| From: Julius Wong | 9/16/2024 9:14:29 AM | | | | | | Potential Fed cuts provide bullish backdrop for AI stocks: Wedbush
Sep. 16, 2024 8:53 AM ET
By: Brandon Evans, SA News Editor
 uschools
An array of tech stocks appear likely to benefit, especially the hottest names in artificial intelligence, such as Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), if the Federal Reserve System cuts interest rates this week, according to an investor note by Wedbush.
"In a nutshell we believe the stage is set for tech stocks to move higher into year-end and 2025 in our opinion as the Fed and Powell kick off its rate cutting cycle this week, macro soft landing remains the path, and tech spending on AI remains a generational spending cycle just starting to hit the shores of the tech sector," said Wedbush analysts, led by Daniel Ives.
A majority of traders expects the Fed to cut rates by 50 basis points.
"However, a rate cut of more than 25bps seems unlikely—while the Fed is late in cutting rates, a larger move might be taken as a sign of panic," said UBS analyst Paul Donovan. "Higher frequency cuts rather than larger cuts seem most likely."
In addition to Nvidia, other tech names linked to AI that should benefit from a rate cut include, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), Palantir (NYSE: PLTR), Salesforce ( CRM), Dell (NYSE: DELL), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), AMD ( AMD) and ServiceNow ( NOW), Ives noted.
Capital expenditures on AI are expected to reach a towering $1T over the next few years.
"As more tech vendors show the monetization piece of AI this will ultimately drive the next leg of the tech bull market in a very stable overall IT spending environment that is a bullish backdrop for tech stocks in our opinion," Ives added.
The Federal Reserve is slated to release a policy statement on Wednesday, Sept. 18, at 2 p.m. ET. |
| | Effective Collaboration - Team Research for Better Returns: | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last Read |
|
| From: Julius Wong | 9/17/2024 9:04:48 AM | | | | | | Trump to announce World Liberty Financial cryptocurrency platform on Monday night
Sep. 16, 2024 1:33 PM ET
By: Rob Johnson, SA News Editor
 Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News
Former President Donald Trump will formally announce his World Liberty Financial cryptocurrency platform Monday night, which will be led by his sons.
“We’re embracing the future with crypto and leaving the slow and outdated big banks behind," Trump said in a YouTube video posted on X last week.
Trump said the announcement would be on Trump's X Spaces channel at 8 p.m. ET.
NBC News reported earlier in the day that events surrounding the launch at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida would continue despite the reported assassination attempt on him at his nearby golf course.
CoinDesk reported earlier this month, citing a white paper draft it obtained, that 70% of World Liberty Financial’s WFLI “governance” crypto tokens will be owned “by the founders, team, and service providers.” The other 30%, the report said, will be sold “via a public sale,” and some of the proceeds will also go to project insiders, but some will be reserved in a treasury “to support World Liberty’s financial operations.”
The white paper, CoinDesk reported, said Trump’s crypto currency “will be non-transferrable and locked indefinitely in a wallet or smart contract until such time, if ever, $WFLI are unlocked through protocol governance procedures in a manner that does not contravene applicable law.”
According to CoinDesk, Trump is listed in the white paper as World Liberty Financial’s “chief crypto advocate,” and sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump share the post of “web 3 ambassador. Barron Trump is its “DeFi visionary,” the white paper reportedly said.
DeFi is short for decentralized finance.
The launch is in line with Trump’s remarks on the campaign trail where he has pledged to make the US the world’s “crypto capital” if he wins the White House again.
It also has raised some ethical concerns by corruption watchdogs.
“Taking a pro-crypto stance is not necessarily troubling; the troubling aspect is doing it while starting a way to personally benefit from it,” Jordan Libowitz, a spokesperson for government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press earlier this month.
Bitcoin ( BTC-USD), on Monday was +3.75% over the last 24 hours to $57,521.69 in trading volume of $32.32B, according to CoinDesk data. Meanwhile, Ethereum was -4.36% over the past 24 hours to $2,280.76 on volume of $17.25B.
Here are some popular cryptocurrencies and related exchange-traded funds of interest: ( LTC-USD), ( XRP-USD), ( IBIT), ( ARKB), ( GBTC), ( BRRR), ( BTCO), ( HODL), ( BTCW), ( FBTC), ( BITB), ( EZBC), ( BITQ), ( DAPP), ( BKCH), ( BLOK), ( CRPT), and ( IBLC). |
| | Effective Collaboration - Team Research for Better Returns: | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last Read |
|
| From: Julius Wong | 9/17/2024 3:00:12 PM | | | | | | Wedbush spotlights DELL, NVDA, MSFT, and others as rate cuts should support the AI trend
Sep. 17, 2024 10:06 AM ET
By: Jason Capul, SA News Editor
 AlexSecret
Wedbush analysts spotlighted that information technology stocks that are tied to artificial intelligence (AI) have a chance to move higher with the Federal Reserve widely expected to step in and start cutting interest rates this week.
"In a nutshell we believe the stage is set for tech stocks to move higher into year-end and 2025 in our opinion as the Fed and Powell kick off its rate cutting cycle this week, macro soft landing remains the path, and tech spending on AI remains a generational spending cycle just starting to hit the shores of the tech sector," said Wedbush analysts, led by Daniel Ives.
For reference, the below list was ranked according to Seeking Alpha’s Quant Ratings, a system that grades stocks based on quantitative measures, such as profitability, momentum and valuation. Quant Ratings are given on a scale of 1-5.
Quant Grades for the 10 AI Stocks Wedbush Highlighted
No. 10: AMD ( AMD): Quant rating 3.15.
No. 9: Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT): Quant rating 3.44.
No. 8: ServiceNow ( NOW): Quant rating 3.45.
No. 7: IBM ( IBM): Quant rating 3.46.
No. 6: Oracle ( ORCL): Quant rating 3.46.
No. 5: Salesforce ( CRM): Quant rating 3.47.
No. 4: Apple ( AAPL): Quant rating 3.48.
No. 3: Palantir ( PLTR): Quant rating 3.49.
No. 2: Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA): Quant rating 3.49.
No. 1: Dell (NYSE: DELL): Quant rating 4.65.
Year-to-date price action: AMD +3.2%, MSFT +14.7%, NOW +26.3%, IBM +32.7%, ORCL +61.5%, CRM -2.4%, AAPL +12.3%, PLTR +111.4%, NVDA +140.5%, and DELL +50.8%.
For investors that are looking to further examine and understand the artificial intelligence trend, they may look towards the below group of exchange traded funds for additional information:
- KraneShares Artificial Intelligence and Technology ETF ( AGIX)
- GX Artificial Intelligence & Tech ETF ( AIQ)
- GX Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF ( BOTZ)
- ALPS Disruptive Technologies ETF ( DTEC)
- First Trust NASDAQ Artificial Intelligence and Robotics ETF ( ROBT)
- Robo Global Artificial Intelligence ETF ( THNQ)
- Roundhill Generative AI & Technology ETF ( CHAT)
|
| | Effective Collaboration - Team Research for Better Returns: | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last Read |
|
| From: Julius Wong | 9/19/2024 2:09:41 PM | | | | | | Travel and leisure stocks are outperforming after the Fed rate cut
Sep. 19, 2024 10:51 AM ET
By: Clark Schultz, SA News Editor
 Adam Smigielski
Travel and leisure stocks saw solid gains on Thursday after the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time in more than four years.
Notable advancers in morning action included Airbnb (NASDAQ: ABNB) +6.4%, Sonder Holdings ( SOND) +4.8%, Las Vegas Sands ( LVS) +3.6%, Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) +3.4%, Hilton Grand Vacations ( HGV) +3.5%, Travel + Leisure ( TNL) +3.2%, Red Rock Resorts (NASDAQ: RRR) +2.9%, Marriott Vacations ( VAC) +2.8%, MGM Resorts ( MGM) +2.6%, United Parks & Resorts ( PRKS) +2.4%, and DraftKings ( DKNG) +2.2%.
The FOMC rate cut was highly anticipated by investors, meaning that some of the upside for companies on their balance sheets from lower interest rates may be already baked into their share prices. However, Deutsche Bank singled out a casino stock that may have some unrealized potential. Analyst Carlo Santarelli said Red Rock Resorts ( RRR) is proceeding more quickly than anticipated with a casino project in the southern Las Vegas valley after the success of the Durango Casino & Resort. Deutsche Bank is positive on Red Rock Resorts ( RRR) in general on its view that the Las Vegas locals market is stable. "The locals promotional environment remains active, though unchanged on a sequential basis. Valuation remains attractive, with RRR offering about a 10% FCF yield on the core operations and the development pipeline is unparalleled within the gaming space," highlighted Santarelli. |
| | Effective Collaboration - Team Research for Better Returns: | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last Read |
|
| From: Julius Wong | 9/20/2024 8:32:33 AM | | | | | | DoE awards $3B for 25 projects to boost U.S. battery production
Sep. 20, 2024 7:37 AM ET
By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor
 Olemedia
The Biden administration said Friday it is awarding more than $3B to 25 battery manufacturing projects in 14 states in an effort to boost domestic production of critical materials used for electric vehicles and shift the supply chain away from China.
Among the projects selected, American Battery Technology ( ABAT) received $150M to build a commercial-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility in South Carolina.
Albemarle ( ALB) was awarded $67M to retrofit a plant in North Carolina to manufacture commercial quantities of anode material for next-generation lithium-ion batteries.
Honeywell ( HON) is set to receive $126M to build a commercial-scale facility in Louisiana to produce a key electrolyte salt needed for lithium batteries.
Dow Inc. ( DOW) was awarded $100M to produce battery-grade carbonate solvents for lithium-ion battery electrolytes.
SWA Lithium LLC, a joint venture of Standard Lithium ( SLI) and Equinor ( EQNR), was selected for up to $225M to produce lithium carbonate using direct lithium extraction technology.
The grants mark the second round of EV battery funding under the bipartisan infrastructure law approved in 2021; DoE previously allocated $1.8B for 14 projects.
The DoE has said the lithium battery market may expand by 5x-10x by the end of the decade, making domestic investment essential. |
| | Effective Collaboration - Team Research for Better Returns: | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last Read |
|
| From: Julius Wong | 9/21/2024 7:49:06 AM | | | | | | Bitcoin on track to rise on weekly basis as Fed delivers jumbo rate cut
Sep. 20, 2024 3:12 PM ET
By: Sinchita Mitra, SA News Editor
 peterschreiber.media/iStock via Getty Images
Bitcoin ( BTC-USD) is set to rise 3.8% on a weekly basis, in a period that saw the Federal Reserve deliver a supersized rate cut.
The cryptocurrency has been largely on an upward trajectory since the start of the week, amid a risk-on sentiment among investors.
"The recent Fed rate cut has greatly elevated investors’ risk-on sentiment. We have seen a jump in Bitcoin’s price and an overall rally in the crypto market as a result," Augustine Fan, Head of Insights, SOFA.org said.
The world's oldest digital currency touched the $60K mark on Tuesday, jumping to a three-week-high, and has since largely climbed up for the rest of the week.
Bitcoin ( BTC-USD) and other major cryptocurrencies jumped in Thursday morning trading after the Fed delivered its first interest-rate cut since the onset of the pandemic and signaled further policy easing as the year draws to a close. BTC hovered near the $64K mark on the day.
The swings came after the U.S. central bank cut rates by 50 basis points and signaled another 50 bps of easing by the end of the year.
Lower borrowing costs are generally positive for cryptos because they can reduce the appeal of traditional savings and investment vehicles, leading investors to seek higher returns in riskier asset classes like crypto.
BTC recovered 60k on the back of the strong equity move, with a strong performance in altcoins as a sign of an overall boost in risk sentiment, Fan added. |
| | Effective Collaboration - Team Research for Better Returns: | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last Read |
|
| From: Julius Wong | 9/21/2024 7:54:22 AM | | | | | | Uranium producers rally as Constellation Energy plans Three Mile Island restart
Sep. 20, 2024 12:48 PM ET
By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor
 zhongguo/E+ via Getty Images
Constellation Energy ( CEG) surges to the top of the S&P 500 leaderboard, +18.2% to an all-time high above $247 in Friday's trading, after announcing a deal to restart its Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania to help power Microsoft's growing plans for artificial intelligence.
Constellation ( CEG) plans to spend ~$1.6B to revive the plant, which it expects to come online by 2028; the company said it expects to renew its license that would extend plant operations to at least 2054.
Uranium producers are getting a boost from the news, including Cameco ( CCJ) +7.9%, Centrus Energy ( LEU) +7%, Forsys Metals ( OTCPK:FOSYF) +7%, Nuscale Power ( SMR) +6.4%, Energy Fuels ( UUUU) +5.2%, Denison Mines ( DNN) +4.7%, Uranium Royalty ( UROY) +4.4%, NexGen Energy ( NXE) +4.3%, Uranium Energy ( UEC) +4.1%, Fission Uranium ( OTCQX:FCUUF) +2.4%, Ur-Energy ( URG) +1.7%.
Shares of Vistra ( VST), which also boasts a strong nuclear power presence, +14.5% for a 10th straight day of gains.
Other high ranking utility stocks on the S&P 500 include NRG Energy ( NRG) +4.4%, Public Service Enterprise Group ( PEG) +3.1%, Exelon ( EXC) +2.6%, Ameren ( AEE) +2.1%. |
| | Effective Collaboration - Team Research for Better Returns: | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last Read |
|
| From: Julius Wong | 9/22/2024 8:17:02 AM | | | | | | Insider trades: Notable buys and sells by significant shareholders, executives and directors
Sep. 21, 2024 1:20 PM ET
By: Nilanjana Basu, SA News Editor
A weekly summary of insider trading highlighting notable buying and selling by investors, directors and executives. The trades have taken place between September 16 and September 20, 2024.
• Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG), parent company of Google, reported a recent transaction by Director, John Hennessy. As disclosed on September 16, 2024, Hennessy sold a total of 800 shares of common stock at a price of $153.75 per share, totaling $ 123,003. Bryan now holds 28,524 shares of the company.
• Food and restaurant chain, McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) said in a filing that CEO and Chairman, Christopher J Kempczinski sold 3,934 common shares on September 18, 2024 at $300 per share for a total transaction value of about $1.2M. Kempczinski now owns 61,612 shares.
• On 19th September, Durn Daniel, EVP & CFO of California based software company, Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE), sold 6,500 shares at a price of $ 515.44 per share, totaling $3.4M. The transaction has adjusted CFO's holdings in the company to 20,838 shares following the sale.
• In a recent transaction, Sanjay Goel, EVP & President, Asia-Pacific of American Tower (NYSE: AMT) sold 5,000 shares of the company's common stock at $ 238 per share, resulting in a total sale value of approximately $1.2M. Following the transaction, Goel’s direct ownership in the company stands at 18,621 shares.
• Kroger’s (NYSE: KR) Vice President & Controller Brian Nichols sold 4,000 shares of the company at $55.7 per share for total transaction value $222,800.Nichols now holds 14,063 shares of the company.
• In a series of transactions, Grier Eliasek, COO of Prospect Capital (NASDAQ: PSEC), expanded his holdings in the company by purchasing its shares. Eliasek acquired 5,000 shares on September 16, 5000 common shares on September 17, 5000 shares on September 18. Following the transactions, Eliasek's direct holdings have increased to 1.7M shares. |
| | Effective Collaboration - Team Research for Better Returns: | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last Read |
|
| From: Julius Wong | 9/22/2024 8:29:18 AM | | | | | | Trending stocks this week after Fed delivers jumbo rate cut
Sep. 21, 2024 2:41 PM ET
By: Deepa Sarvaiya, SA News Editor
 naphtalina/iStock via Getty Images
The S&P 500 ( SP500) capped an eventful week with a 1.36% gain at 5,702.53 points. The benchmark index crossed the 5,700 level for the first time ever, in this week, that saw the Fed cut interest rates for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic four years ago.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) slashed its federal funds rate by 50 basis points to 4.75%-5.00%, ending a nearly two-week debate over the size of the anticipated cut heading into the announcement.
These stocks were among those that were trending in Wall Street this week:
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares closed 2.8% lower Monday, after TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo estimated iPhone 16 series first-weekend pre-order sales at about 37 million units, down about 12.7% YoY amid Apple Intelligence, is not available at launch alongside the iPhone 16 release and intense competition in the Chinese market. Kuo added that Apple and its supply chain partners are unlikely to change production plans "significantly" in the short-term and that the Cupertino, Calif.-based company could improve sales as its artificial intelligence system, Apple Intelligence, is released over time, and the holiday shopping season approaches.
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) shares rose 4.8% after the company launched over 100 open-source AI models at its Apsara Cloud event. The Chinese tech giant also introduced a new text-to-video tool. These AI models, based on the Qwen 2.5 LLM, are designed for use in industries like automobiles, gaming, and scientific research, with enhanced math and coding capabilities. Ranging from 0.5B to 72B parameters, the models support over 29 languages, according to reports.
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) was in focus on Tuesday after a series of moves, including a deal with Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) to manufacture a custom artificial intelligence chip for the Seattle-based tech giant. The semiconductor giant revealed plans to transform its foundry business into a standalone subsidiary, potentially opening the door for external investment.
NIO (NYSE: NIO) closed 7.6% higher Thursday after the electric vehicle company begun deliveries of its EL8 to European customers after launching at the beginning of the summer. NIO continues to expand presence in Europe despite the threat of punitive tariffs imposed by the European Union.
Dada Nexus (NASDAQ: DADA) shares closed 22% higher Wednesday after Chinese online retailer JD.com (NASDAQ: JD) acquired Walmart's (NYSE: WMT) entire stake in the company. In a regulatory filing, JD.com confirmed the purchase of 87.5M ordinary DADA shares and 1.875M DADA ADSs, giving it a controlling 63.2% ownership. This development comes after Walmart recently sold its near 10% stake in JD.com.
Nike (NYSE: NKE) shares surged following the announcement of Elliott Hill's return as president and CEO. He will resume his duties on October 14, 2024. The current CEO John Donahoe plans to retire on October 13, remaining as an advisor until January.
FedEx (NYSE: FDX) shares plummeted over 12% after the company reported weaker-than-expected FQ1 profit and sales. The shipping giant lowered its revenue and EPS growth projection.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) hiked its quarterly dividend by 10% and approved a new share buyback of up to $60B. "Combined with mid-teens EPS growth, (the dividend hike) supports a durable strong mid-teens+ total return profile at MSFT, framing an attractive risk/reward," Morgan Stanley said, adding that it remained Overweight on the stock.
Class A shares of Palantir Technologies (NYSE: PLTR) gained after Bank of America's global research team added the data analytics software company's stock to a list of "best investment ideas". BofA's action came ahead of Palantir's ( PLTR) inclusion into the benchmark S&P 500 ( SP500) index later this month. |
| | Effective Collaboration - Team Research for Better Returns: | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last Read |
|
| |
