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Mortgage rates ticked lower in the week heading into Thanksgiving continuing to move just under recent highs that have shaken prospective home buyers confidence In the week ending Wednesday the average rate on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage fell to 658 from 661 last week A year ago the average rate was 31 Average 15 year rates were 590 down from 598 last week Freddie Mac said A year ago the 15 year fixed rate mortgage rate averaged 242 Mortgage rates continued to tick down heading into the Thanksgiving holiday said Sam Khater Freddie Mac s chief economist In recent weeks rates have hit above 7 only to drop by almost half a percentage point This volatility is making it difficult for potential homebuyers to know when to get into the market and that is reflected in the latest data which shows existing home sales slowing across all price points

Investments in global energy supplies will jump this year led by an expansion in clean energy but the spending will still prove insufficient to meet global climate targets or tackle soaring energy prices the International Energy Agency warned The worst global energy crisis in decades brought on in part by Russia s invasion of Ukraine has left energy investments caught between longstanding efforts to transition to green energy and more immediate demands to rapidly ramp up supply to contain soaring prices The latest figures published by the Paris based agency in an annual report Wednesday suggest energy investments were struggling in both regards As things stand today s energy investment trends show a world falling short on climate goals and on reliable and affordable energy the report said Total energy investments are forecast to rise by 8 this year to 24 trillion above pre Covid 19 levels A jump in spending on clean and renewable energy sources comprises the largest chunk of the rise a promising sign for global efforts to reduce carbon emissions following years of lackluster growth the IEA said Clean energy investments grew by an average of 2 a year in the five years after the landmark 2015 Paris Climate Agreement Since 2020 they have expanded by 12 a significant increase but still far short of the levels required to meet climate targets the IEA said Spending on clean energy will exceed 14 trillion in 2022 far behind the roughly 28 trillion that would be required to meet current climate pledges by 2030 and further still behind the more than 4 trillion that will be needed to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 Oil and gas prices have soared since Russia s invasion of Ukraine Russia one of the world s biggest exporters of oil has seen much of its supplies shunned by Western nations Sanctions have stranded millions of barrels of oil in the country and forced its oil companies to shut off wells Meanwhile geopolitical tensions have seen Russian gas supplies to Europe curtailed While the crisis has accelerated spending on clean energy it has also revived investments in fossil fuels prompted by concerns about energy security Oil and gas investments rose 10 in 2021 but remain below pre Covid levels the IEA said Investments in coal supply rose 10 in 2021 and are expected to rise by a similar amount this year despite global pledges to move away from the fuel Despite those efforts and the growing investment in clean energy there was little sign that the extra energy supplies would be enough to bring about an end to high energy bills and threatened to push millions in Asia and Africa back into energy poverty the IEA said A massive surge in investment to accelerate clean energy transitions is the only lasting solution said Fatih Birol the IEA s executive director This kind of investment is rising but we need a much faster increase to ease the pressure on consumers While the IEA is forecasting energy investment will rise this year much of the dollar value of those increases would be driven by inflation that is making new energy projects more costly to build Almost half of the additional 200 billion that will be invested in energy this year will be consumed by higher costs High energy prices have been a key driver of higher steel aluminum and cement prices the production of which requires large amounts of electricity A lack of investment in the metals and minerals required by many sources of clean energy poses a further challenge for the energy transition the IEA said Rising input costs threaten to reverse a long running trend whereby green technologies have steadily declined in price in recent years the agency said While prices for electric vehicle batteries have been falling the metals that go into them such as lithium cobalt and nickel have risen from 5 of the total costs less than 10 years ago to more than 20 the IEA said Investments in clean energy have been heavily focused in developed nations and China leaving developing nations behind and threatening a global divide the IEA said China spent 380 billion on clean energy in 2021 while the European Union spent 260 billion and the US 215 billion Clean energy spending in emerging and developing economies excluding China remains stuck at 2015 levels the IEA said Write to Will Horner at williamhornerwsjcom

If you re eyeing ways to fight swelling prices I bonds an inflation protected and nearly risk free asset may now be even more appealing I bonds are paying a 962 annual rate through October 2022 the highest yield since being introduced in 1998 the US Department of the Treasury announced Monday The hike is based on the March consumer price index data with annual inflation growing by 85 the US Department of Labor reported It s a milestone for I bonds said Ken Tumin founder and editor of DepositAccountscom who tracks these assets closely I bonds backed by the US government don t lose value and earn monthly interest based on two parts a fixed rate and a variable rate changing every six months While the variable rate is 962 through October 2022 the fixed rate remains at 0 according to the Treasury The fixed rate stays the same for the 30 year life of the bond meaning someone who purchased I bonds with a higher fixed rate may beat inflation for at least six months Tumin explained Although the fixed rate has been 0 since May 2020 it peaked at 36 for six months starting in May 2000 You can see a history of both rates here There are only two ways to purchase these assets online through TreasuryDirect limited to 10000 per calendar year for individuals or using your federal tax refund to buy an extra 5000 in paper I bonds There are redemption details for each one here You may also buy more I bonds through businesses trusts or estates For example a married couple with separate businesses may each purchase 10000 per company plus 10000 each as individuals totaling 40000 One of the downsides of I bonds is you can t redeem them for at least one year said certified financial planner George Gagliardi founder of Coromandel Wealth Management in Lexington Massachusetts And if you cash them in within five years you ll lose the previous three months of interest I think it s decent but just like anything else nothing is free he said Another possible drawback is lower future returns The variable portion of I bond rates may adjust downward every six months and you may prefer higher paying assets elsewhere Gagliardi said But there s only a one year commitment with a three month interest penalty if you decide to cash out early Still I bonds may be worth considering for assets beyond your emergency fund said Christopher Flis a CFP and founder of Resilient Asset Management in Memphis Tennessee I think that the I bond is a wonderful place for people to put the money they don t need right now he said such as an alternative to a one year certificate of deposit As of May 2 the average savings account yield is under 1 and the most one year CDs are under 15 according to DepositAccounts

With US stock futures trading lower this morning on Friday some of the stocks that may grab investor focus today are as follows Hologic Inc NASDAQHOLX authorized a stock buyback program of up to 1 billion Hologic shares gained 04 to close at 6298 on Friday bluebird bio Inc NASDAQBLUE named Katherine Breedis as interim CFO bluebird bio shares gained 29 to 578 in the pre market trading session Verve Therapeutics Inc NASDAQVERV filed for mixed shelf filing Verve Therapeutics shares dropped 21 to 3434 in after hours trading Check out our premarket coverage here Amazoncom Inc NASDAQAMZN announced a new holiday shopping event Prime Early Access Sale for its members This is the second deals event conducted by Amazon this year given the “macroeconomic environment” faced by customers and an early shopping holiday Reuters reported citing the company’s vice president Jamil Ghani Amazon shares rose 01 to 11388 in pre market trading McDonald’s Holdings Co Japan Ltd will raise the price of about 60 of its products by 10 to 30 yen 007 021 from Sept 30 reported Bloomberg citing a company statement The company which operates stores for Chicago based McDonald s Corporation NYSEMCD said it has been affected by “a recent surge in raw material prices rising labor logistics and energy costs as well as rapid exchange rate fluctuations” the report said McDonald’s shares rose 01 to 24610 in the pre market trading session

Bitcoin CRYPTO BTC the world’s most valued cryptocurrency traded higher on Thursday surpassing the 21500 level The second most valued cryptocurrency Ethereum CRYPTO ETH also recorded gains approaching the 1700 level this morning Other popular crypto coins including Ripple CRYPTO XRP Dogecoin CRYPTO DOGE and Solana CRYPTO SOL also traded higher this morning Ankr CRYPTO ANKR was the top gainer over the prior 24 hours while EOS CRYPTO EOS turned out to be the biggest loser At the time of writing the global crypto market cap rose to 104 trillion recording a 24 hour increase of 1 BTC was trading higher by around 06 to 21571 while ETH rose by around 25 to 1679 on Thursday Investors are now awaiting earnings results from Dollar General Corporation NYSEDG Dollar Tree Inc NASDAQDLTR and Dell Technologies Inc NYSEDELL scheduled for release today Here are the top ten crypto gainers and losers over the past 24 hoursGainers Ankr CRYPTO ANKR Price 00409824 hour gain 119 Ethereum Classic CRYPTO ETC Price 362124 hour gain 8 Decred CRYPTO DCR Price 311824 hour gain 8 Lido DAO CRYPTO LDO Price 22124 hour gain 58 Curve DAO Token CRYPTO CRV Price 12224 hour gain 54Losers EOS CRYPTO EOS Price 16924 hour drop 38 UNUS SED LEO CRYPTO LEO Price 52124 hour drop 25 STEPN CRYPTO GMT Price 0797324 hour drop 19 Bitcoin Cash CRYPTO BCH Price 1301524 hour drop 17 Neutrino USD CRYPTO USDN Price 0973224 hour drop 15

Manufacturing activity in Texas declined in August for the fourth straight month while factory output stagnated data from a survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas showed Monday The index for general business activity of the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey which assesses business conditions of the state s factory sector rose to minus 129 in August from minus 226 the previous month The index suggests regional activity continued to contract over the month but to a lesser degree than in July The index came in broadly in line with expectations from economists polled by The Wall Street Journal The production index a key measure of state manufacturing conditions decreased to 12 in August from 32 in July suggesting that output was little changed over the month Other measures of manufacturing activity pointed to slower growth or declines in August the Dallas Fed said The survey pointed to signs of declining demand among goods producers in August The new orders index increased to minus 44 in from minus 92 but signaled decreasing orders for a third consecutive month The growth rate of orders index also remained negative at minus 147 down from minus 120 the prior month Markets are softening as inflationary policy is beginning to significantly affect end markets driving down demand for basic materials said one respondent from the chemical manufacturing sector Manufacturing companies in the area continued to add workers over the month data from the survey showed The employment index came in at 156 down slightly from 179 a month earlier but a sign firms kept their hiring pace Supply chain bottlenecks eased over the month Both the delivery times index and the unfilled orders index were negative in a sign vendor times shortened compared with the previous month and order backlogs fell We have seen some improvement in the supply chain said one respondent from the food manufacturing industry Inflation pressures moderated slightly according to the survey The raw materials prices index fell to 344 from 384 and the finished goods prices index decreased to 268 from 293 Manufacturing firms in Texas were slightly less pessimistic about their short term outlook The future general business activity index rose to minus 88 from minus 177 However the index remained below zero in a sign that the majority of companies polled expect activity to worsen in the next six months

People gather around the fountain of the newly renovated Omonia square in Athens Greece May 14 2020 Picture taken with long exposure REUTERSAlkis Konstantinidis ATHENS June 30 Reuters The Bank of Greece the country s central bank revised the economy s growth outlook to 32 this year from 38 previously to reflect increased uncertainty due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and inflation it said on Thursday It said in a monetary policy report that economic growth could turn out higher than its baseline projection of 32 if the strong performance of the first quarter continues in the next quarters However the risks are tilted to the downside and relate to a further escalation of geopolitical instability a worsening international economic climate a disruption in energy supply and a consequent further increase in energy prices the report said

Hawaii Senate voted Tuesday in favor 22 3 of SB 669 a cannabis legalization billsponsored by state senate DemocratsStanley ChangJarrett Keohokalole Angus McKelveyandJoy San BuenaventuraThe legislation will now proceed to the House for consideration and possible amendments “For years advocates have been working to pass legislation to sensibly legalize cannabis in Hawaii Now that this bill has advanced out of the Senate Hawaii is one step closer to becoming the next state to end cannabis prohibition” said Hawaii residentDeVaughn Ward senior legislative counsel at the Marijuana Policy Project The Senate’s approval of the bill comes about a month after the Hawaii Cannabis Industry Association HICIA revealed that thevast majority of Hawaiians back cannabis legalizationAccording to poll results published on March 31 as manyas86of Hawaiiansthink that marijuana should be legal Recreational cannabis reform had even more support45 while medical use only garnered41 If the bill becomes law it would allow for the possession of 30 grams of marijuana for personal use lower penalties for unlicensed cultivation and sales allow adults to cultivate no more than six plants within their residenceand expunge records for possession and gifting of cannabis of 30 grams Additionally the bill would establish a Hawaii Cannabis Authority and require medical licensees to present a medical preservation plan before they are allowed to convert to dual use businesses You can check out a summary of the latest version of SB 669 here Revenue that is being generated from this is going to the black market and organized crime and other places where it could be going into our communities our schools and supporting public programs and projects said Sen MckelveyreportedKITV Not all lawmakers arepleased with the Senate’s advancement of the bill Some say they re concernedabout high THC levels in cannabis and its effects on healthand aboutpossible addiction problems We re making more stringent our drunk driving laws and controlling vaping how does decriminalizing cannabis for personal use fit in for these values said state SenSharon Moriwaki D Yes To Psychedelics Research Too Additionally the state Senate also advanced two psychedelics bills on TuesdayreportedMarijuana Moment ProposalSB 1454 sponsored by Democratic Senator Ron Kouchi would create a state working group within the Department of Health to research the medical and therapeutic effects of psilocybin or psilocybin based products on mental health A second proposalSB 1531would establish a Beneficial Treatments Advisory Council to review mental health treatment information and advise the Department of Health The council would be in charge of evaluating new medicinal treatments for mental health including psilocybin and MDMA Photo Bezinga edit with images by Matthew Brodeur and 2H Media on Unsplash

Jim Cramer recently discussed Morgan Stanley s Year of the Yield report which addressed what to do in a world with less growth and lower inflation Cramer said on CNBC’s ‘Mad Money’ that central banks could potentially pause their rate hikes and even reverse some of them if the global economy goes into a downturn With that being said there could be a major push for purchaser’s of two year treasury yields which have a yield of 44 Next year could be the hunt for the yield Cramer says adding that it couldcome to fruition once central banks beat down inflation His advice Own an oil stock for 2023 one that returns capital to shareholders “religiously” instead of pumping more crude with it Also ReadJim Cramer Lists 6 Cyclical Smokestack Stocks Worth Owning Customers Have No Choice But To Turn To Them Ever since Chevron NYSECVX talked about buying a quarter of the company’s stock back it has traded “red hot ever since” Cramer said touting that his picks have more growth better dividends and are returning capital to shareholders Here are Cramer’s three energy picks Devon Energy Corporation NYSEDVN offers a dividend yield of 732 or 540 per share annually making quarterly payments with a decent track record of increasing its dividends for four consecutive years The Oklahoma City based company expanded its share repurchase program by 25 to 2 billion through May 4 2023 At the end of April 2022 Devon repurchased 191 million shares at a total cost of 891 million Cramer praised Rick Muncrief the WPX chief who took over after merging with Devon and pioneered the variable dividend model As long as oil stays above 75 per barrel you will generate a large payout with this one Cramer says Pioneer Natural Resources Company NYSEPXD offers a dividend yield of 981 or 2544 per share annually using quarterly payments with a solid track record of increasing its dividends for four consecutive years During the third quarter Pioneer repurchased 500 million of its common stock at an average share price of 218 Pioneer Natural Resources follows the same variable dividend model as Devon except the CEO J Kenneth Thompson is on a mission to have the highest dividend yield in the SP 500 said Cramer If you annualize their payout this year they have a nearly 9 yield said Cramer Coterra Energy Inc NYSECTRA is offering a dividend yield of 902 or 249 per share annually through quarterly payments with a notable track record of increasing its dividends for five consecutive years Coterra bought back 28 million shares for a total cost of 740 million leaving 510 million remaining on the 125 billion share repurchase program Cramer said that Coterra Energy was created by a combination of Cabot Oil and Gas and Cimarex with much of the firm s production being natural gas Cramer said that if we want to help Europe to stop using Russian oil and gas domestic natural gas production is essential Next Cramer Says This Stock Has Too Much Political Risk

A major European neo banking start up companyBunq BV is set to expand its footprints in the US On Tuesday the company applied for a banking license in the US targeting to serve 5 million European emigrants and businesses in the US Amid the collapse ofSilicon Valleyin the US last month the company is capitalizing on the opportunity to enter the US banking industry with better offers and customized solutions Bunq focuses on simplifying the banking experience for Europeans in the US by offering better interest rates than traditional banks and catering to Europeans needs of maintaining deposit insurance limits of up to €100000 Its customized app offers a free savings account facility with an option to unlock advanced features at a monthly subscription of €3 €18 per month The initiative will aid Bunq in maintaining its growth stream as it attained a milestone of €23 million profit in the fourth quarter of 2022

Oct 20 Reuters Saudi Arabia s stock market rose in early trade on Thursday amid rising oil prices while Qatari shares extended losses from the previous session Crude oil prices a key catalyst for the Gulf s financial markets gained around 1 as investor sentiment improved on news that China was considering a cut in the quarantine duration for inbound visitors China the world s largest crude oil importer has stuck to its strict COVID 19 curbs this year disrupting business and economic activity and thus hitting fuel demand The benchmark stock index TASI in Saudi Arabia advanced 08 led by a 13 rise in Al Rajhi Bank 1120SE and a 3 increase in Riyad Bank 1010SE Among other gainers Saudi Aramco 2222SE was up 06 following a Bloomberg News report that the oil giant was pushing ahead with plans for an initial public offering of its energy trading business by the end of this year or in early 2023 No final decisions have been made and the IPO could be delayed or cancelled if market conditions worsen the report added Dubai s main share index DFMGI added 02 helped by a 12 gain in Emirates NBD Bank ENBDDU and an 84 surge in Deyaar Development DEYRDU Deyaar reported a surge in its third quarter profit while revenues rose 72 on the back of a revival in the emirate s real estate sector On Tuesday the company s board recommended shareholders approve a 500 million dirhams 13614 million cash settlement with another Dubai based developer Limitless In Abu Dhabi the benchmark stock index FTFADGI firmed 01 with the country s biggest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank FABAD rising 03 The United Arab Emirates believes OPEC made the correct technical choice when it agreed to cut production targets and the unanimous decision had nothing to do with politics energy minister Suhail al Mazrouei said on Tuesday read more The Qatari index QSI slipped 03 hit by a 24 fall in Commercial Bank COMBQA Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru Editing by Subhranshu Sahu

The euro is set to keep sliding until it reaches parity against the US dollar according to strategists at Citi unless the surge in natural gas prices brought about by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ends The comment comes as the euro EURUSD fell to a fresh 19 year low on Tuesday morning The euro was recently trading at 10304 down over 1 on the dollar and down 9 on the year Strategists at Citi say that throughout most of 2021 the euro traded closely to differentials at the front end of the interest rate curves but that relationship has now completely broken down Another relationship that has evaporated is the link to bond yield spreads in periphery countries of the eurozone the recent tightening in spreads between Italian and German bonds hasn’t supported the shared currency The dollar is surging against the euro as the European natural gas situation worsens Instead the euro is reflecting the fragility of natural gas supplies Mostly that’s about Russia cutting off supplies to Europe due to the war in Ukraine but there’s also the issue of the recent explosion at the Freeport LNG facility in the US as well as strikes impacting output from Norway The strategists say there’s questions about whether Europe has the capacity to import the amount of LNG that would be needed to offset Russian gas flows if they don’t return to normal levels after the scheduled maintenance period ends on July 21 “If flows return to near normal then we could expect to see less dependence on LNG imports and we should see some of the tightness coming out of the market as European storage facilities reach their 80 target” say strategists at Citi Dutch TTF gas futures rose 3 on Tuesday and have more than doubled in value this year

With US futures trading lower this morning on Friday some of the stocks that may grab investor focus today are as follows Wall Street expects AutoNation Inc NYSEAN to post quarterly earnings at 583 per share on revenue of 652 billion before the opening bell AutoNation shares gained 05 to 14201 in after hours trading Applied Materials Inc NASDAQAMAT reported better than expected financial results for its first quarter and issued strong sales guidance for the current quarter Applied Materials shares gained 15 to 11715 in the after hours trading session Analysts are expecting Deere Company NYSEDE to have earned 556 per share on revenue of 1128 billion for the latest quarter The company will release earnings before the markets open Deere shares rose 13 to 40800 in after hours trading Check out our premarket coverage here Texas Roadhouse Inc NASDAQTXRH reported weaker than expected Q4 results Texas Roadhouse shares dropped 49 to 9999 in the after hours trading session Analysts expect PPL Corp NYSEPPL to post quarterly earnings at 028 per share on revenue of 162 billion before the opening bell PPL shares gained 02 to 2851 in after hours trading Read This Next Top 5 Materials Stocks That Are Ticking Portfolio Bombs

Mari y Juana Beverages Co “MJ” a California based cannabis infused beverages brand entered into an exclusive partnership with Ginger an e commerce provider and last mile delivery service in the direct to consumer DTC California cannabis market “As a millennial I’ve known and grown with the experience of the dot com era and seeing how e commerce has been able to benefit both business and consumer We are extremely delighted that with the support of Ginger we will be able to utilize tools currently available to substantially grow our business as we focus on strategic bulk selling directly to the end user” “As supportive as our retail partners are stocking and selling 24 pack quantities of MJ beverages is an unnecessary burden and ask of them The ability to transact larger purchases via our website directly to the customer is an added value offer by the MJ brand to the customer to the retail store partner and to the overall cannabis infused beverages category Our target demographic usually has big families and throws big fiestas so this looks to be a promising win win situation for all parties” stated Daniel Torres founder and CEO of Mari y Juana Beverages Co Roie Edery founder and CEO of Ginger stated “We’re excited to have Mari y Juana on the list of innovative brands actively pursuing growth via this new and exciting channel Their unique product line and story set the stage for new customers and Ginger is looking forward to helping turn them into loyal fans” Beginning late September consumers will be able to purchase Mari y Juana beverages in bulk directly via Mari y Juana Beverages website Photo Courtesy of Mari y Juana Beverages Co Related News Mari Y Juana Beverages Enters Into Exclusive Distribution Agreement With SuLo Distro

Feb 1 Welcome to the home for real time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters You can share your thoughts with us at marketsresearchthomsonreuterscom THE THREE FREE PUTS TIME TO PUT EM TO BED 1442 EST1942 GMT BofA s data analytics team is saying that the January FOMC meeting and ensuing market reaction reinforced their view that the market s three free puts the Fed put the buy the dip put and bond equity diversification are failing and pose a big threat to risk assets Powell dismissed the idea of a Fed put and caused the most hawkish surprise in front end rates since 2009 With this credit spreads suggest the Fed is far from stepping in the BofA analysts write in a note Our BTD strategy is on track to record its first full miss since the Covid shock and its worst performance since Dec 15 hurt by retreating retail investors options data shows They add that bonds remain absent when equities need them most wrecking multi asset portfolios Unable to rely on these free puts any longer the BofA team recommends investors should look to buy their own THE BEST OF THE BULL HAS PACKED HIS BAGS 1353 EST1853 EST Investors can say goodbye to the best of the bull market according to Robert C Doll chief investment officer at Crossmark Global Investments In his latest Deliberations this week Doll says the abrupt speed of the recent equity market decline is a reflection of just how much speculative froth had built up in some parts of the market That said Doll does not see a recession in the next year nor a bear market Crossmark has a 4500 SP 500 year end target which suggests just a modest down year This equates to a 56 SPX decline for 2022 The SPX is last off around 52 for the year Doll believes a continued increase in corporate earnings should somewhat offset de rating pressures as interest rates rise However Doll sees some major implications for investors First he says that the buy and hold phase for risk assets is over This because equity volatility is likely to be meaningfully higher than the past 18 months With this he says investors should rein in their overall return expectations Doll adds that in such a landscape that those seeking higher returns will need to be nimble making more frequent tactical moves Finally emphasizes that although he believes that the bull markets most profitable phase is over since he is not expecting a recession or cyclical bear market this year he is not yet recommending investors underweight equities CORPORATE DEBT SUPPLY IN FEB LIKELY TO APPROACH RECORD – BOFA 1227 EST1727 GMT Corporate bond issuance is likely to approach record levels in February as companies rush to sell debt before the Federal Reserve hikes rates according to Bank of America The bank is projecting investment grade corporate supply of 110 billion to 120 billion in February which would be near the monthly record of 120 billion sold in Feb 2021 and above the average rate of 106 billion for the month “A year ago companies pulled issuance plans forward to get ahead of rising interest rates This year companies are doing the same to get ahead of the Fed” Bank of America analysts said in a report The Fed last week said it is likely to hike interest rates in March and reaffirmed plans to end its bond purchases that month in what US central bank chief Jerome Powell pledged will be a sustained battle to tame inflation read more The largest six US banks and brokers issued the most debt in January since 2018 despite having lower issuance needs “The baton of issuing before the Fed hikes will pass to industrials issuers in February and potentially March” Bank of America said A risk to the forecast would be if market volatility reduces debt issuance as happened in the last week of January when the investment grade primary market “was effectively shut down” the bank said January supply nonetheless totaled 150 billion which was above the 138 billion issued in Jan 2021 While the technology sector has been climbing in recent days from its January low reached on the 24th Lindsey Bell Ally s Chief Money Markets Strategist writes that investors still aren’t sold on tech even with reduced valuations and among the best earnings results in the fourth quarter Bell notes that inflationary pressures and higher interest rates were offering reasons to sell the rate sensitive sector on Tuesday The SP 500 information technology index SPLRCT is last roughly flat on the day slightly underperforming the SP 500 SPX which is up around 015 At its lowest close in the recent sell off on Jan 25th the sector had finished 146 below its Dec 27 record closing high But Bell suggests that the continued move lower could offer an interesting entry point for those without much tech exposure already Even in a raising rate environment tech margins are expected to remain best in class and earnings growth is among the most reliable in the market Bell writes And she notes that real interest rates are expected to remain negative throughout 2022 which should cushion the impact of the Federal Reserve rate hike cycle She didn t provide an estimate for just how many investors are without tech exposure but she advises them Data arrived in triplicate on Tuesday shuffling in fashionably late after the opening bell and bearing dreary news of a waning economic recovery Activity at US factories lost steam in the first month of the year expanding at its slowest rate in over a year The Institute for Supply Management ISM purchasing managers index PMI USPMIECI dropped 12 points to 576 just a hair above consensus and the lowest reading since November 2020 read more A PMI number above 50 signifies increased activity over the previous month A drop in the important new orders segment marked that component s lowest point since June 2020 and the prices paid subindex closely watched amid a hot inflation environment surged 79 points to 761 Among the cold comforts within the report the employment component edged higher and supplier deliveries held steady in a sign that supply chain pressures might have crested There were shortages of critical intermediate materials difficulties in transporting products and lack of direct labor on factory floors due to the COVID 19 omicron variant writes Timothy Fiore chair of ISM s Manufacturing Business Survey Committee Remarks from the survey s respondents are littered with statements like massive interruptions to our production due to supplier COVID 19 problems we are still constrained by a lack of qualified labor and Transportation restrictions and a lack of supplier manpower continue to create significant shortages that limit our production But some shoots of green popped up in survey participants comments Strong backlog of orders coming into the new year and the supply chain crunch may be loosening a bit were among the more encouraging remarks IHS Markit also released its take on January manufacturing PMI USMPMFECI delivering a print of 555 half a point above its advance flash reading taken mid month The graphic below shows headline ISM PMI along with several of the subcomponents Next job openings unexpectedly inched up to 10926 million in December nudging back toward record territory as surging Omicron infections kept workers home The Labor Department s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey JOLTS USJOLTECI showed that overall labor market churn cooled off in the last month of 2021 with hires fires and quits all slowing down The quit rate often seen as a proxy for consumer expectations as workers are less likely to walk away from a gig in times of economic uncertainty dipped to 29 of the workforce from 3 The layoffs rate hit an historic low in December lowest since the series began in 2000 Elise Gould senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute says in a series of chained tweets Job openings increased in accommodations and food services as well as state and local government education two sectors still suffering some of the largest job shortfalls since Feb 2020 Finally expenditures on construction projects USTCNSECI inched 02 higher in December according to the Commerce Department a 40 basis point deceleration from the prior month and well below the 06 analysts expected read more Residential construction again did the heavy lifting rising 11 the strongest reading since September while a 16 drop in publicly funded projects held the overall gain in check Potential homebuyers mad pandemic driven dash for the suburbs has significantly depleted supply of homes on the market a phenomenon which as given a solid boost to homebuilders since shortly after the onset of the health crisis But some analysts see that trend running out of gas this year We expect residential construction outlays to register only modest gains in 2022 says Nancy Vanden Houten lead US economist at Oxford Economics Wall Street seemed to be teasing market watchers again with its indecision flipping between red and green throughout morning trading Energy SPNY and transports DJT are the day s clear winners as the noon hour approaches FED COULD LEAN MORE ON BALANCE SHEET REDUCTION AS YIELD CURVE FLATTENS 1030 EST1530 GMT Dramatic flattening in the US Treasury yield curve has increased concerns that the Federal Reserve could go too far when it begins raising rates in a bid to tackle unabated inflation and possibly tip the US economy into recession The US central bank could however lean more on balance sheet reduction to reduce the impact of rate hikes on the yield curve The closely watched two year 10 year yield curve reached 57 basis points on Monday the smallest yield gap since Nov 2020 and was last at 62 basis points It has flattened from 92 basis points in early Jan and 130 basis points in Oct While the curve remains far from an inversion which is viewed as an indicator that a recession is likely in the next one to two years it’s rapid flattening reflects increasing fears that the US central bank could make a policy error Shorter dated Treasury yields have surged and stock markets have been volatile as Fed officials including Chair Jerome Powell signal that they will take a more aggressive stance to stamp out persistent price pressures Deutsche Bank analyst Steven Zeng said that the Fed could shrink its balance sheet at a faster pace based on the bank’s projections that excess liquidity particularly in the Fed’s reverse repurchase agreement facility could stay high for another two years “The implication is that the Fed could aggressively use balance sheet unwind as a policy tool to mitigate excessive flattening of the curve resulting from faster pace of rate hikes” Zeng said in a report Money market investors lent the Fed 165 trillion in the facility on Monday as they continued to struggle with excess cash and a dearth of safe short term assets Fed policymakers on Monday said they ll raise interest rates in March but spoke cautiously about what might follow signaling a desire to keep options open in the face of an uncertain outlook for inflation and a pandemic still ongoing read more JUST HOW MUCH FRENCH MA IS ON HOLD 1005 EST1505 GMT We re less than 100 days away from the French presidential election which is typically seen as the worst possible time to announce a big MA deal involving a French blue chip The idea being that with the campaign cruising towards full speed many candidates for the Elysee palace would happily jump on any scent of controversy to make the failure of a deal a key proposal in their platform In that context many analysts such as at Barclays doubt France s leading supermarket groups Carrefour and Auchan would announce a deal should one be ready before the French head to the voting polls We believe that the possibility of significant layoffs resulting from any potential deal and the presence of financial investors including private equity firms will likely mean any transaction would be subject to close scrutiny by the French government Barclays analysts argued in a note We can t rule out that the latter could block any potential deal as was the case last year when Couche Tard contemplated an acquisition of Carrefour they add At Bernstein the research team notes that there would be clear antitrust issues given both groups large market shares and commented that competition authorities would have fun reviewing a potential merger How much potential Gallic MA is on hold is anyone s guess but it s likely that now wouldn t be the right time to consolidate the telecom sector or announce a pan European deal involving a French bank US STOCKS TRY TO PUT JANUARY BEHIND THEM 0939 EST1439 GMT Major US indexes are little changed on Tuesday in the wake of gains from the past two sessions as focus turned to data on manufacturing and job openings Nevertheless there is early strength in transports The Dow Transports DJT are jumping nearly 3 underpinned by a surge in UPS UPSN This after the SP 500 SPX just had its biggest monthly drop since March 2020 and its worst start to the year since January 2009 read more Meanwhile Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said it may be appropriate for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates four times this year and to move more aggressively if the factors leading to higher inflation such as supply chain issues are not mitigated read more US January ISM Manufacturing PMI is due at 1000 AM EST The expectation calls for a reading of 575 vs 587 last month Prices paid is expected at 681 vs 682 in December Here is where markets stand early on Tuesday SP 500 AND THE TEST OF A WARRIOR 0900 EST1400 GMT The SP 500 index SPX is quickly nearing an area on the charts where it must prove its mettle to add confidence that its sudden strength is more than just a counter trend bounce Last Thursday the SPX ended down 98 from its January 3 record close With this the benchmark index closed at its most oversold level on a daily basis since late February 2020 Since then it has mounted an impressive bounce of more than 4 and reclaimed its 200 day moving average DMA The daily RSI plunged to 16 last Thursday suggesting the market was especially ripe for a bounce Now with the market s rally it has recovered to the 50 area However it is facing the resistance line from its early November peak Meanwhile despite reclaiming the 200 DMA the 100 DMA which acted as more direct support throughout much of the 2020 2022 advance is still resistance at around 4570 Additionally the SPX s January 10 low at 458224 appears to be another key hurdle If the SPX can reclaim this level coupled with the RSI regaining enough strength to move above the 7000 overbought threshold it could add credence to the view that the SPX found an important low last week However if the SPX rolls under resistance and closes back below the 200 DMA which ended Monday around 4435 it can suggest potential for new lows below 422262 In that event traders will be watching for the 236 Fibonacci retracement of the 2020 2022 advance at 419870 to potentially hold again while the RSI forms a higher low Since early 2020 more enduring SPX lows have been accompanied by a bullish momentum convergence FOR TUESDAY S LIVE MARKETS POSTS PRIOR TO 0900 EST1400 GMT CLICK HERE read more Terence Gabriel is a Reuters market analyst The views expressed are his own

The Danish biotech company Tetra Pharm Technologies is launching its first product XATEPA on the German market XATEPA is a pain relieving pharmaceutical drug based on cannabinoids Tetra Pharm Technologies develops and manufactures pharmaceutical drugs targeting the endocannabinoid system for the treatment of neuropathic pain sclerosis and mental health disorders The launch of our first product represents an important and significant milestone for Tetra Pharm Technologies From a business perspective it gives us the opportunity to further strengthen the company s long term research and development efforts which is our primary focus stated Martin Rose CEO Tetra Pharm Technologies Tetra Pharm Technologies plans to expand sales of XATEPA and launch the drug in a number of additional European and overseas markets in the near future The suitability of the drug delivery system is often neglected at the expense of cannabinoid bioavailability Our XATEPA sublingual spray is devised as a so called enabling technology to provide optimal conditions for cannabinoid uptake and thus efficacy From a pharmaceutical science perspective we are indeed very proud of this achievement and we look forward to launch more innovative products targeting the endocannabinoid system stated Dr Morten Allesø chief scientific officer Tetra Pharm Technologies Tetra Pharm Technologies has entered into an agreement with PHOENIX Pharma Einkauf GmbH for the distribution of XATEPA in Germany Germany is the largest market in Europe for pharmaceutical drugs based on cannabinoids and we have positive expectations for the sales of XATEPA The partnership with PHOENIX Pharma Einkauf GmbH regarding distribution to German pharmacies ensures access to the product for all doctors and their patients and since we have eliminated any middlemen we can deliver the product at a fair price stated Martin Caspersen chief commercial officer Tetra Pharm Technologies Photo by Esteban López on Unsplash

The numbers A survey of consumer sentiment rose to 595 in September and hit a five month high reflecting public relief at falling gas prices But Americans still feel uncertain about the future of the economy The sentiment poll moved up from 582 in August In June high inflation and record gas prices drove sentiment down to its lowest level since the index began being published on a monthly basis in 1978 The report is produced by the University of Michigan Inflation has slowed a bit in the past few months thanks to tumbling gas prices but it’s still near a 40 year high The cost of living rose in August to push the yearly rate up to 83 Consumers still think inflation will fall sharply in the long run however They expect prices to rise an average of just 28 a year over the next five years That’s down from 29 in the prior month Top Federal Reserve officials pay close attention to inflation expectations because it can be a harbinger of future price trends The central bank is jacking up interest rates quickly to try to ensure high inflation doesn’t become ingrained in the economy Big picture Gas prices have fallen sharply in the past few months and returned to where they were at the start of 2022 but Americans are paying more for almost everything else In some cases a lot more The Fed is trying to reduce inflation by sharply raising interest rates but higher rates slow the economy and can even induce a recession While many economists think a recession is likely by next year consumers aren’t quite as pessimistic Key details A gauge that measures what consumers think about their own financial situation and the current health of the economy edged up to 589 from 586 last month One year ago the index stood much higher at 801 Another measure that asks about expectations for the next six months increased to 599 from 580 For sake of comparison the index registered 681 one year ago Looking ahead “After the marked improvement in sentiment in August consumers showed signs of uncertainty over the trajectory of the economy” said survey director Joanne Hsu Market reaction The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA and SP 500 SPX fell again in Friday trades Stocks have taken a beating this week after US inflation numbers turned out to be worse than expected

Good day Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker said Tuesday he supports the Fed raising interest rates next month but probably not by 50 basis points A voting member of the rate setting Federal Open Market Committee Mr Harker also said he expects the Fed will raise rates four times this year though he noted there is much uncertainty about that outlook in light of how high inflation is pushing the Fed toward tighter monetary policy Elsewhere Statistics Canada said early estimates suggest Canada’s economy grew 63 at an annual rate in the fourth quarter Canadian economic output grew at

Well hello there What a week it’s been Battered by central bankers hellbent on tightening monetary policy Wall Street may be nearing a tipping point with the SP 500 down nearly 5 over the past five days the dollar at a two decade high and Treasury yields leaping to levels seen more than a decade ago It’s no wonder investment managers are throwing out their long held playbooks and bearish traders are flocking to protection at a record pace

European Central Bank Chief Economist Philip Lane speaks during a Reuters Newsmaker event in New York US September 27 2019 REUTERSGary HeFile Photo LONDON June 20 Reuters Record high euro zone inflation risked fuelling inflation psychology European Central Bank chief economist Philip Lane said on Monday referring to a phenomenon when consumers and businesses adjust their habits in anticipation of higher prices Once inflation psychology sets in consumers bring forward their spending to beat the rise in prices while businesses start lifting their own prices expecting higher costs with both behaviours perpetuating inflation We have very high inflation rates now and clearly we could be in a world where inflation psychology is taking hold Lane told the annual dinner of Britain s Society of Professional Economists in London Reporting by David Milliken Writing by Balazs Koranyi Editing by Sandra Maler

Bitcoin CRYPTO BTC moved lower but the cryptocurrency prices traded above the key 28000 level on Friday Ethereum CRYPTO ETH also moved lower trading below the key 2000 mark this morning Zilliqa CRYPTO ZIL was the top gainer over the prior 24 hours while Render Token CRYPTO RNDR turned out to be the biggest loser At the time of writing the global crypto market cap fell to 119 trillion recording a 24 hour decline of 2 BTC was trading lower by 22 at 28210 while ETH fell by around 27 to 1916 on Friday Here are the top ten crypto gainers and losers over the past 24 hoursGainers Zilliqa CRYPTO ZIL Price 00329224 hour gain 58 Bitcoin SV CRYPTO BSV Price 363324 hour gain 48 UNUS SED LEO CRYPTO LEO Price 34724 hour gain 1 Toncoin CRYPTO TON Price 22824 hour gain 07 BNB CRYPTO BNB Price 3273224 hour gain 06Losers Render Token CRYPTO RNDR Price 18024 hour drop 133 Internet Computer CRYPTO ICP Price 57124 hour drop 85 Synthetix CRYPTO SNX Price 26724 hour drop 85 Dogecoin CRYPTO DOGE Price 00840424 hour drop 83 The Graph CRYPTO GRT Price 0142824 hour drop 79 Read This Next Wall Street s Most Accurate Analysts Say Hold These 3 Consumer Stocks With Over 8 Dividend Yields

A whale with a lot of money to spend has taken a noticeably bullish stance on DocuSign Looking at options history for DocuSign NASDAQDOCU we detected 14 strange trades If we consider the specifics of each trade it is accurate to state that 50 of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 50 with bearish From the overall spotted trades 8 are puts for a total amount of 981200 and 6 calls for a total amount of 315913 What s The Price Target Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 300 to 550 for DocuSign over the last 3 months Volume Open Interest Development Looking at the volume and open interest is an insightful way to conduct due diligence on a stock This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for DocuSign s options for a given strike price Below we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts respectively for all of DocuSign s whale activity within a strike price range from 300 to 550 in the last 30 days DocuSign Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted Symbol PUTCALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp Date Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume DOCU PUT SWEEP BEARISH 012023 5500 3000K 28K 11K DOCU PUT TRADE BULLISH 011924 3000 2365K 723 554 DOCU CALL SWEEP BEARISH 121622 5100 1300K 51K 11K DOCU PUT SWEEP BEARISH 011924 5500 1156K 786 68 DOCU PUT SWEEP BEARISH 012023 5500 770K 28K 12K Where Is DocuSign Standing Right Now With a volume of 9848262 the price of DOCU is up 1454 at 5011 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching overbought Next earnings are expected to be released in 90 days What The Experts Say On DocuSign UBS has decided to maintain their Neutral rating on DocuSign which currently sits at a price target of 52 Baird has decided to maintain their Neutral rating on DocuSign which currently sits at a price target of 50 Citigroup has decided to maintain their Buy rating on DocuSign which currently sits at a price target of 59 Piper Sandler upgraded its action to Neutral with a price target of 50 Jefferies downgraded its action to Hold with a price target of 50 Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closely If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for DocuSign Benzinga Pro gives you real time options trades alerts

India s consumer prices increased on year in March at a faster pace than in February beating economists forecasts according to preliminary government data published Tuesday The Indian consumer price index increased 695 on year in March after a 607 rise in February Economists polled by FactSet expected consumer prices to rise 64 The inflation rate is above the Reserve Bank of India s target of 2 to 6 The urban consumer price index for March rose 612 compared with the same period a year earlier while the rural reading increased 766 the data showed

About 167 billion in cryptocurrencies was stolen between January 2011 and February 2023 highlightinggrowingillegal activity in the cryptocurrency and DeFi marketsaccording to areport DeFi Hacks On The Rise The study conducted by Crystal Blockchain which covereddata from the first cryptocurrency exchange hack Mt Gox in 2011 up until Feb18 2023 showeda shift in criminal focus from infiltrating crypto exchange security systems to DeFi hacks The report detailed231 DeFi hacks 135 security attacks and 95 fraudulent schemes in the last 12 years In 2022 the ratio of centralized exchange CEX versus decentralized exchange DEX hacks reached as high as 113 The largest DeFi hack to date involved the Ronin Network in March 2022 with over 650 million stolen Read AlsoBitcoin Liquidity Drops To 10 Month Low Panic Selling To Follow NFT Market Scams Emerging As the popularity of non fungible tokens NFTs surged in 2021 andmarket capitalization jumpedby 1785 the report also noted a rise in scams related to NFTs In the first half of 2022 alone seven rug pulls based on NFT projects defrauded investors Tornado Cash A Popular Tool For Money Laundering Tornado Cash remains the most popular service for laundering stolen funds on the Ethereum CRYPTO ETH blockchain Theplatform was utilized by aRonin Network hacker who moved the majority of stolen funds through the service Geographical Distribution Of Exchange Security Breaches According to the report exchange security breaches commonly took place in countries that included theUnited States the United Kingdom South Korea Japan and China The Crystal Blockchain report underscores the importance of addressing security vulnerabilities and fraudulent activities in the rapidly evolving cryptocurrency and DeFi landscape to protect investors and maintain the industry s credibility Read NextBulletproof Your Crypto Investments Uncover Hidden Gems With This Benzinga Guide Image Shutterstock

Raindrops hang on a sign for Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan in New York City New York US October 26 2020 REUTERSMike SegarFile PhotoFile Photo LONDON Aug 29 Reuters The CBOE s volatility index VIX Wall Street s fear gauge hit a seven week high on Monday morning on mounting risk of more aggressive rate hikes from the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank The volatility index or VIX jumped 74 points to 2746 its highest level since July 14 Europe s equivalent the euro STOXX 50 volatility index V2TX jumped 27 points to as much as 29606 its highest level since July 19 The surge in volatility came as stock markets across the globe tumbled with the pan European STOXX 600 index STOXX dropping 10 to a more than one month low Wall Street futures are lower by 08 12 Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned on Friday that the US central bank would raise rates as high as needed to restrict growth and keep them there for some time read more Meanwhile ECB board member Isabel Schnabel warned over the weekend that central banks must act forcefully to combat inflation even if that dragged economies into recession read more

Gold futures dropped by more than 2 on Tuesday to settle at their lowest price of the year so far The yellow metal fell along with silver copper and other commodities amid a technical breakdown said Chintan Karnani director of research at Insignia Consultants Recession fears and faster interest rate hikes by most central banks have accelerated the sell off he said There is also fear that Chinese domestic economic growth in the third quarter will be less than expected August gold GCQ22 declined 3760 or 21 to settle at 176390 an ounce marking the lowest most active contract settlement since early December FactSet data show

MT Bank CorporationNYSEMTB shares gained Monday premarket following its solid first quarter performance that beat Street expectations MTB reporteda first quarter FY23net income of 70162 million an increase of 94 year over year Diluted net operating EPS was 409 beating the consensus of 398 MT reported a Q1 revenue of 24 billion 674 YY beating the consensus of 237 billion Q1 Net interest income expressed on a taxable equivalent basis was 1832 billion up 102 from 907 million earned in 1Q21 Noninterest income totaled 587 million compared with 541 million in the year earlier quarter MT s efficiency ratio was 555 compared to 649 in the year earlier quarter and 533 in 4Q22 MT recorded a provision for credit losses of 120 million up from 10 million in the year earlier quarter The allowance for credit losses totaled 198 billion or 149 of loans outstanding on March 31 2023 compared with 147 billion or 160 of loans outstanding in 1Q21 MT held total assets of 203 billion as of March 31 2023 Loans and leases net of unearned discount were 1329 billion Darren J King Chief Financial Officer commented These results reflect loan growth steady credit quality a strong liquidity position and as in past years seasonally higher salaries and employee benefits expense MT s estimated Common Equity Tier 1 ratio was 1015 at March 31 2023 compared with 1044 at last year s end Price ActionMTB shares are trading higher by 241 at 11940 premarket on Monday

Gorilla Technology Group IncNASDAQGRRR shares are trading higher by over 13 after it reported a strategic deal withBT Group PlcOTCBTGOFBritish Telecomto provideAI Powered innovative smart port solutions The deal combines Gorilla s video analytics expertise with BT s vast network infrastructure into an extensive solution to cater to the critical needs of the logistics industry In particular Gorilla and BT have joined hands to create an intelligent automated solution to drive advanced video analytics technologies thereby aiding stakeholders in efficiently managing container identification and detecting potential damages Our relationship with British Telecom marks a significant milestone in the evolution of container management solutions By leveraging the power of video analytics and BT s robust network infrastructure we can revolutionize how containers are identified tracked and monitored Our solution will empower logistics companies to streamline operations reduce costs and improve the overall integrity of the global supply chain said Dr Rajesh Natarajan Chief Innovation Officer Earlier this month Gorilla disclosed a 270 million contract with the Government of Egypt to implement aSmart Government Security Convergence solution Price Action GRRR shares are up 136 at 258 on the last check Thursday

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index remained in the neutral zone on Friday Markets were still monitoring Wednesday s minutes from the Fed’s recent meeting Traders see the central bank raising rates by 50 basis points at its September meeting Shares of Cisco Systems Inc NASDAQCSCO rose around 58 on Thursday after the company reported upbeat Q4 results and issued a strong sales forecast for the first quarter The Dow Jones rose 006 points to close at 3399904 on Thursday The SP 500 rose 023 while the Nasdaq Composite gained 021 to settle at 1296534 in the previous session US initial jobless claims fell by 2000 to 250000 the week ended August 13th while the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index rose to 62 in August from 123 in July Investors are now awaiting earnings results from Deere Company NYSEDE and Foot Locker Inc NYSEFL At a current reading of 540 the index remained in the neutral zone on Friday following a previous reading of 550 What is CNN Business Fear Greed Index The Fear Greed Index is a measure of the current market sentiment It is based on the premise that higher fear exerts pressure on stock prices while higher greed has the opposite effect The index is calculated based on seven equal weighted indicators The index ranges from 0 to 100 where 0 represents maximum fear and 100 signals maximum greediness

Ethereum CRYPTO ETH co creator Vitalik Buterin says he is glad that people are pushing against regulations that give privilege to ETH over other “legitimate cryptocurrencies” but he singled out Ripple Labs associated XRP token saying they’ve “lost right to protection” What Happened Buterin’s comments were made in response to a tweet by Bankless DAO founder David Hoffmanwho shared a help page from Canadian crypto trading platform Newton Glad to see Ethereum people pushing against regulations that privilege ETH over other legitimate cryptocurrencies I have not dug into the details of what specifically is going on and to what extent it s a gov thing vs a compliance decision of one business but either way httpstcoNDYPh5rqsk— vitaliketh VitalikButerin August 17 2022 Buterin a Canadian citizen said while he had not dug into the details of what was going on and whether it was a platform’s “compliance decision” or a governmental mandate “​​Glad to see Ethereum people pushing against regulations that privilege ETH over other legitimate cryptocurrencies” Hoffman said in the thread that had Newton restricted XRP he “wouldn’t have said anything” Buterin replied that “XRP already lost their right to protection when they tried to throw us under the bus as ‘China controlled ” See Also Best Crypto Debit Cards Why It Matters In December 2020 Ripple told the US Securities and Exchange Commission that Bitcoin CRYPTO BTC and Ethereum were “highly susceptible to Chinese control because both are subject to simple majority rule whereas the XRPL prevents comparable centralization” Ripple’s move earned the ire of Buterin at the time who said the company was sinking to “new levels of strangeness” On Wednesday Buterin also said he had also opposed banning proof of work cryptocurrencies by governments Incidentally reminder that I oppose banning PoWhttpstcoKiClK2cUFL— vitaliketh VitalikButerin August 17 2022 Price Action At press time Ethereum traded 09 higher at 185098 while XRP was down 1 at 038 according to Benzinga Pro data Read Next Coinbase Insider Trading Issue Bigger Than It Appears Study Says

Jones Soda Co OTCQBJSDA CSEJSDA released ts financial results for the second quarter ended June 30 2022 revealing revenue increased 35 to 60 million compared to 45 million in Q2 2021 Q2 2022 Financial Highlights vs Year Ago Quarter Gross profit as a percentage of revenue was 280 compared to 313 Net loss was 14 million or 002 per share compared to a net income of 300000 or 000 per share Adjusted EBITDA was 11 million compared to 04 million Adjusted EBITDA included approximately 12 million in expenses related to the development and roll out of the company’s new cannabis products during the second quarter of 2022 At June 30 2022 cash and cash equivalents totaled 93 million compared to 47 million at December 31 2021 As of June 30 2022 all convertible debentures have been converted and the company does not have any substantial debt “We continued to capitalize on the strong momentum we started the year with resulting in our eighth consecutive quarter of year over year revenue growth” stated Mark Murray president and CEO of Jones Soda “Our core bottled soda business was the main driver behind our solid sales results where we saw continued strength in our retail and alternative channels throughout the quarter While we experienced modest year over year margin compression mostly due to a combination of product mix and inflationary pressures we remained in line with our internal expectations for this quarter I am very proud of our team’s ability to adapt under a dynamic macro environment and continue to execute on our three year strategic turnaround plan “I am also pleased to report that we are receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback from our initial Mary Jones cannabis launch Having secured strong manufacturing and distribution partnerships during the second quarter of 2022 we believe we are in an excellent position to fulfill the anticipated high demand we have already begun generating Our attention grabbing launch sets the stage for more exciting products scheduled to be released in the coming months We believe our full cannabis product portfolio featuring our 100mg beverage and innovative format edibles will help improve our sales margins while satisfying consumer and retail demand for products with higher potency portability and versatility We intend to continue to establish our position within the cannabis space by expanding into new markets and further developing the Mary Jones brand into a household name Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash Related News Jones Soda Launching Mary Jones Cannabis Infused Beverages In California With Kiva Sales And Service Simply Better Brands And Jones Soda Terminate Letter Of Intent Due To Unfavourable Market Conditions Jones Soda Reports Solid Q1 Revenue Growth What Is At The Center Of These Strong Results

The recently released GDP estimates revealed that the economy contracted for the second quarter in a row and some economists fear that we may already be in a recession Given the precarious nature of the economy recently proposed legislation intended to throttle the “Big Tech” companies seems singularly ill timed given that the bill would almost surely make life harder for tech startups and otherwise harm the innovation economy The head of the Federal Trade Commission Lina Khan has embraced a neo Brandeisian antitrust model that eschews the notion that a merger a market or the size of a firm be judged solely on its impact on prices and consumer welfare In its place is a determination to constrain big companies simply because being big is in itself harmful This alternative economic approach has its adherents in Congress as well for instance Senator Amy Klobucher’s S 2992 the American Innovation and Choice Online Act would essentially enact Khan’s agenda and damage the US economy The problem with such a paradigm is that replacing an objective standard with one that’s much less clear gives regulators much more discretion to act arbitrarily and pursue political agendas The current antitrust agenda poses a threat to economic growth because of its direct effects on large tech platforms and its indirectsecondary effects on millions of smaller businesses that rely on those platforms to connect with customers and sell goods and services Platforms like marketplaces and app stores created by “Big Tech” companies such as Google Amazon and Apple have dramatically expanded the range of both digital most notably apps and physical products toys furniture and the like that Americans can easily access For instance at its inception Amazon allowed millions of Americans who lived in rural areas to easily obtain books without needing to drive long distances During the pandemic the company’s Fresh delivery service helped urban residents obtain groceries and other provisions without venturing into stores While members of Congress push an anti tech agenda like American Innovation and Choice Online Act and other legislation researchers have been measuring the potential side effects from turning these bills into law For example research by Dartmouth economist John T Scott estimates that the harm to sales by US small business retailers resulting from the implementation of AICOA would approach 500 billion over five years or the equivalent to a new 52 “tax” on small business sales But the harm from the legislation would go beyond typical “main street” small businesses that depend on these platforms to sell goods a new study by economists Cameron Miller and Liad Wagman finds that tech startups would also be impacted Increasing their costs might be even more damaging to the US economy given how important this sector is for job creation innovation and American competitiveness Their research suggests that startups that use the platforms created by the major tech companies such as app stores and seriously constraining them would result in higher startup costs decreased efficiency and the need to hire more programmers to deal with the security requirements and added complexity that the legislation would engender as a consequence of banning so called “self preferencing” of “store brand” products Throttling the large tech companies is the last thing our economy needs at the moment besides the sad reality that we are at the precipice of a recession it is also the case that we’ve been experiencing reduced productivity growth for two decades with a brief pause due to the pandemic A recent analysis by Ruchir Sharma in the Financial Times lays out the problems that this creates for a society In the US and elsewhere slower growth has increased the predilection for governments to bail out low performing companies that employ a significant number of workers and keep them operational Much of the stated if misguided motivation for the government’s antitrust activities is precisely to protect the companies and jobs that are threatened by the rise of “big tech” companies—at the cost of new firms being created or nascent firms expanding Taking steps to forestall the demise of unproductive uncreative firms ultimately makes it harder for new firms to acquire capital Throttling the big tech companies merely because of an inchoate fear that they will one day become predatory raise prices and hamstring their competitors despite failing to do such a thing after more than two decades of business amounts to policymaking by whimsy The FAANGs Facebook Apple Amazon Netflix and Google have led to the creation of millions of jobs trillions of dollars of wealth and an improved standard of living for US citizens Disrupting these companies because of an ideological objection to large companies would harm the economy and leave consumers with little or nothing to show for it

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed some easing in the fear level among US investors on Thursday The Dow Jones snapped a five day losing streak following Credit Suisse s NYSECS announcement of a loan from the Swiss National Bank First Republic Bank NYSEFRC also announced a deal for 30 billion in deposits from major banks Traders also assessed economic reports which showed US initial jobless claims dropping by 20000 from the prior week to 192000 in the week ending March 11 compared to market expectations of 205000 US export prices climbed by 02 from a month ago in February while import prices declined 01 The Dow closed higher by around 372 points to 3224655 on Thursday The SP 500 rose 176 to 396028 while the Nasdaq Composite added 248 to settle at 1171728 during the session Investors are awaiting earnings results from Algonquin Power Utilities Corp NYSEAQN and XPeng Inc NYSEXPEV today At a current reading of 290 the index moved to the Fear zone compared to a previous reading of 190 What is CNN Business Fear Greed Index The Fear Greed Index is a measure of the current market sentiment It is based on the premise that higher fear exerts pressure on stock prices while higher greed has the opposite effect The index is calculated based on seven equal weighted indicators The index ranges from 0 to 100 where 0 represents maximum fear and 100 signals maximum greediness Read Next Top 5 Tech Stocks Which You ll Regret Missing This Quarter

Via El PlanteoSnoop Dogg is perhaps one of the most famous rap artists of the contemporary era Not only is he a musical genius but he is also an actor television personality and appears on various shows and networks around the world The guy is nothing short of iconic You d be hard pressed to find anyone in the world who hasn t heard of him His musical works include his debut album Doggy Style The Dogg Father and his double album with Dre Dre The Chronic He has appeared in hit movies such as Starsky Hutch Training Day and Old School Snoop also co starred in a television show with cooking show mogul Martha Stewart called Potluck Dinner Party See AlsoSnoop Dogg Microwaves His Blunts Before Smoking And For Good Reason Here s Why Snoop Dogg s portfolio goes far beyond those mentioned above and frankly there s not enough space to list them all The guy is everywhere all the time And while he s famous for his rapping and performing he s also known for liking a little marijuana Well a little is an understatement Snoop Dogg is known for smoking large amounts of cannabis at all times and in all places In one of his hit songs the rapper said Smoke weed every day But How much weed does Snoop Dogg smoke a day Snoop Dogg Smokes Weed Every Day But How Much It s no secret that Snoop Dogg likes to smoke weed He makes it very clear in the lyrics of his songs movies live shows and interviews He clearly has an insatiable appetite for cannabis Snoop Dogg smokes pot every day but how much marijuana is that Prior reports assured Snoop smokes more than 80 blunts a day Doing a mathematical breakdown 81 blunts huge joints in tobacco leaf over the duration of a day equals 1 blunt every 12 minutes That seems almost impossible This is a very busy man and it would be hard to get anything done if he has to stop to light up a joint every 12 minutes However Snoop has a solution to this problem a professional joint roller Nonetheless through a video uploaded on his Instagram account on November 6 2022 the Long Beach California born rapper denied recent headlines that talked about his cannabis use VIDEOSnoopDogg es uno de lxs artistas de rap más famosos de la época contemporánea No sólo es un genio de la música sino que también es actor y personalidad de la televisión Nos preguntamos ¿cuánta marihuana fumahttpstco530Mpk9wkv Vía thegreenfund1 pictwittercom9uuf0aygof— El Planteo elplanteo June 8 2023 Stop lying said the 51 year old musician in his post on social networks In the video where ten joint roaches can be seen Snoop denied it They say I smoked 450000 joints on their watch But this is a whole day s work See AlsoSnoop Dogg Recalls How Queen Elizabeth Saved Him From Being Kicked Out Of UK Stop lying how the fck am I going to smoke that much weed in one day what am I a fcking machine Read NextSnoop Dogg Ridicules Biden Endorses Sleepy Joe OG Weed Strain With information from The Green Fund

Canopy Growth Corporation TSXWEED NASDAQCGC has closed its transactions with OEG Retail Cannabis and 420 Investments Ltd to divest its retail business across Canada which includes the stores operating under the Tweed and Tokyo Smoke retail banners The divestiture of our Canadian retail business marks an important step forward on our path to profitability and furthers Canopy Growth s focus on generating revenue growth in the Canadian market stated David Klein CEO Canopy Growth These retail locations will continue operating under the experienced leadership of OERGC and FOUR20 under their respective retail brands to serve Canadian consumers with high quality in store experiences Overview of the OEGRC Transaction OEGRC has acquired ownership of 23 Tokyo Smoke and Tweed store locations across Manitoba Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador As part of the OEGRC transaction the Tokyo Smoke brand has been transferred to OEGRC and all purchased stores currently branded as Tweed will be rebranded The master franchise agreement between the company and OEGRC pursuant to which OEGRC licenses the Tokyo Smoke brand in Ontario has been terminated effective on closing of the OEGRC transaction Overview of the FOUR20 Transaction FOUR20 a licensed cannabis retailer acquired five of the company s corporate stores in Alberta Canopy Growth will continue to own and operate the Tweed brand and will remain focused on bringing a portfolio of mainstream flower pre rolled infused gummies and beverage options to consumers in Canada Get your daily dose of cannabis news on Benzinga Cannabis Don’t miss out on any important developments in the industry Photo Benzinga Sources courtesy of jarmoluk and lindsayfox via Pixabay Related News Insiders Selling Hyzon Motors Canopy Growth And This Social Media Stock Profitability For Canopy And Cronos Is Elusive Plus Cannabis Headwinds In 2023 Canopy USA Increases Conditional Ownership Of TerrAscend By Converting 918M Of Debt To Exchangeable Shares

Help us with what the bond dynamics right now signal about the parlor game of twenty five beeps or 50 beeps and even more foolish something you and I never saw were the streets gaming out rate cuts out X amount of months What part of your bond world do you look at to gauge 25 or 50 beeps So as Mike was going through the data in my mind I was also replaying a lot of the inflation data which has stopped printing at point five point six point seven per month And it s now in the point two point three point four And the words that come to mind are long and variable cumulative and lag The impact of a year of very aggressive central bank tightening and quantitative tightening are starting to bite the economy and they re biting hard So things are slowing down I think the Fed has good reason to raise rates 25 basis points at the start of February and pause if for whatever reason they want to do another 25 in March as insurance But it feels like we re a meeting or two away for a pause Then let s wait a quarter or two and see what the impact of all this tightening has done I think it s a signal to bond investors who have been trying to buy pack ups You re not going to get them certainly not over the next couple months That applies to credit say and not just sufferance Is that the whole of fixed income So where we re seeing money coming into the bond market it s going into aggregate bond funds Investors are making this vision Get me into bonds I want a general bond fund or they re going into a general municipal bond fund So the investment grade space is going to appreciate the securitized market the mortgage market the investment grade corporate market The one thing I did get wrong which you ve been very polite about is the high yield market It s been rallying like crazy because recession still looks in the distance although this data says it s not quite as far out as as maybe this finish on that With that in mind how much weight would you put on the recent survey data which is indicating that things are slowing down pretty quickly How much weight would you put on that Well businesses will respond to that and they ll start to invest less in their business and start to save So it s that it becomes self fulfilling All of these things to me suggests that that hurt that recession is actually on the horizon

Gainers Snail Inc NASDAQSNAL shares jumped 747 to 393 in pre market trading after the company reported a 5 million share repurchase program Cosmos Holdings Inc NASDAQCOSM rose 56 to 01794 in pre market trading after jumping around 58 on Thursday Versus Systems Inc NASDAQVS rose 243 to 373 in pre market trading after jumping over 40 on Thursday The company recently announced a 1 for 15 reverse stock split to aid compliance with Nasdaq listing requirements Matterport Inc NASDAQMTTR rose 221 to 370 in pre market trading after the company reported better than expected Q3 sales results The company also issued Q4 and FY22 sales guidance above analyst estimates Doximity Inc NYSEDOCS shares rose 181 to 3109 in pre market trading after the company reported better than expected Q2 results ContraFect Corporation NASDAQCFRX rose 159 to 01595 in pre market trading Pagaya Technologies Ltd NASDAQPGY rose 141 to 162 in pre market trading after the company reported better than expected Q3 EPS and sales results Kalera Public Limited Company NASDAQKAL rose 136 to 00920 in pre market trading after gaining 10 on Thursday Kalera recently said it sees Q3 net sales of 16 million Beam Global NASDAQBEEM rose 134 to 1480 in pre market trading after reporting Q3 results GDS Holdings Limited NASDAQGDS rose 127 to 1240 in pre market trading after climbing 20 on Thursday Xinyuan Real Estate Co Ltd NYSEXIN rose 124 to 045 in pre market trading Tuniu Corporation NASDAQTOUR rose 116 to 07716 in pre market trading uCloudlink Group Inc NASDAQUCL rose 102 to 140 in pre market trading uCloudlink Group is expected to report Q3 financial results on November 16 2022 Lizhi Inc NASDAQLIZI rose 99 to 050 in pre market trading after gaining 9 on Thursday Prudential plc NYSEPUK shares rose 97 to 2398 in pre market trading after gaining 7 on Thursday KE Holdings Inc NYSEBEKE rose 88 to 1234 in pre market trading after gaining 9 on Thursday Asana Inc NYSEASAN rose 79 to 2027 in pre market trading after jumping 17 on Thursday Koninklijke Philips NV NYSEPHG rose 65 to 1502 in pre market trading after jumping 11 on Thursday Don’t forget to check out our premarket coverage here Losers RedHill Biopharma Ltd NASDAQRDHL shares fell 515 to 02990 in pre market trading RedHill Biopharma recently issued H122 highlights and Q322 estimates Blue Apron Holdings Inc NYSEAPRN fell 368 to 110 in pre market trading Blue Apron filed for offering of up to 30 million of common stock Fast Radius Inc NASDAQFSRD shares fell 27 to 01906 in pre market trading Fast Radius shares jumped 156 on Thursday after the company announced the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware has approved all of the first day motions related to the company s voluntary Chapter 11 petitions filed on November 7 2022 EpicQuest Education Group International Limited NASDAQEEIQ shares fell 201 to 143 in pre market trading after jumping 72 on Thursday AirSculpt Technologies Inc NASDAQAIRS fell 197 to 380 in pre market trading after the company reported worse than expected Q3 results Tattooed Chef Inc NASDAQTTCF fell 184 to 359 in pre market trading after the company lowered its FY22 sales guidance below analyst estimates GoHealth Inc NASDAQGOCO fell 163 to 041 in pre market trading after posting downbeat Q3 sales Grom Social Enterprises Inc NASDAQGROM fell 132 to 01399 in pre market trading after dropping around 41 on Thursday T Stamp Inc NASDAQIDAI fell 12 to 06999 in pre market trading T Stamp posted a Q3 loss of 015 per share SelectQuote Inc NYSESLQT fell 109 to 070 in pre market trading after jumping 29 on Thursday The company recently posted a Q1 loss of 026 per share ASP Isotopes Inc NASDAQASPI shares fell 101 to 240 in pre market trading after dropping 33 on Thursday ASP Isotopes announced 5 million pricing of initial public offering of 125m shares of common stock at a price of 4 per share Avenue Therapeutics Inc NASDAQATXI shares fell 94 to 191 in pre market trading Avenue Therapeutics posted a Q3 loss of 045 per share Invitae Corporation NYSENVTA shares fell 77 to 287 in pre market trading after surging 36 on Thursday Invitae recently reported better than expected Q3 results and reduced 2022 cash burn guidance

ISTANBUL Jan 18 Reuters The Turkish Central Bank will hold an extraordinary general meeting EGM on Feb 3 where issues on the agenda will include the advance payment of profits to the Treasury and the distribution of reserve funds a newspaper advertisement said The announcement came after an unusual overnight change of nearly 10 billion in the bank s balances at the end of 2021 prompted some economists to speculate it may be preparing to transfer funds to the Treasury read more The EGM announcement was made in the Dunya newspaper Ankara has ramped up fiscal support for the economy amid turmoil following a slide in the lira s value and soaring inflation at the end of last year read more Accounts published by the central bank show an adjustment of about 124 billion lira 937 billion in its valuation account a component of the central bank s balance sheet between Dec 30 and Dec 31 The account ended the year at 54 billion lira Another account called other items which includes the bank s profits was meanwhile adjusted by around 130 billion lira 978 billion to stand at 602 billion lira on Dec 31 Economists and bankers said the changes could allow the central bank to record a profit in 2021 despite the currency crisis toward year end Any profits are typically transferred in April to the Treasury the central bank s main shareholder The valuation account contains unrealised gains and losses arising from the revaluation of foreign currencies gold and other assets and liabilities based on price changes of the lira and gold on international markets Contrary to usual practice the central bank transferred funds to state coffers in January 2019 and 2020 after extraordinary general meetings but it did not do so last year The lira plunged 44 against the dollar in 2021 by far the worst performer in emerging markets stoking annual inflation to 36 in December the highest level under the leadership of President Tayyip Erdogan Last month Erdogan unveiled a scheme to encourage savers to convert forex deposits to lira under which the state compensates depositors for losses in value due to lira depreciation Reporting by Nevzat Devranoglu Writing by Daren Butler Editing by

US shoppers retail spending was flat in September as they faced high inflation and rising interest rates

The economic damage from the omicron variant of the coronavirus is now expected to be less than initially thought and that has interest rates back on their upward trajectory yet again As a result mortgage demand fell 27 to end 2021 compared with two weeks before according to the Mortgage Bankers Association s seasonally adjusted index The MBA did not release application volume last week due to the holidays The average contract interest rate for 30 year fixed rate mortgages with conforming loan balances 548250 or less increased to 333 at the end of last week from 327 two weeks before with points rising to 048 from 038 including the origination fee for loans with a 20 down payment That rate was 47 basis points lower the same week one year ago As a result applications to refinance a home loan fell 2 last week compared with two weeks ago and were 40 lower year over year The refinance share of mortgage activity however increased to 654 of total applications from 639 the previous week due to continued weakness in the purchase loan market Mortgage rates continued to creep higher over the past two weeks as markets maintained an optimistic view of the economy said Joel Kan an MBA economist Refinance demand continues to dwindle as many borrowers refinanced in 2020 and in early 2021 Rates continued to climb at the start of this week rising sharply Tuesday to the highest level since early April of last year according to Mortgage News Daily which calculates daily rates as opposed to weekly averages Applications for mortgages to purchase homes fell 4 from two weeks earlier and were 12 lower year over year That was the weakest showing since October 2021 Home sales began pulling back in November but more because of low inventory than high interest rates Home prices also continue to gain compared with 2020 up just over 18 in November according to CoreLogic Despite supply and affordability challenges 2021 was a record year for purchase originations said Kan MBA expects 2022 to be even stronger with total purchase activity reaching 174 trillion

Meta Platforms Inc’s NASDAQMETA announcement that it is winding down its work with non fungible tokens orNFTson Facebook and Instagram has left many NFT collectorsand artists feeling disappointed and frustrated What Happened The decision means Meta will be discontinuing its tests of minting and selling NFTs on Instagram as well as the ability to share NFTs on both Instagram and Facebook in the upcoming weeks See Also Top Indian Apps That Give Bitcoin NFT Rewards “Across the company we’re looking closely at what we prioritize to increase our focus” Meta commerce and fintech lead Stephane Kasriel said in a Twitter thread on Monday “We’re winding down digital collectibles NFTs for now to focus on other ways to support creators people and businesses” Instead the company is focusing on “areas where we can make impact at scale” like messaging and monetization on Reels and on improving Meta Pay Why It s Important Debbie Soon co founder of The HUG a platform for NFT artists took to Twitter to voice her disappointment with Instagram s sidelining of NFTs It just feels like they re giving up before they’ve really even begun she said “If big companies aren’t gonna pave the way for mainstream adoption it’s up to us the community that’s always been here to do so” NFT artist Dave Krugman also expressed disappointment and called it a “short sighted move”noting that it has the potential to help creators engage their audiences and push back against the damaging effects of attention based advertising economies Krugman called it a “real shame” that all the hard work of great people is being undone The NFT integration appears to be one of the casualties of CEO Mark Zuckerberg s mission to make 2023 the year of efficiency joining the Reels Play bonus program that was recently shut down This follows the shutdown of the Meta backed cryptocurrency Diem and Meta s Novi digital wallet last year Another NFT enthusiast who goes by the username ‘straybitseth’ on Twitter questioned Meta s decision to abandon the metaverse So Meta is abandoning the metaverse already You haven t even built anything looking to focus on other ways to support creators people and businesses is what blockbuster did Worked out for netflix and those of us who have enjoyed the end result of having their enemies… httpstco12AbcvNThS— straybitseth ⌐◨ ◨ straybits1 March 13 2023 Some users even went as far as saying that the only reason they got into NFTs was because they could buy it on Instagram idk about y’all but I only got into NFTs is because I could buy them on Instagram Not really sure there is a reason for me to be here anymore I’m out good luck everybody— 2070 Punk2070 March 14 2023 NFTs are digital assets that can be minted on several blockchains including Ethereum CRYPTO ETH Polygon CRYPTO MATIC and now even on Bitcoin CRYPTO BTC called Ordinals It is worth noting that Polygon had scored a deal with Instagram to sell and mint NFTs on the platform Price Action At the time of writing BTC was trading at 24518 up 925 ETH at 1683 up 453 in the last 24 hours according to Benzinga Pro Read Next Bitcoin Ethereum Dogecoin Surge Amid Financial Stability Woes Analyst Sees Apex Crypto Breaching 25K As FOMO Grips Investors

WOODBRIDGE Va Sept 30 Reuters Festering inflation remains a bigger threat to the economy than the risks of Federal Reserve rate hikes going too far and causing unnecessary damage in the effort to control it Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said on Friday At this point the risk of inflation festering feels like a bigger risk than inflation coming down on its own and us having oversteered Barkin said in remarks to reporters after a chamber of commerce event Barkin said he was reserving judgment on the proper rate increase for the Fed s next meeting but that data released Friday showed inflation continued to be both broad and persistent

STORZ BICKEL GmbH a manufacturer of medically certified cannabis vaporizers and subsidiary of Canopy Growth Corporation NASDAQCGC TSXWEED unveiled a limited edition version of its flagship VOLCANO CLASSIC device the PEACE VOLCANO The PEACE VOLCANO features a limited edition cosmetic alteration with a new white exterior symbolizing harmony and peace and an engraving that echoes the motto of a new brand campaign with Love for Peace Only 1000 units of the PEACE VOLCANO are being made with each device engraved with number 1 to 1000 As a part of the with Love for Peace campaign STORZ BICKEL is donating 100€ 10062 per unit produced a total of 100000€ to charity organizations The recipients will be different charities whose work focuses on humanitarian aid in Ukraine and support of women children and the ones most affected by the war The VOLCANO CLASSIC is an industry icon beloved by consumers and with the debut of the PEACE VOLCANO we hope to raise awareness for values around solidarity respect and love during a time it feels more important than ever stated Jürgen Bickel founder and managing director STORZ BICKEL The limited edition PEACE VOLCANO is the symbol of our with Love for Peace campaign and we hope it will serve as a source of mindfulness tranquility peace and love as we work together to end injustices and discrimination in all their forms against vulnerable groups The PEACE VOLCANO is now available for purchase while supplies last and is offered at the regular VOLCANO CLASSIC price of 479 Photo Courtesy of CNW GroupStorz Bickel Related News Tilray Canopy Growth Cronos And Aurora Get Bumped From Norway s 12 Trillion Wealth Fund Here s Why What Do You Do With Five Hundred Tons Of Surplus Weed Cannabis Producers Have An Oversupply Problem Canopy Growth s BioSteel Celebrates Toronto Blue Jays Sponsorship With Launch Of New Limited Edition Flavor

Shares of IG Design Group PLC rose 93 on Thursday after the company said it expects to report an improved performance for the first half of fiscal 2023 as customers have placed their orders early to avoid the supply chain issues that they experienced last year The designer and manufacturer of gift packaging and stationery added that this will result in a stronger first half weighting with full year performance in line with the board s expectations It expects sales profits margins and cash flow for the half year ended Sept 30 to be higher than in the same period last year The company reported revenue of 4839 million and pretax profit of 189 million for the half year ended Sept 30 2021 The board s outlook continues to reflect ongoing input cost inflation and signs of a general downturn in consumer sentiment across all of our markets as a result of the tougher economic environment the company said Shares at 0723 GMT were up 750 pence at 8880 pence

North Dakota Gov Doug Burgum R signed a measure that would enable hospice care patients to self certify as medical cannabis patients reported Marijuana Moment The bill from Rep Mary Schneider D was passed by the state House last month with overwhelming support only to get the green light from the state Senate members last week Regulators would have 14 days to issue a cannabis patient card following the documentation s submission Patients who are terminally ill will have the right to register as medical cannabis patients by using proof of their admittance to hospice care instead of a written recommendation from a doctor Prior to changes by the members of the House Human Services Committee last month the bill sought to allow self certification for those 65 and older Cannabis Legalization Efforts In ND The Peace Garden state legalized medical marijuana in November 2016 with the first store launching cannabis sales on March 1 2019 For years North Dakotans have been facing roadblocks when attempting to become patients To that end patients can legally consume only dried marijuana leaves and flowers or THC products such as concentrates tinctures capsules transdermal patches and lotions As for cannabis edibles the two bills seeking to legalize the medical marijuana product category failed to advance through the state legislature In terms of recreational marijuana use the state voters decided not to legalize it last fall Measure 2 which would have legalized the possession and retail sale of marijuana lost by nearly ten percentage points in November s ballot Photo Courtesy of Kimzy Nanney on Unsplash

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc NASDAQCRWD posted better than expected earnings for its first quarter The company posted revenue of 69258 million which topped estimates of 67737 million EPS of 57 cents surpassed expectations of 51 cents CrowdStrike sees second quarter revenue in the range of 7172 million to 7274 million versus estimates of 7189 million The company also anticipates earnings between 54 and 57 cents per share versus estimates of 54 cents per share CrowdStrike shares dropped 11 to 14254 in today’s pre market trading session These analysts made changes to their price targets on CrowdStrike following earnings announcement Baird cut the price target on CrowdStrike from 185 to 180 Baird analyst Shrenik Kothari maintained an Outperform rating MoffettNathanson lowered the price target on CrowdStrike from 229 to 217 MoffettNathanson analyst Jackson Ader maintained an Outperform rating Rosenblatt however increased CrowdStrike price target from 170 to 175 Rosenblatt analyst Catharine Trebnick maintained the stock with a Buy Now Read This Investor Sentiment Drops As Dow Records Loss For May

Shares of Chinese coal miner Yankuang Energy Group Co tumbled on Monday after posting lower sequential earnings The company s stock fell 79 to 2210 Hong Kong dollars US282 in Hong Kong while its Shanghai traded shares were down 55 at 4121 Chinese yuan US568 Yankuang s drop came after the company late Friday said its third quarter net profit fell 14 from the previous quarter The decline was in part due to lower sales from Australia its second largest market as the country s recent unfavorable weather conditions weighed on operations But many analysts remain optimistic on Yankuang s outlook in the longer run citing high energy prices globally and likely strong domestic coal demand during the winter peak season Against the backdrop of energy inflation we expect coal prices at home and abroad to remain elevated in the next two to three years Cinda Securities analysts said in a note

Canadian dollar store chain Dollarama Inc said Wednesday that it expects strong demand to drive store sales more than previously forecast and that it has narrowed its range for gross margins for the rest of the fiscal year 2023 Dollarama said it now expects comparable store sales growth for the fiscal year to be in the range of 95 to 105 Previously the company expected 65 to 75 growth Dollarama said the elevated outlook is largely due to a high inflation environment which has driven up demand for its everyday items including stronger than historical demand for lower margin consumable products Dollarama also narrowed its expectations for annual gross margin as a percentage of sales to 431 to 436 compared with a previous range of 429 to 439 Dollarama said the new annual gross margin range is based on management s visibility into open orders and product margins through the remainder of the fiscal year

Angelenos congratulations you officially live in one of the worst metro areas for first time home buyers according to a new study by Bankratecom Out of the 50 largest metro areas studied Los Angeles ranked 49th in affordability 48th in employment factors 39th in housing market tightness as the supply of homes for sale nationwide has fallen to historically low levels during the COVID 19 pandemic and 30th in safety But on the flip side LA ranked third in wellness and culture Los Angeles was ranked the “worst metro for first time buyers” followed by Las Vegas Seattle Riverside and San Jose The typical seasonally adjusted home value of homes in the US hovered at 349816 in May 2022 which includes the middle price tier of homes according to Zillow Home values have increased 207 nationally over the past year it added To put that in context The typical home value of homes in Los Angeles is 1007124 Zillow added with home values up 171 over the past 12 months But Los Angeles Riverside and San Jose aren’t the only cities in California that are proving out of reach particularly for first time buyers According to personal finance site Bankrate 10 of the worst metro areas for first time home buyers are located in California including San Francisco San Diego and Sacramento “The housing boom of the past two years has widened the affordability gap between low priced and high priced metro areas” Jeff Ostrowski Bankrate’s senior mortgage reporter said in a statement “But with remote work becoming the norm for white collar employees it’s possible to keep the fatter paycheck while living in a cheaper area” he added “For this study we looked not only at housing affordability but also at a variety of other factors including local unemployment rates commute times crime rates and public health” But there are some bright spots if buyers are open to relocating the survey found Pittsburgh for instance was the “best” metro for first time home buyers scoring points for affordability lack of housing marking tightness and safety House prices in Philadelphia rose 65 over the last 12 months to 233563 in May 2022 Zillow Z said To evaluate housing market tightness Bankrate looked at the average days on market for homes for sale for March 2022 as provided by Realtorcom and the annual change in housing inventory through March 2022 Realtorcom is owned by the same parent company as MarketWatch Pittsburgh was followed by Minneapolis Cincinnati Kansas City and Buffalo as the best metro areas for first time buyers Bankrate also highlighted Philadelphia as a housing market that was not only more affordable than many cities out west but also ranked highly for its relative safety The survey used a variety of sources including the US Census Bureau the US Labor Department and violent crime and property crime data released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation To calculate affordability the researchers looked at the typical income needed to qualify for a mortgage in each metro area based on the median home price in the first quarter of 2022 as reported by Attom Data Solutions a 10 down payment a 5 mortgage rate on a 30 year loan plus a mortgage debt to income ratio of 25 It also cross checked those figures with the US Census Bureau’s most recent estimates of median income for households headed by 25 to 44 year olds in each metro area and calculated the homeownership rate for 25 to 44 year olds in each metro area For wellness rankings Bankrate used the 2020 Community Well Being Index released by digital healthcare company Sharecare SHCR which examines access to healthcare food and community services including libraries and churches The culture ranking looks at the number of arts and entertainment outlets and cultural institutions per capita based on Bankrate’s analysis of US Census Bureau data

Wide moat rated JPMorgan JPM reported first quarter earnings per share of 263 missing the 272 FactSet consensus but roughly in line with our 260 estimate Revenue on a reported basis was 307 billion compared with our estimate of 312 billion as fees came in a bit below what we had projected While the bottom line numbers sound dramatic with net income down 42 remember that we are going from an unusual period of recording provisioning benefits a 4 billion benefit in the first quarter of last year to a more normal period of recording provisioning as a cost 15 billion in the current quarter Preprovision net revenue was down only 15 year over year and the bank still managed a return on tangible equity of 16 All of this largely fell in line with our forecasts An increase in expenses was guided for and investment banking was expected to cool off Expenses were up only 2 year over year a bit below what we forecast it seems performance based compensation may have been a key reason for this as investment banking came in below our expectations We were hoping for investment banking fees to maintain some momentum in the quarter but they essentially fell back to 2019 levels Trading fees outperformed roughly offsetting the miss in investment banking Mortgage fees and card fees came in a bit below our expectations and card fees will be worth keeping an eye on We expect the current 192 billion expense run rate to be maintained for the rest of the year These results fit our expectations and we do not expect a material change to our 152 fair value estimate We will pull forward some of the bank’s expected net interest income but this will not change our longer term view of its through the cycle earnings power We view JPMorgan as a high quality franchise at a reasonable price with higher expenses today leading to an even better competitive position tomorrow

A whale with a lot of money to spend has taken a noticeably bearish stance on ASML Holding Looking at options history for ASML Holding NASDAQASML we detected 18 strange trades If we consider the specifics of each trade it is accurate to state that 38 of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 61 with bearish From the overall spotted trades 8 are puts for a total amount of 551801 and 10 calls for a total amount of 1012995 What s The Price Target Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 3100 to 8600 for ASML Holding over the last 3 months Volume Open Interest Development In terms of liquidity and interest the mean open interest for ASML Holding options trades today is 7827 with a total volume of 106600 In the following chart we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for ASML Holding s big money trades within a strike price range of 3100 to 8600 over the last 30 days ASML Holding Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted Symbol PUTCALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp Date Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume ASML CALL SWEEP NEUTRAL 102023 78000 2860K 54 74 ASML CALL TRADE NEUTRAL 011924 86000 2408K 35 70 ASML PUT TRADE BEARISH 121523 80000 2036K 0 19 ASML CALL TRADE BULLISH 091523 86000 1740K 113 152 ASML PUT TRADE BULLISH 011924 67000 890K 3 20 Where Is ASML Holding Standing Right Now With a volume of 323244 the price of ASML is down 055 at 72276 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching overbought Next earnings are expected to be released in 47 days Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closely If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for ASML Holding Benzinga Pro gives you real time options trades alerts

SNDL Inc NASDAQSNDL and Nova Cannabis Inc OTCQBNVACF TSXNOVC have entered into an agreement to implement a strategic partnership creating a well capitalized cannabis retail platform in Canada under a vertical integration model with SNDL s upstream capabilities Transaction Summary Pursuant to the transaction Nova will receive from SNDL Retail contribution SNDL will vend into Nova s cannabis retail business its existing 26 cannabis retail stores under the Spiritleaf and Superette banners located in Ontario and Alberta Nova will also have a right of first refusal on SNDL s Canadian cannabis retail pipeline Corporate services The existing management and administrative services agreement between SNDL s subsidiary Alcanna Inc and Nova is being amended and restated to refresh and maintain the arrangement with SNDL For the first three years following this amendment and restatement no fee shall be payable by Nova under the management and administrative services agreement Following the three year fee holiday Nova will benefit from a low cost annual fee of CA2 million 147 million thereafter which is materially lower than the cost of building and operating the infrastructure were Nova required to manage those services in house Debt restructuring A CA15 million revolving credit facility is to be eliminated by SNDL which is expected to be fully drawn at the time of the closing of the transaction This will immediately provide Nova with additional liquidity of approximately CA55 million from drawing the undrawn amount ahead of closing Further SNDL will advance a new credit facility of CA15 million at a rate of Canadian prime plus 275 with a CA10 million accordion feature to become available under certain conditions Return of equity Approximately 143 million common shares of Nova held by SNDL s holdings will be returned to Nova s treasury for cancellation The parties allocated a value of CA75 million to the cancellation of Nova shares with the number of shares calculated based on a price of CA0526 which was the 20 day volume weighted average price of the Nova shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange ending December 16 2022 and represents an approximate 19 discount to the close of December 19 2022 Increased Liquidity SNDL plans to reduce its equity ownership in Nova to below 20 through a capital distribution of Nova shares owned by SNDL to SNDL shareholders This will enable Nova to scale its operations with direct ownership of cannabis retail stores in Ontario and British Columbia As consideration SNDL will receive Strategic partnership The intellectual property rights to Nova s Value Buds banner of 88 stores and the license to grant Nova to operate the Value Buds Spiritleaf and Superette banners License Agreement Nova and SNDL will enter into an agreement pursuant to which Nova will utilize SNDL s brands intellectual property and other intangible property in exchange for a license fee at a rate of 50 to 150 of gross profits on each store commencing one year after the transaction Upon closing of the transaction the license fee will be calculated based on gross profits from the 114 existing locations of the pro forma Nova platform Transaction Details The implementation of the transaction is subject to the satisfaction of a number of conditions including among other things the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange and minority shareholder approval of the Transaction in accordance with Multilateral Instrument 61 101 – Protection of minority shareholders in special transactions MI 61 101 The transaction is expected to be completed in May 2023 All directors and executive officers of Nova have entered into voting support agreements with SNDL pursuant to which among other things the parties have agreed to vote their Nova shares in favor of the transaction Related Party Transaction SNDL is considered a related party of Nova and the transaction constitutes a related party transaction as such terms are defined in MI 61 101 Nova is relying on an exemption from the formal valuation requirements of MI 61 101 in compliance with the financial hardship exemption Nova intends to obtain the minority shareholder approval at an annual and special meeting of the Nova shareholders expected to be convened in May 2023 Nova Board Approval Nova s board of directors has unanimously approved the transaction after receiving the unanimous recommendation of a special committee of Nova s independent directors Nova s board of directors has unanimously resolved to recommend that the shareholders of Nova vote in favor of the transaction Get your daily dose of cannabis news on Benzinga Cannabis Don’t miss out on any important developments in the industry Photo Benzinga Sources courtesy of geralt lindsayfox via Pixabay Related News Nova Cannabis Q3 Hits Record Sales Of 436M Here Is What You Need To Know Nova Cannabis Ups Credit Facility With Sundial To 15M Files Base Shelf Prospectus Nova Cannabis Q1 Sales Grow 171 YoY Says Sundial Can Help It Extend Across Alberta Ontario

As the Group of Seven G7 andEuropean Union announced a plan to set a price cap on Russian oil of 60 per barrel set to take effecton Dec 5 2022 it is evident that the energy crisis is far from over That s because Russian President Vladimir Putin said he will not sell oil at a lower price cap Besides the price cap China India and Turkey have ramped up their purchases of Russian oil If Russia does indeed resist the price cap it could send another shock to the market prices of oil for Western nations With much of the European Union s sanctions on Russian oil and gas beginning in the summer months it begs the question will the EU be able to find enough energy supplies for 2023 Not to mention OPEC onSunday decided to keep itscurrent production policy in place Since the macroeconomic conditions point to an unstable future regarding energy commodities investors may benefit from jumpinginto these three energy plays offering dividends and share buybacks Also ReadAs EU s Russian Oil Cap Deadline Nears OPEC Virtual Meet Reportedly Indicates Little Possibility Of Policy ChangeTotalEnergies SE NYSETTE is offering a forward dividend yield of 470 or 285 per share annually through quarterly payments with an inconsistent track record of increasing its dividends TotalEnergies owns interests in refineries with capacity of nearly 18 million barrels a day primarily in Europe distributes refined oil and gas products in 65 countries and manufactures commodity and specialty chemicals TotalEnergies repurchased 389 million shares for cancellation in the third quarter for 2 billion amounting to at least 5 billion in share buybacks in the first nine months of 2022 Shell plc NYSESHEL is offering a forward dividend yield of 343 or 198 per share annually making quarterly payments with an inconsistent track record of increasing its dividends Shell operates refineries with capacity of 18 million barrels per day mmbd located in the Americas Asia Africa and Europe and sells 15 MTPA of chemicals On Oct 27 2022 Shell announced the commencement of a 4 billion share buyback program covering an aggregate contract term of approximately three months which will be completed prior to the company’s fourth quarter results on Feb 2 2023 BP plc NYSEBP is offering a forward dividend yield of 408 or 144 per share annually using quarterly payments with a track record of increasing its dividends once in the past year BP operates refineries with a capacity of 19 million barrels of oil per day and produced 11 million barrels of liquids and 65 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day in 2021 As part of the share buyback program announced in April 2021 571 million ordinary shares repurchased for cancellation were settled during the third quarter of 2022 for a total cost of roughly 288 billion This brings the total number of shares repurchased and settled in the nine months to at least 13 billion shares for a total cost of roughly 68 billion

SYDNEY Feb 9 Reuters A measure of Australian consumer sentiment fell for a third month in February as higher living costs from petrol to rent undermined finances and overshadowed an easing in coronavirus cases The Westpac Melbourne Institute index of consumer sentiment released on Wednesday slipped 13 in February from January when it dropped 20 The index was down 76 from February last year at 1008 meaning optimists only just outnumbered pessimists The most likely explanations for these elevated pressures on finances relate to Omicron related disruptions to activity and earnings at the start of the year the rising cost of living and the prospect of rising interest rates said Westpac chief economist Bill Evans The cost of petrol alone has climbed 15 over the past two months while supply bottlenecks have pushed up goods prices and the cost of building new homes Rents have also been on the rise leading to a sharp fall in sentiment among tenants The impact was clear in the survey s measure of family finances compared with a year ago which dived 93 while the outlook for finances over the next 12 months fell 15 The survey s measure of whether it was a good time to buy a major household item eased 03 while the time to buy a dwelling index fell 24 That contrasted with a slight improvement in the economic outlook for the next 12 months which added 25 after a steep drop in January while the outlook for the next five years rose 15 Media speculation about a rise in interest rates from the Reserve Bank of Australia RBA saw the proportion of respondents expecting an increase in mortgage rates over the next 12 months lift to 66 in February from 55 the month before

US stock indexes opened lower on Wednesday after ADP posted stronger than expected job growth in the private sector while traders await the Federal Reserve s monetary policy decision later in the session On Tuesday the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 80 points or 024 to 32653 the SP 500 declined 16 points or 041 to 3856 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 97 points or 089 to 10891 The Nasdaq Composite is up 55 from its 2022 closing low but remains down 304 for the year to date US equity indexes opened lower after payroll services firm ADP said Wednesday that the private sector added 239000 jobs in October Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal earlier forecasted an increase of 195000 jobs Meanwhile investors have priced in another 75 basis point benchmark interest rate hike by the Fed on Wednesday the fourth such chunky rise in a row However stocks have rallied off recent lows on hopes Chairman Jerome Powell may signal the pace of rate hikes may slow from hereon Movement in the expected trajectory of borrowing costs have been a major driver of stocks in 2022 In its battle to combat inflation running at 40 year highs the Fed has raised interest rates from zero in February to a range of 3 to 325 a tightening of liquidity that dragged the SP 500 index down 191 for the year to date Investors are waiting for clues from the Federal Reserve about the path of rate rises and in the meantime a slightly more wary mood has settled on the markets said Susannah Streeter senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown The Fed is expected to bring in another super size rate hike of 075 but that has been priced in Instead it is the words that Powell chooses to use about the economic outlook and what the future may hold which are set to be market movers said Streeter in a morning note Many analysts are warning that equity bulls may have become over optimistic that Powell is about to signal a less hawkish stance particularly given how sticky inflation remains and how relatively robust the US jobs market is Markets have been reacting to dovish expectations for Wednesday s FOMC which I have argued are wrong Based on US economic data out Tuesday JOLTS manufacturing PMI there is no way for the Federal Reserve to turn dovish The labor market is still strong and manufacturing is still slightly expanding said Stephen Innes managing partner at SPI Asset Management Even if we see the Fed slow the pace of hikes they are still hiking the policy is still highly restrictive front end rates will still get worse before they get better and risks of higher terminal rates are still very acute Sure we could see a knee jerk higher on stocks via a lower Fed glide path but will it be sustainable he added Helping support stocks was a well received earnings report from chipmaker AMD AMD delivered after Tuesday s closing bell Companies reporting on Wednesday include Paramount Global PARA Zillow Z and eBay EBAY Meanwhile in China investors continued to bet on rumors that Beijing was considering relaxing its COVID 19 lockdown policy The Hang Seng China Enterprises index which closed on Monday at a 17 year low having fallen about 40 so far in 2022 took its two day rebound to 82

Gabe Plotkin wasn’t sleeping His bets against meme stocks such as GameStop Corp were backfiring and losses at his 125 billion hedge fund were mounting Strangers angry about his wagers were bombarding him with threatening messages and texts At the worst point in January 2021 Melvin Capital Management was losing more than 1 billion a day as individual investors on online forums such as Reddit banded together to push up prices of stocks Melvin was betting against “We were in a terrible position Stared death in the face” Mr Plotkin told employees in a Zoom meeting late that month “But we’ve made it through”

The US index futures are pointing to a moderately lower open by Wall Street stocks on Monday as momentum regained on Friday appears to falter US stock closed the week ended Nov 18 on a negative note with the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite underperforming the other two major averages Fed officials’ hawkish commentary proved to be the undoing of the market which has begun to price in a pause following two October inflation prints Earnings provided some support helping to offset some of the weakness US Indices Performance During Week Ended Nov 18 Index Performance Value Nasdaq Composite 157 1114606 SP 500 Index 069 396534 Dow Industrials 001 3374569 Here’s a peek into index futures trading US Futures Performance On Monday During Premarket Session Index Performance Nasdaq 100 Futures 057 SP 500 Futures 043 Dow Futures 026 R2K Futures 051 In premarket trading on Monday the SPDR SP 500 ETF TrustNYSESPY slipped 045 to 39425 while the Invesco QQQ TrustNASDAQQQQ moved down a steeper 061 to 28308 according to Benzinga Pro data On the economic front the Chicago Federal Reserve is scheduled to release its national activity index for October at 830 am EST The index remained unchanged at 010 in September The index provides a gauge of overall economic activity and inflation in the US The Treasury will auction six month bills and two year notes at 1130 am EST See Also Will Stocks Have Another Big Leg Lower Raoul Pal Flags This Chart To Suggest Otherwise Stocks In Focus Walt Disney Company NYSEDIS shares advanced in premarket trading after the company announced that its longtime former CEO Bob Iger is returning to helm it Tesla Inc NASDAQTSLA was down close to 15 portendinga fourth straight session of losses for the stock JDcom Inc NASDAQJD Alibaba Group Holding Company Limited NYSEBABA and Pinduoduo Inc NASDAQPDD were all moving lower Digital World Acquisition Corp NASDAQDWAC shares slipped over 2 after Elon Musk decided to reinstate former President Donald Trump on Twitter following a poll JM Smucker Company NYSESJM and Jacobs Solutions Inc NYSEJ are due to report their quarterly results ahead of the market open Notable companies scheduled for reporting after the close include Agilent Technologies Inc NYSEA Dell Technologies Inc NYSEDELL Zoom Video Communications Inc NASDAQZM and Urban Outfitters Inc NASDAQURBN Commodities Other Equity Markets Crude oil futures were down for the fourth straight session and traded under the 80 a barrel mark Demand concerns amid the COVID 19 recurrences in China and the dollar’s strength have weighed down on black gold Goldman Sachs cut its oil price forecast for the fourth quarter by 10 to 100 citing a lack of clarity on the Group of seven nation’s plan on the Russian oil cap and China COVID 19 scenario The Asia Pacific markets ended Monday’s session mostly lower amid China COVID 19 concerns The Hong Kong South Korean and Indian markets witnessed steeper declines while the Japanese and New Zealand bucked the downtrend Stocks in Europe opened Monday’s session lower and have given back further ground in early trading Read Next Best Futures Brokers

OTTAWA—The Canadian economics community is unanimous The Bank of Canada will raise its benchmark interest rate on Wednesday the first in a series of increases this year as it begins the task of tamping down historically high inflation Should it opt to increase rates the Bank of Canada would become the second Group of Seven central bank to do so since the pandemic The Bank of England raised its policy rate twice in recent months and is expected to do so again in March with annual inflation forecast to surpass the 7 threshold

Shares in Edenville Energy PLC fell Tuesday after the company said that the current at gate sales price range of 35 to 50 per metric ton from the Rukwa coal project in Tanzania was low when compared with international coal prices Shares at 0753 GMT were down 150 pence or 11 at 1225 pence The AIM listed company said that in order to achieve international coal prices Rukwa would need large and consistent production and sales quantities something it hasn t provided yet as well as reasonable access to international ports The company said that due to these factors sales of Rukwa coal were currently focused on the local markets and cement companies in particular who require coal as part of their production process Edenville Energy also said it has signed an agreement with Brahma Energies Ltd to secure production and sales of a minimum of 4000 metric tons of washed coal a month at the Rukwa mine and that this could potentially rise to a minimum of 6000 metric tons after two months The company said that under the agreement Brahma will take on full day to day operational management and control of Rukwa including all operational costs and that it will continue to provide the ultimate oversight

Canadian energy infrastructure company AltaGas Ltd plans to develop a hedging program to manage its exposure to direct commodity prices which have been strong in 2022 to ensure that returns are predictable and sustainable Strong fundamentals and commodity prices continue to drive near term Western Canadian natural gas and natural gas liquids production growth which is expected to further accelerate mid decade as Canadian liquefied natural gas projects increase egress to the Canadian market AltaGas plans to execute a hedging program in 2023 in a manner that is aligned with practices in years past as was the case in 2019 2020 and 2021 The company has hedged approximately 40 of expected 2023 fractionation exposed volumes The company continues to see growing demand for liquefied petroleum gas exports through the Ridley Island propane export terminal and Ferndale LPG export terminal in Asia which are being driven by ongoing active supply diversification efforts within these markets and AltaGas structural shipping advantage to Asia versus alternative markets AltaGas will be taking a focused effort to partner with Western Canadian producers and aggregators in 2023 to provide increased direct global market access through long term tolling arrangements which the company believes will drive the best collective outcomes for each of their businesses over the long term AltaGas will also be taking active steps to drive ongoing partnerships with all its stakeholders across the global exports value chain to build long term durable businesses together

As economic uncertainty rattled markets investors went on the defensive in the second quarter leading to big gains in sectors such as healthcare and consumer stocks Among the worst performers were retailers and software companies as rising interest rates and growing fears of a recession tempered expectations for demand The quarter brought a reckoning for many stocks with 758 of the 865 US listed stocks covered by Morningstar analysts falling That was up from the 554 that were down in the prior quarter and it was the most since the first quarter of 2020 Among those that declined 301 stocks fell more than 20 and 25 had more than half their market cap wiped out including Bed Bath and Beyond BBBY and Coinbase COIN Only 110 stocks on Morningstar’s US listed coverage list gained in the quarter roughly versus 313 gainers during the first quarter of this year Just eight stocks gained 20 or more US listed shares for Chinese companies such as New Oriental Education Technology EDU and TAL Education Group TAL were the top performers The large number of stocks with big declines in the second quarter resulted in widespread changes in Morningstar Star Ratings which ranks stocks from 1 star to 5 stars based largely on valuations Stocks with a 1 star rating are the most expensive and stocks with 5 star ratings are considered undervalued In all 485 stocks saw their star rating changed by 1 star or more compared with the start of the quarter compared with a quarterly average of 151 for the prior 12 months Of those that saw a star rating change 241 or 28 of stocks fell into undervalued territory during the quarter while only 26 or 3 became overvalued Additionally 42 stocks had a rating change by 2 stars or more including building materials supplier James Hardie Industries JHX which swung to an undervalued 5 star stock from 2 stars after falling 266 during the quarter Moving in the opposite direction was Chinese agriculture focused e commerce platform Pinduoduo PDD which rallied 541 jumping into 2 star stock territory from 4 stars Which Stocks Performed the Best in the Second Quarter Authorities relaxed regulations in early June which led to New Oriental Education Technology shares rising 770 and TAL Education gaining 618 during the quarter The companies have also made efforts to transform their businesses in response to strict regulations last year and it has recently paid off “New Oriental Education Technology’s online education subsidiary Koolearn 01797 made very good progress in live commerce The share price soared tenfold in June and investors are more optimistic on their transformation now” Morningstar equity analyst Cheng Wang says It is now considered a 3 star stock trading close to its fair value estimate of 2150 per share while TAL Education is a 2 star stock An easing of regulations also benefited Pinduoduo shares which rose 54 and now trades as a 2 star stock Defensive stocks rallied as economic uncertainty spread across markets in the quarter Among the largest gainers were packaged food producers such as Treehouse Foods THS Pilgrims Pride PPC Lamb Weston LW and Post POST which all rallied 18 or more “During periods of economic uncertainty food companies typically experience strong relative stock market performance as food demand remains resilient regardless of economic conditions” Morningstar equity analyst Rebecca Scheuneman says “We generally see modest channel migration from restaurants to at home eating benefiting packaged food companies in particular such as Post Holdings and Treehouse Foods” she says Of those four companies only Treehouse is considered undervalued and is trading in the 4 star range even after rising 296 in the quarter Which Stocks Performed the Worst in the Second Quarter Shares of Bed Bath and Beyond plunged 7794 in the wake of disappointing fourth and first quarter results The company posted an earnings per share loss of 092 in the fourth quarter which worsened in the first quarter to a loss of 283 per share Sales declined by 25 in the first quarter which led to Mark Tritton being removed as chief executive Morningstar senior equity analyst Jaime Katz slashed her fair value estimate for the shares to 1390 from the 2350 estimate at the start of the quarter and the company is viewed as a 5 star stock and is at a 66 discount “We expect efforts to emphasize extracting value from the brands in the portfolio through stronger sales and cost savings” Katz wrote “But such sentiment reads like a broken record echoing efforts multiple management teams have articulated over the last five years and we think this has turned into a show me story” Other consumer cyclical stocks also tumbled including cruise lines Royal Caribbean Cruises RCL which dropped 5833 and Carnival Cruise Line CCL down 5722 as investors worry that another fall in demand such as from a recession could bankrupt the business according to a Morgan Stanley analyst Despite this Katz views both companies as significantly undervalued with 5 star stock ratings following the losses In the case of Carnival Katz also anticipates record profits for 2023 Shares of luxury resale retailer The RealReal REAL plunged 657 in the quarter Morningstar equity analyst Sean Dunlop sees the firm’s struggles arising from consumer focusing their spending on food fuel and other necessities versus discretionary goods Dunlop thinks investors are frustrated with the retailer’s recent struggles to find a path to operating profitability Nonetheless he views its shares as undervalued and trading at 5 stars Demand concerns and changing consumer behavior also hit home furnishing retailer Wayfair W which fell 607 Another furniture seller RH RH fell 339 with the firm reducing its 2022 outlook for sales to a decline of 2 to 5 from its original view of flat to 2 growth in response to changing demand expectations Both retailers trade in a 5 star price range “Higher interest rates were noted as the main culprit with mortgage rates around twice last year’s levels acting as a drag on high priced home sales” wrote Katz The rising cost of homes is proving to be a headwind for demand Tech companies slid with Coinbase COIN being the biggest decliner after falling 752 after various cryptocurrencies crashed during the quarter Bitcoin was down 566 and ethereum slid 675 Shares of ride hailing app Lyft LYFT Snapchat owner Snap SNAP and cybersecurity firm Cloudflare NET all fell more than 60 leaving them significantly undervalued All are now considered 5 star stocks except for Cloudflare which trades in 4 star territory

Merchants Marine Bancorp Inc OTCQXMNMB the parent company of Merchants Marine Bank reported net income for the first quarter of 2023 of 1161 million or 087 per share compared with earnings of 158000 or 012 per share for the same period in the prior year First quarter gross income increased 2729 to 8883 million from 6979 million for the same period in 2022 Total deposits decreased by 1767 from the same period in the prior year from 649 million to 534 million at the end of the first quarter 2023 However when adjusting for planned runoff in high cost public funds that exited the bank during the second and third quarters of 2022 total deposits declined by just 754 from the previous year Total interest expense for the quarter decreased by 1729 compared to the same period in 2022 Q1 2023 Financial Highlights Gross revenues increased by 285 from the previous quarter to 888 million First quarter gross revenues increased by 1904 million or 614 from the same period last year Net loans grew by 368 million from the prior quarter and by 4336 million or 1207 from the same period in 2022 Credit quality remained strong during the first quarter The ratio of loans past due 30 89 days decreased to 104 of total loans at the end of the first quarter of 2023 from 149 at the end of the same period last year The ratio of non accrual loans remained relatively flat at 122 of total loans compared to 120 at the end of the first quarter of 2022 Interest expense totaled 304000 during the first quarter of 2023 a decline of 1729 from 412000 in the same quarter in 2022 Accumulated other comprehensive income AOCI mark to market losses in the securities portfolio eased to 888 million at the end the first quarter from 1009 million at the end of the linked quarter Tangible equity at the bank subsidiary stands at a robust 1279 of total assets even when including AOCI unrealized losses Cash and cash equivalents remain elevated at 47814 million In addition to these balances the bank’s investment portfolio stands at 162 million 19 million of which will mature during the second quarter of 2023 The bank has more than 150 million in borrowing capacity available through lines with both the Federal Home Loan Bank and the Federal Reserve “The first quarter of 2023 has confirmed the proper execution of our strategic plans” stated Casey Hill the company’s CFO “Over the past 18 months we’ve experienced the full cycle of the investment curve Our investments in Canvas Mortgage CannaFirst Financial and Voyager Lending are proving fruitful Even better we still see a very significant runway for earnings lift in these entities prior to a reversion to industry mean growth rates such that we see the ability to continue to ride the investment curve upward for quite some time” continued Hill About Merchants Marine Bancorp Merchants Marine Bancorp is the parent company of Merchants Marine Bank a Mississippi chartered community bank serving the Gulf South region The bank offers mortgage financing through its Canvas Mortgage division medical cannabis banking through its CannaFirst Financial division and access to government guaranteed credit through Voyager Lending Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

Ethereum Proof of Work CRYPTO ETHW is up 22 making it the highest performer on CoinMarketCap s daily gainers list What Happened At the time of writing Ethereum CRYPTO ETH was trading at 1272 down 115 Apex crypto Bitcoin CRYPTO BTC was trading below the 17000 mark down 127 in the past 24 hours ETHW is an asset born out of Ethereum’s Merge in September It should be noted that ETH transitioned from proof of work to proof of stake making the second largest cryptocurrency far more energy efficient by eliminating the need for miners and replacing them with validators who stake crypto and don’t utilize expensive energy intensive machines to secure the network See More Best Crypto Apps However ahead of the MergeChinese miner Chandler Guo launched a campaign to oppose the move the result was a completely new cryptocurrency via a hard fork that still uses proof of work mining ETHW Foundation said in a tweet that 25 months after the fork over 86 million active addresses hold the forked crypto 25 months after the fork ✅Addresses and Tokens are not bad at all✅Still need to catch up in terms of Transactions👍👍Thanks to the users that are holding and active👍👍Thanks to those contract buildersethw ethpow ethereumpow eth ethereum buidl ethweco pictwittercom4mf2jwQ3vb— EthereumPoW ETHW Official ETHW ETHPoW EthereumPoW November 30 2022 Binance saidin September that it was releasing an ETHW mining pool for its users noting that users would not be charged fees until Oct29 if they participated Read Next Bitcoin Ethereum Dogecoin Rallies Screech To Halt Analyst Sees Healthy Consolidation Amid Mixed Economic Data Tether Worries

CAP XX Ltd said Wednesday that it will sell Ioxus Inc s supercapacitor modules and cells outside the US Canada and Japan following the settlement of a legal dispute with Systematic Power Manufacturing LLC or SPM The Australia based designer and manufacturer of supercapacitors said the agreement gave it a range of products to access new markets in microgrid applications and that the cells and modules will be sold under the CAP XX brand The company said the agreement stems from a 2020 judgment made in its favor by the Delaware District Court against Ioxus who was found to be liable for infringing CAP XX s patents The London listed company said SPM acquired the assets of Ioxus in 2020 after control of Ioxus was passed to secured creditor Ares Capital following CAP XX s successful court action In exchange for CAP XX agreeing to drop all further action SPM granted it exclusive rights to sell the Ioxus supercapacitor modules and cells outside the aforementioned markets it said This is a win win agreement allowing us to expand our market coverage through CAP XX in geographies where we don t have a presence SPM Chief Executive Scottie Johnson said Shares at 0800 GMT were up 035 pence or 75 at 5 pence

SINGAPORE Oct 31 Reuters Asian stock markets climbed cautiously on Monday amid hopes that the Federal Reserve might sound less aggressive about rate hikes this week while wheat prices leapt after Russia withdrew from a pact allowing Ukrainian grain to transit the Black Sea Gains in Hong Kong HSI Australia AXJO and Korea KS11 pushed MSCI s index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan MIAPJ0000PUS up 08 But China stocks fell following weak economic data and the MSCI index is set for a tenth consecutive monthly loss Japan s Nikkei N225 rose 15 The performance follows a Friday rally on Wall Street but comes with bond and currency markets tempering some wagers on a change in tone from the Fed The dollar after posting two weeks of losses steadied on Monday and rose 05 on the yen Things had gotten too pessimistic said Jun Bei Liu a portfolio manager at Tribeca Investment Partners in Sydney of the stocks rally Recent drops in US tech giants perhaps signal enough bad news is already in the price she added The valuation crunch for a lot of those companies is already done we re already getting earnings downgrade and now the market is starting to look attractive in certain sectors Treasuries fell on Friday and slipped a little further in Asia trade with benchmark 10 year yields up 3 basis points to 40392 SP 500 futures fell 02 Chicago wheat futures leapt more than 8 to two week high of 893 a bushel in early trade before settling back to 878 after Russia s withdrawal from a deal to allow Ukrainian grain shipments to reach global buyers Under the United Nations backed deal Turkish Russian and Ukrainian officials coordinated the movement of ships No ships moved on Sunday but the UN said it had agreed with Ukraine and Turkey on a movement plan for 16 vessels on Monday Depending on the scramble to replace planned Ukraine cargoes prices might even head into double digits for a period said Commonwealth Bank of Australia strategist Tobin Gorey Corn futures rose 2 The main focus this week will be on the Federal Reserve meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday and US jobs data on Friday though in Asia there will also be attention on Chinese economic activity data this week and the Reserve Bank of Australia s Tuesday meeting China s factory activity unexpectedly fell in October an official survey showed on Monday helping knock the Shanghai Composite SSEC 03 lower The resignation of the chair of Beijing based property developer Longfor Group 0960HK also unnerved investors with shares down 40 in Hong Kong and the sector under pressure The Fed is all but certain to raise rates by 75 basis points on Wednesday with markets focused on the communication of the outlook A Wall Street Journal article two weeks ago flagging a possible discussion about slowing hikes seemed to trigger optimism about a shift in tone But a report from the same author over the weekend pointed to a lengthy period of high rates Rates and Fed funds futures traders have now tempered initial optimism and see the funds rate hitting near 5 by May next year The dollar has also paused a retreat It rose to 14804 yen and was firm at 09948 per euro early in the Asia session Brent crude futures hovered at 9546 a barrel Spot gold held at 1641 an ounce The Fed is going to struggle at their November meeting to stick the landing between signalling that the pace of rate hikes may not be sustainable while also trying to lean against the kind of rally we are currently seeing said NatWest markets currency strategist Brian Daingerfield I expect the net result to be another very hawkish Fed communication with perhaps a clear intention on oversignalling

An ugly Friday for global equities has US stock index futures pointing to a sharply lower start for Wall Street as investors eye a potential retest of crucial support on the price charts at the June lows The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA in fact is in danger of trading below its June 17 closing low at 2988878 leaving the blue chip gauge not far off the threshold for entering a bear market A finish at or below 2943972 would mark a 20 fall from the DJIA’s record close of 3679965 set on Jan 4 which would meet the widely used definition of a bear market The big question however remains around the broader SP 500 index SPX and the potential for the more closely followed large cap benchmark to take out its June 16 closing low at 366667 or its June intraday low just below 3637 The SP 500 ended Thursday at 375799 up 25 from the June 16 closing low Global equities fell sharply Friday with US stock futures pointing to steep losses on Wall Street when the market opens The Federal Reserve earlier this week delivered another outsize interest rate hike and signaled it would drive rates higher than market participants had previously anticipated A number of other global central banks also delivered rate increases this week underlining investor worries about the economic outlook

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Accenture NYSEACN And retail traders should know We noticed this today when the big position showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga Whether this is an institution or just a wealthy individual we don t know But when something this big happens with ACN it often means somebody knows something is about to happen So how do we know what this whale just did Today Benzinga s options scanner spotted 10 uncommon options trades for Accenture This isn t normal The overall sentiment of these big money traders is split between 40 bullish and 60 bearish Out of all of the special options we uncovered 4 are puts for a total amount of 185594 and 6 are calls for a total amount of 211615 What s The Price Target Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 2650 to 3000 for Accenture over the last 3 months Volume Open Interest Development Looking at the volume and open interest is a powerful move while trading options This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Accenture s options for a given strike price Below we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts respectively for all of Accenture s whale trades within a strike price range from 2650 to 3000 in the last 30 days Accenture Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted Symbol PUTCALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp Date Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume ACN PUT SWEEP NEUTRAL 011725 27000 947K 59 34 ACN CALL SWEEP BEARISH 061623 29000 502K 11K 1 ACN CALL SWEEP BEARISH 042123 27000 440K 226 16 ACN CALL SWEEP BULLISH 042123 28500 378K 10K 206 ACN PUT SWEEP BULLISH 042123 27750 345K 6 48 Where Is Accenture Standing Right Now With a volume of 1321667 the price of ACN is up 143 at 27894 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching overbought Next earnings are expected to be released in 85 days What The Experts Say On Accenture Piper Sandler has decided to maintain their Underweight rating on Accenture which currently sits at a price target of 250 JP Morgan has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Accenture which currently sits at a price target of 314 JP Morgan has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on Accenture which currently sits at a price target of 311 RBC Capital has decided to maintain their Outperform rating on Accenture which currently sits at a price target of 340 BMO Capital has decided to maintain their Market Perform rating on Accenture which currently sits at a price target of 327 Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closely If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Accenture Benzinga Pro gives you real time options trades alerts

SINGAPORE Jan 27 Reuters The dollar was perched near a five week high on Thursday bolstered after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell primed investors for US interest rate hikes beginning in March Overnight the Fed left policy unchanged but Powell foreshadowed a sustained battle to tame inflation read more He told reporters there was quite a bit of room to raise interest rates without threatening the labour market and said the Fed was of a mind to begin lifting rates in March The dollar leapt 07 against the yen in the wake of the Fed s decision and Powell s remarks its steepest daily jump in more than two months as the prospect of imminent hikes spooked stock markets and drove bond yields higher The yen inched a fraction lower to 11474 per dollar early in the Asia session The euro was also sold and fell about 05 overnight to a five week low of 11235 holding at that level in Asia Sterling and the Australian dollars also dropped with the mood and the New Zealand dollar fell to its lowest since Nov 2020 While communication from Fed members in the lead up to this meeting meant that the pivot should not have been a surprise risk appetite shrivelled as Powell’s press conference progressed and the extent of the Fed’s commitment to act in the face of significant inflation pressure became clear said ANZ analysts The Australian dollar fell close to its 2022 low in the overnight session before recovering a little to 07119 The kiwi posted a fifth consecutive daily loss to touch 06639 Both Antipodeans steadied in early trade Sterling is hovering at 13469 as investors await a Bank of England meeting next week and have an eye on the political turmoil enveloping Prime Minister Boris Johnson who is under pressure after attending parties during lockdowns On Thursday data showed New Zealand inflation a little hotter than forecast and running at a three decade high read more Chinese industrial profits data is due later in the day as well as US economic growth and jobless claims figures After a battering last week cryptocurrencies held their ground in the wake of the Fed s meeting and bitcoin last bought 35869

The SPBNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts fell 091 to 15408 The Asian index decreased 153 to 18231 the Emerging Markets index lost 117 to 31555 the European index edged down 059 to 14451 and the Latin American index ticked down 029 to 22671 Bilibili Inc and Weir Group PLC were among the companies with ADRs that traded actively ADRs of Chinese video game streaming company Bilibili rose 72 to 2756 as the country s media and entertainment regulator approved its license along with dozens of new titles across the sector which ended a nine month freeze in the world s largest mobile game market ADRs of Scottish engineering company Weir Group dropped 379 to 991 after it said it had bought Carriere Industrial Supply Ltd a Canadian mining equipment supplier for GBP20 million 261 million

Public expectations of inflation over the next year moderated in April after hitting a record in the prior month the New York Fed said Monday The regional Fed bank said that consumers see 63 inflation in April down from 66 in last month’s survey Expectations for gas prices over the next year fell sharply in April while expectations of college tuition and rent moved higher The median expected increase in rent hit a new record high Over the next three years consumer inflation expectations rose to 39 from 37 in March but remained below record levels Uncertainty about inflation rose to a new record high in April Fed officials believe that expectations about future inflation play a key role in the eventual path of the prices Consumer price inflation rose 12 in March pushing the annual rate up to 85 rate Many economists believe that this was the “peak” annual inflation rate for the cycle The inflation data for April will be released on Wednesday The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists is for a 02 gain Ian Shepherdson chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics thinks the consumer price index will rise only 01 in April which would bring down the annual inflation rate to 8 By the time of the Fed’s meeting in late July there will be three straight monthly declines in inflation Shepherdson said which will allow the central bank “to be able to breathe more easily a good deal sooner than markets think” Stocks DJIA SPX were trading lower Monday on concern that the Fed was going to have to be so aggressive to get inflation under control that they might cause a recession The yield on the 10 year Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y remained above 310

Benzinga What s Going On With Microsoft Activision Deal Companies Adjust Deadline Terms Microsoft CorpNASDAQMSFT andActivision Blizzard IncNASDAQATVI stocks are grabbing attention amid reports of the companies extending the 69 billion takeover deal to October 18 The terms of the agreement include an increase in the termination fee payable to Activision Blizzard from 30 billion to 35 billion if the transaction is terminated after August 29 2023 and to 45 billion if the transaction is terminated after September 15 2023 Microsoft Announces Bing Chat Enterprise Microsoft 365 Copilot Pricing Microsoft CorpNASDAQMSFT stock is trading higher Tuesday after it announced Bing Chat Enterprise and Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing At Microsoft Inspire the company disclosed significantly expanding Bing to reach new audiences with Bing Chat Enterprise delivering AI powered chat for work and rolling out today in Preview – which means more than 160 million people already have access Goldman Sachs Q2 Profits Tumble Due To Tepid MA Activity Performance By The Numbers Goldman Sachs Group IncNYSEGS reported Q2 EPS of 308 which plunged 60 YY missing the consensus of 318 The Wall Street giant took a writedown of 504 million tied to its GreenSky business and 485 million related to its consolidated real estate investments The sale of substantially all of the remaining Marcus loans portfolio also resulted in a gain of 100 million for Goldman Carvana Shoots Higher After Q2 Earnings Carvana CoNYSECVNA reported a second quarter FY23 sales decline of 236 year on year to 297 billion beating the consensus estimate of 259 billion EPS loss of 055 beat the consensus loss of 115 Carvana looks to achieve a positive adjusted EBITDA for the second consecutive quarterin Q3FY23 Tata s New Multi Billion Dollar Battery Plant In The UK Promises To Create 4000 Jobs TheTata Grouphas chosen the UK for its first battery manufacturing plant outside India representing one of the largest investments ever made in the UK auto industry With a capacity of 40GWh the new plant will be one of Europe s largest and will secure UK produced batteries for another Tata investmentJaguar Land Rover JLR and other UK and European manufacturers The gigafactory will create up to 4000 jobs and trigger thousands more in the wider supply chain for battery materials and critical raw minerals Production at the new plant is set to begin in 2026 General Motors Sees More EV Output In H2 After Lackluster First Half AutomakerGeneral MotorsNYSEGM reportedly anticipates an uptick in electric vehicle production in the second half of the year driven by improved battery module availability During the first half due to supply chain challenges GM experienced declining EV production including the GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyriq Despite having full order banks GM sold only 49 Hummer EV pickups and 2316 Lyriq models Halliburton Q2 Revenue Miss Strong Cash Flow Generation More Halliburton CompanyNYSEHAL reported second quarter FY23 revenue growth of 143 year over year to 5798 billion missing the consensus of 586 billion Adjusted EPS was 077 571 beating the consensus of 075 Total cash flows provided by operating activities year to date totaled 117 billion compared to 326 million a year ago US Bancorp Exceeds Expectations with 29 Jump In Adjusted Net Interest Income Well Positioned For Revenue Growth Strategies US BancorpNYSEUSB clocked a second quarter total adjusted net revenue growth of 197 year over year to 7197 billion Net interest income plus non interest income totaled 7141 billion This compares to the consensus of 7150 billion Adjusted earnings per share totaled 112 in line with the consensus Baker Hughes Reports Q2 Results Above Street Expectations Baker Hughes CoNYSEBKR reported a second quarter FY23 revenue increase of 251 year over year to 632 billion beating the consensus of 626 billion Adjusted EPS was 039 beating the consensus of 033 BKR expects Q3 FY23 revenue of 64 billion 65 billion versus 648 billion consensus and Adj EBITDA of 930 million 990 million ASML Tops Q2 Backed By DUV Revenue Declares Interim Dividend ASML Holding NVNASDAQASML reported a second quarter FY23 net sales growth of 27 year on year to €690 billion 752 billion above the consensus of 751 billion GAAP EPS was €493 537 above the consensus of 517 ASML expects Q3 net sales of €65 billion €70 billion vs consensus 741 billion and a 50 gross margin Financial Times Microsoft s New Premium AI Feature Raises Concerns About Affordability and Market Competition Microsoft CorpNASDAQMSFT looks to charge at least 53 83 more to access new artificial intelligence features in its widely used Microsoft 365 service CEO Satya Nadella defended the pricing decision as part of a generational technological shift On Tuesday Microsoft announced Bing Chat Enterprise and Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing at its annual partner conference Microsoft Inspire Reuters Drug Pricing Negotiation Program Johnson Johnson Joins Legal Battle Against US Government Johnson JohnsonNYSEJNJ has reportedly taken legal action against the US government following the lead of other pharmaceutical companies aiming to obstruct a program that empowers the Medicare government health insurance plan to negotiate lower prices for medication The pharmaceutical sector asserts that President Joe Biden s hallmark Inflation Reduction Act which enables the drug price negotiation scheme will limit profits and force companies to reduce the development of innovative new treatments Spain Penalizes Amazon and Apple with €194M for Conspiring to Limit Competition in Device Sales Spain s antitrust watchdog penalizedAmazonCom IncNASDAQAMZN andApple IncNASDAQAAPL by a total €1941 million 21803 million for conspiring to restrict the online sale of devices from Apple and competitors in Spain On October 31 2018 Amazon and Apple signed two agreements updating Amazon s terms as an Apple Authorized Reseller They included several clauses restricting competition that affected the Internet online retail sale of electronic products in Spain Johnson Johnson s First Talc Related Trial In Two Years Court Orders To Pay Around 19M Johnson JohnsonNYSEJNJ has been ordered to pay 188 million to Emory Hernandez Valadez a California man who allegedly developed cancer due to exposure to the company s baby powder Hernandez 24 claims his mesothelioma fatal cancer developed due to significant exposure to JJ s talc since childhood This is the first talc related trial that JJ has faced in nearly two years American Airlines Pilots Want A Contract Deal At Par With United Airlines American Airlines Group IncNASDAQAAL pilot union has reportedly informed the company that its new contract deal is in peril The ratification of American Airlines new contract deal is in jeopardy asUnited Airlines Holdings IncNASDAQUAL raised the bar with its deal American pilots will vote next week on a new four year contract with a 42 pay raise and other benefits Nissan Renault To Announce New Alliance Soon Nissan Motor Co LtdOTCNSANY andRenault SAOTCRNLSY are reportedly expected to announce their restructured alliance and a final deal in the coming days Both automakers announced a framework agreement in February and said they aimed to finalize the negotiations in early March Under the agreement Nissan is expected to take 15 of Renault s new electric vehicle unitAmpere and Renault would slash its 43 stake in Nissan

Big US banks are expected to reveal the impact of the Ukraine war and a drop in investment banking activity related to moribund capital markets when they provide first quarter profit updates next week Hit by the slowest quarter for initial public offerings since 2016 efforts to curb business with Russia and jitters about an economic slowdown tied to inflation the financial powerhouses faced headwinds in the three months ended March 31 JPMorgan Chase Co JPM booked about 18 billion in global investment banking revenue down from about 3 billion in the year ago period according to estimates from Dealogic See Chart Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS drew in about 16 billion in investment banking revenue down from 29 billion in 2021 Analysts have been reducing their earnings expectations for JPMorgan and Goldman as well as Bank of America Corp BAC Morgan Stanley MS Citigroup Inc C and Wells Fargo Co WFC While the current inverted yield curve between two year and 10 year Treasurys signal a potential recession the pricing dynamic is not expected to impact first quarter results from banks But despite robust jobs numbers the economic picture has been mixed amid moves to raise interest rates by the Federal Reserve to tame inflation and banks recalibrating their overseas operations to inflict economic sanctions on Russia Bank stocks have been lackluster as investors sifted through a steady stream of mostly negative news headlines in 2022 with the Financial Select SPDR Fund XLF down 49 in the year to date Dow Jones Industrial Average components DJIA JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs are both down nearly 19 in 2022 as of Thursday’s trades The SP 500 SPX is off by 61 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 57 Looking at the profit landscape for banks Piper Sandler analyst Jeffrey J Harte earlier this week reiterated overweight ratings on Bank of America Citigroup Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan as well as a neutral rating on Morgan Stanley He cut price targets on all five stocks and said he’s trimming his profit estimates on them as well to “reflect capital markets related revenue headwinds amid an increase in macro uncertainty and market volatility” While the inverted yield curve may be telegraphing a coming recession banks currently enjoy favorable conditions to boost net interest income based on the rising yield curve for six monthfive year Treasury spreads Harte said In the banking business the six month Treasury yield acts partly as a benchmark for interest rates banks pay for deposits while the five year yield provides a basis for interest rates they charge to borrowers Currently the so called short term yield curve remains in the bank’s favor as seen in the chart below A recession could impact banks but it’s not expected to kick in for 18 or more months based on past signals from inverted yield curves for long dated Treasurys Generally banks tend to do better during the months leading up to a recession Piper Sandler’s Harte said Meanwhile the drop in investment banking revenue may quickly rebound because “the pipeline of deals is really robust in equity markets” Harte told MarketWatch Piper Sandler issued its largest first quarter earnings estimate reduction among the big banks to Goldman Sachs which drew a 28 cut to reflect its relatively large exposure to investment banking and investment related revenues Piper Sandler trimmed its Morgan Stanley and Citi earnings views by 11 and 10 respectively The lower Citi forecast does not include impairment charges on its Russia exposure Harte said he would be focusing on management commentary on the outlook on quarterly conference calls with Wall Street investors Given heightened macro uncertainty since Russia invaded Ukraine Piper Sandler will focus on the banks’ outlook for capital markets activity and operating efficiency plus early indications of credit deterioration in consumer or commercial portfolios and signs of confidence that loan growth can continue to accelerate JPMorgan Chase kicks off the earnings season on April 13 Analysts expect the megabank to earn 271 a share on revenue of 3066 billion according to FactSet data Analysts have reduced their first quarter earnings target for JPMorgan to 271 a share on Wednesday from 281 on March 14 and 295 a share in early January JPMorgan Chase said Monday the impact of its Russia operations could impact its business by 1 billion over time See Ukraine war inflation and need for higher interest rates creating ‘unprecedented’ situation says Jamie Dimon Goldman Sachs Morgan Stanley Citigroup and Wells Fargo all report quarterly results on April 14 Analysts currently expect Goldman to earn 9 a share on revenue of 121 billion Goldman’s consensus earnings estimate stood at 1060 on Jan 31 Analysts currently expect Wells Fargo to post net income of 81 cents a share and revenue of about 178 billion The bank’s earnings estimate has been reduced from 84 cents a share on Feb 28 Citigroup is on tap to report earnings of 155 a share and revenue of 183 billion Its earnings estimate stood at 204 a share on Feb 28 Of all the major US banks Citigroup has the most Russia exposure At its March 2 investor day Citi projected potential 4 billion to 45 billion of write downs out of a total exposure of 98 billion to Russia See Goldman JPMorgan wind down Russia biz as war reshapes macroeconomic landscape for banks Morgan Stanley is expected to report earnings of 178 a share on revenue of 146 billion On Feb 28 analysts were targeting earnings of 197 a share for the company Finally Bank of America is expected to earn 75 cents a share on revenue of 233 billion when it reports results on April 19 Its EPS estimate has been cut by 3 cents from 78 cents a share on Feb 28 To be sure not all is bleak for banks Commodities and foreign exchange trading should turn in healthy performances as well as derivatives analysts said Also Read Banks are on high alert as White House flags potential Russian cyberattacks

Milady meme coin LADYS has witnessed a massive price jump resulting in potential profits in the millions for its top 10 whales What Happened According to on chain data analyzed by Lookonchain on Monday these whales hold over 176 trillion LAYDS coins amounting to roughly 20 of its total supply The whales paid an average price of 00000000037604 per token and the current price of the coin stands at around 000000009538 an increase of 2436 While some whales have sold some of their holdings six of the top 10 are still in possession of paper profits equating to more than 1 million each Data from Lookonchain shows that the total profit for the top 10 whales stands at 26 million 3 0x44F9 cross chained 978 ETH and only purchased LADYShttpstcorfMoS0AQf80x3c7A withdrew 1089 ETH from Binance and only purchased LADYShttpstcoAgKd4wqVrGThese two addresses appear to be insider tradersIs this why they were blacklisted pictwittercomIL7IBKH3db— Lookonchain lookonchain May 15 2023 See More The Art Of The Future Lisa Ray’s TheUpsideSpace Bring NFTs To Center Stage Why It Matters However there is a catch – the top three whales have had their addresses blacklisted rendering them unlikely to be able to cash out Lookonchain suggests this could be due to insider trading but the cause is still unknown According to data from CoinMarketCap Milady meme coin skyrocketed over 13000 in the last seven days outperforming top meme cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin CRYPTO DOGE and Shiba Inu CRYPTO SHIB Read More Bitcoin Ethereum Dogecoin Rise Despite Recession Fears Analyst Forecasts ‘Crypto Summer’ This June

Kanabo Group PLC said Friday that first half revenue grew but that its operating loss widened in the first period after its acquisition of private telemedicine company GP Service Ltd The medical cannabis company said revenue rose to 239000 pounds 265840 in the six months to June 30 up from around GBP20000 in the same period last year of which GBP208000 came from the sale of primary care services However it reported a widened operating loss of GBP38 million from a loss of GBP12 million in 1H 2021 as it took on costs relating to the placing and acquisition In February Kanabo in a transformational deal acquired GPS for GBP135 million The company now says it aims for continued operational and financial growth through the second half as revenue from GPS increases We will now focus our efforts during the second half of the year to scaling our capacity to meet anticipated demand from both our primary and secondary healthcare and wellbeing markets Chief Executive Avihu Tamir said

Wall Street analysts make new stock picks on a daily basis Unfortunately for investors not all analysts have particularly impressive track records at predicting market movements Even when it comes to one single stock analyst ratings and price targets can vary widely leaving investors confused about which analyst s opinion to trust Benzinga s Analyst Ratings API is a collection of the highest quality stock ratings curated by the Benzinga news desk via direct partnerships with major sell side banks Benzinga displays overnight ratings changes on a daily basis three hours prior to the US equity market opening Data specialists at investment dashboard provider Toggleai recently uncovered that the analyst insights Benzinga Pro subscribers and Benzinga readers regularly receive can successfully be used as trading indicators to outperform the stock market Top Analyst Picks Fortunately any Benzinga reader can access the latest analyst ratings on the Analyst Stock Ratings page Readers can sort by stock ticker company name analyst firm rating change or other variables One of the ways traders can sort through Benzinga s extensive database of analyst ratings is by analyst accuracy Here s a look at the most recent stock picks from each of the five most accurate Wall Street analysts according to Benzinga Analyst Stock Ratings Analyst Jerry Revich Analyst Firm Goldman SachsRatings Accuracy 80Latest Rating Maintained a Neutral rating for Summit Materials Inc NYSESUM but lowered price target from 285 to 245 Analyst Sam Darkatsh Analyst Firm Raymond JamesRatings Accuracy 79Latest Rating Maintained an Outperform rating for Hillman Solutions Corp NASDAQHLMN but lowered price target from 12 to 105 Analyst Rohit Kulkarni Analyst Firm MKM PartnersRatings Accuracy 78Latest Rating Reiterated a Buy rating for Snap Inc NYSESNAP but cut the price target from 17 to 15 Analyst John Roberts Analyst Firm Credit SuisseRatings Accuracy 77Latest Rating Initiated an Outperform rating for Origin Materials Inc NASDAQORGN with a price target of 7 Analyst Arun Jayaram Analyst Firm JP MorganRatings Accuracy 76Latest Rating Reiterated an Overweight rating on Matador Resources Company NYSEMTDR but lowered price target from 71 to 67

Incannex Healthcare Limited NASDAQIXHL ASXIHL a pharmaceutical company developing proprietary medicinal cannabinoid products and psychedelic medicine therapies for unmet medical needs has engaged Catalent NYSECTLT to develop and manufacture a cGMP grade psilocybin drug product for use in Incannex’s proprietary psilocybin assisted psychotherapy drug development program and potential wider commercial use Commencing development and manufacture of a psilocybin drug product follows an internal analysis of the interim data from the PsiGAD phase 2 clinical trial giving Incannex confidence to proceed with formulation development and cGMP manufacture of its own psilocybin Interim results from the PsiGAD trial remain internally confidential to maintain blinding and integrity of the trial however a report from the independent data safety monitoring board on the interim results will be released soon when available Incannex CEO and managing director Joel Latham stated “Having our own source of pharmaceutical grade psilocybin not only allows our company to freely undertake clinical trials it also creates and assists with number of commercial opportunities which are currently at an advanced stage of investigation by the company and will be announced in the coming weeks following board appraisal and approval” Catalent has been engaged to develop the formulation generate required quality and stability data for regulatory filings and establish cGMP manufacture of a drug product to be used in future clinical trials The proposed manufacturing process will be designed so that it will be scalable to commercial supply levels when appropriate Incannex chief scientific officer Dr Mark Bleackley stated “Engaging Catalent for development and cGMP manufacture of Incannex’s psilocybin drug project is an important milestone for the PsiGAD program The resulting drug product and supporting data will form an important component of future regulatory filings and will facilitate Incannex’s development of psilocybin assisted psychotherapy for generalized anxiety disorder This therapy has the potential to help millions of people whose lives are seriously impacted by severe anxiety and for whom current treatment options have not been effective We look forward to working with Catalent on the continued development of this exciting drug product” Benzinga s Cannabis Capital Conference Is Back The most successful cannabis business event in the world the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference returns to Miami for its 16th edition This is the place where DEALS GET DONE where money is raised MA starts and companies meet investors and key partners Join us at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach Hotel in Florida on April 11 12 Don’t miss out Secure your tickets now Prices will surge very soon Photo Benzinga edit with photos by geralt and sergeitokmakov on Pixabay

Microsoftco founder and billionaire philanthropistBill Gatesarrived in Chinaon Wednesday and according to a Reuters report had a meeting with Chinese PresidentXi Jinpingon Friday What Happened The meeting took place at Beijing s Diaoyutai state guesthouse which is a customary venue for hosting foreign dignitaries Gates is the first prominent Western business leader to be received by Xi since the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic During their encounter Xi referred to Gates as his first American friend he had met this year as conveyed in a video released by state broadcaster CCTV See AlsoBest China Stocks Xi emphasized the importance of people to people connections as the foundation of US China relations expressing his hope in the American people and their potential for fostering activities beneficial to both nations and humanity as a whole Gates expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to meet with the Chinese president stating We ve always had great conversations and we ll have a lot of important topics to discuss today I was very disappointed I couldn t come during the last four years so it s very exciting to be back Why It MattersRecent tensions between the US and China have escalated due to President Joe Biden s support for Taiwan A recent report reveals that the Biden administration is actively pursuing meetings and phone calls to compel Beijing s engagement The US strategy seeks to ease tensions with China and label President Xi as uncooperative if he refuses See AlsoXi Jinping s China Mulls Property Support Rate Cuts To Stimulate Slowing Economy Report

The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed slight improvement in the overall sentiment among US investors The Nasdaq recorded gains for three sessions in a row as investors digested the recent retail sales data US retail sales rose 3 month over month in January recording the biggest growth since March 2021 and above market expectations for a 18 increase On the earnings front Airbnb Inc NASDAQABNB shares jumped over 13 on Wednesday after the company reported Q4 financial results and issued Q1 revenue guidance above estimates The Dow closed higher by around 39 points to 3412805 on Wednesday The SP 500 rose 028 to 414760 while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 092 to settle at 1207059 during the session Investors are awaiting earnings results from US Foods Holding Corp NYSEUSFDApplied Materials Inc NASDAQAMAT and The Southern Company NYSESO today At a current reading of 740 the index remained in the Greed zone compared to a previous reading of 730 What is CNN Business Fear Greed Index The Fear Greed Index is a measure of the current market sentiment It is based on the premise that higher fear exerts pressure on stock prices while higher greed has the opposite effect The index is calculated based on seven equal weighted indicators The index ranges from 0 to 100 where 0 represents maximum fear and 100 signals maximum greediness Read Next Check Out 3 High Yielding Dividend Stocks In Tech Telecom Sector From Wall Street s Most Accurate Analysts

US stocks look set to start Tuesday’s session on a nervous note as traders may prefer to wait and watch the inflation data before making their next moves What Happened Fed officials who made public appearances on Monday hinted at basing the magnitude of the next fed fund rate hike on the December inflation data due on Thursday See Also Investing In Futures A Beginners Guide On Monday the market squandered the morning session s gains and declined through the afternoon to close on a mixed note Selling set in as traders sifted through the comments of two Fed officials The broader SP 500 Index which was up a little over 15 points in early afternoon trading gave back all the gains thereafter and ended marginally lower Technology consumer discretionary material and utility stocks saw marked strength while consumer staple and healthcare stocks came under selling pressure US Indices Performance On Monday Index Performance Value Nasdaq Composite 063 1063565 SP 500 Index 008 389209 Dow Industrials 034 3351765 “After underestimating the inflation surge last year the Fed and markets may be erring on the other side this year” LPL Financial analysts said in a note “The forces now pushing down on inflation are getting stronger which may keep interest rates down and stock valuations supported this year” they added Here’s a peek into index futures trading US Futures Performance On Tuesday Index Performance Nasdaq 100 Futures 013 SP 500 Futures 005 Dow Futures 021 R2K Futures 012 In premarket trading on Tuesday the SPDR SP 500 ETF TrustNYSESPY eased 006 to 38763 and the Invesco QQQ TrustNASDAQQQQ edged up 010 to 27080 according to Benzinga Pro data On the economic front the National Federation of Independent Business’ “Small Business Optimism index” which provides insights into the health of small businesses in the US is due at 6 am EST The index came in at 919 in November The weekly Redbook index a sales weighted index of year over year same sales growth of a sample of large US general merchandise retailers is scheduled to be released at 855 am EST Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at 9 am EST At 10 am EST the Commerce Department is set to release the wholesale trade and inventories data for November Sales and inventories are expected to increase 05 and 1 respectively compared to the previous month The Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release its short term energy outlook at 12 pm EST The Treasury will auction three year notes at 1 pm EST Stocks In Focus TeslaInc NASDAQTSLA shares were extending their gains up about 18 in premarket trading Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited NYSETSM could react to its quarterly and December revenue that trailed expectations Shares of Soterra HealthInc NASDAQSHC a service provider for the healthcare industry soared over 50 after it announced settlement agreements regarding 870 ethylene oxide cases IlluminaInc NASDAQILMN fell over 8 after the company announced below consensus guidance for 2023 at a presentation at the JPM Healthcare Conference The news of the conference could move stocks in the healthcare space Broadcom Inc NASDAQAVGO slipped over 1 after a Bloomberg report said AppleInc NASDAQAAPL was looking to diversify away from the chipmaker and will move the manufacturing of a key component now sourced from Broadcom in house by 2025 Commodities Other Global Markets Crude oil futures were higher for a second straight day with a barrel of WTI grade oil trading up over 040 at 7494 The yield on the benchmark 10 year Treasury note languished around the 355 level The Asia Pacific markets meandered to a mixed close on Tuesday as traders reacted to an uninspiring lead from Wall Street overnight while the European stocks were uniformly in the red in late morning deals Read Next Big Banks To Kick Off Q4 Earnings Season Amid Expectations For First SP 500 Profit Decline In More Than 2 Years

Brent Slava head of the Benzinga Pro Newsdesk was spot on with his topic for Monday’s segment on PreMarket Prep Plus trading uncertainty amid global geopolitical news” Nervous Markets The rising tensions between Russia and the US over a potential ground invasion of Ukraine has added even more uncertainty to an already volatile market Slava offered several issues for investors to add to their watchlist under these conditions Potential Armed Conflicts At this time it is difficult to anticipate the US response if Russia proceeds with an invasion No one knows how matters could escalate if this occurs Therefore it is important to follow the price action of defense contractors Slava mentioned General Dynamics Corp NYSE GD Lockheed Martin Group NYSE LMT Northrop Grumman NYSE NOC and L3Harris Technologies Inc NYSE LHX Cyberattacks In the event the potential conflict extends into cyberspace Slava noted a few issues that may draw investor attention Three of the more widely followed issue are Palo Alto Networks NASDAQ PANW Fortinet Inc NASDAQ FTNT and CyberArk Software Ltd NASDAQ CYBR Another issue linked to a potential buyout from Microsoft Inc NASDAQ MSFT is the former Fireeye Inc now known as Mandiant Corp NASDAQ MNDT Foreign Markets Slava mentioned two ETFs One the VanExk Russia ETF BATS RSX tracks Russia and to track the impact on Europe there s the Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF ARCX VGK Flight To Quality Recently gold and silver have shown signs of strength that has not been seen in quite some time as a hedge for inflation Slava mentioned three ETFs that may have another catalyst to drive prices higher Those are the SPDR Gold Trust ARCX GLD VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF ARCX GDX and the iShares Silver Trust ARCX SLV It should be noted that all three are trading sharply higher as of Monday afternoon

This article was originally published on The Fresh Toast and appears here with permission Things are getting increasingly tense between China and Taiwan China believes Taiwan is a breakaway from the country and insists united with the mainland The citizens of Taiwan can see their adversary from Kinmen Island roughly 200 miles from the capital Taipei Kinmen is only 6 miles away from China Taiwan believes in its independence and it is a sovereign country Under the previous US administration China began making bolder moves to encourage Taiwan to “return to the fold” Taiwan has strongly resisted and is working to rally allies to their cause Taiwan’s economy is driven by a healthy manufacturing sector including electronics machinery petrochemicals and information and communications technology products Taiwan produces over 60 of the world’s semiconductors and over 90 of the most advanced ones All are critical to the world’s computing While they battle China and Taiwan share things in common including bad marijuana policy China’s penalties for being caught with cannabis are severe Offenders run the risk of receiving the death penalty for being in possession of just five kilograms or more Additionally strict sentences are imposed anything from five years imprisonment to a life sentence The governmentidentifiedmarijuanaas a dangerous narcotic drug and illegal to possess or use it However the cultivation of cannabis for industrial purposes hemp has never been prohibited in China Medical marijuana has been around for about two thousand years using the cannabis seed Today the seeds are primarily used as a laxative The country has a population of 14 billion and in 2017 the most recentsource states they have 24000 citizens who consume China tightly controls information with its own versions of Amazon Alibaba Google Baidu and Facebook WeChat which are highly censored In Taiwan under the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act those found guilty of using marijuana face a maximum penalty of three years in prison Possession with the intention to sell carries a minimum sentence of five years with a fine of up to 164000 USD Today only four types of medicine containing THC are permitted for patient use and are tightly controlled Taiwan’s population is 235 million with under 250000 who consume These are mostly young people who receive their information from global social media This helps them avoid the government messaging on the ills of marijuana as they have access to global social media According to observationaldatapublished in the Journal of the American Medical Association JAMA Network Openpatients suffering from pain cancer anxiety and insomniareportsignificant sustained improvements in their health related quality of life following the use of medical marijuana Medical marijuana is legal in 40 states and recreationally in 23 since it has science and data to verify its use Europe’s take on medical marijuana is withno unique list of pathologies that can be treated with cannabis based drugs they see it as not a cure but rather a palliative treatment Medical marijuana is legal in large parts of Europe but recreational is just becoming popular China and Taiwan’s conservative culture toward marijuana is startling since Eastern Medicine uses a more holistic approach incorporating plants and other aspects of health Perhaps their shared animosity toward marijuana could be a starting point for discussions of common ground and finding more benefits for both sets of citizens

US stock futures traded lower this morning Here are some big stocks recording gains in today’s pre market trading session Veris Residential Inc shares rose 18 to 1465 in pre market trading Kushner Cos offered to acquire Veris Residential for 16 per share the Wall Street Journal reported Calliditas Therapeutics AB rose 133 to 1304 in pre market trading after dipping 15 on Thursday Nurix Therapeutics Inc gained 66 to 1170 in pre market trading Morgan Stanley recently initiated coverage on Nurix Therapeutics with an Equal Weight rating and announced a price target of 11 Cinemark Holdings Inc climbed 66 to 975 in pre market trading Stem Inc gained 47 to 1220 in pre market trading Stem is expected to hold a conference call on Thursday November 3 2022 to discuss its Q3 financial results CSX Corporation gained 32 to 2795 in pre market trading as the company posted better than expected results for its third quarter Also check this out US Stock Futures Signal Lower Start On Wall Street Verizon American Express Earnings In Focus

FTX Group is attempting to recover nearly 39 billion in funds consisting of cash and cryptocurrency from the insolvent digital asset lender Genesis Global Capital LLC and its solvent affiliate GGC International Ltd The funds in question are linked to 18 billion in loans and 273 million in collateral provided by Alameda Research Ltd the now defunct cryptocurrency trading firm founded by Sam Bankman Fried to Genesis Global Capital prior to its bankruptcy and concurrent collapse of FTX as indicated by court documents filed on Wednesday Additionally FTX Group alleges in the legal filings that 16 billion in assets were withdrawn from its trading platform by Genesis Global Capital before the bankruptcy along with 213 million extracted by GGC International Also ReadPresidential Candidate RFK Jr Unleashes Fury Against Biden s Crypto Tax Proposal The Battle Begins FTX aims to recoup these funds by employing bankruptcy regulations designed to prevent certain creditors from receiving preferential treatment Avoidable transfers which encompass transactions made up to 90 days before a company s bankruptcy are subject to this provision However it is important to note that efforts to reclaim funds through bankruptcy processes are not always successful Read NextBitcoin Association Moves From New York To Washington DC Was it Restrictive State Regulations Or A Change In Focus Photo Shutterstock

More people are turning to cannabis to ease their stress and anxiety and a growing body of evidence indicates that its use can alleviate symptoms such as worried feelings irritability and sleeping problems to name a few However frequent and long term use of cannabis can potentially lead to some individuals developing various conditions such as physical dependence and cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome CHS Moreover it can significantly affect the psychotherapeutic treatment of those suffering from anxiety and related disorders such as trauma and stress related disorders and obsessive compulsive disorder new research has shown The study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research explains how those using cannabis more frequently showed poorer treatment outcomes of cognitive behavioral therapy CBT than those who didn’t use it Researchers also investigated how often patients who opt for cognitive behavioral therapy use marijuana and if it affects the therapy outcome Out of 253 participants who sought anxiety treatment 73 reported frequent use of cannabis 45 patients said they consume it infrequently while 135 participants identified as non users Those who use cannabis more frequently showed less improvement in anxiety or related disorder symptoms following the treatment as opposed to those who identified as non users Participants who reported consuming cannabis occasionally showed similar results as the group of non users “Cannabis use frequency was associated with poorer cognitive behavioral therapy outcomes for anxiety and related disorders however these individuals still made notable treatment gains” the researchers explained “Cannabis related problems were not a significant predictor of cognitive behavioral therapy outcomes” The study titled “Does cannabis use impact cognitive behavioral therapy outcomes for anxiety and related disorders A preliminary examination” was authored by research leader Melise J Ouellette along with Karen Rowa Duncan H Cameron Ashleigh Elcock Noam Soreni Elizabeth J Pawluk and Randi E McCabe Photo Courtesy of Joice Kelly on Unsplash

US stocks closed slightly lower on Wednesday Here is the list of some big stocks recording losses in the previous session Owens Minor Inc NYSEOMI fell 35 to close at 1510 after the company lowered its F22 adjusted EPS guidance The company named Alexander J Bruni as EVP and CFO Dragonfly Energy Holdings Corp NASDAQDFLI declined 296 to close at 1002 Kinnate Biopharma Inc NASDAQKNTE shares fell 267 to close at 812 Kinnate Biopharma late Tuesday reported Initial site activation was slower than expected due to COVID 19 This has resulted in a limited number of efficacy evaluable patients to date in the relevant population at the predicted efficacious dose Cameco Corporation NYSECCJ fell 136 to close at 2230 after the company announced a 650 million bought deal offering of common shares at a price of 2195 per share Rumble Inc NASDAQRUM dipped 132 to close at 1021 Enviva Inc NYSEEVA dropped 131 to close at 5123 after Blue Orca issued a bearish report on the stock Nutex Health Inc NASDAQNUTX declined 121 to close at 05540 Nutex Health recently provided a corporate update Blend Labs Inc NYSEBLND fell 121 to close at 225 Koninklijke Philips NV NYSEPHG shares fell 117 to close at 1317 Philips said it expects third quarter group sales to be approximately €43 billion with a comparable sales decline of approximately 5 Due to the lower sales Group Adjusted EBITA for the quarter is expected to be around €210 million or around 5 of sales Sunnova Energy International Inc NYSENOVA dropped 116 to close at 1824 Bright Health Group Inc NYSEBHG fell 111 to settle at 104 Getty Images Holdings Inc NYSEGETY dipped 108 to close at 603 Benchmark upgraded Getty Images to Buy from Hold with a 9 price target ZeroFox Holdings Inc NASDAQZFOX fell 105 to close at 462 VOXX International Corporation NASDAQVOXX shares fell 93 to close at 655 after the company reported weaker than expected earnings results for its second quarter on Tuesday Doximity Inc NYSEDOCS fell 84 to close at 2687 Albemarle Corporation NYSEALB dropped 79 to close at 25145

Former US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said a satellite imagery company backed by his private equity firm will open up new markets for the technology “With vast amounts of data we can really analyze climate issues energy supply food security supply chains” Mnuchin said Tuesday in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Balance of Power with David Westin”

Teradyne Inc s first quarter financial guidance fell short of Wall Street projections sending shares down nearly 20 in after hours trading to 11503 The company projected 71 cents to 93 cents a share in first quarter profit or 76 cents to 98 cents a share on an adjusted basis on 700 million to 770 million in revenue That compares with analysts projected profit of 123 a share or 130 a share as adjusted on 8782 million in revenue according to FactSet The company also said it plans to buy back at least 750 million worth of stock in 2022

Anxious investors should bolster their portfolios with stocks that have the best chance to weather the market volatility and represent good long term buying opportunities analysts said this week These companies have certain characteristics that Wall Street analysts believe will allow them to come out on the other side of the turbulence CNBC Pro combed through the best Wall Street research to find some top stocks to buy for the long term They include ServiceNow Pinterest Wheels Up Victoria s Secret and Coinbase Pinterest Shares of Pinterest are down 75 over the last year but investment firm Loop Capital says dont give up on the stock just yet While signals are mixed and advertisers are more tentative we see little evidence of a meaningful and broad based pullback so far in our checks analyst Rob Sanderson wrote Some near term headwinds are to be expected the analyst said particularly after fellow social media giant Snap warned in late May it would miss certain earnings targets for the quarter While macro concerns remain elevated we think near term expectations are appropriate Sanderson added Still Sanderson said investors should buy Pinterest stock The firm sees several positive catalysts that investors may not be aware of For example Sanderson is bullish on Pinterest s foray into shopping on its platform He called it an undefined yet meaningful opportunity Shopping activity and GMV gross margin value has expanded meaningfully in the three years since the IPO he went on to say Idea Pins which allows users to create short story like video sequencing clips has dragged down revenue growth but Sanderson sees upside over the long term The bottom line is the long term opportunity remains bright he wrote Coinbase Bitcoin continues to take investors on wild ride plunging more than 20 this past week to around 20500 Meanwhile shares of crypto company Coinbase are also down nearly 80 this year But JMP analyst Devin Ryan says that there s still plenty to like about the stock despite the volatility The firm says Coinbase remains very well positioned to weather a very challenging moment in the market and even pick up share from lesser competitors We believe crypto adoption is being tested but not broken he said Ryan reminded investors that Coinbase is really an exchange with an excellent balance sheet and almost no exposure to lending Coinbase is one of the best houses on the block in an uncertain time he wrote Not every digital business will survive Ryan acknowledged but Coinbase presents a long term opportunity for strong businesses to gain share and further separate themselves from the pack he added The analyst said in his view that macro factors are really to blame for the recent crypto selloff Ultimately the current environment underscores the value of businesses that can provide safety and soundness in difficult market conditions Ryan wrote Coinbase is the right stock at the right time the firm said Wheels Up Goldman Sachs is doubling down on shares of the private aviation company The firm began coverage of the stock earlier this week with a buy rating and a price target of 5 per share Demand remains robust for Wheels Up services and analyst Noah Poponak called the total addressable market significant The pandemic has proven a catalyst to accelerating adoption of private travel as Wheels Up scales its business model and benefits from technological efficiency it can unlock even more demand through smart supply dynamic pricing he wrote However Investors will need to stay patient and look past any near term headwinds the analyst said Shares are down almost 44 this year and Poponak sees an attractive entry point The business has significant expansion potential to normalized margins and cash flow which are not that far away he said The market is unnecessarily skeptical over the long term adoption of private jets the firm added Large long term opportunity Poponak exclaimed Victoria s Secret Jefferies Buy rating VSCO is on a path to recovery with sales momentum gaining and brand sentiment improving While the company s initiatives are working near term top line trends are partly pressured by supply chain headwinds which may obscure underlying brand recovery efforts While we do not expect a linear recovery we believe VSCO s long term opportunity remains unchanged and we think VSCO is capable of restoring lost sales while recapturing margin Pinterest Loop Buy rating Long Term Opportunity Remains Bright While signals are mixed advertisers are more tentative we see little evidence of a meaningful broad based pullback so far in our checks While signals are mixed advertisers are more tentative we see little evidence of a meaningful and broad based pullback so far in our checks While macro concerns remain elevated we think near term expectations are appropriate Shopping activity and GMV has expanded meaningfully in the three years since the IPO ServiceNow Deutsche Bank Buy rating We attended ServiceNow s Knowledge 2022 user conference and financial analyst day in Las Vegas last week and come away feeling good about the company s longterm opportunity and relative strength in a tough backdrop As multiple Software companies begin showing signs of macro deterioration ServiceNow is thus far holding strong which appears the result of multiple forces Wheels Up Goldman Sachs Buy rating Significant TAM opportunity The pandemic has proven a catalyst to accelerating adoption of private travel and as Wheels Up scales its business model and benefits from technological efficiency it can unlock even more demand through smart supply and dynamic pricing The business has significant expansion potential to normalized margins and cash flow which are not that far away Large long term opportunity Coinbase JMP Market outperform rating We believe crypto adoption is being tested but not broken these moments represent a long term opportunity for strong businesses to gain share further separate themselves from the pack Confidence in the platform is still required to support an investment in COIN shares but we note that the company is incredibly liquid one of the best houses on the block in an uncertain time we currently believe COIN remains well positioned to weather a very challenging moment in market potentially even pick up market share from weaker competitors that are underprepared for a market downturn Ultimately the current environment underscores the value of businesses that can provide safety soundness in difficult market conditions

A general view of the Brandenburg Gate in darkness during early morning in Berlin Germany August 31 2022 REUTERSAnnegret HilseFile Photo A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Anshuman Daga Global equity markets are stabilising from the carnage earlier this week caused by hot US inflation data but European investors need to climb a wall of worry for any meaningful near term recovery Policymakers in Europe are caught in a bind as they face the delicate task of balancing unprecedented rate hikes with risks of sharp slowdowns in their economies which are battling high energy costs As the 27 member European Union grapples with an energy crisis that shows no signs of easing the bloc s executive proposed windfall levies on energy firms to shield consumers from soaring energy prices read more Still ECB policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said interest rates could reach the level where they neither stimulate nor slow the economy by the end of the year read more Last week the ECB raised rates by 75 basis points just weeks after a 50 basis point move and promised many more steps over the coming months as euro zone inflation stays at its highest rate in nearly a half a century read more The ECB has just begun its cycle of rate increases as opposed to the Fed that started earlier this year Barclays global chairman of research Ajay Rajadhyaksha expects a recession in Europe in the first half of 2023 with the economy contracting more than 1 over the calendar year But he said There is a line between gloom and doom and that is where we believe the global economy sits Wednesday brought some good news for UK markets after British inflation fell for the first time in almost a year in August with a drop in fuel prices offering some respite to households and the Bank of England read more Meanwhile data showed that Japan posted a record trade deficit in August as energy imports surged read more And while Queen Elizabeth s funeral on Monday will be observed across Britain thousands of people will grapple with shut supermarkets and cancelled doctor appointments because of a surprise national holiday read more Key developments that could influence markets on Thursday

Oil futures fell Wednesday losing ground as traders awaited a decision on a rate hike by the Federal Reserve amid jitters over the economic outlook Weekly inventory data will also be in focus West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery CL1 CL00 CLN22 fell 125 or 11 to 11768 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange August Brent crude BRN00 BRNQ22 the global benchmark lost 112 or 09 to 12005 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe Back on Nymex July gasoline RBN22 fell 11 to 39487 a gallon while July heating oil HON22 was off 05 at 43702 a gallon July natural gas futures NGN22 rose 22 to 734 per million British thermal units after ending Tuesday at a five week low Oil was extending losses seen after crude futures turned south in Monday’s session While a number of factors were cited as a drag on crude including optimistic remarks around the Iran nuclear deal a waiver extension allowing US banks to process Russian energy transactions and a report that a US senator intends to propose a federal surtax on certain oil companies in a move to curb inflation some analysts saw the softness as largely tied to jitters over the Fed “It appears that market participants got cold feet ahead of today’s Fed decision as a stronger tightening of monetary policy could have negative effects on oil demand” said Carsten Fritsch commodity analyst at Commerzbank in a note The Federal Reserve is widely expected to lift the fed funds rate by 75 basis points or three quarters of a percentage point when it concludes its two day policy meeting at 2 pm Eastern though Fed watchers say such an outsize move isn’t assured The International Energy Agency on Wednesday said it expects global demand for oil to rise above pre pandemic levels next year following three years of COVID 19 lockdowns and the economic shock of the Ukraine war Much of the growth in demand next year will be driven by China as it emerges from stop start COVID 19 lockdowns while developed economies are expected to contend with a worsening economic outlook and rampant inflation the Paris based agency said in its monthly report President Joe Biden on Wednesday wrote letters to US oil refiners calling on them to produce more gasoline and diesel and saying their profits have tripled during a time of war between Russia and Ukraine as Americans struggle with record high prices at the pump Natural gas futures fell Tuesday after Freeport LNG Development said it now expects a resumption of partial operations at its liquefactions plant on Quintana Island on Texas’s Gulf Coast in about 90 days following damage in the wake of an explosion and fire on June 8 Repairs and full plant operations are not expected until late 2022 US inventories will also be in focus Wednesday The American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday that US crude supplies rose by 736000 barrels for the week ended June 10 according to sources The API also reportedly showed a weekly inventory decline of nearly 22 million barrels for gasoline while distillate stockpiles climbed by 234000 barrels Oil stocks at the Cushing Okla delivery hub were down by 11 million barrels last week sources said Inventory data from the Energy Information Administration will be released Wednesday On average analysts polled by SP Global Commodity Insights said the EIA is expected to show crude inventories down by 11 million barrels for the week along with a supply climb of 100000 barrels for gasoline and fall of 300000 barrels for distillates

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bullish stance on Trade Desk NASDAQTTD And retail traders should know We noticed this today when the big position showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga Whether this is an institution or just a wealthy individual we don t know But when something this big happens with TTD it often means somebody knows something is about to happen So how do we know what this whale just did Today Benzinga s options scanner spotted 10 uncommon options trades for Trade Desk This isn t normal The overall sentiment of these big money traders is split between 70 bullish and 30 bearish Out of all of the special options we uncovered 3 are puts for a total amount of 179725 and 7 are calls for a total amount of 521938 What s The Price Target Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 750 to 850 for Trade Desk over the last 3 months Volume Open Interest Development Looking at the volume and open interest is an insightful way to conduct due diligence on a stock This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Trade Desk s options for a given strike price Below we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts respectively for all of Trade Desk s whale activity within a strike price range from 750 to 850 in the last 30 days Trade Desk Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted Symbol PUTCALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp Date Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume TTD CALL SWEEP BULLISH 081823 8500 1383K 983 427 TTD CALL TRADE BULLISH 081823 8500 1260K 983 12K TTD CALL TRADE BULLISH 081823 8500 1200K 983 927 TTD PUT SWEEP BULLISH 081823 8000 1038K 10K 239 TTD PUT TRADE BEARISH 081823 8000 494K 10K 78 Where Is Trade Desk Standing Right Now With a volume of 2165770 the price of TTD is up 634 at 8072 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching overbought Next earnings are expected to be released in 28 days What The Experts Say On Trade Desk Needham downgraded its action to Buy with a price target of 80 Needham downgraded its action to Buy with a price target of 80 Needham downgraded its action to Buy with a price target of 80 Needham downgraded its action to Buy with a price target of 80 Needham downgraded its action to Buy with a price target of 80 Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closely If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Trade Desk Benzinga Pro gives you real time options trades alerts

A whale with a lot of money to spend has taken a noticeably bullish stance on Chewy Looking at options history for Chewy NYSECHWY we detected 11 strange trades If we consider the specifics of each trade it is accurate to state that 54 of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 45 with bearish From the overall spotted trades 6 are puts for a total amount of 286643 and 5 calls for a total amount of 152297 What s The Price Target Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 350 to 425 for Chewy over the last 3 months Volume Open Interest Development Looking at the volume and open interest is an insightful way to conduct due diligence on a stock This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Chewy s options for a given strike price Below we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts respectively for all of Chewy s whale activity within a strike price range from 350 to 425 in the last 30 days Chewy Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted Symbol PUTCALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp Date Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume CHWY PUT TRADE BULLISH 011725 4000 841K 451 69 CHWY PUT TRADE BULLISH 011725 3500 655K 790 69 CHWY PUT SWEEP BEARISH 011323 4000 490K 116 14K CHWY CALL TRADE BULLISH 012723 3800 371K 417 136 CHWY PUT SWEEP BEARISH 011323 4000 315K 116 17K Where Is Chewy Standing Right Now With a volume of 1712620 the price of CHWY is up 594 at 3975 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock is currently neutral between overbought and oversold Next earnings are expected to be released in 78 days Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closely If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Chewy Benzinga Pro gives you real time options trades alerts

Swiss banking giantCredit Suisse Group AGNYSECS held around 31 million worth of “digital assets” for clients in the last quarter What HappenedA recent filing with the USSecurities and Exchange CommissionSEC revealed that Credit Suisse held 31 million in “other” assets described as “of which digital asset safeguarding assets” The holdings which were not disclosed in the previous two quarters were likely reported to reflect Credit Suisse incorporatingSAB 121 – Accounting for Digital Asset Custodial Relationships— accounting guidance issued by the SEC in March Under SAB 121 firms that hold crypto assets on behalf of their clients are required to make additional disclosures of custodial relationships in the interim and annual financial statements The filing does not indicate what the digital assets in question referred to but it is likely that it is related to Alaïa shares of a Swiss ski resort that have beentokenizedon theEthereumCRYPTOETH blockchain See AlsoWHAT IS ETHEREUM While Credit Suisse has not made any announcements with respect to offering clients exposure to cryptocurrencies traded on the market other major investment firms have begun dipping their toes in the space on the back of client demand Last month the world’s largest asset managerBlackRock IncNYSEBLK announced aprivate trustthat would give clients direct exposure to Bitcoin Price ActionAt press time BTC was trading at 19939 down 05 in 24 hours and ETH was trading at 155062 down 034 over the same period as per data fromBenzinga Pro

A whale with a lot of money to spend has taken a noticeably bullish stance on NVIDIA Looking at options history for NVIDIA NASDAQNVDA we detected 14 strange trades If we consider the specifics of each trade it is accurate to state that 57 of the investors opened trades with bullish expectations and 42 with bearish From the overall spotted trades 12 are puts for a total amount of 586482 and 2 calls for a total amount of 70646 What s The Price Target Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 700 to 1550 for NVIDIA over the last 3 months Volume Open Interest Development Looking at the volume and open interest is a powerful move while trading options This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for NVIDIA s options for a given strike price Below we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts respectively for all of NVIDIA s whale trades within a strike price range from 700 to 1550 in the last 30 days NVIDIA Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted Symbol PUTCALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp Date Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume NVDA PUT SWEEP BEARISH 011323 14000 950K 24K 19K NVDA PUT SWEEP NEUTRAL 020323 15000 783K 327 12K NVDA PUT SWEEP NEUTRAL 020323 14800 711K 14K 11K NVDA PUT TRADE BEARISH 061623 15000 685K 53K 32 NVDA PUT SWEEP BULLISH 011323 13500 462K 14K 11K Where Is NVIDIA Standing Right Now With a volume of 4402076 the price of NVDA is down 121 at 14092 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching oversold Next earnings are expected to be released in 40 days What The Experts Say On NVIDIA HSBC downgraded its action to Reduce with a price target of 136 Needham has decided to maintain their Buy rating on NVIDIA which currently sits at a price target of 230 Tigress Financial has decided to maintain their Buy rating on NVIDIA which currently sits at a price target of 250 Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closely If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for NVIDIA Benzinga Pro gives you real time options trades alerts

Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Micron Technology NASDAQMU And retail traders should know We noticed this today when the big position showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga Whether this is an institution or just a wealthy individual we don t know But when something this big happens with MU it often means somebody knows something is about to happen So how do we know what this whale just did Today Benzinga s options scanner spotted 20 uncommon options trades for Micron Technology This isn t normal The overall sentiment of these big money traders is split between 30 bullish and 70 bearish Out of all of the special options we uncovered 13 are puts for a total amount of 800185 and 7 are calls for a total amount of 306220 What s The Price Target Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from 250 to 650 for Micron Technology over the last 3 months Volume Open Interest Development In terms of liquidity and interest the mean open interest for Micron Technology options trades today is 55662 with a total volume of 500800 In the following chart we are able to follow the development of volume and open interest of call and put options for Micron Technology s big money trades within a strike price range of 250 to 650 over the last 30 days Micron Technology Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days Biggest Options Spotted Symbol PUTCALL Trade Type Sentiment Exp Date Strike Price Total Trade Price Open Interest Volume MU PUT SWEEP BEARISH 021723 6250 1680K 7 415 MU PUT SWEEP BEARISH 011924 6000 1106K 57K 111 MU PUT SWEEP BEARISH 011924 6000 1098K 57K 553 MU CALL TRADE NEUTRAL 011924 2500 729K 30 0 MU PUT SWEEP BEARISH 121622 6500 683K 44K 212 Where Is Micron Technology Standing Right Now With a volume of 9256101 the price of MU is down 517 at 5984 RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching overbought Next earnings are expected to be released in 33 days What The Experts Say On Micron Technology Credit Suisse downgraded its action to Outperform with a price target of 78 Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock but they have higher profit potential Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily scaling in and out of trades following more than one indicator and following the markets closely If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Micron Technology Benzinga Pro gives you real time options trades alerts

The Italian economy shrank in the first three months of the year its first on quarter contraction since the fourth quarter of 2020 as the spread of the Covid 19 Omicron variant weighed on services activity and a jump in energy prices hit manufacturers Italy s economy the eurozone s third largest contracted by 02 in the first quarter compared with the previous three month period the Italian statistics agency Istat said Friday The contraction in Italy s economy is in line with what economists anticipated in a poll by The Wall Street Journal In 2021 s fourth quarter the Italian gross domestic product expanded by 07 The decline in first quarter gross domestic product was driven by a decrease in the services sector output while the industrial sector stagnated and marks the weakest quarter since late 2020 when the country s economy struggled amid Covid 19 pandemic related restrictions On an annual basis Italy s economy grew 58 in the first quarter The Italian economy is expected to rebound in the second quarter due to the continued normalization of activity after the Covid 19 pandemic but uncertainty stemming from the war in Ukraine and high energy prices pose risks to the outlook Prime Minister Mario Draghi s government in April lowered its economic forecasts for this year expecting a 31 expansion from the 47 growth anticipated in September

AtShell PLC sNYSESHEL annual shareholder meeting a resolution was tabled by the Dutch group Follow This a small activist investor and campaign organization with holdings in numerous Big Oil firms Shell s annual general meeting Tuesday looks acrimonious with climate focused investors seeking to ramp up pressure on the energy major after an extraordinary run of record profits reportedCNBC Shell reported 1Q23 adjusted EBITDA of 214 billion higher than 190 billion a year ago onsolid operational performance Climate Resolution 26 urges Shell to match its climate goals with the Paris Agreement and commit to 100 reductions in carbon emissions by 2030 mentioned the report According to Follow This these reductions should cover Scope 3 emissions produced by customers using their gas and oil Also ReadShell Collaborates With AI Technology Firm To Reduce Exploration Days Report The resolution has received the support of Shell shareholders MN and PGGM two Dutch pension managers According to the report Shell whose goal is to have a net zero emissions business by 2050 has advised shareholders to reject the Follow This proposal The company said Climate Resolution 26 was unclear generic and would create confusion regarding Board and shareholder accountabilities We strongly disagree with the Follow This resolution and with those organisations which have recommended supporting it or voting against Board members There must be an emphasis on changing the use of energy as much as its supply and this is reflected in our approach a Shell spokesperson stated We will continue to invest in producing the energy the world needs today and for the foreseeable future All of our investments have to provide a rate of return that our investors demand the spokesperson added Price ActionSHEL shares are trading higher by 087 at 6055 on the last check Tuesday

Sika AG said Tuesday that its sales rose to a record high in the first quarter driven by growth in all geographic markets despite supply shortages in raw materials and a highly inflationary environment The specialty chemicals maker said sales for the period rose 20 to 240 billion Swiss francs 258 billion beating expectations of CHF235 billion according to analysts polled by FactSet The growth was supported in particular by a 375 jump in sales at Sika s business in the Americas The Swiss company has confirmed its earlier guidance of well over 10 sales growth in local currencies for 2022 In the first quarter we were confronted by ongoing strong raw material price increases In addition to solid volume growth we were able to implement consistent price adjustments Sika Chief Executive Thomas Hasler said

Dell Technologies Inc NYSEDELL is scheduled to release its financial results for the latest quarter after the closing bell on March 2 2023 Analysts expect the company to post quarterly earnings at 164 per share on revenue down from 172 per share in the year ago period The company’s revenue might come in at 2348 billion Dell shares fell 05 to close at 4044 on Wednesday and added 03 in after hours trading Benzinga readers can access the latest analyst ratings on the Analyst Stock Ratings page Readers can sort by stock ticker company name analyst firm rating change or other variables Let’s have a look at how Benzinga’s most accurate analysts have rated the company in the recent period Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring maintained an Equal Weight rating and raised the price target from 45 to 47 on Feb 21 2023 This analyst sees around 16 upside in the company’s stock and has an accuracy rate of 44 Credit Suisse analyst Shannon Cross maintained an Outperform rating on Nov 22 2022 and cut the price target from 56 to 53 This analyst sees around 31 upside in the company’s stock and has an accuracy rate of 56 Raymond James analyst Simon Leopold maintained an Outperform rating and raised the price target from 47 to 50 on Nov 22 2022 This analyst sees around 24 upside in the company’s stock and has an accuracy rate of 63 Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers maintained an Overweight rating on Nov 22 2022 and slashed the price target from 58 to 52 This analyst sees over 29 upside in the company’s stock and has an accuracy rate of 83 UBS analyst David Vogt maintained a Buy rating and cut the price target from 65 to 60 on Nov 22 2022 This analyst sees over 48 upside in the company’s stock and has an accuracy rate of 70 Read This Next Top 5 Tech Stocks That Are Preparing To Pump In March

Carpenters work on building new townhomes that are still under construction while building material supplies are in high demand in Tampa Florida US May 5 2021 REUTERSOctavio JonesFile Photo WASHINGTON June 27 Reuters Contracts to buy US previously owned homes unexpectedly increased in May after declining for six straight months but higher mortgage rates are cooling demand for housing The National Association of Realtors NAR said on Monday its Pending Home Sales Index based on signed contracts rose 07 last month to 999 rebounding from a two year low in April Pending home sales increased in the Northeast and the densely populated South but fell in the West and Midwest Economists polled by Reuters had forecast contracts which become sales after a month or two would drop 37 Pending home sales plunged 136 in May on a year on year basis Despite the small gain in pending sales from the prior month the housing market is clearly undergoing a transition said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun Contract signings are down sizably from a year ago because of much higher mortgage rates Data last week showed sales of previously owned homes dropped for a fourth straight month in May hitting a two year low as prices topped the 400000 mark for the first time The median single family home price surged 146 from a year ago to 414200 in May The average contract rate on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage increased last week to more than a 13 12 year high of 581 from 578 in the prior week according to data from mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac The rate has risen more than 250 basis points since January as inflation expectations surged and the Federal Reserve s aggressively hikes interest rates The NAR estimates that at the median single family home price and with a 10 down payment the monthly mortgage payment has risen by about 800 since the beginning of the year