Chipmaker Broadcom (AVGO) has had a busy month. The semiconductor company cleared the $1 trillion market cap level on the way to a record high of $265.43 on June 4. One day later though, AVGO gapped lower by 5%, after the company’s fiscal-year revenue forecast fell short of estimates. The shares have battled back since then, poised to add 1.2% this week and remain a chip-shot from that peak. The good news is that Broadcom stock is flashing a historically bullish combination. The stock’s recent peak comes amid historically low implied volatility (IV), which has been a bullish combination for…

It’s official – gold is now the world’s second-largest reserve asset for central banks. That’s after the European Central Bank confirmed the yellow metal had overtaken the euro on the back of feverish buying sprees that have pushed its price to record highs over the last 12 months. In a report published earlier this week, the ECB acknowledged that gold bullion accounted for 20% of global official reserves in 2024 versus the euro’s 16% share. The uptick in holdings implies that gold is now second only to the U.S. dollar, which commands around half (46%) of world’s reserve holding share.…

This morning’s tragic crash of Air India Flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, near Ahmedabad, India, has sent shockwaves through the aerospace sector, reigniting concerns about safety and reliability at one of America’s industrial giants. The incident, which claimed over 200 lives with only one reported survivor, reported by the Associated Press, marks the first fatal crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner since its debut in 2011. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the European Union is grappling with a bold new defense manufacturing proposal that could reshape global aerospace dynamics, as reported by Euractiv. Together, these developments underscore heightened risks in…

The United Kingdom doesn’t have Europe’s largest GDP, a title that belongs to Germany by a wide margin, but London is still the continent’s financial center and the home of its largest stock exchange. That helps give the U.K. the most representation of any European country on the Global 2000, Forbes’ annual ranking of the world’s largest public companies, with 68 firms based in the United Kingdom on the list. That’s 19 more than Germany and more than any nation in the world aside from the United States, China, Japan and India. Very few of those companies are anywhere near…

Dividend stocks are not the safe-haven that investors think. Anyone thinking that dividend stocks are a good strategy to succeed in these turbulent markets needs to think twice and read on. I recently hosted a live training session warning investors about the dangers of fake dividend stocks. Fake Dividend Stocks might pay a nice dividend, but the risk of significant decline in stock price more than offsets any potential gains investors might expect from the dividend. In other words, if a stock pays a 5% dividend but drops 20%, then investors lose a lot of money on that stock despite…

Key News Despite a weaker US dollar, Asian equities were off overnight on growing chatter of a coming Middle East crisis and Trump’s tariff threat reiteration. On the former, Mainland media noted that the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors stated Iran had “failed to comply with its nuclear safeguard obligations” for the first time in twenty years. No idea if there is any connection with the Israel-Iran concerns. On the latter, Chinese company JL MAG Rare-Earth stated it “had obtained export licenses issued by national authorities for exports to destinations including the US, Europe, and Southeast Asia.” This…

In Warren Buffett’s last annual letter as Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO this year, he wrote, “Berkshire would not have achieved its results in any locale except America,” and there’s little doubt that he’s right. In a land of increasing polarization and too much inequality, there is still no better land of opportunity than the United States. Globalization has lifted up the rest of the world for decades, but American dominance on Forbes’ annual Global 2000 list remains unchallenged. There are 612 U.S.-based companies on the list ranking the world’s 2,000 largest public companies, far more than the closest rival in China,…

Germany has the third-largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the world, behind only the U.S. and China but its momentum has stalled in recent years. Its $4.5 trillion GDP is expected to contract in 2025 for the third year in a row by a modest 0.3%, and its renowned auto industry is going through a rough patch. The nation’s presence on Forbes’ annual Global 2000 list ranking the world’s 2,000 largest public companies dipped slightly to 49 companies after putting 50 on the list a year ago. Automakers Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Daimler Truck and Porsche SE, the holding company which…

Despite Trump’s claims that the U.S. is being cheated in trade deals, globalization continues to fuel growth here and abroad, lifting the economies and standards of living of nearly every nation on the planet. Donald Trump has used his first five months back in office to attack longtime allies like Canada, Mexico and the European Union, insisting the United States “will no longer tolerate being ripped off.” His posture with trade partners has been more competitive than collaborative, imposing or threatening heavy-handed tariffs under the pretense that they’re running up trade deficits to enrich themselves at Americans’ expense. He’s right…

It has been a solid year for the banking industry, characterized by strong profitability, steady deposit growth and a continued rebound in investment banking fees and trading revenues. U.S.-based and Chinese banks once again dominate the 2025 Forbes Global 2000 list, which measures the world’s largest and most successful companies. Half of the top ten companies on the list are banks based in the United States or China. JPMorgan Chase claimed the top spot overall for the third year in a row, after rising from fourth place in 2022 following its acquisition of First Republic out of insolvency. The bank…