Category: Finance News

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Stocks recover to end 3-day losing streak as traders look ahead to Big Tech earnings; Nasdaq gains 1.3{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}

Stocks recover to end 3-day losing streak as traders look ahead to Big Tech earnings; Nasdaq gains 1.3{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}

U.S. stocks ended higher Monday, erasing earlier losses in the day as concerns over an escalating COVID outbreak in China added to jitters over U.S. economic growth in the face of heightened inflation and monetary policy tightening.

The S&P 500 rose by 0.6{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to reach 4,296.12. The Dow added more than 200 points, or 0.7{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}, to settle at 34,049.46, and the Nasdaq Composite rose by 1.3{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to close just above 13,000. U.S. stocks bucked the trend of global equity markets, with the major stock indexes in Europe and Asia largely falling on Monday. U.S. Treasury yields dipped, and the benchmark 10-year yield hovered just above 2.8{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}.

West Texas intermediate crude oil futures fell below $100 per barrel, with fears over the economic impact of broadening virus-related restrictions throughout China mounting. Beijing saw a spike in COVID cases over the weekend that prompted more mandatory testing and some lockdowns in the region. And this came as other populous cities including Shanghai have also recently grappled with fresh waves of infections, even as the country works to abolish the virus under a zero-COVID policy.

In a note published last week, Bank of America economist Helen Qiao slashed her forecast for China’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 4.2{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} from 4.8{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} for 2022 as the number of lockdowns throughout the country increased.

“COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions imposed in Shanghai and neighboring cities are not only hitting local demand but also causing logistic breakdowns and widespread supply-chain disruptions within and outside of the area,” Qiao wrote in the note published April 19. “In our view, even if such control measures will ultimately be rolled back and economic activities will gradually normalize by mid-year, a heavy toll on growth already seems inevitable.”

Meanwhile, investors have also been grappling with reassertions from Federal Reserve officials last week that the central bank would be taking a tough stance on reining in inflation. Fed Chair Jerome Powell as well as San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly were among the latest to suggest they saw the case for 50 basis point interest rate hikes this year. These larger-than-typical increases would front-load the Fed’s monetary policy response to inflation in the near-term.

“Mr. Powell once again highlighted the Fed’s focus on elevated prices and the need for policy to move towards neutral to restore price stability. His comments pretty much confirm market expectations of a 50-basis-point hike at the May 3-4 FOMC meeting, which would be the first such move since 2000,” Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a note. “While Mr. Powell did not comment on the trajectory of policy beyond the May FOMC meeting, other Fed officials — including San Francisco President Daly and Chicago President Evans — have said that a couple of 50-basis-point hikes are possible this year.”

Though Federal Reserve officials are in a quiet period this week ahead of the central bank’s meeting next week, a packed slate of corporate earnings results will pull investors’ attention. In the coming days, a bevy of major companies and stock index components will post results, including Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta Platforms (FB), Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN).

As of Friday, about one-fifth of S&P 500 companies had reported their actual first-quarter results. Of these, 79{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} topped Wall Street’s earnings estimates, while 69{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} exceeded sales expectations, according to data from FactSet’s senior earnings analyst John Butters. The expected earnings growth rate for the index stood at 6.6{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} heading into this week, which if carried through the end of reporting season, would mark the slowest growth rate since the fourth quarter of 2020, Butters noted.

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4:03 p.m. ET: Stocks recover to end 3-day losing streak as traders look ahead to Big Tech earnings: Nasdaq gains 1.3{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}

Here were the main moves in markets as of 4:03 p.m. ET:

  • S&P 500 (^GSPC): +24.34 (+0.57{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 4,296.12

  • Dow (^DJI): +238.06 (+0.70{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 34,049.46

  • Nasdaq (^IXIC): +165.56 (+1.29{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 13,004.85

  • Crude (CL=F): -$2.92 (-2.86{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $99.15 a barrel

  • Gold (GC=F): -$34.70 (-1.79{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $1,899.60 per ounce

  • 10-year Treasury (^TNX): -8 bps to yield 2.8260{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}

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2:54 p.m. ET: Twitter announces it will be acquired by Elon Musk

Twitter formally announced it agreed to be purchased by Tesla CEO Elon Musk for $54.20 per share, or $44 billion.

Twitter shareholders are set to each receive $54.20 in cash for each share held, representing a 38{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} premium over Twitter’s closing level on April 1.

“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said in a press statement. “I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”

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12:42 p.m. ET: S&P 500, Dow hold lower, Nasdaq pares some earlier declines

The three major stock indexes traded mostly lower Monday afternoon, though the tech-heavy Nasdaq pared most earlier losses to trade near the flat-line after 12 p.m. ET.

Shares of Chevron, Verizon and Dow Inc. led declines in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which dropped 0.8{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} Monday afternoon. In the S&P 500, the energy, materials and utilities sectors lagged, and communication services was the only sector in the green.

The CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, spiked more than 8{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to top 31 for the highest level since March 15.

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9:31 a.m. ET: Stocks open lower

Here’s where stocks were trading just after the opening bell Monday morning:

  • S&P 500 (^GSPC): -38.31 (-0.9{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 4,233.47

  • Dow (^DJI): -278.52 (-0.82{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 33,532.88

  • Nasdaq (^IXIC): -86.85 (-0.68{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 12,757.91

  • Crude (CL=F): -$5.32 (-5.21{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $96.75 a barrel

  • Gold (GC=F): -$31.40 (-1.62{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $1,902.90 per ounce

  • 10-year Treasury (^TNX): -9.8 bps to yield 2.808{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}

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7:13 a.m. ET: Coca-Cola tops 1Q expectations

Coca-Cola (KO) reported first-quarter sales and profit that topped Wall Street’s estimates, with broad growth across the beverage giant’s portfolio of brands helping lift results.

Adjusted operating revenue grew 16{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} over last year to reach $10.5 billion, topping consensus expectations for $9.8 billion, according to Bloomberg data. Company-wide unit case volume — a closely watched measure for Coca-Cola — rose 8{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}, with growth coming most prominently from the company’s nutrition, juice, dairy and plant-based beverages segment, where unit case volume increased 12{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}. On the bottom line, comparable earnings per share reached 64 cents versus the 58 cents expected.

For the full year, Coca-Cola said it expects its to see commodity price inflation be in the mid-single digit percentages. It also expected the suspension of its business in Russia to generate a 1{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} impact to full-year unit case volume, and a 1-2{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} impact on net revenues and operating income.

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7:06 a.m. ET: Stock futures decline, adding to last week’s losses

Here’s where stocks were trading Monday morning:

  • S&P 500 futures (ES=F): -36.25 (-0.85{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 4,231.00

  • Dow futures (YM=F): -270 (-0.8{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 33,458.00

  • Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): -106.75 (-0.8{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 13,246.75

  • Crude (CL=F): -$4.73 (-4.63{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $97.34

  • Gold (GC=F): -$23.10 (-1.19{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $1,911.20 per ounce

  • 10-year Treasury (^TNX): -6.9 bps to yield 2.837{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 30: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on March 30, 2022 in New York City. U.S. stocks opened low after rallying to start the week. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 30: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on March 30, 2022 in New York City. U.S. stocks opened low after rallying to start the week. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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Emily McCormick is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.

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Babel Finance Names Yang Song Head of Treasury as Crypto Lending Business Grows

Babel Finance Names Yang Song Head of Treasury as Crypto Lending Business Grows

New treasury unit to bolster firm’s crypto lending activities and innovate customer expert services

HONG KONG, April 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Babel Finance announced it has appointed Yang Song as head of treasury, a newly made placement as the enterprise carries on to develop the scale of its services amongst additional numerous shopper groups. With Asia’s biggest crypto mortgage guide, Babel Finance has made a treasury unit to boost its hazard management and to assure sufficient liquidity for its lending company. Yang joins Babel Finance after 12 years at primary German bank Commerzbank, exactly where he was Vice President of Treasury.

Yang Song’s tenure at Commerzbank stands him in excellent stead to assistance Babel Finance’s expanding crypto lending company. He used four several years at Commerzbank’s Singapore branch managing SGD, a few several years in Commerzbank’s Frankfurt HQ controlling EUR – the largest hazard and publicity for the lender – and most not too long ago five yrs at the bank’s Hong Kong department building up its CNH (offshore RMB) and HKD enterprise.

Together with his increasing staff of new recruits, Yang Song will be structuring Babel Finance’s internal treasury systems and processes. These efforts established the groundwork for optimizing dollars flows and funding prices, guaranteeing enough liquidity throughout the firm’s expanding lending and investing things to do, mitigating chance across many cryptocurrencies and locations, and innovating the firm’s product or service and customer expert services combine. 

“We are delighted to welcome Yang Song to the Babel group to engage in a very important position in major the development of a lot more complex methods within crypto lending companies and solutions,” explained Del Wang, Co-Founder of Babel Finance. “We are observing our clients’ passions grow toward a lot more cryptocurrencies, such as altcoins. Reliable management is key to servicing these kinds of extremely refined clientele. This choosing is a proactive stage in strengthening our hazard management, supporting the ongoing enlargement of our customer companies.”

At the end of 2021, Babel Finance had a US$3 billion equivalent superb personal loan harmony. The firm’s lending and investing quantity is presently focused on BTC, ETH, USDC, and USDT, a basket that is comparable to the G3 currencies in fiat treasury terms. But at the beginning of 2022, need for altcoins amongst institutions and HNWIs has been ramping up considerably, and Babel Finance is growing its services to meet up with these needs.

“As an emerging asset course, crypto assets have the opportunity to soak up excess fiat liquidity in the exact same or an even superior way that actual estate, commodities and other money derivatives did earlier,” stated Yang Song, head of treasury at Babel Finance. “Better integrating crypto finance into the wider money ecosystem could hence be the greatest way to offset the significant stages of inflation we see rising globally. I am psyched to be becoming a member of Babel, which is at the forefront of this creating pattern.”

About Babel Finance

Babel Finance is a world-wide main crypto economic companies service provider, presenting institutional and HNWI buyers professional expert services covering crypto lending and crypto investing. The business is backed by outstanding buyers including Sequoia Money China, Tiger World Management, BAI Money, Zoo Money, Dragonfly Money, and NGC Ventures. With a small business emphasis in Asia and a enterprise headquarters in Singapore, Babel Finance has established shut cooperative relationships with main international exchanges, custodians, expense funds, and mining institutions.

Make contact with: [email protected] 

Supply Babel Finance

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The best books to read to get smarter about your money

The best books to read to get smarter about your money

There are hundreds of methods on the internet to learn about personal finance, a staggering quantity of financial facts, from free of charge programs provided by faculties and instruction platforms to TikTok influencers and qualified newsletters. This can make it hard to determine the finest resources on budgeting, preserving and investing, but the previously in existence an person starts their financial training, the improved the likelihood of prosperity and achievement.

Through the CNBC Make investments in You digital event, Obtaining Your Fiscal Achievements, again in April 2021, a Rutgers College university student asked a panel of personal finance authorities for their picks on the greatest publications to increase one’s funds abilities. Below is their recommended reading list.

Textbooks on interactions and revenue

Anthony Chan, managing director and chief economist at JPMorgan Chase, cited two guides, the two centered on individual relationships and finance.

“Broke Millennial” by Erin Lowry is a move-by-phase guide that illustrates how to consider your possess comprehending and romantic relationship with dollars. Lowry can take viewers by way of how to get “fiscally naked” with their associates.

Chan also encouraged “The Massive Payoff” by CNBC’s Sharon Epperson.

“I’m going to embarrass Sharon, but ‘The Huge Payoff’ is a person of my favourite types,” he claimed.

In her ebook, Epperson lays out how couples of all ages and all phases can comprehend their financial dreams with each other. 

Extra from Spend in You:
Experts recommend teenagers to acquire a mindful fingers-on method when discovering about crypto investing
How to make guaranteed you’re taking gain of all employer benefits to raise your prosperity
This is how to decide on a health and fitness insurance plan prepare that suits your spending budget and life

Publications on the funds state of mind

A member of CNBC’s Advisor Council, Lauryn Williams knows the right attitude is essential to accomplishing nicely. Williams was the initial American woman to make a medal in both of those the Summer and Winter Olympics.

“You know, as a sports fanatic, we have to get our thoughts ideal to make our human body do what we want. In order to manage our finances accordingly, we 1st have to get our attitude appropriate. So ‘The Psychology of Money’ by Morgan Housel is a good guide to browse,” she stated.

In “The Psychology of Cash,” Housel shares 19 temporary stories discovering the exceptional strategies persons imagine about their income and how they behave with it.

Publications on Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett and benefit investing

Shark Tank investor and most effective-promoting writer Daymond John endorses Benjamin Graham’s “The Smart Trader.” Graham, who was a mentor to billionaire Warren Buffett, teaches readers techniques on how to use value investing in the marketplaces correctly.

Value investing is a system for choosing shares that traders feel are investing below their intrinsic benefit and therefore deemed low-cost. Finally, these stocks will improve in worth, and the trader will revenue. 

Disciples of Benjamin Graham and two of the most thriving investors ever, Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett’s annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders has become required reading through for a lot of investors.

Because 1977, Berkshire has introduced a letter to shareholders in which Buffett candidly discusses investments, mistakes he has created, and broader sights on the very good and the bad about the stock marketplace and Wall Street. These letters can all be read on line.

If you want to master a lot more about value investing, creator and investor Phil City recommends Mohnish Pabrai’s “The Dhandho Trader,” a e-book that lays out his framework of price investing.

Pabrai’s reserve tells the story of how the Patel loved ones from India came to very own around 40{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} of motels in the U.S., growing on concepts of price investing. 

In 2007, Pabrai and Person Spier bid $650,000 on the likelihood to dine with Buffett. This turned out to be a bargain: last year’s winner compensated over $4 million for the honor of dining with Buffett.

Immediately after lunch with Buffett, Spier wrote his very own e-book, “The Schooling of a Price Investor.” Spier’s memoir is candid and usually takes audience from the darkest corners of Wall Road to a functional information on what it requires to become a successful investor.

Both Pabrai and Spier continue to write-up musings on particular weblogs. 

CNBC’s Warren Buffett Archive is another terrific useful resource for almost everything Buffett. With 130 several hours of searchable video and 2,800 web pages of transcripts, audience and viewers can get a entire Buffett training. 

Indicator UP: Income 101 is an 8-week studying course to financial flexibility, shipped weekly to your inbox. For the Spanish version Dinero 101, click on in this article.

Check OUT: 78{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} of personnel disregard ‘the finest money-producing asset’ for retirement, says CPA. Here’s what it could be costing them with Acorns+CNBC

Disclosure: NBCUniversal and Comcast Ventures are investors in Acorns.

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Musk says he has $46.5B in financing ready to buy Twitter

Musk says he has .5B in financing ready to buy Twitter

Elon Musk claims he has lined up $46.5 billion in funding to invest in Twitter, and he’s making an attempt to negotiate an agreement with the firm

April 21, 2022, 6:38 PM

4 min go through

Elon Musk claims he has lined up $46.5 billion in funding to acquire Twitter, placing tension on the firm’s board to negotiate a offer.

Last week, Musk announced an offer you to acquire the social media platform for $54.20 per share, or about $43 billion. At the time, he did not say how he would finance the acquisition.

The Tesla CEO reported Thursday in files filed with U.S. securities regulators that he is checking out what is recognised as a tender present to buy all of the social media platform’s typical inventory for $54.20 per share in dollars. Below a tender provide, Musk, who owns about 9{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} of Twitter shares, would get his give straight to other shareholders, bypassing the board.

But Musk hasn’t made the decision nevertheless no matter if to do that.

Twitter said in a statement Thursday that it has been given Musk’s up-to-date proposal. The firm reported its board is “committed to conducting a thorough, in depth and deliberate review to establish the system of action that it thinks is in the finest interest of the company and all Twitter stockholders.”

Very last week, Twitter’s board adopted a “poison pill” defense that could make a takeover attempt prohibitively highly-priced. If somebody acquires a 15{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} stake in the organization, it would cause a massive payout to shareholders that could bankrupt the firm.

Musk’s funding would come from Morgan Stanley and other fiscal establishments. Other financial institutions included include Barclays, Bank of The usa, Societie Generale, Mizuho Lender, BNP Paribas and MUFG. Morgan Stanley is a person of Twitter’s major shareholders, guiding Vanguard Group and Musk.

Musk’s documents say that $13 billion in funding arrived from Morgan Stanley and the other financial institutions, as a great deal as $12.5 billion would be financial loans secured by his Tesla stock, and fully commited $21 billion in equity, “directly or indirectly” from him, whilst he did not say what the resource of individuals resources would be. The filing states that the fairness dedication could be diminished by contributions from some others or additional financial debt taken on.

Musk is the world’s wealthiest particular person, in accordance to Forbes, with a just about $279 billion fortune. But much of his dollars is tied up in Tesla inventory — he owns about 17{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} of the corporation, according to FactSet, which is valued at additional than $1 trillion — and SpaceX, his privately held space corporation. It is unclear how considerably dollars Musk has.

Electrical auto and photo voltaic panel maker Tesla enables government officers to use shares as collateral for loans, but restrictions the borrowing to 25{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} of the benefit of the pledged shares. Musk owns 172.6 million shares truly worth $176.47 billion. Just more than 51{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} of his stake previously is pledged as collateral, according to a Tesla proxy statement. That implies Musk could use the remaining stake to borrow about $21.5 billion.

Musk’s newest transfer displays him “ratcheting up the seriousness of purpose” by lining up popular banks that could finance his bid, stated Donna Hitscherich, a finance professor at Columbia University.

“These are the typical suspects if you’d get financing,” she claimed. “But unquestionably it is pointing to the way that he could make superior on his feelings were he to progress in launching the tender offer you.”

Shares of Twitter rose slightly to $46.95 in Thursday afternoon investing, following the financing grew to become public. The share rate is $7.25, or 13{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} under Musk’s offer.

Musk “is in search of to negotiate a definitive arrangement for the acquisition of Twitter … and is well prepared to get started these types of negotiations quickly,” the documents say.

With a tender offer you, Musk would check out to get other shareholders to pledge their inventory to him at a particular selling price on a certain day. If plenty of shareholders agree, Musk could use that as leverage to get the board to drop the poison tablet protection.

Musk signaled the likelihood of a tender give quite a few times this 7 days in tweets working with the term “tender.”

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Tali Arbel contributed from Phoenix. Krisher reported from Detroit. O’Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

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S&P 500, Nasdaq drop for second straight day after Fed officials discuss half-point rate hike

S&P 500, Nasdaq drop for second straight day after Fed officials discuss half-point rate hike

U.S. stocks fell Thursday as investors continued to monitor a steady stream of corporate earnings results against a backdrop of elevated inflation and further Fed policy tightening.

The S&P 500 dropped and erased earlier gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also turned lower. The Nasdaq fell more than 2{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} and extended Wednesday’s losses, when the tech-heavy index was weighed down by a slide in shares of Netflix. Meanwhile, Tesla (TSLA) shares rose after the electric vehicle-maker handily exceeded expectations in its fiscal first-quarter results.

Stocks dropped and Treasury yields climbed Thursday afternoon after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested he saw the case for front-loading interest rate hikes with 50 basis-point increases in order to quickly address persistent inflationary pressures. San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly also suggested in an interview with Yahoo Finance that she would back a larger-than-typical 50 basis point interest rate hike following the Fed’s May meeting given current price pressures.

Plus, the so far mixed quarterly earnings results this reporting season have stirred up uncertainty over whether corporate profits will be able to bolster equity markets operating in an already challenging economic environment. With inflation running at its fastest rate in 40 years and weighing on economic activity, and the the U.S. Federal Reserve on track to ramp up its tightening regime despite decelerating growth, many pundits have warned of further choppiness in risk assets.

“The big question is whether the earnings can really sustain this kind of a macro backdrop of slower growth and [tighter] Fed policy,” Deepak Puri, Deutsche Bank wealth management chief investment officer, told Yahoo Finance Live on Wednesday. “It seems certain companies can — historically that’s been the case. What’s different this time is really the trifecta, which is higher costs of capital, quantitative tightening, plus a lack of … a big fiscal stimulus.”

A similar market environment was seen in 2017 and 2018, when the Federal Reserve last raised interest rates before this year, Puri added. However, at that time, a reduction in the corporate tax rate under the prior administration had helped “cushion some of the burden of a higher cost of capital,” Puri said.

“This time around, I’m not really seeing much fiscal spending coming our way,” Puri said. “So it could be one of those times where the market might be a little bit more volatile than what participants expect.”

Other pundits also suggested tepid profit growth this year may be insufficient to propel the market forward, especially in the case of a slowdown in tech company results, given that many of these names are some of the most heavily weighted in the major equity indexes.

“Here’s the biggest risk in my opinion to the broader market right now: The broader market is concentrated in just a handful of names. What happens if their earnings or guidance for the second quarter is very dismal, or if they have a second-quarter earnings report … that really surprises to the downside? That’s when you’ll see that downdraft in the S&P, in my opinion,” Eddie Ghabour, co-founder and managing partner at Key Advisors Group, told Yahoo Finance Live on Wednesday.

“No one is bulletproof in this environment,” he added. “And I think being cautious here after the massive run up we’ve seen in the last several years in risk assets is just a prudent thing to do. Because there will be some amazing buying opportunities that will come when this bubble bursts.”

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4:05 p.m. ET: S&P 500, Nasdaq drop to post back-to-back day of declines after Fed officials discuss half-point rate hikes

Here were the main moves in markets as of 4:05 p.m. ET:

  • S&P 500 (^GSPC): -65.79 (-1.48{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 4,393.66

  • Dow (^DJI): -368.03 (-1.05{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 34,792.76

  • Nasdaq (^IXIC): -278.41 (-2.07{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 13,174.65

  • Crude (CL=F): +$1.48 (+1.45{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $103.67 a barrel

  • Gold (GC=F): -$2.10 (-0.11{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $1,953.50 per ounce

  • 10-year Treasury (^TNX): +7.7 bps to yield 2.9170{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}

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2:31 p.m. ET: Powell says it’s ‘absolutely essential to restore price stability,’ suggests 50-basis point rate hike is ‘on the table’

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated Thursday that the central bank’s primary goal at this juncture is to bring down inflation while trying to avoid tipping the economy into a recession in the process.

“Our goal is to use our tools to get demand and supply back in synch so that inflation moves down, and do so without a slowdown that amounts to a recession,” Powell said during an International Monetary Fund panel discussion on Thursday. “It’s absolutely essential to restore price stability. Without price stability, really economies don’t work without price stability. We need that to have a strong labor market over an extended period of time. We need it for financial stability. So we must do that.”

One of the main tools the Federal Reserve has to rein in inflation is through interest rate hikes, with higher rates slowing demand and ultimately exerting downward pressure on elevated prices. And with this in mind, Powell suggested a 50 basis point rate hike at Fed’s forthcoming meeting could take place to achieve the central bank’s price stability target.

“We really are committed to using our tools to get 2{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} inflation back,” he added. “It is appropriate in my view to be moving a little more quickly. And I also think there is something in the idea of front-end loading … that points to the direction of 50 basis points being on the table.”

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12:51 p.m. ET: San Francisco Fed’s Daly says interest rates should move ‘expeditiously’ toward neutral

San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly said Thursday that interest rates should move higher swiftly this year in the face of elevated inflation.

“I like to think of it as expeditiously marching towards neutral. It’s clear the economy doesn’t need the accommodation we’re providing,” Daly told Yahoo Finance’s Brian Cheung in an exclusive interview Thursday.

Daly, who is not a voting member in this year’s Federal Open Market Committee but still participants in monetary policy discussions with the committee, said she supports raising the benchmark federal funds rate by 50 basis points at the central bank’s next policy-setting meeting in early May. Such a move would mark the first hike of more than 25 basis points from the Fed since 2000.

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10:21 a.m. ET: Elon Musk is mulling a tender offer to buy Twitter, has received $46.5 billion in commitment letters

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is considering acquiring shares of Twitter (TWTR) via tender offer at a price of $54.20 per share, according to a filing on Thursday.

Musk has so far received approximately $46.5 billion in commitment letters for financing, the filing said. With a tender offer, Musk would purchase shares directly from current shareholders in order to ultimately acquire Twitter.

The filing comes after Musk last week issued an offer to purchase Twitter for $54.20 per share, equivalent to more than $40 billion. However, Twitter last week adopted a “poison pill,” or limited duration shareholder rights plans, to try and ward off a takeover and prevent Musk from amassing a larger stake in the firm. Musk disclosed he had taken a more than 9{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} stake in Twitter earlier this month.

Twitter shares rose 0.4{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} intraday Thursday morning.

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9:30 a.m. ET: Stocks open higher, tech shares stage a recovery after Netflix-led slide

Here’s where markets were trading just after the opening bell:

  • S&P 500 (^GSPC): +46.97 (+1.05{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 4,506.42

  • Dow (^DJI): +289.18 (+0.82{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 35,449.97

  • Nasdaq (^IXIC): +209.64 (+1.56{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 13,666.46

  • Crude (CL=F): +$1.80 (+1.76{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $103.99

  • Gold (GC=F): -$6.20 (-0.32{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $1,949.40 per ounce

  • 10-year Treasury (^TNX): +4.1 bps to yield 2.877{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}

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8:35 a.m ET: Weekly unemployment claims come in at 184,000, holding near multi-decade lows

Weekly unemployment claims held near their lowest levels since the 1960s, with a strong labor market and improving levels of unemployment remaining a bright spot in the U.S. economy.

First-time jobless claims totaled 184,000 during the week ended April 16, according to the Labor Department’s latest weekly report. Claims had totaled 186,000 a week earlier.

Though initial filings edged up slightly in the latest weekly data, the sum remained near 50-year lows. New claims had reached their lowest level since 1968 at 166,000 just last month.

Continuing claims, which tally the number of Americans collecting benefits for multiple weeks, have also declined sharply to reach multi-decade lows. These came in below 1.5 million for a back-to-back week to reach their lowest level since 1970.

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7:39 a.m. ET: Stock futures head for a higher open

Here’s where stocks were trading Thursday morning:

  • S&P 500 futures (ES=F): +38 (+0.85{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 4,493.50

  • Dow futures (YM=F): +233 (+0.66{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 35,312.00

  • Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): +170.25 (+1.22{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 14,175.00

  • Crude (CL=F): +$0.98 (+0.96{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $103.17

  • Gold (GC=F): -$12.40 (-0.63{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $1,943.20 per ounce

  • 10-year Treasury (^TNX): +3.3 bps to yield 2.869{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}

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6:12 p.m. ET: Stock futures trade little changed

Here’s where stocks were trading Tuesday evening:

  • S&P 500 futures (ES=F): +14.25 (+0.32{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 4,469.75

  • Dow futures (YM=F): +74.00 (+0.21{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 35,153

  • Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): +70.25 (+0.50{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 14,075

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 12: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during afternoon trading on April 12, 2022 in New York City. Data released this morning showed that inflation rose 8.5 percent in March, the highest annual increase since December 1981, amid energy prices soaring due to Russia's war in Ukraine. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 12: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during afternoon trading on April 12, 2022 in New York City. Data released this morning showed that inflation rose 8.5 percent in March, the highest annual increase since December 1981, amid energy prices soaring due to Russia’s war in Ukraine. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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Emily McCormick is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.

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World’s finance leaders face problems they can’t solve

World’s finance leaders face problems they can’t solve

Just about every April, the world’s finance ministers and other financial policy leaders descend on Washington for the spring conferences of the Intercontinental Financial Fund and Planet Bank. Points feel various this year — and not just simply because D.C. has experienced a stubbornly late-arriving spring.

Why it issues: The environment is dealing with profound financial difficulties — world supply shortages induced by pandemic and war — that defy the means of economic policymakers to clear up via clever administration of expending or interest prices.

Condition of perform: Through the very last 15 years many years of monetary crises and sluggish recovery, the entire world confronted critical financial challenges, but ones that had been mainly “endogenous,” joined to the inner workings of their economies.

  • Individuals kinds of crises are really hard, but at minimum are responsive to the types of plan improvements that finance ministers and central bankers can enact. Imagine of the world fiscal disaster and countless rising market place personal debt crises.
  • The ongoing offer disruptions tied to the pandemic and war in Ukraine sum to “exogenous” functions, equally driven by non-economic forces but constraining worldwide materials.

Western finance ministries are acting principally as international plan actors in these crises, carrying out sanctions and other initiatives to punish Russia economically for its invasion.

  • Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sent a sternly worded speech previous 7 days assailing Russia for its aggression and, in impact, threatening nations that guide it with entry to the world wide overall economy.

The most up-to-date: The IMF on Tuesday introduced its Environment Financial Outlook, projecting the two reduced world advancement and better inflation than it experienced envisioned as not too long ago as January.

  • The fund lowered its 2022 world-wide growth projection by .8 proportion points, to 3.6{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}. It greater its 2022 inflation projection by 1.8 percentage points for highly developed economies and 2.8 proportion details for rising marketplaces.
  • But that forecast is premised on the war remaining confined to Ukraine, further sanctions exempting the Russian power sector, and the pandemic continuing to fade — none of which is a sure detail.

Also Tuesday, Yellen resolved the rising possibility of famine owing to a collapse of food stuff, gas, and fertilizer exports from Russia and Ukraine.

  • “The war even further exacerbates pre-existing rate and food items supply pressures,” she said. “At minimum 10 million a lot more people could be pushed into poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa because of to greater foodstuff charges by itself.”

The base line: All over the past two decades, a widespread chorus from policymakers has been that the course of the financial system depends on the class of the virus. Now, the program of the economic climate depends on the course of the war.