Mark Twain 1835 – 1910 Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 – 1910) known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humourist, and essayist. Many self-made successful businesspeople echo the same advice for success – Just get started!Read More →
The ‘Sahm Rule’ serves as a heuristic indicator employed by the Federal Reserve to ascertain the onset of a recession in the economy. The Sahm Rule is a real-time evaluation tool based on monthly unemployment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Named after economist Claudia Sahm, it forecastsRead More →
The little-known company, Nvidia, now stands alongside Apple and Microsoft in market cap valuation thanks to AI. In just a little over a year it has all but tripled its market valuation and become a go to investment on Wall Street and around the world. Nvidia’s market capitalization has recentlyRead More →
Abraham Lincoln, 1809 – 1865 was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865.Read More →
The S&P 500 retreated on Thursday 20th June 2024, having momentarily surpassed the 5500 for the first time ever, as Nvidia, a favourite stock with Wall Street investors, relinquished its earlier gains. The S&P 500 index fell 0.25% to end at 5473. Earlier in the session, the S&P 500 gainedRead More →
Anthropic, a rival to OpenAI, unveiled Claude 3.5 Sonnet on Thursday, touting it as their most advanced AI model to date. Claude has joined the ranks of widely used chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. Founded by former OpenAI research leaders, Anthropic has secured backing from major techRead More →
Bank of England offers no election help to Rishi Sunak as the UK interest rate is held at 5.25%. Not that they should. But the UK inflation is on target now at 2% so that’s some consolation. The PM claimed credit as the inflation target was met – happily informingRead More →
UK interest rates have been left unchanged at 5.25% by the Bank of England (BoE) The Bank has maintained the interest rates at 5.25% for the seventh consecutive time to combat inflation, resulting in increased mortgage repayments and higher savings rates. The interest rates, at their peak for the pastRead More →
The unloved rally: A paradox The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have been reaching all-time highs with remarkable frequency, notching nearly thirty record days in 2024, including four in the past week. Despite this stellar performance, a considerable number of investors remain hesitant. Let’s explore the reasons behind this paradox. LingeringRead More →
Inflation has reached the Bank of England’s target for the first time in nearly three years, having soared to 11.1% in October 2022, the highest in over four decades – driven by a spike in energy and food prices following the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In the yearRead More →
Nvidia, traditionally recognised within the gaming community for its graphics chips, has become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company. On Tuesday 18th June 2024, Nvidia’s shares rose by 3.6%, increasing its market cap to $3.34 trillion and overtaking Microsoft, now valued at $3.32 trillion. Earlier in the month, Nvidia’sRead More →
Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) debuted in January 2024, yet their adoption by financial advisors has reportedly been sluggish. Advisors’ hesitations stem from Bitcoin’s price volatility and its relatively brief history. Bitcoin ETFs serve as a conduit between cryptocurrency and conventional finance. According to a BlackRock spokesperson – financial advisors areRead More →
UK Election – The Labour Party slogan is ‘CHANGE’ – but ‘CHANGE‘ to what? I do not support any party. I have no idea what the Labour party stands for anymore. And as for the Conservatives – not a clue either – too many deceits and for far too long!Read More →
Nvidia’s swift ascent is poised to prompt a major technology exchange-traded fund to acquire more than $10 billion in shares of the semiconductor maker, consequently reducing its shareholding in Apple. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK), which will rebalance soon, is guided by an index that will adjust basedRead More →
The S&P 500 climbed on Monday 17th June 2024, closing at a new record high aided by the substantial weighted rebalancing of an ETF. The index concluded at 5473, while the Nasdaq Composite soared to 17857. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 188.94 points, finishing at 38778. These gains occurredRead More →
Beginning in 2030, Mastercard will eliminate the need for Europeans to manually enter their card numbers during online checkout, regardless of the platform or device used. The familiar 16-digit card number will be substituted with a randomly generated ‘token.’ This change will enable consumers to complete payments with a singleRead More →
Bitcoin’s price has experienced a dip, struggling to maintain above the $66,000 mark. It started the week on a decline after a not-so-good weekend, with its volatility making it challenging to hold its price level. Despite this, Bitcoin recorded a minor gain on Monday 17th June 2024, in early trade, withRead More →
Lao Tzu Lao Tzu’s philosophy is foundational to Taoism and focuses on living in harmony. His teachings emphasize naturalness, simplicity, and spontaneity. He also introduced the concept of the Three Treasures: compassion, frugality, and humility, as virtues to cultivate for a harmonious life. The birth date of Lao Tzu is notRead More →
In May 2024, China’s retail sales exceeded forecasts, increasing by 3.7% from the previous year and surpassing the anticipated 3% rise. Conversely, industrial output experienced a 5.6% growth on an annual basis, falling short of the projected 6% increment. Meanwhile, fixed asset investment saw a 4% increase from the previousRead More →
Microsoft will not include Recall, the artificial intelligence tool designed to track user activity, in the upcoming release of the Copilot+ PC. Concerns have been raised by industry experts about the possibility of hackers creating tools to extract user information. Microsoft has reportedly announced that Recall will transition from aRead More →
For the first time, automotive companies in China surpassed their U.S. counterparts in car sales last year, driven by BYD and expansion in emerging markets, according to a data released Thursday 13th July 2024. Chinese brands such as BYD now at the forefront, reportedly sold 13.4 million new vehicles lastRead More →
A soggy start to the UK election will likely have a ‘stormy’ ending for the Conservative Party.Read More →
On Friday 14th June 2024, the Nasdaq Composite edged up to close at a record high for the fifth consecutive session. The tech-centric index rose slightly by 0.12%, finishing at 17688. The S&P 500 dipped slightly to close at 5431 and ending its four-day streak of gains. The Dow JonesRead More →
It has been calculated that the S&P 500’s total value is currently $45.5 trillion. Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, claimed on Thursday 13th June 2024 that the company’s Optimus humanoid robots could potentially raise the automaker’s value to over half of that amount. During the 2024 annual shareholder meeting in Austin,Read More →
Tesla shareholders have voted to ratify CEO Elon Musk’s 2018 compensation package, which was previously rescinded by a Delaware judge in January. During the annual meeting in Austin, Texas, shareholders voted in Musk’s favour. Following Musk’s announcement that shareholders were likely to approve his pay package and a resolution toRead More →
Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite each hit yet another all-time high on 13th June 2024. The S&P 500 notching fresh records for the last four consecutive days. S&P 500 closed at another new all-time high on 13th June 2024 Nasdaq Composite closed at another new all-time highRead More →