Free Republic

About one-third of all municipal bonds issued in 2024 and outstanding through 2024 are from sanctuary jurisdictions, concentrated in large cities and states, such as California, New York, and Massachusetts...The absence of truly objective bond ratings or comprehensive risk assessments for sanctuary jurisdictions may place investors, particularly individual investors, who own a significant share of this market, at a disadvantage.

GENEVA (AP) — Swiss pharmaceuticals powerhouse Roche announced Tuesday it plans to invest $50 billion in the United States over the next five years, creating 12,000 jobs. The Basel-based company, whose array of products includes cancer medicines and multiple sclerosis treatment Ocrevus, said the investment would go toward high-tech research and development sites and new manufacturing facilities in places including California, Indiana, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Some of the $50 billion in investments were already underway or planned for the next several years, Roche spokesperson Rebekka Schnell said in an e-mail, adding that the company was not specifying how much was...

IBM, one of the nation’s largest technology employers, announced Monday that it plans to invest $150 billion in the United States over the next five years, adding that the company is “focused on American jobs and manufacturing.” IBM revealed in a Monday press release that it “plans to invest $150 billion in America over the next five years to fuel the economy and to accelerate its role as the global leader in computing.” “This includes an investment of more than $30 billion in research and development to advance and continue IBM’s American manufacturing of mainframe and quantum computers,” the company...

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose Monday as investors weighed concerns over tariffs and comments by President Donald Trump criticizing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was 8 basis points higher at 4.401%. The 2-year Treasury yield was 1 basis point lower to 3.788%. One basis point is equal to 0.01%. Yields and prices move in opposite directions. The moves come after Trump on Friday levied another salvo at Powell for not lowering interest rates. The president vocalized his discontent with the Fed chair’s economic policy leadership during a question-and-answer session with reporters....

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. Treasuries extended heavy losses on Wednesday in a sign investors are selling even their safest assets as a global market rout unleashed by U.S. tariffs takes an unnerving turn towards distress and a dash for the safety of cash. "This is beyond fundamentals right now. This is about liquidity," said Jack Chambers, senior rates strategist at ANZ in Sydney. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield, the globe's benchmark safe-haven anchor, was up 20 basis points and rising in Asia - a remarkable move in a time zone where it's usually fairly steady. At 4.46% the yield is...

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is seeking to raise about $20 billion in what will be the largest fund in its history, to capitalize on global investors' interest in backing U.S. artificial intelligence companies, sources told Reuters. The tech investment firm, known informally as a16z, has told limited partners that the fund will be dedicated to growth-stage investments in AI companies and draw upon global investors keen on investing in American companies, the sources said. The record fundraising and the goal of capitalizing on foreign investment interest in the U.S. tech industry come against the backdrop of a sweeping tariff...

TAIPEI, April 6 (Reuters) - Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te on Sunday offered zero tariffs as the basis for talks with the U.S., pledging to remove trade barriers rather than imposing reciprocal measures and saying Taiwanese companies will raise their U.S. investments. President Donald Trump announced across-the-board import tariffs on Wednesday, with much higher duties for dozens of trading partners, including Taiwan, which runs a large trade surplus with the U.S. and faces a 32% duty on its products. The U.S. tariffs, however, do not apply to semiconductors, a major Taiwanese export.

Investors abroad sold longer term Treasuries for three consecutive months, a sign of central bankers reducing their reliance on the U.S. as a financial buffer. In January, foreigners sold a net $13.3 billion of U.S. notes and bonds that had more than one year to maturity, the latest Treasury data show. It comes after $49.69 billion was sold in December, following sales of $34.41 billion in the month of U.S. elections, November. Global central banks represent a big chunk of foreign demand. Before the back-to-back net selling of the world’s safest debt, foreigners had kept buying for 15 straight months....

The results are in: this time is not different. Indexing remains the optimal investment strategy. Every year S&P Global Ratings publishes reports comparing all actively managed investment funds with various stock indices. These reports are considered the gold standard for evaluating the performance of active fund management with their index-fund alternatives. The bottom line from the year-end 2024 report out this month is that there were no surprises. US passive index funds in 2024 outperformed about two-thirds of actively managed funds. That is consistent with past results that also show that one-third of the managers who outperform in any single...

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has committed to a 10-year, $1.4 trillion “investment framework” in the U.S., the White House announced Friday. The new framework “will substantially increase the UAE’s existing investments in the U.S. economy in AI infrastructure, semiconductors, energy, and American manufacturing,” according to the administration. The UAE committed to the investments after President Trump hosted the UAE’s national security adviser, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, and the heads of major UAE sovereign wealth funds and corporations for a meeting in the Oval Office earlier this week. Among the investments under the framework, the UAE investment fund ADQ and...

Ok so I paid a Vanity tax to ask this stupid question. Don't come at me with "Oh you shouldn't ask strangers on the internet for advice". Is there a better and more trustworthy brain trust than FReepers? I don't think so. This is just an intro, I know I'll have more questions. I called one of Dave Ramsey's money guys, and we've had 2 meetings so far. Kinda weird. I'm not a huge Ramsey fan but figured it was a place to start. I get the feeling they are on a script and don't deviate. Plug in $$ and...

Technical indicators suggest some difficulty for natural gas futures in maintaining upside momentum amid a lack of near-term fundamental support. But longer-range fundamentals, including lagging production and rising LNG exports, point to an extended bullish trend. The April natural gas futures contract jumped overnight to a $4.901/MMBtu high before backing off to settle the week’s opening session 9.2 cents higher at $4.491 “Prompt month natural gas futures showed a bit of flash Sunday evening by gapping slightly higher at the open then flirting ever so briefly with the $5.00 mark before plummeting back toward the bottom of that gap,” said...

The Oracle of Omaha has spoken. In his latest shareholder letter published over the weekend, Warren Buffett discussed his outlook for stocks and what it takes to own a good business, along with other tips and investment strategies. Here are some of the takeaways as Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) reported operating earnings of nearly $50B in 2024 : How he views equities: Berkshire's equity activity "is ambidextrous." One hand maintains near or total control of its 189 subsidiaries, including GEICO, property-casualty insurance, and railroad and utility operations. In the other hand is a "small percentage of a dozen or so...

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, currently one of the 10 richest men in the world, discussed the mistakes he's made during six decades in charge of his company and his outlook on the economy in the coming years as part of his annual letter to shareholders. Why It Matters Buffett, who is 94 years old and has a net worth of just over $160 billion, took control of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965 when the company primarily focused on textiles and was a sinking ship of an investment. The now-famous "Wizard of Omaha" spent years reversing those fortunes and turned the...

Shortly after Apple's CEO met with President Donald Trump last week, it announced a $500 billion investment in the United States through infrastructure, factories, and other facilities. The announcement detailed the investment into several initiatives, including opening a new advanced manufacturing facility with partners in Texas, doubling its U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Fund, and establishing a new manufacturing academy in Michigan. Apple CEO Tim Cook said the investment comes because the company has confidence in the country's future. “We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we’re proud to build on our long-standing U.S. investments with this $500 billion...

Apple (AAPL) announced Monday that it will spend and invest more than $500 billion in the US over the next four years, including plans to build a new manufacturing factory, double its advanced manufacturing fund, and hire 20,000 people. "We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we're proud to build on our long-standing U.S. investments with this $500 billion commitment to our country’s future,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. "From doubling our Advanced Manufacturing Fund, to building advanced technology in Texas, we’re thrilled to expand our support for American manufacturing. And we’ll keep working...

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The New York Stock Exchange, part of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, today announced plans to launch NYSE Texas, a fully electronic equities exchange, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Pending the effectiveness of regulatory filings, NYSE Chicago will reincorporate in Texas and be renamed NYSE Texas, offering companies the opportunity to list their securities on NYSE Texas. “As the state with the largest number of NYSE listings, representing over $3.7 trillion in market value for our community, Texas is a market leader in fostering a pro-business atmosphere,” said Lynn Martin, President,...

The stock market's response to emerging technologies can sometimes be as volatile as the innovations themselves. A recent example of this occurred on January 27, 2025, when a sharp sell-off hit the nuclear energy sector. This sudden downturn was triggered by news surrounding DeepSeek, a new artificial intelligence (AI) model touted for its potentially lower energy consumption compared to existing AI technologies. The market, seemingly fearing that a less power-hungry AI could diminish the need for energy production, reacted negatively, impacting companies across the energy sector. However, a closer examination suggests that this market dip represents a significant overreaction, obscuring...

Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) stock opened as much as 12% higher on Wednesday after the company announced it would expand into financial services, including cryptocurrency funds and other investment vehicles like customized exchange-traded funds. According to a press release, the company will invest as much as $250 million into the rollout, which will launch under the brand name Truth.Fi. That investment, which is less than a third of the company's total cash pile of $700 million, will be kept under the custody of Charles Schwab. Schwab will also "broadly advise" on investments and strategies. Trump Media, which operates...

When it comes to trading and investing, elections don’t just elect leaders…They ignite or douse market trends.That’s why Wall Street wasn’t just watching the presidential election… It was bracing for what could be another seismic shift.The last time Trump rode to victory in 2016, markets trembled, then soared. That election night saw Dow futures plunge 800 points as traders caught their breath, only to witness a reversal that kicked off a remarkable bull run. The Dow soared 56% through 2019.Now, with Trump set to begin his second term, smart money is positioning for what could be another wild ride.The Deregulation...