The Federal Open Market Committee is most likely to cut interest rates again to 4.25% to 4.5% on December 18 according to fixed income markets and the tone of two recent speeches from Federal Reserve governors. Prediction site Kalshi, currently gives a similar 73% chance of a cut. There is more economic data on jobs and inflation to come before the FOMC meets, but with subdued inflation and a somewhat softening jobs market, a cut appears likely. Recent Fed Statements The FOMC did cut interest rates at its two previous meetings in September and November after holding rates at peak…

Key News Asian equities had a strong day as Indonesia was up more than 2%, while Japan, Pakistan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand were up more than 1%. Early in the trading day, CNH, offshore traded renminbi, fell versus the US dollar, closing at 7.29 and hitting an intra-day low of 7.31 versus yesterday’s close of 7.28. US Treasury yields were lower overnight, so the move doesn’t appear to be driven by interest rate differentials, as the probability of a December Fed cut of 0.25% basis points remains high. President Trump’s most recent 100% tariff threat toward the BRICS+ countries…

On 12/5/24, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and NXP Semiconductors will all trade ex-dividend for their respective upcoming dividends. NVIDIA will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.01 on 12/27/24, Qualcomm will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.85 on 12/19/24, and NXP Semiconductors will pay its quarterly dividend of $1.014 on 1/8/25. Start slideshow: 10 Stocks Where Yields Got More Juicy » As a percentage of NVDA’s recent stock price of $138.63, this dividend works out to approximately 0.01%, so look for shares of NVIDIA to trade 0.01% lower — all else being equal — when NVDA shares open for trading on 12/5/24. Similarly,…

If you’ve been investing for a while, you’ve probably thought about private equity more than once. Adding exposure to “PE” firms, which buy and sell privately held businesses, is a great way to diversify beyond the big names of the S&P 500. But of course, to get in on that action, we have to be either institutional investors or have a net worth high enough to be “accredited.” Most people stop there. But there is a way to access private equity through a kind of lesser-known “back door.” For example, you could buy an ETF like the Invesco Global Listed…

These high-energy young entrepreneurs are innovating new methods to unlock a cleaner, greener future. By Hank Tucker, Chris Helman and Igor Bosilkovski Solar energy capacity has grown exponentially in the last decade as one of the leading catalysts of the green revolution away from fossil fuels, but a drawback of solar farms is that they can only generate energy in daylight. Ben Nowack is challenging this basic law of nature by selling “sunlight as a service” at all hours. Nowack, 28, and his Reflect Orbital cofounder Tristan Semmelhack, 23, have raised $8.7 million from prestigious investors including Sequoia Capital to…

Jing Hong, founding partner of Beijing-based Gaocheng Capital, says investors have “underestimated” the growth potential of Chinese enterprise software companies. Gaocheng Capital is the “last man standing” among investors still backing Chinese enterprise software companies, said its founding partner Jing Hong in an interview on the sidelines of the Forbes Global CEO Conference last month in Bangkok. While the low stock prices of listed companies in the sector has driven most investors away, Hong is staying put because she believes her Beijing-based private equity firm “will become China’s blue-chip enterprise SaaS (software-as-a-service) index.” Hong’s confidence stems from her stellar track…

Nvidia has become a household word these days. As a holder since 2015, I have experienced the growth stages of the stock—along with the sell offs—for almost ten years. Some of those stages were short lived—like the crypto mining rush and the gaming rush. Today’s almost universal worshipping of the company has a very different tone though. There are few investors taking the other side of this trade. Here are some of my concerns: Circus-like atmosphere around NVDA’s earnings announcements: Countdown clocks, near continuous coverage the day before earnings, and general analysts’ positive coverage of NVDA are all at the…

Sustainability is back in the news with a vengeance as the new Netflix documentary “Buy Now!” indicts brands over dodgy tactics and waste After nearly three decades of experience in the retail industry, there isn’t much about the questionable practices of some retail brands and merchandisers that catches me off guard. But the makers of a new Netflix documentary have managed to package the global scope and impact of overproduction and consumption in a way that even I found profoundly disturbing. Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy should be required viewing for every corporate executive in retail, especially those in the…

Is it Time to Sell? How to Tell As I go to parties this post-election holiday season, I am often asked, “Is this a stock market bubble?” Unfortunately, many investors fruitlessly search for a magic indicator to pick the top of a bull market or take advice from strangers at a dinner party. As outlined in my latest financial history book, “Investment Atlas III – Creating Wealth Using Historical Trends”, there are several tools stock investors can use to gauge the health of an old bull market similarly to how doctors use various tests during routine physical exams on their…

Key News Asian equities had a strong day despite a very strong US dollar overnight, as Taiwan, the Philippines, and Pakistan outperformed, and South Korea underperformed again, as the KOSPI and growth-focused KOSDAQ are now off -15% and -28% year-to-date. I have not seen any calls for Emerging Markets ex South Korea, though it is giving the FTSE EM index an edge over the MSCI EM index due to the former’s upgrade of South Korea to developed market status. Hong Kong and Mainland China had strong sessions, led by growth stocks following better-than-expected purchasing managers’ indexes, November auto sales, and…