Hong Kong market closed overnight. The company’s full-year 2024 results were strong as revenue rose by +12% year-over-year (YoY), adjusted net income rose by +72%, and adjusted EPS rose by +74%, though Q4 numbers were a touch light. The press release and conference call were all about AI integration, as “users can now generate premium videos with a simple prompt or picture” using the company’s Kling AI 1.6 model. In the Q&A portion of the call, an…

Broadcom’s explosive AI-driven growth, strong free cash flow, and key partnerships position it for massive long-term upside By Nabeel Bukhari Broadcom Inc is a semiconductor giant, making the chips and infrastructure that power the most advanced computing systems in the world. Broadcom’s technology is everywhere, whether it’s the hyperscalers such as Amazon and Alphabet training large AI models or enterprises integrating AI-driven applications. But the more interesting thing is that the company just delivered another blowout quarter, with revenue exploding and AI-related sales skyrocketing. It’s also very profitable, with a very high expected adjusted EBITDA margin, which is rare in…

The Federal Open Market Committee is still broadly expected to cut interest rates in 2025 despite holding rates steady for the first two meetings of 2025. The next cut might come in June. Lower short-term interest rates could help move mortgage rates a little lower in 2025 according to most expectations. Currently the average 30-year mortgage rate stands at 6.7% according to FRED Economic data. Long-term mortgage rates have broadly remained in a 6% to 7% range since late 2022 with no obvious trend. FOMC Interest Rate Cuts Expected In 2025 The FOMC is expected to cut interest rates in…

Food inflation has been a headache for major grocers but an opportunity for a once obscure discount grocer with a quirky culture.The fastest-growing grocery chain in the U.S. (by store count and foot traffic) is probably not the one you think it is. It might be one you’ve barely noticed or never visited. Its e-commerce capability is practically non-existent by comparison to its competition.Its stores are about half the size of the average grocery (18,000 square feet versus 38,000). Produce is often displayed in large shipping cartons that clog the aisles. You won’t find your familiar national brands—roughly 90% of…

Here’s some good news in these uncertain times: Most investors who’ve invested for the long haul are well-equipped to deal with this selloff. That’s because, over the last five years, stocks have been on an absolute tear. In that period, the S&P 500 has delivered an average annual total return of 19.1%, as of this writing. That’s more than double the average of about 8% in the last century. Looking at Various Time Frames Can Skew Our View Think back five years for a moment. Back then, the stock market’s prospects looked bleak, indeed, as we were at the beginning…

The next interest rate cut will most likely come in June, according to fixed income markets. The Federal Open Market Committee has held interest rates steady at meetings in January and March. The pause in interest rate cuts has primarily been due to waiting for further progress on disinflation at a time when the job market appears robust. However, economic uncertainty has risen, clouding the outlook for monetary policy. Two Cuts Expected By Policymakers In 2025 The FOMC sees elevated uncertainty in the economic outlook. Policymaker forecasts imply an average of two cuts in 2025, as updated on March 19.…

The late ’90s internet gold rush wasn’t just one giant bubble of flashy startups; it was an intertwined cluster of smaller bubbles that fed off each other. The poster children of the dot-com bust were household names like Pets.com and eToys.com — early e-commerce pioneers. Beneath them were telecoms that burned through hundreds of billions to provide internet access. But peel back another layer, and you’ll find a little-known frenzy that fizzled a few years after the dot-com crash — fiber optic companies that promised to build the rails for telecoms. Fiber optic cables weren’t a new invention in the…

Consider the following: you leave your employer and opt to leave your 401(k) as is as you transition into your new role. Then, let’s say your employer updates their business name and transitions to a new investment provider over the course of a few years. As time goes on, let’s say you move to a new home. This was a reality for one man, who then struggled for 10 subsequent years to gain enough information to get the plan transferred only for the new investment provider to say the check had to be sent to an old address. This struggle…

Key News Asian equities were mixed overnight in a quiet session following Friday’s global index rebalance and the expiration of US futures and options. Hong Kong and India, which has picked up recently after its correction, outperformed while the Philippines and Indonesia underperformed. The Wall Street Journal is reporting Trump’s April 2nd tariff announcements will be more targeted, which makes sense to me as it allows for a great headline without cratering the US economy and stock market. Auto giant BYD (1211 HK, 002594 CH) reported Q4 and 2024 financial results after the close in Hong Kong and Mainland China…