Tariffs have been a hot topic since President Trump started his second term, and many investors are worried about the long-term consequences. On the surface it’s a simple idea, if we tax foreign imports, we will strengthen our own industries by creating more jobs and generating more cash. But, it doesn’t always work so simply. When president Trump instituted tariffs on foreign steel in order to protect U.S. blue collar jobs in 2018, researchers estimate U.S steel producers added about 1,000 new jobs. However, the knock-on effects, namely input costs for U.S. industries that use steel, resulted in an estimated…

Is a recession looming? That’s the question on the minds of many Americans. To find out, let’s turn to Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell. The Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell, spoke to the nation yesterday to announce that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided not to change its benchmark federal funds rate, leaving it at 4.25% to 4.50%. Powell also provided a detailed assessment of the condition of the U.S. economy, including tariffs, employment, inflation, and other relevant factors. Many Americans have been wondering if the U.S. is headed for a recession? Let’s examine this issue. Condition of U.S.…

One of the biggest losers from the Mag 7 during earnings season was Nvidia (NVDA). I called a top for NVDA back in August 2024 and am not surprised to see it fall precipitously after reporting excellent earnings. The narrative that valuation does not matter is being disproved before our very eyes – along with many other false narratives that have plagued our society. If you’ve been following my reports on the company’s stock, you would know that the recent drop in price is still not nearly enough to make the stock attractive. NVDA is not alone. Crowded trades and…

PDD Q4 Earnings Overview E-commerce company PDD Holdings (PDD US) reported Q4 results before the US open. The company is not the most communicative, as the founder’s engineering background means he focuses solely on the business. For instance, the company doesn’t break out revenues from domestic China e-commerce from its Temu global e-commerce. The lack of communication has sometimes created volatility for shareholders. On today’s analyst conference call, the company, when asked by an analyst about competition in e-commerce, noted that competition pushes the company to keep investing in technology. When asked indirectly about changing US import shipping laws, the…

Bloomsbury Publishing – best known for the Harry Potter book franchise – saw its share price soar on Thursday after it upgraded sales and earnings forecasts for the full year. At 645p per share, Bloomsbury was up 7.6%, making it the fourth-biggest riser on the FTSE 250. The publisher said that “a strong performance in the second half” of the financial year to February 2025 meant trading came in ahead of expectations. Bloomsbury also said that strong sales and cash generation last year “has enabled us to pay down $7.5 million of the $37 million debt associated with the acquisition…

After two consecutive years of stock market returns exceeding 20 percent, many investors are contemplating pulling back their equity exposure amid political uncertainty, global tariffs, and broader economic concerns. The temptation to time the market—to step aside until the volatility passes and re-enter at a more opportune moment—can be strong. But history and data suggest that market timing is more likely to hurt than help. The best course of action? Stay invested, but stay smart. The Cost of Missing the Best Days Market timing is appealing in theory but nearly impossible to execute successfully. Investors need to correctly predict not…

Gold’s rise to new all-time highs has been a long time coming. Over the past few years, we’ve examined gold’s role as both a strategic asset and a hedge against economic instability. In pieces like Gold Can’t Be Downgraded and It’s No One’s Liability and The Gold Investing Madness is just Getting Started, we’ve highlighted the importance of maximizing gold exposure in portfolios. This stance was reinforced by the breakout of gold from its four-year range to reach new all-time highs above $2,200 per ounce in March 2024. Today, with gold knocking on the $3,000 door, the forces driving this…

Tencent Q4 Earnings Overview Tencent reported Q4 financial results after the Hong Kong close that beat analyst expectations. The solid quarter was driven by “AI-powered enhancements to our advertising platform, higher engagement in Video Accounts, and growth in our evergreen games,” according to Founder, Chairman, and CEO Ma “Pony” Huateng. The company emphasized AI in their press release with Ma’s quote “we have reorganised our AI teams to sharpen focus on both fast product innovation and deep model research, increased our AI-related capital expenditures, and increased our R&D and marketing efforts for our AI-native products”. The presentation dedicated an entire…

Every so often, we get questions from readers about investments sporting yields that are, frankly, ridiculous. Case in point: The 85% forward yield (as of this writing) on a fund called the YieldMax Ultra Income Strategy ETF (ULTY): Eighty. Five. Percent. Think about that for a second: With a 85% yield, you’re getting your entire upfront investment back in about a year. Pretty sweet deal, right? Well, not so fast. Before I go further, I should say that when it comes to dividends, one thing we demand at my Contrarian Income Report advisory is that a stock or fund at…

Shares of JX Advanced Metals, a Japanese semiconductor materials supplier to foundries including TSMC and Intel, jumped in its trading debut on Wednesday, boasting a market cap of ¥811 billion ($5.4 billion). The stock rose 6.6% on the first day of trading on the Tokyo stock exchange’s prime market. The IPO was priced at ¥820 ($5.54) apiece at the top end of its marketed range. JX Advanced Metals was spun off from Japanese oil giant Eneos Holdings, which raised ¥438.6 billion ($2.96 billion) from the IPO by selling a 57.6% stake in the company; Eneos retains a 42.4% stake. JX…