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U.S. investors are sitting on a pile of cash. Even with rates now coming down, many are in no rush to move it. Assets in money-market funds reached a record $7.7 trillion last week, with more than $60 billion flowing into those funds during the first four days of the month, according to Crane Data, an industry researcher. The latest rush into money funds began in 2022, when the Federal Reserve started raising rates. The yields on these funds, which typically hold short-term government debt, also rose, giving investors higher returns on their cash than they have had in years....

Real estate investors are snapping up a bigger share of U.S. homes on the market as rising prices and stubbornly high borrowing costs freeze out many other would-be homebuyers. Nearly 27% of all homes sold in the first three months of the year were bought by investors -- the highest share in at least five years, according to a report by real estate data provider BatchData. Between 2020 and 2023, the share of homes bought by investors averaged 18.5%. All told, investors bought 265,000 homes in the January-March quarter, an increase of 1.2% from the same period a year earlier,...

In a wide-ranging and unapologetically pro-growth address Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent laid out the Trump administration’s economic vision for the next four years, calling on global investors to align with what he described as a “new Golden Age” for American enterprise. Speaking before an audience of business leaders, financiers, and policymakers at the Milken Institute’s annual Global Conference, Bessent delivered what amounted to a comprehensive blueprint for the administration’s domestic agenda—one built around three interlocking pillars: strategic tariffs, aggressive tax incentives, and sweeping deregulation. “Our goal is not simply to grow the economy,” Bessent said. “It’s to re-anchor global...

Feb 25 (Reuters) - Apple shareholders voted to keep the tech giant's diversity, equity and inclusion policies on Tuesday, a win for management which had opposed efforts by a conservative group to scrap the program. The vote at the iPhone maker's annual meeting was seen as a test of shareholder views about the value of DEI programs, which many companies added or beefed up starting in 2020 amid the Black Lives Matter movement.

<p>FORT MYERS, Fla. — Target has failed to persuade a judge in Florida to dismiss a lawsuit that accused the retailer of deceiving shareholders after its sales of LGBTQ-themed merchandise for Pride Month sparked a backlash and a customer boycott.</p>

Since the aggression against Ukraine, Russia has lost most of its Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The Bank of Russia admits that today Russian business can only count on itself. – The Russian economy needs money for structural transformation, but it can only count on its own resources – emphasized Elvira Nabiullina, Governor of the Bank of Russia, in the analysis “Main Directions of Development of the Russian Financial Market” for the Next Three Years, published on Monday FDI has fled Russia, count on your own money The authors emphasize that investments can be financed through the financial market not only...

Two recent court decisions could have far-reaching impacts on oil and gas projects. The Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity, and other anti-fossil fuel groups recently sued the National Marine Fisheries Service, claiming the agency’s “biological opinion” failed to properly assess the risks that offshore oil and gas drilling poses to endangered species. Last month, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman ruled in favor of the plaintiffs.

An increasing number of Silicon Valley investors and Wall Street analysts are starting to ring the alarm bells over the countless billions of dollars being invested in AI, an overconfidence they warn could result in a massive bubble. As the Washington Post reports, investment bankers are singing a dramatically different tune than last year, a period marked by tremendous hype surrounding AI, and are instead starting to become wary of Big Tech's ability to actually turn the tech into a profitable business. "Despite its expensive price tag, the technology is nowhere near where it needs to be in order to...

People who own cryptocurrency are more likely to be narcissistic, psychopathic sadists, according to a study. Cryptocurrency, which has exploded in popularity in recent years, is digital 'money' which lies beyond the control of central banks and governments. The global market is worth about £1.3 trillion and around five million adults in the UK have invested. But now a study suggests that those who own online currency - such as Bitcoin - are more likely to have 'dark tetrad' personality traits. Investors are also more likely to be men, rely on fringe social media sources, believe in conspiracy theories and...

Some nationwide real estate investors, like Cardone Capital’s Grant Cardone, have started telling their teams to pack their bags and leave New York after the verdict in former President Trump’s fraud trial. "We thought this year was the opportunity to come into Chicago, California and New York City. I've been waiting for 40 years now to invest in that marketplace. I was completely confident this was the year to come," Cardone told Steve Doocy on "FOX & Friends" on Wednesday. "And when that ruling happened, it was like, pencils down. Don't touch it. Don't go there." The business leader gained...

Likely based on the attention given to its control of proxy voting, BlackRock has unveiled what it calls “a new proxy voting opportunity in iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV).” The multinational investment giant notes that this particular product is its largest and among the most widely held exchange-traded fund. While giving individual investors a say in the votes related to their holdings is a good thing, this new scheme on closer inspection appears to be a way for BlackRock to push climate and social-related policies while making it seem like clients voted for them. Very sneaky. Following U.N. guidance...

The news is breaking today that the person who walked into Lakewood Church in Houston on Sunday afternoon and opened fire was transgender. I have been waiting for more information about this shooting, as a Houstonian, and as a media observer. When the shooting was breaking news, one aspect of the story didn't sit well with me. It seemed as though local law enforcement and the media were not transparent with all they knew. It seemed like they were holding back. Frankly, I was waiting for the shooter to be identified as an illegal alien. It turns out it is...

Three of the five top shareholders in Norfolk Southern — the freight rail carrier under the spotlight for its saftey and environmental record following last month's toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio — have been aligned with the eco-conscious, socially aware ESG (environmental, social, governance) investing framework embraced by many leading financial firms in recent years. Asset management firms BlackRock Fund Advisors, JPMorgan Investment Management, and The Vanguard Group were all part of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, a coalition of ESG-minded money mangers committed to channeling investment capital to firms working toward the goal of net-zero greenhouse...

The U.S. Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued an online FAQ allowing Americans to continue funding China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA).The PLA is on the verge of launching its third aircraft carrier as part of its $9 billion dollar carrier program. This hefty price tag represents a small fraction of money the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has received from U.S. investors.China “exploits United States investors to finance the development and modernization of its military” wrote then-U.S. President Donald Trump on Nov. 12, 2020, in an executive order banning investment in Chinese stocks linked to the PLA. In the order, Trump accurately...

It may come as a surprise to some but the head US trader of the same bank that spawns mARKKo Kolanovic’s weekly bullishness, is also one of the most bearish market commentators. Below is the trading desk commentary for JPM’s Elan Luger, head of US trading. The most positive thing I can say about this market is that what had been heavily debated in Q1 is now the overwhelming consensus. Everyone is a bear. China is shutdown, inflation is running wild, Russia / Ukraine continues to impact supply chains, animal spirits are dead, the fed has lost control, QT is...

China’s corporate insiders are cheating small American investors of billions of dollars through advance information that enables lucrative trades just before the stock price falls.The total losses that insiders of Chinese companies listed on American exchanges have avoided by selling prior to price drops are at least $10 billion between 2016 and the middle of 2021, according to a new study of their security filings.Chinese company shares fell an average of 21 percent a year after the Chinese company insiders sold large quantities of stock, compared to a 2 percent rise after insiders from American companies sold. Given inflation, that...

More bad news for an already-crushed industry is making investors wonder how much more these companies can take. Stocks fell sharply as investors heard about a new COVID-19 variant. Cruise ship stocks took huge hits as a result. Investors have to hope that travel-hungry passengers will have the opportunity to sail in 2022 and beyond. Black Friday might not have created the same level of stock market discomfort that prompted the naming of Black Tuesday in 1929 or Black Monday in 1987, but stocks were nonetheless under pressure on the day after Thanksgiving. As of 10 a.m. ET on the...

For the past few weeks, the weekly survey of the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) has offered unique insights into emotions and investor sentiment. To say the least, individual investors are nervous. Every week since 1987, AAII conducts a survey. There’s just one question in the survey: Are you bullish, bearish or neutral about the next six months? The results provide useful insights into the current market environment. Over the long run, investor sentiment tends to be more bullish than bearish. This can be seen in the long-term average of the results. In a typical week, 38% of individuals...

For years, I have heard that the only constants in this life are death and taxes, but I suspect this is not true. I think there’s at least one other constant, at least in my life — the Garcon Point Bridge. I have been writing about this Panhandle boondoggle for more than 20 years. Every time I’ve written a story about it, I have been convinced that that would be the last. Then something else happened that made me shake my head and start writing another bridge story. I’ve gotten more mileage out of that bridge than the motorists who...

Something strange is going on.On one hand stocks are trading at all-time highs, levitating every day without an apparent care in the world, with traders seemingly complacent that any air pocket in the market will simply mean more accommodation by the Fed which may not taper and which, according to some, may even to more QE. On the other, traditional bear-market signals such as the CNN fear and greed indicator, are deep in neutral territory, having dipped in "fear" territory as recently as one month ago...... while the SKEW index which many view as an indicator of crash preparation, is...