Retail banking has gone through a digital transformation over a decade or two. The advent of mobile banking has been the key driver of thinning foot traffic at physical bank branch locations, resulting in the perpetual closure of bank branch offices as more consumers migrate to online and digital banking. All the major blue-chip banks have invested heavily in fintech to provide digital banking services. If they haven't acquired banking fintech, they have built their fintech divisions to retain customers from switching to more technology-enabled banks or adopting new technology. .
Equity markets continued to advance into all-time-high territory following the initial reading of Q4 GDP. The read came in hotter than expected, which is good news at face value but poses a risk for the market. The economy continues to be resilient despite high FOMC interest rates and is sustaining higher-than-wanted inflation. The GDP included cooler inflation data, but it is rear-looking. The more important inflation data is due today may tell a different tale.
Analysts expect the PCE price index to show core inflation accelerate compared to the prior month. If so, it will confirm the suspicion that inflation is not tamed and the FOMC will keep rates higher for longer than is currently expected. This means the FOMC may not make the first rate cut until later in the year, raising the risk of damaging the system and sparking a recession. Until then, the trend in the S&P 500 is upward and not likely to end without a change in the fundamentals.
Retail banking has gone through a digital transformation over a decade or two. The advent of mobile banking has been the key driver of thinning foot traffic at physical bank branch locations, resulting in the perpetual closure of bank branch offices as more consumers migrate to online and digital banking. All the major blue-chip banks have invested heavily in fintech to provide digital banking services. If they haven't acquired banking fintech, they have built their fintech divisions to retain customers from switching to more technology-enabled banks or adopting new technology.
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Humana still doesn't know why more people were admitted for short hospital stays than it expected late last year, and that is casting a shadow over health insurers early in 2024.Shares of several companies sank again Thursday after Humana debuted an earnings forecast for the new year that fell about $13 short of analyst expectations. Insurer stocks also dropped last week when Humana first disclosed the hospitalization spike and scaled back expectations for 2023.Health insurers typically see a rise in claims toward the end of each year as flu cases climb and people schedule surgeries before their coverage deductibles renew in January and their out-of-pocket costs rise.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) have presented value and yield to investors for years. However, they failed to sustain interest in their stocks, creating a drag on portfolio value that only recently ended. The question today is if these blue chip telecoms have become value traps or if they can sustain the rebounds that began in Q4 2023. If so, these stocks present deep value and high yields of over 6%, with an outlook for capital growth. One outlook brightens, and another dims for the telecom giants AT&T and Verizon had decent quarters, but AT&T is showing earnings weakness that dimmed the outlook for the year.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is visiting Illinois and electoral battleground Wisconsin this week to make a case for the Biden administration's economic agenda and offer a reminder of the Trump administration tax cuts, which she says added to the deficit and did little to promote investment
Chart patterns and consolidations are worth watching, as they provide actionable guidance for making a purchase. With the recent uptrend in large-cap stocks, as reflected by the performance of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA: SPY), many stocks with top revenue and earnings growth rates are flashing bullish technical signals. Large caps with strong chart action include Affirm Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: AFRM), MongoDB Inc. (NASDAQ: MDB), UiPath Inc. (NYSE: PATH), Synopsys Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS) and Crispr Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ: CRSP). Given the continued outperformance of growth stocks in recent months, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that all those stocks are categorized as technology stocks or biotech stocks.
With so many strange events happening across the economy (longest bear market for bonds since Civil War... unprecedented bank closures... and soaring prices) – it's no wonder the richest investors are loading up on gold. But what you might not realize is there's a much better way to profit from rising gold prices – without ever touching an ETF, mining stock, or even bullion.
Alaska Airlines said Thursday that the grounding of its Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners will reduce full-year profit by $150 million and slow down the airline's planned growth.The planes have been grounded since shortly after the midflight blowout of a panel in the side of an Alaska plane over Oregon on Jan. 5. Federal regulators announced late Wednesday that they approved an inspection process that, if followed by airlines, can allow Max 9s to resume flying. Alaska hopes to begin doing that on Friday and gradually bring back all 65 of its Max 9s by early February.Alaska — which operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet — said it has started a review of Boeing's production quality.
Last night saw the S&P 500 index close at a fresh all-time high. It's a remarkable achievement that didn't look as likely as recently as October. But since the prospect of a rate cut became quite real in November, a wave of risk-on sentiment has swept equities. When stocks trade as bullishly as they are right now, it can be hard to pick the best of the bunch, as pretty much everything is going up. One way to sort through the noise is to watch stock analysts' upgrades. With energy prices in the spotlight, energy stocks have caught analysts' attention. Here are three energy stocks with recent upgrades worth watching closely. Exxon Mobil Corporation We wrote last week about how oversold Exxon Mobil Corp.
Union Pacific's fourth-quarter profit crept up 1% as the railroad delivered more fertilizer, imported goods and chemicals.The Omaha, Nebraska-based railroad said it earned $1.65 billion, or $2.71 per share, in the quarter. That's up slightly from $1.64 billion, or $2.67 per share, a year earlier. The results topped the estimates of the analysts surveyed by FactSet Research that called for earnings of $2.60 per share as Union Pacific hauled 3% more shipments. CEO Jim Vena said the railroad's key operating metrics improved in the fourth quarter with average freight car velocity jumping 14% to 217 daily miles per car, and the average maximum length of Union Pacific's trains increased 2% to 9,413 feet.
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