The personal consumption expenditures price index (PCE) increased 0.1% in June 2024 and was up 2.5% from a year ago, with the annual rate showing a slight decline from the prior month Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, showed a monthly increase of 0.2% and 2.6% on the year,Read More →
OpenAI on Thursday 25th July 2024 announced a prototype of its search engine, called SearchGPT, which aims to give users “fast and timely answers with clear and relevant sources.” The company has announced plans to eventually incorporate the tool, presently in testing with a select user group, into its ChatGPT chatbot. TheRead More →
In the second quarter of 2024, the U.S. economy expanded at a strong annual rate of 2.8%, exceeding economists’ forecasts. This surge was fueled by positive consumer spending, substantial government expenditures, and increased inventories. The personal consumption expenditures price index saw a 2.6% rise in the same timeframe, a decreaseRead More →
Kering, the owner of Gucci, experienced a drop in its share value on Thursday 25th July 2024 following the announcement of a significant revenue decrease in the first half of the year, coupled with a subdued outlook for the latter half. Kering’s shares fell by up to 9% as theRead More →
Stocks sold off Wednesday 24th July 2024, blighted by underwhelming reports from Tesla and Alphabet – leading the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 to post their worst sessions since 2022. The S&P 500 index dropped to closing at 5427, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq slid around 3.65% to end at 17342. The DowRead More →
“The world is jam packed full of wonder – just waiting to be discovered. I am forever in awe!”Read More →
Shares in LVMH fell on Wednesday after the luxury group on Tuesday 23rd July 2024 released its earnings for the first half of 2024 Shares in the world’s largest luxury group LVMH pulled-back on Wednesday 24th July 2024 after its second-quarter sales came in below analysts expectations Other luxury sector stocks,Read More →
Tesla’s shares dropped in U.S. pre-market trading following the electric car maker’s Q2 earnings report, which fell short of expectations. The company saw a 7% year-on-year decrease in automotive revenue for the June 2024 quarter, down to $19.9 billion, and a decline in its ‘adjusted’ earnings margin. Investors are dividedRead More →
Bitcoin is often likened to a type of digital gold, but Ether is seen more as a native cryptocurrency on the Ethereum blockchain. It is generally seen as a trade or bet on the growth and of the development of the blockchain and of crypto more widely. Many of theRead More →
Tesla boss Elon Musk says the electric car maker will start producing and using humanoid robots from next year. In a social media update, Elon Musk stated that Tesla will initially employ the robots, with plans to commence production for sale by 2026. He had earlier anticipated that the robot,Read More →
Wiz has apparently walked away from a deal with Google that would have valued the company at $23 billion. The deal would have nearly doubled the $12 billion valuation of the startup from its most recent round of funding. CEO of WIZ Assaf Rappaport told employees the company would pursueRead More →
Highest ratio since the 1960’s and even higher than that reached during the Covid pandemic of 2020. The UK’s national debt has reached its highest level since 1962. Official figures from the ONS show that the total government debt amounted to 99.5% of the economy’s value in June 2024, surpassingRead More →
CrowdStrike’s shares fell a further 13% on Monday 22nd July 2024 while the cybersecurity software firm attempted to help clients from various sectors to recover from an outage that disrupted millions of Microsoft Windows devices on Friday 19th July 2024. CrowdStrike 5-day share price chart Early Friday, the company releasedRead More →
The fascinating tale of Pepsi’s unexpected naval acquisition dates back to the late 1950’s. In 1959, during the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in an ideological battle – communism vs capitalism. In that time, the U.S.S.R. held an exhibition in New York to demonstrateRead More →
CrowdStrike issue causes major outage affecting thousands of businesses around the world The irony It has been widely reported that an ‘update‘ by ‘cybersecurity‘ firm CrowdStrike led to a major IT outage on Friday 19th July 2024, impacting businesses around the world. Microsoft systems have been badly affected. CrowdStrike statementRead More →
On Wednesday 17th July 2024, the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 pulled-back as investors continued to shift from tech stocks to more interest rate-sensitive sectors. The S&P 500 dropped 1.39%, closing at 5588. The tech-geared Nasdaq tumbled 2.77%, finishing at 17996, marking its worst session since December 2022 and endingRead More →
The pound reached its highest level against the dollar in a year on Wednesday 17th July 2024, as investors wagered that UK interest rates would remain elevated for longer. New data released on Wednesday 17th July 2024 indicated that inflation was more persistent than some analysts had anticipated, leading tradersRead More →
U.K. inflation matched the Bank of England’s target of 2% in June 2024, as calculated by data from the Official for National Statistics on Wednesday 17th July 2024. The main figure was slightly higher than the 1.9% forecast by analysts surveyed by Reuters, aligning with May’s 2% figure. Following theRead More →
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high Tuesday 16th July 2024, rallying 743 points for its biggest one-day increase in more than a year, as the bull run appeared to broaden. The small cap-focused Russell 2000 also rose for the fifth straight day, rising 3.5% fast closing in onRead More →
Gold prices climbed to $2,482 per ounce, hitting an all-time high. Gold prices continued to peak at new record highs Tuesday and Wednesday 15th and 16th July 2024. On Monday 15th July 2024, Powell reportedly said the Fed won’t wait for inflation to reach the central bank’s 2% target before it begins cutting,Read More →
Jerome Powell appears to be further paving the way for a rate cut at the next meeting in July 2024. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reportedly said Monday 15th July 2024 that the central bank will not wait until inflation hits 2% to cut interest rates. Powell referenced the idea that centralRead More →
Burberry shares slide on Monday 15th July 2024 after the UK luxury fashion group announced a profit warning and a dividend halt and said its chief executive officer (CEO) was being replaced. The maker of the iconic trench coat described a ‘disappointing’ fiscal first-quarter 2025 in a trading update. Burberry reportedlyRead More →
Let the rotation begin The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged on Friday 12th July 2024 as investors began to diversify beyond the technology sector. The Dow closed at 40,000.90, after hitting a new all-time high of 40,257. The S&P 500 added 0.55% to 5,615, and the Nasdaq Composite went upRead More →
U.S., UK and Germany hold more Bitcoin than you may think. According to the Arkham website, the United States’ government holds some 212,847 BTC making it one of the biggest holders of Bitcoin, while the treasuries of the U.K. and Germany reportedly hold around 61,245 BTC and 49,858 BTC each.Read More →
In June 2024, China’s imports fell by 2.3% year-on-year in U.S. dollar terms, missing the expected 2.8% growth forecast by analysts. However, exports rose by 8.6%, surpassing the anticipated 8% growth. This resulted in a 2% increase in year-to-date imports and a 3.6% rise in exports for the first halfRead More →
According to the organization’s biennial World Population Prospects report, the global population is projected to grow from 8.2 billion in 2024 to peak at around 10.3 billion in the mid-2080’s. It is then expected to gradually decline to 10.2 billion by 2100, which is 6% lower than anticipated a decadeRead More →