Author: News Room

We’re all about the dividends here at Contrarian Outlook. Often we take it for granted that we’re not looking to lose 17% in just just a few weeks while we collect income! The share-price chart for Bank of America BAC (BAC) may appeal to dividend dumpster divers. And heck, it may work, as BAC stands to gain as more people pull their savings from regional banks and plunk them into “too big to fail.” Why deal with this nonsense? This is exactly why we’re fading “cardiac” price charts like BAC’s and shifting toward the smooth and steady growth of dividends…

Inflation. CPI index. Core inflation. Inflation is a market reality, no matter which term you use. And that reality will impact any fintech startup’s growth trajectory. As an investor, inflation is just one of many considerations in constructing an investment thesis, fundraising for a new fund or creating value in an existing fund. I do not view inflation as a binary gating metric answering the question of whether to invest. Instead, I see it as a metric that exists on a spectrum, informing how to invest. This is true for equity investments as well as debt investments. In today’s business…

By Antony Paone, Sarah Meyssonnier and Ingrid Melander PARIS (Reuters) -Clashes erupted in Paris next to a Left Bank brasserie favoured by French President Emmanuel Macron as protesters torched garbage cans and smashed two banks during the eleventh day of nationwide demonstrations against pension reform. The bistro La Rotonde, whose awning was set alight as protesters threw bottles and paint at police, is known in France for hosting a much-criticised celebratory dinner for Macron when he led the first round of the 2017 presidential election. Protests against the flagship reform of Macron’s second term, which lifts the retirement age by…

By Anushka Trivedi MUMBAI (Reuters) – Indian foreign exchange traders are betting on a rise in dollar/rupee forward premiums as U.S. interest rates are expected to ease later this year, bankers and analysts said. The 1-year implied yield is forecast to rise to 3% levels within fiscal 2024 from around 2.40% currently, according to market participants. The 1-year implied yield is down about 140 basis points (bps) over the last 12 months. Forward premiums, a function of U.S. and India interest rate differentials, are expected to widen as the Federal Reserve is likely to ease rates gradually this year, while the Reserve Bank…

By Erwin Seba and Laura Sanicola HOUSTON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ oil producers announced over the weekend they would launch deep oil production cuts starting next month, a surprise move that sent oil prices surging.   OPEC+, which supplies about 60% of the world’s petroleum trade, called the cuts a precautionary measure to support a stable market. The OPEC+ group, which includes allied producers such as Russia, has some of the best information on global supply and demand, yet the surprise decision came two weeks after it reiterated expectations for a 2.32 million barrel per day increase in…

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: An employee walks past the logo of LG Energy Solution at its office building in Seoul, South Korea, November 23, 2021. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji By Heekyong Yang SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea on Friday said it will provide 7 trillion won ($5.32 billion) in financial support for its battery makers seeking to invest in infrastructure in North America over the next five years to help firms cope with the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act. Government support will include lowering lending rates and insurance premiums by as much as 20% as well as providing more loans and tax credits…

What will this mean for Trump’s plans to again seek the White House? As Trump presses ahead with his 2024 campaign, here are a few questions and answers about possible criminal charges from the Manhattan district attorney, Democrat Alvin Bragg, and their effects. Question: Can an indicted person run for president? Answer: Yes. There’s nothing in the Constitution preventing it. Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution doesn’t mention criminal records. The only requirements to run are being a natural-born citizen at least 35 years old and resident in the U.S. for 14 years. “ Not only can an indicted…

Pay transparency doesn’t always help workers.  That’s one of the findings of a new working paper, distributed by the National Bureau of Economic Research, that examines pay-transparency policies over the past two decades. While policies that help workers compare pay across different companies can encourage them to seek better salaries or positions, policies that let workers compare pay within their company could lead to interpersonal conflict with peers or resentment about co-workers’ salaries, the paper said. And in a truly transparent workplace where co-workers are paid equally, pay transparency could eliminate room for pay negotiation. “If workers all get the…

Sleep can make you wealthier. That’s because of the stock market’s historical tendency to make most of its daily move overnight, between the closing and opening bell.To illustrate how this night-vs.-day pattern works, consider the U.S. stock market’s performance on a recent Tuesday in March. Most of that day’s gain came between the market close on Monday and the Tuesday open. The table below shows the returns for large-cap and small-cap stocks. Though the big move in the right-most column were what the headlines reported, the actual returns during Tuesday’s session were far less impressive. Index Return from market close…

Investors are suddenly worried about a potential recession. That means “bad news” on the economy might no longer be “good news” for the stock market.Until recently, investors welcomed signs of a slowing economy, figuring it meant the Federal Reserve would soon stop raising interest rates, presumably in time to avert a recession as inflation cooled. Following last month’s banking troubles, investors appear more fearful of a potential downturn, market watchers said. The market has shifted its focus from inflation to recession this year, according to Michele Morra, portfolio manager at Moneyfarm. The recent employment data adds to the growing evidence that…