Well, President Donald Trump got his interest rate cut... sorta. Trump warned on Twitter over the weekend that tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods could rise to 25% on Friday. The 30-year Treasury yield — which mortgage rates are often pegged to — dropped to about 2.9%.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock rose slightly in the wake of its fiscal-second-quarter results announced last week. Eventually, many of the current owners of Apple stock will realize that the strategy won't work, and they will sell their shares, potentially causing tAAPL stock to drop slightly under $100 by the end of this year. As Apple stock jumped amid the increase in the company's dividend and share buybacks, and Tim Cook's celebration of record Services revenue, the deceleration in the growth of Apple's Services business seemed to have been totally overlooked.
Warren Buffett on Saturday rejected a frequent criticism that his Berkshire Hathaway Inc does not disclose enough about its more than 90, often large operating businesses or its common stock investments. Buffett defended Berkshire's disclosures in responding to three questions at Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. Meyer Shields, of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, is among the critics of Berkshire's disclosures, saying in an April 28 report they leave investors "disproportionately reliant" on Buffett's public persona and past investment successes rather than actual knowledge about the company.
No sooner did Trump tweet that the tariffs are going up, than did I read and hear that China is going to play the long game with us -- and therefore we have to lose. To which I say, what long game? Is there something in their debt-ridden, bond-besotted world that makes them feel secure, even as they are going to lose their biggest market to others who won't have tariffs?
For the first time since 2013, the individual retirement account (IRA) contribution maximums have been increased, by $500 to be exact. The maximum you can contribute to either a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA is $6,000 for 2019 if you're under age 50. If you have a retirement account through your employer, you can claim a tax deduction for an IRA contribution if your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) doesn't exceed annual limits.
Tensions between Washington and Beijing could soon peak if China positions itself to defy President Trump's repeal of Iranian oil sanctions waivers. On Saturday, noted Chinese analysts said that China might not submit to U.S. sanctions pressure over its Iranian oil imports because Iran is a key investor in China's Belt and Road Initiative as well as a key energy partner. Two weeks ago, the Trump Administration surprised both domestic and international energy markets players and watchers when it refused to extend 180-day waivers for Iranian oil first put in place in November.
Dogen started his FIRE journey with a $40,000 salary in 1999 in Manhattan and was pulling in more than $300,000 – with his wife – when he reached financial independence 13 years later. Leif Dahleen, the author of the blog Physician on FIRE and an anesthesiologist by trade, was making about $400,000 when he realized he could retire early, but he's keenly aware that accomplishing FIRE is a lot harder for those making the median income of $62,000. After taxes, they have a $50,000 budget.
Best Time To Buy A Car: Shopping On These Days And Months Will Save You Tons Of Money
Theranos Inc., a consumer healthcare technology startup, was once valued at $10 billion, and its leadership claimed it would revolutionize the blood testing industry. Holmes and Balwani were ultimately charged by the SEC for massive fraud. On June 15, 2018, Holmes and Balwani were charged with wire fraud according to a release by the U.S. Attorney's Office, North District of California.
Tesla (TSLA) stock caught a lot of grief last week after the company posted its first-quarter numbers. Every automaker from Ford Motor (F) to Audi (AUDVF) is racing to build the “Tesla Killer.” Now Enovate — the premium brand from Chinese electric vehicle startup DearCC — says it's got it. Just two model years from now, Enovate claims it will produce a new car with just about every futuristic feature carmakers are striving for — from 5G connectivity, to 0 to 60 acceleration in under three seconds… a direct shot at TSLA.
Social Security If you are eligible to receive Social Security benefits, you can continue collecting them while living in the Philippines – whether you are a citizen of the U.S. or the Philippines (special rules may apply if you are not a U.S. citizen and if you receive benefits as a dependent or survivor of a worker). Use the Social Security Administration (SSA)'s Payments Abroad Screening Tool for details pertaining to your specific situation. You can choose to have your benefits mailed to you in the Philippines, or deposited directly into U.S. bank account or other financial institution of your choice in the U.S. For many retirees, the direct deposit option makes the most sense since you ...
Two of the Fast Money traders discuss why this could be the perfect time to dip into chip stocks
Bank of America analyst Christopher Carey says investors can expect plenty more buyout deals ahead for marijuana stocks like Canopy. We think Canopy showed that there are many options for Canadian marijuana companies to create value, and with Canada supply chain constraints likely to sustain near-term, we see potential that more deals are announced, potentially in the US, in the coming months,” Carey says. Canopy has $3 billion in cash on hand but only had to commit $300 million up-front for Acreage given the conditional nature of the deal.
Nader Naeimi, who oversees about $1 billion in a dynamic market fund at AMP Capital Investors Ltd., has tripled his allocation to cash to about 40 percent of his fund, he said. Equity markets tumbled on Monday after Trump said on Twitter that the U.S. would more than double tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports, and may impose a new 25 percent duty on another $325 billion of goods. The U.S. plans to raise tariffs on Chinese goods on Friday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told reporters Monday, accusing Beijing of backpedaling on commitments it made during negotiations.
As the electric car market speeds up, lithium demand is soaring. Both Albemarle Corp. (ALB) and Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM), producers of the key metal used in electric car batteries, were downgraded from “underweight” to “equal weight” by Morgan Stanley on Monday, according to the Financial Times. With the price of lithium doubling over the past two years on forecasts that electric cars would begin to dominate the auto industry, shares of both companies have soared, with Albemarle up 137% and SQM up 257% between the beginning of 2016 and the end of 2017.
At the Sohn Investment Conference on Monday, Greenlight Capital founder David Einhorn said CEO Elon Musk's Tesla promises about autonomous vehicles are "horse---t." Greenlight is famously short shares in the electric car maker, and Einhorn is regarded as one of the most prominent and vocal critics of Musk. The Sohn conference convenes fund managers who volunteer to present their investment ideas to help raise money to fight pediatric cancer.
On the back of the latest trade war tweets, Alibaba (NASDAQ:BABA) stock dropped 5% of its market cap early in U.S. trade May 6, though it tempered to around 4% later in the day. Alibaba is not a factor in the U.S. retail market. No American company, not Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), not Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) nor even Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), has the kind of results Alibaba shows routinely.
The only problem is no one knows if it will happen six months from now, two years from now, or longer because moves in the market tend to go on MUCH longer than anyone can expect. Of course we will see pullbacks, shakeouts, and corrections along the way, but this market is heading higher longer-term for the following reasons. Technicals The big institutions control the market.
Inequality today is a problem because politicians have made it one. This is according to Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B) Vice Chairman Charlie Munger. In his first interview since Berkshire Hathaway's Annual Shareholders Meeting, Munger acknowledged that the problem of inequality today is a byproduct of an economic recovery that was sparked by aggressive monetary policy, which included the Federal Reserve buying trillions of dollars worth of bonds.
As with other income, distributions from traditional 401(k) and traditional IRA accounts are taxed on an incremental basis, with steadily higher rates for progressively higher tiers of income. As of the 2018 tax year, rates were reduced by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017; however, the basic structure, comprising seven tax brackets, remains intact. For example, a married couple that files jointly and together earns $80,000 would pay 10% tax on the first $13,600 of income, 12% on the next $38,200, and 22% on the remaining $28,200.
Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett expressed skepticism this weekend over Tesla's (TSLA) forthcoming foray into auto insurance. In April, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told analysts during Tesla's first-quarter 2019 earnings call the electric car company could launch a new insurance product as soon as this month, with pricing based on driving data captured by Tesla cars. However, during the 2019 Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, on Saturday, Buffett thoroughly explained why Musk's latest effort could fail.
Alternatively, you may choose to let your account continue to accumulate earnings until you are required to begin taking distributions by the terms of your plan. Qualified Distributions If you retire after age 59-1/2, the IRS allows you to begin taking distributions from your 401(k) without owing a 10% early withdrawal penalty. Depending on your company's rules, you may elect to take regular distributions in the form of an annuity, either for a fixed period or over your anticipated lifetime, or to take non-periodic or lump sum investments.
Let's look at some top stock trades in light of the market's action. Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow #1: Pinterest Shares of Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) have been on fire since the company went public in mid-April. The IPO was priced at $19 and ran higher for seven straight days.
The conventional wisdom that the Fed's next move would be down and the trade spat with China would end just got dealt a one-two punch. Benchmark equity indexes have fallen from record highs since Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pushed back against calls for a near-term rate cut and U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to ratchet up tariffs on imported Chinese goods. The catalysts sparked an ominous sense of déjà vu: In 2018, U.S. markets peaked just before Trump slapped tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports and Powell commented on how high rates would need to rise.
The stock, up an eye-popping 199% since its trading debut on May 1, is a new outperform at Bernstein, and analyst Alexia Howard sees more upside, albeit much smaller than its latest gains. "Recent and planned expansions in production capacity look set to facilitate rapid sales growth in 2019 and beyond," Howard wrote, estimating that if the alternative meat category follows the same growth path as plant-based beverages, the total addressable market could reach about $40.5 billion in the U.S. over the next decade. What's more, the African swine fever outbreak in China could drive up global meat prices, making plant-based burgers look more attractive, she added.