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Hello to you listening in Sacramento, California!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Story Prompt Friday and your host, Diane Wyzga.My friend and colleague Charlotte Wittenkamp, the Bridge Builder, writes a regular column on the LinkedIn platform entitled: What I Read Today offering a piece from the media along with her astute insights and questions about the article.In like mind here is what I read today and adapted from the novel, Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley:If you give up, they win.They want us to be small, so we have to stand tall.They want us to be invisible, so we have to be seen.They want us to be silent, so we have to be heard.They want us to surrender, so we have to show them who we are, what we're made of, what we can do so that we win for the good!Story Prompt: When have you decided not to give up? What happened next? Write that story? You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you'll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and Opt In to stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.Stories From Women Who Walk Production TeamPodcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story ArtsMusic: Mer's Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron MusicAll content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.
Hello to you listening in Saratoga Springs, New York!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds (and a bit more) for Wednesdays on Whidbey and your host, Diane Wyzga. Over 100 years ago Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis wrote, 'We can have a democratic society or we can have the concentration of great wealth in the hands of the few. We cannot have both.” [Louis Brandeis, Supreme Court Justice from 1916-1939]Here we are again. What to do? We organize and work together. If there's no one to start it, you start it. Find your Ordinary Persons, talk with them, listen, have compassion for each other's views, and join together. Step by step your little group of Ordinary Persons can become an Army of Ordinary Persons, maybe even a movement standing up to oppression, greed, injustice. It starts with someone looking around and saying, “I've had it! Enough is enough! This stops now!”The following poem The Low Road by Marge Piercy demonstrates what happens when we organize and work together:The Low Road, by Marge Piercy"What can they doto you? Whatever they want.They can set you up, they canbust you, they can breakyour fingers, they canburn your brain with electricity,blur you with drugs till youcan't walk, can't remember, they cantake your child, wall upyour lover. They can do anythingyou don't stop themfrom doing. How can you stopthem? Alone, you can fight,you can refuse, you cantake what revenge you canbut they roll over you. But two people fightingback-to-back can cut througha mob, a snake-dancing filecan break a cordon, an armycan meet an army. Two people can keep each othersane, can give support, conviction,love, massage, hope, sex.Three people are a delegation,a committee, a wedge. With fouryou can play bridge and startan organization. With sixyou can rent a whole house,eat pie for dinner with noseconds, and hold a fund raising party.A dozen make a demonstration.A hundred fill a hall.A thousand have solidarity and your own newsletter;ten thousand, power and your own paper;a hundred thousand, your own media;ten million, your own country. It goes on one at a time,it starts when you careto act, it starts when you doit again and they said no,it starts when you say Weand you know who you mean,and each day you mean one more."Click to access The Low Road, by Marge PiercySaturday June 14th is No King Day and Flag Day! Get together with some folks, bash the birthday cake fly your flag because our flag is tied to our Constitution and our Constitution is our democracy and in a democracy it is “We the People” - no king.Thank you for listening! You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you'll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and Opt In to stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.Stories From Women Who Walk Production TeamPodcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story ArtsMusic: Mer's Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron MusicAll content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.
Hello to you listening in North Platte, Nebraska!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds (and a bit mire) for Motivate Your Monday and your host, Diane Wyzga.Maybe like me you could use a bit of good news right about now. What if you could find the “best America there ever was?” Best-selling author and award-winning journalist Bob Greene found it in a small town, North Platte, Nebraska. As the story goes: During World War II, American soldiers from every city and walk of life rolled through North Platte, Nebraska, on troop trains en route to their ultimate destinations in Europe and the Pacific. What happened next?Prompted by one woman's idea this tiny town of 12,000 people transformed its modest railroad depot into the North Platte Canteen. Every day of the year, every day of the war years the Canteen - staffed and funded entirely by local volunteers - was open from five A.M. until the last troop train pulled away a little after midnight. In a time of coupons, shortages, and doing without that comes with war this community provided welcoming words, support, baskets of produce, fresh-baked goods, homemade sandwiches, magazines, books, bottles of milk, cauldrons of coffee, and treats to more than six millions GIs by the time the war ended four years later.Think about it. At a time of national adversity, crisis and deprivation because everything was going to the troops and the war effort, ordinary people pulled together to honor their country's brave sons by giving from the heart and their kitchens, their fields and dairies. Interviews with some of the volunteers and servicemen tell a love story of small-town generosity because it was something that they could do.Question: Yes, these times are perilous; but so was World War II. We might feel like we're fighting a war on our own soil for the first time since the Civil War. But we are not lost when we choose to summon the great expanse of hope that is the human heart. If 12,000 ordinary persons could care for six million GIs, what is in our power to do? Where is the next “best America there ever was?”Click to access book: Once Upon a Town - The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen by Bob GreeneYou're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you'll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and Opt In to stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.Stories From Women Who Walk Production TeamPodcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story ArtsMusic: Mer's Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron MusicAll content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.
In this episode, Jeff Dance speaks with Sir Peter Beck, founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, to discuss the future of space innovation. They explore the evolution of Rocket Lab, challenges in the space industry, the importance of scaling capabilities, and the potential of AI and computer vision in enhancing space operations. Sir Peter emphasizes the necessity for global collaboration in space traffic management and envisions a future where space technology seamlessly integrates into everyday life.
US equity markets settled with modest gains on Friday (21 March) following a late-session rally, erasing earlier losses after comments from U.S. President Trump provided hope that previously announced tariffs expected to begin in early April may not be as burdensome as feared - Dow edged +32-points or +0.08% higher, with Boeing Co rising +3.06% after the Trump administration awarded the plane maker a contract to build the U.S. Air Force's most sophisticated fighter jet (to be called the F-47), beating out rival Lockheed Martin Corp (down -5.79%). While financial details were not disclosed, The Wall Street Journal estimated that research, development, and acquisition costs could exceed >US$50B. Nike Inc fell -5.42% and was the worst performing Dow component after posting its fiscal third quarter result after the close of the previous session and projected a sharper decline in fourth-quarter revenue than analysts had anticipated.The broader S&P500 inched +0.08% higher, with Communication Services (up +1.0%) leading just three of the eleven primary sectors higher. Real Estate (down -1.03%) and Materials (-1.0%) both fell ~1%. Economic bellwether FedEx Corp fell -6.45% to be the worst performer in the S&P 500 after the package delivery giant reported a solid quarter result after the close of last Thursday's (20 March) session but cut its full-year profit and revenue forecasts, citing continued weakness and uncertainty in the U.S. industrial economy.
En el episodio de hoy de VG Daily, Andre Dos Santos y Eugenio Garibay analizan a fondo la temporada de reportes corporativos del S&P 500, destacando el sólido crecimiento en ventas y utilidades, con cifras que superaron las expectativas de los analistas. Exploran cómo la inteligencia artificial ha impulsado sectores clave como Communication Services, Consumo Discrecional y Financiero, con empresas como Netflix, Amazon y Discover Financial liderando el crecimiento. Finalmente, evalúan el caso de Palantir Technologies, analizando su valuación, modelo de negocio y los factores detrás de su reciente caída en el mercado. Un episodio lleno de datos y perspectivas para entender el panorama económico actual.
Wax off Wax On - Waffling - Mr. Miyagi President? Government Cuts - Lots of Bye-Bye Notes. Economics and the latest employment report. PLUS we are now on Spotify and Amazon Music/Podcasts! Click HERE for Show Notes and Links DHUnplugged is now streaming live - with listener chat. Click on link on the right sidebar. Love the Show? Then how about a Donation? Follow John C. Dvorak on Twitter Follow Andrew Horowitz on Twitter Warm-Up - Wax off Wax On - Waffling - Mr. Miyagi President? - Government Cuts - Lots of Bye-Bye Notes - Economics are in.... People happy and not happy - Musk - let's talk about this .... - Praying for the turtles... Markets - Lots of Tumult - confusion but still a retail bid - Inflation numbers are not worrying (to some) - Employment Report - CPI Due this week - Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum The Karate Kid: Danielson - Wax On Wax off - Trump 2.0: President Miyagi: tariffs on, tariffs off (used to be called waffling) - Mexico and Canada Tarrifs are postponed for a month after "phone calls" from Trudeau and Sheinbaum - China 10% tariffs and now China retaliates --- Supposedly there is a call set up between Trump and XI in the next few days Economics - ADP: Private sector companies added more jobs than expected in January -- Companies created a net 183,000 jobs on the month, slightly more than the 176,000 in December ---Pay for workers who stayed in their jobs grew at a 4.7% annual rate - BLS Payrolls: 143k Added, (shy of estimates) ---- URate 4% ----Avg Hourly Earnings kick up to 0.5% MoM - - - UMICH for Feb - 67.8 (DOWN from 70.1 - ISM Serices 52.8, down slightly from prior month Color on Confidence numbers - Lots of concern over the potential for inflation in the UMich report --- Biggest issue is the worry about the tariffs and how they may impact prices Earnings: - The S&P 500 is reporting a 13.2% year-over-year earnings growth rate for Q4 2024, which is the highest growth rate reported in three years - 77% of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings above estimates, which is equal to the 5-year average but above the 10-year average - The Financials, Communication Services, Information Technology, Consumer Discretionary, and Utilities sectors are reporting double-digit earnings growth - Starting to seeing some issues in the BIG tech sector - that is why all of a sudden we are also seeing layoffs - expense cutting (although no cuts to cap ex at this point) Earnings - Amazon prelim Q4 $1.86 vs $1.49 FactSet Consensus; revs $187.79 mln vs $187.31 bln FactSet Consensus - AWS segment sales rose 18.9% yr/yr to $28.79 bln - Q4 operating income of $21.2 bln vs prior guidance of $16-20 bln; guides to Q1 operating income of $14-18 bln - Amazon sees Q1 revs $151.0-155.5 bln vs $158.56 bln FactSet Consensus ----Amazon expects $100 billion of capex in 2025 on 'once-in-a-lifetime' AI opportunity More Earnings - Alphabet shares fell more than 9% in after-hours trading Tuesday after the company reported fourth-quarter results that missed on revenue expectations and announced more artificial intelligence investments. - Earnings per share for the Google parent company beat analysts' estimates by two cents. - Revenue: $96.47 billion vs. $96.56 billion expected by LSEG - Earnings per share: $2.15 vs. $2.13 expected by LSEG Even More Earnings - Advanced Micro Devices reported fourth-quarter results on Tuesday that beat Wall Street expectations for sales and earnings, but the stock fell about 5% in extended trading as the company missed estimates in its key data center segment. - Stock kept of falling in the days after too... - Earnings per share: $1.09, adjusted, versus $1.08 expected - Revenue: $7.66 billion versus $7.53 billion --- Clearly this company was way ahead of itself and proposing that they had AI chips that were potentially competitive to NVDA - BUT NOT! Spotify
January is in the books - interesting outcome. Let's work at Costco - wow! Fed is out with their rate plan - not confident in the future Fed Workers getting buyouts PLUS we are now on Spotify and Amazon Music/Podcasts! Click HERE for Show Notes and Links DHUnplugged is now streaming live - with listener chat. Click on link on the right sidebar. Love the Show? Then how about a Donation? Follow John C. Dvorak on Twitter Follow Andrew Horowitz on Twitter Warm-Up - January is in the books - interesting outcome - Let's work at Costco - wow! - Fed is out with their rate plan - not confident in the future - Fed Workers getting buyouts - The latest from the Just Kidding department... Markets - Investors Betting Trump will soften his stance on Tariffs - Trump playing chicken on weekends that other countries will bend - Some recovery after last Monday's beating - But the questions is - how long until global upheaval with all of these threats and bashing? Tariffs - Threats to Canada and Mexico - 25% across the board on Canada and Mexico - 10% in China - Blaming immigration, drugs and trade imbalance --- Oil could become an issue with Canada as they send us cheaper (dirty crude) - but several regions could see higher prices by 20% if these tariffs stick - After the close - Trump said at the White House Friday he would 'absolutely' put tariffs on the nation's EU allies. - 'You want the truthful answer or should I give you a political answer?' Trump said when asked about it – underlying his commitment to the issue. He said the tariffs on the EU would be 'very substantial,' without providing details. - Markets closed in the red Friday on this tidbit -------- Follow up - futures and markets off considerably before the open on Monday. 2%+ across the board. Oil UP. -------THEN - A PHONE CALL WITH MEXICO! PAUSE ON RATES FOR A MONTH (10am news) Bitcoin
Mega-Brands: Investing in Mega Trends & the Mega Brands Best Positioned to Add Value to Your Wallet
In today's 2024 brands portfolio update, I talk about the fund, HSUTX and its returns for 2024 as well as a look-back since inception 10/17/17. An allocation to leading global brands offers significant diversification benefits as well as return benefits. Brands tend to live in the sectors under-represented across indexes. The Fund is overweight Consumer Discretionary, Staples, Communication Services, and Financials vs the market. I talk about the holdings we own, their weight vs the benchmark and what we think will perform well in 2025. For more information on investing in global brands: https://www.globalbrandsmatter.com/dynamic-portfolio
Frank Holland and the Investment Committee discuss the final trading hours of the year. Plus, Communication Services and Tech leading the charge again, up nearly 40 percent this year, the Committee reveal their 2025 strategies. And later, class is in session, Josh Brown shares his Trade School on ETFs in the new year. Investment Committee Disclosures
Today in the podcast: Our thoughts on the outlook for the S&P 500 sectors in 2025, with a focus on those where we've made changes to our view.The big things you need to know: First, we have upgraded Communication Services from market weight to overweight. Second, we are downgrading Health Care to market weight from overweight. Third, we are downgrading Materials from overweight to market weight.
„Stellt euch die Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe als großes Containerschiff vor, das langsam, aber sicher fährt. Wir sind eher das kleine Schnellboot, das neue Inseln erkundet, Risiken eingeht und manchmal auch mal etwas Wildes ausprobiert.“ In dieser Folge von #WhatsNextAgencies spricht Kim Alexandra Notz mit Tobias Schlösser, dem Geschäftsführer der S-Communication Services, dem Inhouse Dienstleister für Kommunikation und Digitalisierung der Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, darüber, wie man eine der ältesten Marken Deutschlands fit für die Zukunft macht, ohne ihre Wurzeln zu verlieren. Das Thema Inhousing sorgt bei Agenturen oft für Nervosität – zu Unrecht! Tobias stellt klar: ‚Wir nehmen den Agenturen nichts weg, was sie besser können.‘ Unser Fokus liegt woanders. Während kreative Leitideen und große Kampagnen weiterhin zum Teil extern entwickelt werden, konzentriert sich sein 600-köpfiges Team auf datenbasierte Kundenansprache, digitale Tools, digitaler Vertrieb und zentralisierte Inhalte für die Sparkassen Touchpoints. Dabei entsteht keine Konkurrenz, sondern eine echte Kollaboration. Tobias erklärt, wie Inhouse-Teams und Agenturen im Coworking-Stil zusammenarbeiten – jede Seite mit klaren Stärken und einer gemeinsamen Vision. Die entscheidende Frage ist jedoch: Wie bewahrt man in einem System mit so vielen Regularien und Gremien die nötige Flexibilität? Und wie bringt man mutige Entscheidungen und eine starke Marke unter einen Hut? Tobias verrät, wie Inhousing und externe Partnerschaften sinnvoll kombiniert werden können, warum Daten ein entscheidender Faktor sind und welche Rolle Unternehmergeist in einem traditionsreichen System spielt.
The post-election rally rolled on, lifting the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to fresh record highs for a second session in-a-row as investors also digested the latest rate cut and monetary policy pronouncements from the Federal Reserve. - Dow flat. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (down -2.32%) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (-4.32%) handed back some of the previous session's double-digit gains. The broader S&P500 +0.74% to 5,973.10, logging its 49th record closing high of 2024. Communication Services (up +1.92%), Information Technology (+1.83%), Consumer Discretionary (+1.37%) and Real Estate (+1.19%) all gained over >1% to lead eight of the eleven primary sectors higher.
US equity markets firmer as investors eyed earnings from a number of large capitalisation technology companies and key economic data - Dow lost -155-points or -0.36%. Home Depot Inc (down -1.94%) and Coca-Cola Co (-1.66%) both fell over >1.5%.The broader S&P500 edged +0.16% higher to settle ~0.5% below its record all-time closing high. Communication Services (up +1.56%) and Information Technology (+1.12%) both climbed over >1% to be the only primary sectors to advance overnight. Utilities (down -2.13%) and Energy (-1.44%) sat at the foot of the primary sector leaderboard. Ford Motor Co dropped -% after the carmaker reported lower-than-expected third-quarter profits after the close of the previous session.
This week's episode of "Surveyor Says! The NSPS Podcast" is a follow-up with our EP155 guests, Data Activation Center (DAC)! With more surveyors using cellular networks for data collection and communication, this episode catches up with Chandy Sayre (Account Manager), John Robinson (Director of IOT) and April Hawley (IOT Sales Manager) to discuss how cellular technology has advanced for the surveying and mapping communities in two short years. They recently chatted with Tim Burch about expanded coverage, access to multiple cellular networks, and the transition to e-SIM connectivity. Lots of great information about progressing technology, so check it out today!
Today's Connected episode is a little different than what we had planned. Dealerships are some of the most resilient businesses out there, but recent events have left a lot of dealers with understandable concerns about their system's security. Greg is joined in studio by Chris Gologanoff, Sales Director of Communication Services here at Reynolds, to talk about: -How dealers are reacting to their systems being down. -Best practices to keep operations running as smooth as possible. -How, as an industry, we're all helping one another through these tough times.
Joyce welcomes Chris Soukup, CEO of Communication Services for the Deaf. Mr. Soukup, a 2001 graduate of Gallaudet University, has held diverse and progressively responsible positions with CSD since the mid-1990s. Since 2005, he has been a member of CSD's executive leadership team and was appointed by the CSD Board of Directors to lead this organization as chief executive officer in 2014. He will discuss how this organization makes communication access a top priority for the deaf community.
Earnings season - better and stats - BIGGEST BUYBACK EVER - We are gauging investor sentiment --- Remember - Confidence and Sentiment (Cheer-leading helps) PLUS we are now on Spotify and Amazon Music/Podcasts! Click HERE for Show Notes and Links DHUnplugged is now streaming live - with listener chat. Click on link on the right sidebar. Love the Show? Then how about a Donation? Follow John C. Dvorak on Twitter Follow Andrew Horowitz on Twitter DONATE - Show 700 Campaign Warm Up - Earnings season - better and stats - BIGGEST BUYBACK EVER - We are gauging investor sentiment -- --- Remember - Confidence and Sentiment (Cheer-leading helps) - Announcing the WINNER CTP for Apple - Fake Work? Market Update - If down - buy.... Names that were hammered due to earnings catching bids again - Follow up - Utilities - Fed Speaks - Can't stop the Dove - Employment - Excitement about the Unemployment Rate Earnings Season Update: - Overall, 80% of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported actual results for Q1 2024 to date. - Of these companies, 77% have reported actual EPS above estimates, which is equal to the 5-year average of 77% but above the 10-year average of 74%. - In aggregate, companies are reporting earnings that are 7.5% above estimates, which is also below the 5-year average of 8.5% but above the 10-year average of 6.7% - Eight of the eleven sectors are reporting year-over-year earnings growth, led by the Communication Services, Utilities, Consumer Discretionary, and Information Technology sectors. - Three sectors are reporting a year-over-year decline in earnings: Energy, Health Care, and Materials. - Revenue - up again - estimated to be 4.1% when all said and done. - - If 4.1% is the actual revenue growth rate for the quarter, it will mark the 14th consecutive quarter of revenue growth for the index. Fake Work - An investor at famed Silicon Valley firm Andreessen Horowitz is the latest VC to get involved in the debate around "fake work" in the tech industry. - Ulevitch went on to point the finger at Google specifically, calling it "an amazing example." - "I don't think it's crazy to believe that half the white-collar staff at Google probably does no real work," he said. "The company has spent billions and billions of dollars per year on projects that go nowhere for over a decade, and all that money could have been returned to shareholders who have retirement accounts." - Marc Andreessen has criticized a managerial "laptop class" and tweeted in 2022, "The good big companies are overstaffed by 2x. The bad big companies are overstaffed by 4x or more." Buy 'em - Companies that took a hit after earnings (NFLX, AMD) getting bid again - NFLX gapped lower from ~$608 to $551 and now $592 - AMD dropped from $160 to $140 and now $156 - SPY , IWM and QQQ- Now above the 50day Moving average again Follow Up - Utilities - Just wanted to provide this idea again - Data Warehouses and other AI Power hungry places --- Symbol list of some utilities to look at further - SO, NEE, EXC, CMS - Natural gas producers are planning for a significant spike in demand over the next decade, as artificial intelligence drives a surge in electricity consumption that renewables may struggle to meet alone. - After a decade of flat power growth in the U.S., electricity demand is forecast to grow as much as 20% by 2030, according to a Wells Fargo analysis published in April. Power companies are moving to quickly secure energy as the rise of AI coincides with the expansion of domestic semiconductor and battery manufacturing as well as the electrification of the nation's vehicle fleet. - AI data centers alone are expected to add about 323 terawatt hours of electricity demand in the U.S. by 2030 Utilities ETF Apple - Earnings - Nothing great in the earnings. --- A few pockets of sunshine.... --- Raises dividend and $110 BILLION buyback - largest buyback EVER ...
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The Communication Services and the Information Technology sectors have significantly evolved in recent years. More specifically, Telecoms and Semiconductors have faced many challenges. What are the pros and cons of these industries? Which companies should investors dive into? What can they bring to their portfolios? Let's hit chips and chatter! For the complete show notes, make sure to check out our website: thedividendguyblog.com/163 Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our Get the Best of 6 Sectors issue. Twitter: @TheDividendGuy FB: http://bit.ly/2Z7Q5gF YouTube: http://bit.ly/2Zs6r1r DividendStocksRock.com
Businesses in the IT sector expect to let go of more staff than they hire for the first time since 2020, according to the latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey. Hiring optimism in the tech sector has declined from +55% two years ago to -8% for Q1 2024. This is in response to slower-than-expected growth and preparation for continued business stagnation in the New Year. The ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey is based on responses from 420 employers across Ireland. It asks whether employers intend to hire additional workers or reduce the size of their workforce in the coming quarter, January to March. It is the most comprehensive, forward-looking employment survey of its kind in the world. The survey also revealed 90% of businesses in the IT sector are having difficulty finding candidates with the skills they need. This is up 11 percentage points year-over-year. A low supply of specialist skills drives this shortage: across all sectors, IT & data skills were hardest to find - especially in the IT sector - with 69% of tech companies struggling to source candidates with the IT & data competencies they require. "Ireland's tech sector has entered a period of contraction following a period of significant over-hiring," said John Galvin, Managing Director, ManpowerGroup Ireland. "Tech companies, especially multinational software companies, have had to respond to slower than expected growth and reducing global demand. Most of these redundancies have been mid-level business support roles like HR and customer experience, hired in anticipation of massive growth which did not materialise in 2023." The tech sector downturn is most pronounced in Dublin, where IT employers report a net employment outlook of -20 %, down from +53% two years ago. However, 88% of IT businesses in Dublin city report difficulty finding the skills they need in candidates, and 35% of employers report IT and data skills are the most difficult to find. Galvin adds: "We continue to see vacancies for specialist, high-skilled tech roles like cloud architects, cybersecurity specialists, developers and data engineers, where employers are still looking to fill vacancies despite the wider downturn. This talent shortage is being driven by the demand for specialist skills rising faster than the economy can supply, but we know those with more generalist skills are encountering a much tighter labour market. "Companies are also turning to more contracting and interim hiring strategies to compensate for permanent candidate shortages in the short term, but employers have to introduce and utilise upskilling programmes for tech candidates in the New Year if they plan to overcome this talent shortage" Other sectors remain in positive territory. The Communication Services and Transport, Logistics, and Automotive sectors report a Net Employment Outlook of +48%, with the fast-growing Healthcare & Life Sciences sector following at +40%. However, each of these sectors reports facing record skills gaps, making optimistic hiring intentions difficult to turn into filled vacancies. To tackle the ongoing talent shortage, ManpowerGroup Ireland advises businesses to re-evaluate how they approach job vacancies and focus more on skills-based hiring rather than solely on industry experience. Galvin explains: "Eight years ago, IT skills barely scraped the top ten most in-demand skills. In today's market, the number of candidates with eight years of experience in cutting-edge tech does not exist in sufficient quantities to meet demand - and the data shows that it is only getting worse year on year. The traditional approach of looking for ready-made candidates with a fixed level of industry experience is simply not a sustainable hiring practice any longer. "We know from our conversations with candidates that they want flexibility, good work-life balance, and meaningful professional development. Businesses should look to hire candidates who have potential - based on a holistic view of past...
Plus: WeWork plans to file for bankruptcy as early as next week. And healthcare-payments company Waystar delays one of the year's last big IPOs. Keith Collins hosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Welcome to the PRmoment Podcast.This week, we're chatting to Alex Aiken, long-time executive director of the UK Government's Communication Service.Alex has worked with six Prime Ministers when they've had to make their most crucial decisions. He worked in government communications during Brexit, during the COVID crisis, when the queen died and when Russia invaded Ukraine.In short, he's been in the room during many of the most difficult periods of the UK government since the Second World War.He was appointed in December 2012 and has overseen a huge change in UK Government Communications. Currently, part of Alex's role is to counter the disinformation spread by foreign governments about the UK and its allies.Whatever your politics, it's acknowledged globally that UK Government Communications is a global leader in ensuring the effectiveness of its communications to the UK public.Before we start, if you haven't already, look at our new event PR Masterclass: The Agency Growth Forum. At this one event, 22 experts will give 11 Masterclasses on essential elements of managing a modern, profitable and successful PR firm. Finally, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.Here are some of the highlights of what Alex and PRmoment founder Ben Smith discussed:2 mins What does a good disinformation campaign currently look like?3 mins How digital and social media have added extraordinary scale to Russia's disinformation campaigns.4 mins Is there much evidence that people are becoming more circumspect to Russia's disinformation campaigns?4.30 mins Alex talks us through the principles of countering disinformation: strong and independent media, educated citizens and good public information.“AI, bots and digital media mean we've got disinformation campaigns on steroids- it's easier, cheaper and quicker to do now than it's ever been.”9 mins “(For the European Union, The UK, The US and the G7), it's only by working together to identify disinformation, by attributing it…and by working on the stories we want to tell that we will be able to combat it.”“To some extent, the UK can withstand disinformation, but smaller countries (those with newer democracies and a less independent media) are more at risk.”10 mins Alex shares his concerns about the attack of disinformation on democracies. He refers to the book Munitions of the Mind: A History of Propaganda from the Ancient World to the Present Era by author Philip M. Taylor, which suggests that the sophisticated digital propaganda of today poses a serious threat to democracy.“For centuries, information has been a powerful component of military doctrine.”“Information is a very powerful tool. Sometimes the public relations profession underestimates the power and value of its own currency of information…of truth told well.”12 mins Does Alex agree with this quote from the Freedom House Report on “Beijing's Global Media Influence 2022:“The Chinese government, under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, is accelerating a massive campaign to influence media outlets and news consumers around the world.”15 mins How much of Alex's current role is to try and coordinate Western government's response to Chinese, Russian and North
Combine Azure Communication Services, the same platform that runs Microsoft Teams, with the Azure OpenAI service for generative AI using GPT. Automate and transform your customer service interactions with faster and informed human-like responses, whether text-based through BOTs or through integrated voice channels. Provide a seamless escalation path for agents, with the context and precise information they need to rapidly and effectively respond to escalations. Bob Serr, Azure Communication Services VP, joins Jeremy Chapman to share how to build GPT-automated customer support with Azure Communication Services. ► QUICK LINKS: 00:00 - Combine Azure AI and Azure Communication Services 01:02 - What is Azure Communication Services? 02:20 - Developer advantages 03:22 - Demo- customer experience 06:32 - Demo- technician experience 08:16 - See how it works behind the scenes 10:00 - How to get it up and running 12:18 - Wrap up ► Link References Get core services up and running at https://aka.ms/ACSAIsampleapp For more information, check out https://aka.ms/ACSdocs ► Unfamiliar with Microsoft Mechanics? As Microsoft's official video series for IT, you can watch and share valuable content and demos of current and upcoming tech from the people who build it at Microsoft. • Subscribe to our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MicrosoftMechanicsSeries • Talk with other IT Pros, join us on the Microsoft Tech Community: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-mechanics-blog/bg-p/MicrosoftMechanicsBlog • Watch or listen from anywhere, subscribe to our podcast: https://microsoftmechanics.libsyn.com/podcast ► Keep getting this insider knowledge, join us on social: • Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MSFTMechanics • Share knowledge on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/microsoft-mechanics/ • Enjoy us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msftmechanics/ • Loosen up with us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@msftmechanics
In this weeks episode Jeremy Thake and Paul Schaeflein talk to Dan Wahlin about his newly published Microsoft Cloud sample that integrates Open AI Chat GPT, Azure Communication Services (ACS) and Microsoft Graph REST APIs. See more about Microsoft Cloud here https://learn.microsoft.com/microsoft-cloud Sample : https://aka.ms/openai-acs-msgraph https://github.com/microsoft/microsoftcloud Great article by Bea Stollnitz - How GPT models work
VettaFi's Roxanna Islam discusses the evolving Communication Services sector, along with ETFs covering the space. Hashdex's Marcelo Sampaio explains the first 1933 Act bitcoin futures ETF (DEFI) and offers perspective on the future of crypto. Amplify ETFs' Christian Magoon spotlights several ETFs including the Amplify CWP Enhanced Dividend Income ETF (DIVO).
The communication services sector has been an outperformer so far this year, but there are signs of even more opportunity in the sector. New Street Research's Jonathan Chaplin and Bernstein's Mark Shmulik give the outlook. Plus, freight is moving in the other direction, with the Dow Transports underperforming the broader market due to tightening loan and credit conditions. GXO Logistics CEO explains what his company is seeing. And, with just two trading days left in the first quarter, what's in store for the markets? Glenmede's Michael Reynolds and Gilman Hill Asset Management's Jenny Harrington weigh in.
In this presentation, I will introduce you to our MSCI Sectors and their attractivenessClick here to get the PDF with all charts and graphsWhat do you think: Which of the global sectors is most attractive?We use GICS sector classificationGICS The Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®) is an industry classification system developed by Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC (S&P) and MSCI in 1999GICS works well for the global financial communityMSCI separates stocks into 11 different sectorsEnergy, Materials, Industrials, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Health Care, Financials, Information Technology, Communication Services, Utilities, and Real EstateThen 25 Industry groupsSome sectors such as Industrials have three Industry groups as follows:Capital GoodsCommercial & Professional ServicesTransportationThere are 74 industriesWithin Transportation Industry Group there are five main Industries1) Air Freight & Logistics, 2) Passenger Airlines, 3) Marine Transportation, 4) Ground Transportation, and 5) Transportation InfrastructureThere are 163 Sub-IndustriesFinally, within the Industrials Sector, the Transportation Industry group, the Transportation Infrastructure Industry, are 3 Sub-Industries1) Airport Services, 2) Highways & Railtracks, and 3) Marine Ports & ServicesGICS sectors include 1,508 Developed Market companies, total market cap is about US$53trnThe largest sector is Info. Tech. at US$11trn market cap and consists of 183 companiesThe smallest is Real Estate with a market cap of US$1.5trn and 96 companiesWhat is your investment framework?Our investment strategies for ETFs and stocks come from our FVMR frameworkWe backtest and optimize the strategy for the factors that have worked best in each marketWe do all our research in-houseWe don't rely on other people's researchWe might of course get ideas from others, but we then test those ideas in our FVMR frameworkThe benefit of an investment framework is that it forces discipline when emotions run highEmotions from wild market events can cause you to make rash and costly decisionsTo avoid this, stick to a frameworkOur framework relies on data & structure, not just a feeling or opinionManagementIs responsible for producing earningsInvestorsSet the price the company trades atThere are 4 Elements to our FVMR frameworkFundamentals: Strong profitability shows a company is managed well.We prefer high or rising profitability.Valuation: Shows how the market perceives the stock.We prefer good fundamentals at relatively cheap valuations.Momentum: We try to avoid “value traps” by looking for positive price and earnings momentum.At times, low momentum signals an out-of-favor opportunity.Risk: We prefer low business and price risk.Not every stock is going to fly; some just provide stable returns and strong dividends.FundamentalsInfo. Tech has a 23% ROE; Health Care, Cons. Staples, and Energy are each earning 20% ROE15%
Good afternoon, Brian Szytel here with you today on this down day in markets following yesterday's unconvincing (to me, at least) Fed-led rally. Today there is more chatter from several other Fed Presidents I'll discuss, along with some comments on inflation, recession indications, and some takeaway comments from last night's State of the Union address. Plenty to go through, including my Super Bowl prediction at the end, so I'll let you hop into the podcast link below from here and reach out with any questions, as always. US futures opened last night down slightly, losing a little ground through the night, pointing to a down 100-point open at home, while Europe, in contrast, continued to hold gains. Markets opened in the red by about 110 points but were back toward fair value within the first hour of the morning session. Dow: -207 points (-.61%) S&P: -1.11% Nasdaq: -1.68% 10-Year Treasury Yield: 3.63%%, down 4.7 basis points on the day. The 2/10 yield curve is inverted by over 80 bps. The 3mo/10YR curve is inverted by 108 bps. Top-performing sector: Real Estate was the best-performing sector today at -.29%, although all sectors were in the red. Bottom-performing sector: Communication Services are down -4.13%, largely due to Google being down over 7% on the day. WTI Crude Oil: $78.41/barrel, up +1.63% Links mentioned in this episode: [TheDCToday.com] https://bahnsen.co/3xdfw1m DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com
Futures opened last night down -80 points and stayed down near -100 points into the evening. This morning futures pointed to a down -200 point open pre-market. The market opened down -150 points, worsened a bit, and then steadily improved throughout the day. The Dow closed down -36 points (-0.11%) with the S&P 500 down -0.61% and the Nasdaq down -1%. We are exactly halfway through earnings season (that number will explode higher this week) and revenue growth appears to be tracking towards +4.6% year-over-year (a tad better than expected) with earnings decline tracking towards -2.7% year-over-year (a bit worse than expected). Full-year earnings now sit at $224 expected, a +2.2% increase over the $219 of last year. Profit margins declining from 17.7% at their peak early last year to 16.2% is the big reason for the delta between revenues and earnings. Expect all this to update a lot in the next two quarters. A clear by-product of the weakening dollar: Companies with high foreign sales are outperforming companies with low foreign sales. It would sure seem one of the biggest stories of January was narrowing credit spreads (note here the spread compression in Investment Grade corporate bonds over the last three months). This has facilitated one of the biggest bond market rallies I have ever seen. The ten-year bond yield closed today at 3.65%, up 12 basis points today Top-performing sector for the day: Utilities (+0.87%) Bottom-performing sector for the day: Communication Services (-1.31%) Nigeria presently ranks as the #1 nation in the world for use of cryptocurrency. Thailand and Turkey round out the top two. These three countries are known for the heavy presence of a criminal underground which may possibly (just maybe, possibly) explain some of this. Links mentioned in this episode: [TheDCToday.com] (https://bahnsen.co/3DKsV4G) DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com
Wednesday Word from the Wise Andrew Jacobs is the Director of Communication Service at Andrew Wommack Ministries. He is a high capacity leader who leads a department of over 200 people. In this conversation we dive in the topics of growing through rejection. Sign up for our Newsletters! https://forms.gle/n2yPjbH7H3AeDqnL8 Follow us on Instagram! @josueibarrapodcast Questions or Prayer Request! hello@josueibarra.net
Calling all surveyors who use cellular networks for data collection and communication! “Surveyor Says!” The NSPS Podcast finds your host, Tim Burch, connected with the team at Data Activation Center (DAC), a telecommunication consultant that specializes in cellular data. Kelly Wingham Dyson (Founder and President) and Chandy Sayre (Dealer Relationship Manager) chatted with Tim about the history of their company, why working with a data communications consultant is essential to the surveyor, and their philosophy on providing the best customer service is an essential trait in the business world. Check out their conversation and hear why reliable data communication is an important tool in the surveyor's toolbox is. For more information, visit: https://www.dataactivationcenter.com/ Thanks for listening to “Surveyor Says!” The NSPS Podcast and subscribe wherever you listen to your audio selections.
Futures opened last night about even give or take 20 points, and stayed that way until early morning when we began moving lower and then notably so pointing to a down -150 point open. We opened down about -170 points but were down north of -250 after the first 20 minutes of trading. Around 1145 EST we had slightly better than expected PMI data released and fully recovered the morning losses trading sideways with a small upwards bias the remainder of the trading day. We closed positive on the Dow but slightly negative on both the SP500 and Nasdaq. Dow: +104.41 (+.31%) S&P: -.07% Nasdaq: -.27% 10-Year Treasury Yield: 3.46%, down -5.6bps on the day Top-performing sector: Industrials up +.65% Bottom-performing sector: Communication Services -.69% WTI Crude Oil: $80.16/barrel, down -1.79% Key Economic Point of the Day: A flash read today on US Composite PMI data showed a slight improvement over December, although still handily in contraction territory and the slowest since last October at 46.6 from 45 the month prior. Manufacturing PMI was little changed at 46.8 up from 46.2 with Services PMI at 46.6 from 44.7. Could the data in the chart below pick back up above 50 into positive territory before we end up registering an official recession this year, of course, but that economic margin is about as thin as it gets right now. For what its worth, this PMI data point is what led to markets recovering after the mornings initial sell off and was a ‘less bad' read following December – not so bad that we fear recession is immanent, but cool enough to back the ‘Fed will pause soon' narrative. Interestingly enough, the flash PMI read today from the Eurozone actually showed it barely bump back into expansion territory from 49.3 last month to 50.2, although not sure I would call that robust. Links mentioned in this episode: [TheDCToday.com] https://bahnsen.co/3RbWe5R DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com
Dow: -614 points (-1.81%) S&P: -1.56% Nasdaq: -1.24% 10-Year Treasury Yield: 3.37% (-16 basis points) Top-performing sector: Communication Services (-0.93%) Bottom-performing sector: Consumer Staples (-2.65%) WTI Crude Oil: $79.25/barrel (-1.16%) Key Economic Points of the Day: The Producer Price Index (PPI) saw outright (and rather significant) DEFLATION in December, with prices dropping on the month -0.5%, well more than the -0.1% expected. November's number was adjusted downwards by -0.2% as well. The 7.4% year-over-year number came down to 6.2%. The CORE number is down to 5.5%. Wholesale gas prices dropping -13.4% helped the cause, as did the food index's -1.2% decline. Energy/gas prices have helped downward pressure in recent months, and that could/likely will reverse in months ahead even as other inflationary data see more downward pressure. I expect the core vs. headline reads to potentially diverge significantly in the months ahead. Industrial Production fell -0.7% in December and was actually down -1% when you factor in downward revisions from past months. Manufacturing led the way down. This was the largest monthly decline in more than a year. On an annualized basis, Industrial Production is down -5.2% in the last three months. Microsoft joined the fray of huge tech companies performing massive layoffs as they announced plans to lay off 10,000 employees (5% of their workforce) Retail sales fell -1.1% in December, mostly in line with the level of disinflation of gasoline prices we saw last month. Links mentioned in this episode: TheDCToday.com DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com
Most investors have heard the disclaimer: Past performance is no indication of future results. We sure hope that's true for 2023. We're a couple of weeks into the New Year and there's one thing most of us can agree on, we'd sure like it to be better than last year. But will it? We'll talk about that today with Bob Doll. Bob Doll is Chief Investment Officer with CrossMark Global. 2022 IN REVIEW Looking back on 2022, Bob says what we saw was really a tug-of-war between earnings tailwinds and valuation headwinds. Global financial assets experienced near-record volatility in a generally hostile environment for investors given that the Fed and other central banks left themselves exposed to a rise in inflation as we cautioned in our year-ahead outlook for 2022. 2022 was the first year in nearly fifty that stocks and bonds both had negative returns for the first three quarters. At the beginning of the year, we expected a down year, but not a 25+% bear market. Equity market performance was mostly driven by valuation compression as bond yields adjusted sharply higher in response to elevated inflation and monetary policy normalization by the Fed and other central banks. The P/E ratio of the stock market peaked at 22x at the January 3 high and fell to a low of 15x at the October 12 low. The Bull/Bear Ratio (BBR) fell to a bear market low of 0.57 in mid-October. Historically, BBR readings of 1.00 or less have offered great opportunities for long-term investors. Sentiment continued to lean risk-off on hawkish takeaways from central bank speeches and increasing growth fears. The path of least resistance was lower for most of 2022 with bounces repeatedly reversed by Fed pushback against occasional easing of financial conditions and expectations (or hopes) of a Fed pivot. There was a massive outperformance of value over growth and defensive over cyclical stocks. Energy stocks behaved as if there was no bear market at all. International stocks eked out outperformance over the U.S. despite China's zero-Covid policy and the ugly Russia-Ukraine war. The strong showing of Democrats in the midterm elections surprised most pundits. THE KEY QUESTION FOR 2023 So now the key economic question for 2023 is whether central banks will be able to bring down inflation to acceptable levels without a recession. And beyond the inflation dynamic, we remain concerned about potential political and economic shocks that could impact the U.S. and global economy via higher uncertainty and/or tighter financial conditions. So it's with this backdrop that Bob offers his annual 10 predictions for 2023, which he describes as good educated guesses. 10 PREDICTIONS FOR 2023 His theme for 2023 is the Fed calls the shots. Bob lists and explains his 10 predictions: 1. U.S. experiences a shallow recession as real GDP is in the bottom ten of the last 50 years. 2. Inflation will fall substantially but remain above Fed's target. 3. Fed funds reach 5% and remain there for the balance of the year. 4. Earnings will fall short of expectations in 2023. Why is that? 5. No major asset class goes up or down by a double-digit percentage for only the fourth time this century. What will that look like? 6. Prediction #6 looks at winners and losers. Bob sees Energy, Consumer Staples, and Financials outperforming Utilities, Technology, and Communication Services as Value beats Growth. 7. The average active equity manager beats the index in 2023. 8. International stocks will outperform the U.S. for the second year in a row. 9. India will surpass China as the world's largest population and is the fastest-growing large economy. 10. A double-digit number of candidates will announce for President in 2023. Learn more about Bob Doll and CrossMark Global at CrossMarkGlobal.com On today's program, Rob also answers listener questions: ● Are there good options for lowering the rate and payment on a private student loan? ● What is the best way to pay down debts that are mostly medical in nature? RESOURCES MENTIONED: ● Schwab Intelligent Portfolios ● AnnualCreditReport.com Remember, you can call in to ask your questions most days at (800) 525-7000. Also, visit our website at FaithFi.com where you can connect with a FaithFi Coach, join the FaithFi Community, and even download the free FaithFi app. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1085/29
So the Dow gave back Monday's gain today and a tad more, but with today's -764 point day in the Dow, the market finds itself a couple of hundred points off where it was just last Friday. And the bond market rally continued again today as yields fell again. All of this is carefully dissected in today's podcast and video … Dow: down -764 points (-2.25%) S&P: down -2.49% Nasdaq: down -3.23% 10-Year Treasury Yield: 3.45% (-5 basis points) Top-performing sector: Energy (-0.53%) Bottom-performing sector: Technology (-3.78%) and Communication Services (-3.84%) WTI Crude Oil: $76.20/barrel (-1.38%) Key Economic Points of the Day: Retail Sales fell -0.6% in November, and even ex-autos were down -0.2%. Much of this was related to the strong number of October, off of which this drop is based. Nominal GDP expectations for Q4 will come down if consumer activity is less than expected. Industrial Production fell -0.2% vs. expectations of a +0.1% increase. Initial jobless claims were down 20k to 211k. Continuing claims are at their highest level since February (at 1.67 million). Links mentioned in this episode: TheDCToday.com DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com
Dow: Up +184 points (+0.55%) S&P: +0.75% Nasdaq: +1.13% 10-Year Treasury Yield: 3.48% (+7.9 basis points) Top-performing sector: Technology (+1.59%) Bottom-performing sector: Communication Services (-0.50%) WTI Crude Oil: $71.81/barrel (-0.28%) Key Economic Point of the Day: Initial jobless claims came in at 230k – right at expectations. Continuing claims have inched higher as well, all at once indicating some softening (high since February), but very little to write home about (not a big movement up). Links mentioned in this episode: TheDCToday.com DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com
A DEAD FLAT day in the Dow – up/down +0.00% (you do not see that often), and a whole lot I discuss in the DC Today. MARKET ACTION Dow: Up 1 point (LOL) (+0.001%) S&P: -0.19% Nasdaq: -0.51% 10-Year Treasury Yield: 3.42% (-9.3 basis points) Top-performing sector: Health Care (+0.85%) Bottom-performing sector: Communication Services (-0.93%) WTI Crude Oil: $72.43/barrel (-2.48%) Key Economic Point of the Day: Used vehicle prices hit their lowest level in over a year as outright deflation continues to permeate that marketplace (-15.6% decline since January) Links mentioned in this episode: TheDCToday.com DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com
December has launched and I have some things to tell you … MARKET ACTION Dow: Down -195 points (-0.56%) S&P: -0.09% Nasdaq: +0.13% 10-Year Treasury Yield: 3.50% (- 19 basis points); down 72bps from the 4.22% high of just five weeks ago! Top-performing sector: Communication Services (+0.29%) & Health Care (+0.24%) Bottom-performing sector: Financials (-0.71%) WTI Crude Oil: $81.28/barrel (+0.91%) Key Economic Point of the Day: The Fed's favorite inflation measurement (PCE) came in up just +0.2% on the month, less than the +0.3% expected, and known to be tainted by the misleading contribution of housing's lag effect (which I have written about extensively). The September gain had been +0.5%, so the stock and bond market responded favorably to the disinflationary trend. Initial jobless claims came in at 225,000, actually lower than expected Links mentioned in this episode: TheDCToday.com DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com
MARKET ACTION Dow: Up +56 points (+0.17%) S&P: +0.87% Nasdaq: 1.45% 10-Year Treasury Yield: 3.76% (- 10 basis points) Top-performing sector: Communication Services (+1.78%) Bottom-performing sector: Materials (-0.11%) WTI Crude Oil: $86.86/barrel (+1.15%) Key Economic Point of the Day: The Producer Price Index only rose +0.2% in October, half of the +0.4% monthly increase that had been anticipated. And much of that lower figure came from a decline of -0.1% in services, the first decline in wholesale services costs in two years ASK DAVID** “Is purchasing gold and/or silver a good investment?” ~ Cindy W. My view has been for quite some time that it is a non-productive investment. What I mean by then is that it does not generate any cash flow and does not have any internal earnings stream, so the value becomes a matter of speculation or supply/demand around use. But gold is not really owned much for industrial use, and even its cosmetic use is somewhat limited, so those who own gold or silver for investment purposes must defend the notion of gold being a sort of inflation hedge or currency proxy. And maybe it will be that someday, but that day is not the last 42 years, where gold is down by -50% relative to inflation – a stunning and shocking fact to all who hear it. I will also point out that the most common thing I have been told over the years is that gold gives us a hedge or substitute against crazy unstable monetary policy. Well, trillions of printed QE dollars since 2012 later, gold is lower than it was a decade ago. This should have been the golden age for gold; instead, it has many wondering what exactly the thesis is. At the end of the day, gold can go up a lot, and it can go down a lot, but it rarely does what people seem to want it to do when they want it to do it. Links mentioned in this episode: DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com
Market Action Futures opened down nearly -200 points last night but got back nearly to the flat line by bedtime as Japan and Hong Kong markets were rallying. Then this morning, futures pointed to a +170-point open pre-market. The market opened +80 points and went steadily higher throughout the day. The Dow closed up +424 points (+1.31%), with the S&P 500 up +0.96% and the Nasdaq up +0.85%. It would be malpractice not to start with this chart. One thing I have said over and over is that I believe equity volatility does not stabilize until the ascendant dollar reverses. Friday's drop in the DXY was the worst day for the dollar since 2015 and the second worst day since the financial crisis (h/t Jim Bianco). Now, the dollar was still UP on the week – we are hardly in a trend of dollar reversal. Volatility is still the story, not a weakening dollar. For now. We are up to 85% of companies reported for the quarter now (Q3 results), and revenue growth looks to be +11% year-over-year with earnings growth of +4.3%. And the earnings outlook for 2023 has only come down from $252/share for the S&P 500 to $233, meaning either this will end up being a very, very mild recession, or else there is more room to go for downward revisions of 2023 profits. The ten-year bond yield closed today at 4.22%, up six basis points on the day Top-performing sector for the day: Communication Services (+1.83%) and Energy (+1.73%) Bottom-performing sector for the day: Utilities (-1.94%) I am not sure that the ESG movement is proving to be much about ideology. It is apparently a lot more about performance, after all. As ESG-popular FAANG stocks have gotten hammered and ESG-hated energy stocks have thrived, new money into ESG products has evaporated. Links mentioned in this episode: DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com
MARKET ACTION Dow: -146 points (-0.46%) S&P: -1.06% Nasdaq: -1.73% 10-Year Treasury Yield: 4.15% (+9 basis points) Top-performing sector: Energy (+2.04 xxx%) Bottom-performing sector: Technology (-3.00%) and Communication Services -2.83% WTI Crude Oil: $87.95/barrel (-2.29%) Key Economic Point of the Day: 1.485 million continuing claims (up 47k, most since March) ISM Services came in at 54.4 – still expansionary but a point lower than expected, and with New Orders dropping 4 points ASK DAVID “I enjoy listening to your podcasts – thank you for the insights! I am sitting on cash – about 75% of my investable assets. What would be a good philosophy of when to get back into the market and how? I am a believer in dividend based investing.” ~ Adrian One first has to start with the basic principles – not getting invested in a dividend equity portfolio with cash is a riskier than getting invested in one. The reason not to invest immediately is either (a) A belief about market timing that is not grounded in reality, or (b) A desire to not invest all at once at an inopportune time (that being revealed to you in hindsight, not in advance). I reject reason A and am sympathetic to reason B, as long as one does the needed self-assessment to see that reason B is psychological and emotional, not financial or rational. So then if the desire to mitigate timing risk is psychologically helpful, I advise deploying no less than 50% at once, and then the rest either over a period of time periodically (say, 1/10th of the remainder each month for ten months), or tactically (each “bad” down day in markets deploying more). I have no statistical or empirical argument for one over the other as it pertains to how to deploy the second 50%, but feel strongly about getting 50% of uninvested cash at once. Links mentioned in this episode: DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com
MARKET ACTION Dow: -80 points (-0.24%) S&P: -0.41% Nasdaq: -0.89% 10-Year Treasury Yield: 4.04% (-3 basis points) Top-performing sector: Energy (+0.99%) Bottom-performing sector: Communication Services (-1.81%) WTI Crude Oil: $88.57/barrel (+2.36%) Key Economic Points of the Day: ISM Manufacturing fell to 50.2, just barely in expansion mode, and the weakest figure since May 2020. New Orders and Backlogs reflected contraction, and only 8 of 18 sectors saw growth on the month. But … Job Openings went HIGHER in September, coming in at 10.7 million (almost a million higher than the 9.8 million expected) Links mentioned in this episode: DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com
I returned from my meetings in Palm Beach at the end of the day yesterday and hit the ground running (both figuratively and literally) very early this morning. I love doing the DC Today. Special thanks to Brian and Trevor for filling in, and off we go with an action-packed recap of today … Market Action Dow: Up +194 points (+0.61%) – but off of a +550 point high S&P: -0.61% Nasdaq: -1.63% 10-Year Treasury Yield: 3.92% (-9 basis points) Top-performing sector: Industrials (+1.14%) Bottom-performing sector: Communication Services (-4.12%) WTI Crude Oil: $88.58/barrel (+0.72%) Key Economic Points of the Day: Real GDP grew in Q3 at +2.6% annualized rate as net exports grew in light of energy exports being up and Chinese imports being down. Personal Consumption and Business Investment were up, but only a tad. New Orders for Durable Goods were up +0.4%, below the 0.6% expectation Links mentioned in this episode: DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com
Today was a mixed bag, where we continue to see varying results from the Dow and the Nasdaq. Some market pundits have dubbed this as value vs. growth or categorized these baskets of equities as a difference in “duration.” Regardless of how you describe it, we saw some downward pressure resulting from less-than-favorable earnings reports on a handful of large tech companies, and some continued positive momentum from the sectors leading the market on the year (Energy, Healthcare, Consumer Staples, etc.). Market Action Dow: +2.37 (0.01%) S&P: -0.74% Nasdaq: -2.04% 10-Year Treasury Yield: 4.01% (-9 basis points) Top-performing sector: Energy (+1.36%) Bottom-performing sector: Communication Services (-4.75%) WTI Crude Oil: $88.12/barrel (+3.26%) Key Economic Points of the Day: The trade deficit widened in September by 5.7% (from $87.3 billion to $92.2 billion) There is a lot you could potentially dissect here, but the simplest explanation is that a strong dollar means buyers (exports) can buy less of our goods, and US purchasers (imports) can buy more goods, which expands the deficit – falling exports, rising imports. New home sales fell month over month (from 677,000 to 603,000), but we were still slightly above the average estimates of 593,000 For perspective here, new home sales peaked in August 2020 at 1.04 million Although the number of homes sold declined, the average sale price did rise from $436,800 to $470,600 (slightly below the record high of $479,800) Links mentioned in this episode: DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com
Trevor Cummings here, and I am honored to be joining you for the third day in a row. As mentioned yesterday, David Bahnsen will be back tomorrow with his weekly commentary – Dividend Cafe. Additionally, I invite you to subscribe to my weekly writings at thoughtsonmoney.com. Now, off to the updates from this busy Thursday market day… Dow: -91.01 (0.30%) S&P: -0.80% Nasdaq: -0.61% 10-Year Treasury Yield: 4.232% (+10.3 basis points) Top-performing sector: Communication Services (+0.36%) Bottom-performing sector: Utilities (- 2.51%) WTI Crude Oil: $85.71/barrel (+0.19%) Key Economic Points of the Day: • Liz Truss has resigned as U.K. Prime Minister ◦ This was the shortest tenure in British history ◦ Note, her Finance Minister was dismissed from his post after just 38 days • Jobless claims came in at 214,000 on an expectation of 230,000 ◦ The impacts of Hurricane Ian on the data looked to be much lighter this week ◦ The total number of people collecting unemployment benefits sits at 1.39 million, near a 50-year low ◦ In simple terms, the labor market remains tight • As to be expected, U.S. existing-home sales were down ◦ The figures came in at 4.7 million, nearly on the dot with expectations ◦ This is eight consecutive months of decline and, when compared to September 2021, a slide of 23.8% ◦ Reminder, mortgage interest rates are skyrocketing, the general population is on edge regarding inflation and recession, and this combination of anxiety and affordability is slowing down activity • The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index published today ◦ This regional look is meant to give a sneak peek at what the national ISM data might look like next month ◦ the numbers came in at -8.7 on an expectation of -5 (note, any number below 0 represents declining business conditions) TheDCToday.com DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com
In this edition of the podcast, we update our latest views on sectors and key takeaways from our October RBC analyst outlook survey. Three big things you need to know: First, in our latest survey, taken in early October 2022, our analysts had a slightly positive tilt in their outlooks for performance over the next 6-12 months, with a modestly positive view on valuations and a slightly positive tilt on the state of demand. The most constructive performance outlooks were found in Energy and Health Care, followed by REITs, then Financials, Tech, and Utilities which offset more pessimistic outlooks for Consumer Staples and Consumer Discretionary. There were some interesting shifts in some of these rankings. Second, our analysts don't seem particularly focused on the mid-term elections, with most seeing the possibility of a split or Republican-led Congress as a neutral event for their industries. To the extent they see it as a relevant event, a good showing for Republicans is seen as the better outcome for their industries. Third, our analysts' latest sector views support our own, ongoing US Equity Strategy overweights on Energy, Financials, Health Care, and Technology and our underweight on Consumer Staples. Our analysts' views also support our decision – which we implemented on Monday – to upgrade Communication Services from underweight to market weight and to downgrade Consumer Discretionary from market weight to underweight.
This is Trevor Cummings joining you as your guest host on DC Today. You can find my weekly commentary at www.thoughtsonmoney.com. Also, please join me for the DC Today video and podcast – see below. Market Action Dow: +341.67 (1.13%) S&P: 1.16%% Nasdaq: 0.9% 10-Year Treasury Yield: 3.994% (+2 basis points) Top-performing sector: Industrials (+2.36%) Bottom-performing sector: Communication Services (+0.54%) WTI Crude Oil: $83.22/barrel (-2.6%) Key Economic Point of the Day: • Industrial production in September rose 0.4% which was a surprise to the upside – estimates were 0.1%. Additionally, August was revised slightly to the upside, as well; a revision from -0.2% to -0.1%. • The National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) monthly confidence fell 8 points to 38 in October, making 10 consecutive months of decline. Note, the index was at 80 last October and this 10-month decline tops the record of consecutive declining months set in '06/'08. Links mentioned in this episode: TheDCToday.com TheBahnsenGroup.com
An odd day (old school) as the Dow started down a bit, rallied way higher (up +400 points at one point), fell into negative territory, then closed up +36 as old-guard defensive sectors did very well (Real Estate, Consumer Staples, Health Care) and the cool stuff got hit. More to say on everything here. MARKET ACTION Dow: +36 points (+0.12%) S&P: -0.65% Nasdaq: -1.10% 10-Year Treasury Yield: 3.937% (+5 basis points) Top-performing sector: Real Estate (+1.02%) and Consumer Staples (+0.93%) Bottom-performing sector: Communication Services (-1.63%) and Technology (-1.52%) WTI Crude Oil: $88.68/barrel (-2.73%) Links mentioned in this episode: DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com
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