shows Archives - Pay Per Touch

February 16, 2023

$3.2 Billion of Capital Committed Last Year in U.S. Commercial Litigation Finance As Industry Shows No Signs of Slowing Down

Westfleet Advisors’ 2022 Litigation Finance Market place Report implies a 16{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} annual progress fee, the greatest in the previous 3 a long time

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Among suppliers of commercial litigation funding in the United States, funds dedicated to new funding offers, as nicely as their belongings below administration, grew at a additional robust speed around the very last calendar year, according to a new report from primary litigation finance consultancy, Westfleet Advisors. In accordance to The Westfleet Insider: 2022 Litigation Finance Market Report, 44 energetic funders managed a mixed $13.5 billion in assets allocated to US commercial litigation investments, a 9{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} improve in AUM from the past calendar year. Money committed to new investments grew by 16{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} final calendar year, the major raise in the previous 3 several years.

For the fourth consecutive year, Westfleet analyzed details collected instantly from litigation funders to work out the sizing of the U.S. business litigation finance marketplace. The most full and demanding investigation of the sector, The Westfleet Insider features knowledge and commentary on the dimensions, scope, and aim of U.S. industrial litigation finance. This year’s report builds on the three prior years’ analyses, and with this historic standpoint, reveals symptoms of a steady field that carries on to knowledge balanced expansion in deployments.

“Very last calendar year, our market grew at a far more speedy speed than we have found since Westfleet began examining these details in 2019,” explained Charles Agee, founder and CEO of Westfleet Advisors. “It remains to be witnessed no matter if very last year’s uptick in financial investment action simply reflects a non permanent acceleration or restoration from the many pandemic-linked disruptions in the latest yrs, or irrespective of whether it’s a indicator of far more substantial advancement fees in the yrs forward. I have a tendency to think it is the previous. Nonetheless, I am hugely assured that desire for commercial litigation financing among regulation corporations and their company clients exhibits no indications of slowing down.”

The 16{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} once-a-year raise in new cash commitments by US industrial litigation funders final 12 months is especially notable when compared with the 6{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} and 11{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} advancement prices in 2020 and 2021, respectively. However, perspective is valuable when deciphering the significance of these figures and the industry’s influence on US industrial litigation a lot more broadly. “Only a several hundred business cases are funded yearly in the US, representing an infinitesimal fraction of the hundreds of thousands of civil instances submitted each year. Both of those market advocates and opponents would do well to maintain this in mind.”

About Westfleet Advisors
Westfleet Advisors is a litigation finance advisory business that serves the nation’s foremost litigators and their purchasers who wish to check out litigation funding. Westfleet’s core mission is to convey larger transparency and performance to the buyers of litigation finance, therefore maximizing the utility of this vital—and all as well usually elusive—form of financing. Given that its founding in 2013, Westfleet has encouraged on extra than 150 financing transactions involving elite industrial litigators from Large Regulation as effectively as top litigation boutiques.

Get in touch with: Gretchen Lowe, [email protected]

Source Westfleet Advisors

February 16, 2023

Half of Americans believe news organizations intend to mislead or misinform, survey shows

NEW YORK (AP) — 50 percent of People in a recent survey indicated they believe that national information corporations intend to mislead, misinform or persuade the public to adopt a unique stage of look at by means of their reporting.

The survey, produced Wednesday by Gallup and the Knight Basis, goes past many others that have shown a low degree of believe in in the media to the startling position in which a lot of imagine there is an intent to deceive.

Requested no matter if they agreed with the assertion that national information companies do not intend to mislead, 50{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} reported they disagreed. Only 25{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} agreed, the examine uncovered.

Likewise, 52{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} disagreed with a statement that disseminators of nationwide information “care about the finest passions of their visitors, viewers and listeners,” the research located. It mentioned 23{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} of respondents thought the journalists have been performing in the public’s finest interests.

“That was quite hanging for us,” claimed Sarah Fioroni, a marketing consultant for Gallup. The conclusions confirmed a depth of distrust and terrible feeling that go further than the foundations and processes of journalism, she reported.

Journalists need to have to go over and above emphasizing transparency and precision to clearly show the influence of their reporting on the general public, the review claimed.

“Americans really do not look to consider that the countrywide news businesses care about the over-all affect of their reporting on the modern society,” mentioned John Sands, Knight’s senior director for media and democracy.

In one little consolation, in both equally conditions Us citizens had a lot more have confidence in in local information.

The means of several individuals to right away study news from a product they keep in their hand, the swift tempo of the information cycle and an amplified selection of information sources would indicate that extra Individuals are on top rated of the information than at any time in advance of.

Alternatively, an facts overload seems to have had the opposite influence. The study explained 61{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} of American think these components make it harder to stay educated, though 37{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} claimed it is much easier.

Like with a lot of other reports, Knight and Gallup identified Democrats have faith in news extra than Republicans. Around the earlier five several years, the level of distrust has specifically spiked among the independents. Over-all, 55{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} of respondents stated there was a fantastic deal of political bias in coverage, in contrast to 45{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} in 2017.

In a discovering mirrored in the financial struggles of some information businesses and declining scores of television news networks, the study located 32{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} of Individuals claimed they fork out a excellent offer of interest to area information, in contrast to 56{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} in early 2020. That was at the outset of a presidential election calendar year and the starting of the COVID-19 outbreak.

In a picture of how men and women get their news, 58{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} explained on line, 31{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} explained tv, 7{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} stated radio and 3{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} described printed newspapers or publications.

For customers of Gen Z, aged 18- to 25-several years-old, 88{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} explained they bought their news on line, the study located.

In just one olive branch, if Americans believed area information corporations did not have the resources or prospects to protect the information, they would be far more most likely to spend for it.

The effects are dependent on a Gallup analyze of 5,593 Us citizens aged 18 and more mature executed in between May possibly 31 and July 21, 2022.

April 4, 2022

Asian Shares Slip as Japan ‘Tankan’ Shows Weaker Outlook | Business News

By YURI KAGEYAMA, AP Business Author

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares had been typically reduce Friday as a resurgence of Russian attacks dashed hopes for any rapid stop to the war in Ukraine.

The retreat followed a broad drop on Wall Avenue, which closed out its worst quarter due to the fact the pandemic broke out two several years back.

A carefully viewed quarterly gauge of small business sector sentiment in Japan known as the “tankan,” carried out by the Bank of Japan, found the benchmark indicator for substantial producers dropped for the initially time in 7 quarters, getting rid of three points from a study in December to 14 factors from 17 factors.

The war in Ukraine, coming on major of provide chain disruptions at best manufacturers brought on by COVID-19 limits and expanding concerns about inflation, in particular soaring strength expenses, are clouding the outlook for now fragile progress in the world’s third major economic system.

Political Cartoons

The war is the largest solitary issue weighing on marketplaces, analysts say. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed pessimism about Russian intentions and claimed in his nightly online video handle to the country that he predicted the Russian offensive would continue on for some time.

“As we head into the weekend break, optimism for a ceasefire in the geopolitical conflict proceeds to fade overnight,” mentioned Yeap Jun Rong, market place strategist at IG in Singapore.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped .7{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} in morning buying and selling to 27,618.27.

Shares in electronics and power large Toshiba Corp. jumped 6.7{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} on information that Bain Capital could possibly make an provide to acquire the enterprise and choose it personal. Toshiba reported it was not concerned in any these types of talks.

South Korea’s Kospi lost .6{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to 2,741.79. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up .1{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to 7,507.50. Hong Kong’s Dangle Seng drop .8{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to 21,818.42, while the Shanghai Composite added .9{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to 3,280.20.

Soaring COVID conditions in China are adding to the anxieties of a regional slowdown. The lockdown in Shanghai entered its 2nd phase of extended limits, although constraints have been lifted in tricky hit Jilin.

On Wall Road, a 3.6{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} achieve for March unsuccessful to offset a dismal January and February that remaining U.S. indexes decrease for the 12 months to date.

The S&P 500 shed 1.6{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to 4,530.41. Its loss considering the fact that the commencing of the calendar year is 4.9{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}. The Dow Jones Industrial Typical also fell 1.6{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}, to 34,678.35. The Nasdaq composite fell 1.5{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to 14,220.52. Each indexes also notched gains for March, thanks largely to a market place rally in the two months heading into this 7 days.

The Russell 2000 index dropped 20.94 factors, or 1{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}, to 2,070.13.

Oil selling prices fell as President Joe Biden ordered the release of up to 1 million barrels of oil for every working day from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve. The shift to pump a lot more oil into the current market is part of an hard work to manage vitality selling prices, which are up virtually 40{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} globally this yr.

U.S. benchmark crude fell 36 cents to $99.92 a barrel early Friday. It fell 7{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} on Thursday. Brent, the international typical, lose 7 cents to $104.64 a barrel.

An overnight pullback marginally trimmed what have been soaring oil prices amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The conflict has elevated problems that tightened provides will only worsen persistently growing inflation that threatens businesses and shoppers globally.

An inflation gauge that is closely monitored by the U.S. Federal Reserve jumped 6.4{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} in February in contrast with a 12 months in the past, marking the premier year-in excess of-year rise considering the fact that January 1982.

Electrical power costs have been a important variable in pushing inflation higher and Biden’s program to launch far more oil into the method arrives as very little aid is predicted from the oil cartel OPEC. The cartel and its allied oil producers including Russia are sticking to a modest raise in the quantity of crude they pump to the entire world, a step that supports larger costs.

Engineering and communications stocks have been among the the most significant weights on the current market. Chipmaker Intel fell 3.6{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}, even though Facebook guardian Meta Platforms slid 2.4{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}.

Banking companies also fell alongside with bond yields, which forces curiosity charges on financial loans decreased, producing lending much less rewarding for banks. The generate on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 2.34{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} from 2.36{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} late Wednesday. Bank of The us fell 4.1{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}.

But in Asia early Friday the generate on the 10-12 months Treasury rebounded to 2.39{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}.

Bigger prices for almost everything from strength to food items are a key concern of central banks, which are moving to raise fascination rates to assist temper the influence.

Investors acquired a lukewarm update on the work market on Thursday. Much more People in america applied for unemployment added benefits very last week, but layoffs continue being at historic lows. Wall Road will get a fuller report on Friday when the Labor Office releases employment details for March.

In forex investing, the U.S. dollar rose to 122.52 Japanese yen from 121.69 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.1066.

AP Organization Writers Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga contributed.

February 7, 2022

Stocks rise after jobs report shows surprise jump in payrolls

Stocks shook off earlier losses to mostly rise Friday afternoon even as investors viewed a much stronger-than-expected jobs report as bolstering the case for the Federal Reserve to continue down its more hawkish monetary policy path.

The S&P 500 turned higher during intraday trading, closing up 0.52{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} at 4,500.61, while the Dow lost steam to close at 35,089.28. The Nasdaq also rose by 1.58{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to 14,098.01. A day earlier, the Nasdaq Composite index sank by 3.7{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} for its worst single-day decline since September 2020. Oil prices also remained in focus as U.S. West Texas intermediate crude oil prices jumped further above $90 per barrel after crossing that threshold for the first time since 2014 on Thursday.

New labor market data was the major focal point for investors on Friday, showing employment growth held up much more robustly than expected despite the surge in Omicron cases at the beginning of the year. Payrolls grew by 467,000, or well above the 125,000 expected to return, and job gains for December were upwardly revised to more than half a million. The labor force participation rate also improved markedly, and average hourly earnings jumped by a greater-than-expected 5.7{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}, or the most since May 2020.

The latest jobs report came as a surprise following a string of other softening data points on the state of the labor market, with ADP’s private payrolls report showing earlier this week the first contraction in private-sector employment in more than a year. But Friday’s report offered potential fodder for the hawks in the Federal Reserve to press ahead with their plans to raise interest rates and begin tightening in the near-term, as the economic recovery continues to progress.

“For markets, the jobs report is all about the Fed, and today’s upside surprises in both job creation and wage growth keep the Fed on track to begin raising rates in March and hike four or more times this year,” Barry Gilbert, asset allocation strategist at LPL Financial, wrote in an email Friday.

Meanwhile, a batch of upbeat quarterly results from Amazon (AMZN), Snap (SNAP) and Pinterest (PINS) helped dispel some of the gloom hanging over technology shares from during the regular trading day, after Meta Platforms (FB) offered an outlook that fell well short of Wall Street’s expectations.

Investors responded favorably to Amazon’s announced price hike on its premium Amazon Prime subscription and better-than-expected growth in its lucrative cloud computing business unit. And Snap and Pinterest each topped Wall Street estimates for quarterly sales and earnings, suggesting Meta Platforms may have been alone among the ad-driven internet companies in bearing the brunt of headwinds from competition and Apple iOS software changes.

—

4:01 p.m. ET: Dow loses steam, Nasdaq gains

Here were the main moves in markets as of 4:01 p.m. ET:

S&P 500 (^GSPC): +23.17 (+0.52{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 4,500.61
Dow (^DJI): -22.01 (-0.06{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 35,089.15
Nasdaq (^IXIC): +219.19 (+1.58{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 14,098.01
Crude (CL=F): +$2.11 (+2.34{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $92.38 a barrel
Gold (GC=F): +$3.80 (+0.21{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $1,807.90 per ounce
10-year Treasury (^TNX): +10.3 bps to yield 1.9300{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}

—

12:02 p.m. ET: Bitcoin jumps by nearly 10{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to top $40,000

Bitcoin prices (BTC-USD) jumped by nearly 10{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} Friday afternoon to cross the $40,000 level, with the largest cryptocurrency by market cap posting its biggest single-day rise in months as digital currency prices tracked gains across major tech stocks.

Prices of Ether, LiteCoin, and XRP also moved notably higher during intraday trading as well. Stocks related to cryptocurrencies also gained, including Coinbase (COIN) with a rise of 5{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}, and MicroStrategy (MSTR) with a jump of more than 11{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}.

—

10:12 a.m. ET: Snap shares surge more than 50{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} after users, earnings top estimates, shaking off growth concerns

Snap shares (SNAP) soared by more than 50{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} intraday on Friday after the company topped expectations across virtually all major metrics in its latest quarterly results.

Revenue jumped 42{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} over last year to reach $1.3 billion, with daily active users growing by 20{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to reach 319 million. Adjusted earnings per share of 22 cents were double the 11-cent consensus estimate. The bottom-line results also helped Snap post its first annual profit for the full-year 2021.

Despite the surge in the stock price, however, Snap shares remained lower by more than 20{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} for the year-to-date through intraday trading on Friday.

—

9:40 a.m. ET: Amazon shares jump by most since 2017 after earnings, Prime price increase

Amazon (AMZN) shares rose by 12{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} just after market open, which would mark the biggest single-day rise in the stock since 2017 after the e-commerce giant posted stronger-than-expected earnings results and announced a price increase on its Prime membership subscription.

Fourth-quarter sales grew 9.4{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} over last year to a record $137.4 billion. Though online store net sales were down slightly on a year-over-year basis, high-margin Amazon Web Services cloud sales grew 40{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to reach $17.8 billion.

Amazon also said its Prime annual membership was going up in price by $20 to $139 each year, offering a future boost to top-line results. The company sees current-quarter net sales coming in between $112 billion and $117 billion, with operating income of as much as $6.0 billion.

—

9:30 a.m. ET: Stocks open mixed

Here’s where stocks were trading Friday morning just after market open:

S&P 500 (^GSPC): +1.13 (+0.03{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 4,474.86
Dow (^DJI): -110.52 (-0.31{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 35,000.64
Nasdaq (^IXIC): +56.57 (+0.41{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 13,929.16
Crude (CL=F): +$1.74 (+1.93{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $92.01 a barrel
Gold (GC=F): -$3.70 (-0.21{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $1,800.40 per ounce
10-year Treasury (^TNX): +7.4 bps to yield 1.901{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}

—

8:55 a.m. ET: U.S. employment unexpectedly jumped in January despite Omicron surge

U.S. employers added back far more jobs than expected in January even as Omicron cases surged at the beginning of the new year.

Non-farm payrolls grew by 467,000, far exceeding the 125,000 consensus economists were looking for, according to Bloomberg data. The unemployment rate rose to 4.0{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}, but this was just a tick above the pandemic-era low of 3.9{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} seen in December.

Meanwhile, signs of continued inflation also emerged in the January report, as average hourly earnings jumped by a bigger-than-expected 5.7{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} in January. This came following a 4.7{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} increase in December. On a month-over-month basis, average hourly wages rose 0.7{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}, or also well above the 0.5{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} from December.

—

7:32 a.m. ET: Friday: Stock futures mixed ahead of jobs report

Here’s where markets were trading Friday morning:

S&P 500 futures (ES=F): -5 points (-0.11{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}), to 4,464.00
Dow futures (YM=F): -145.00 points (-0.41{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}), to 34,826.00
Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): +56.75 points (+0.39{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 14,549.00
Crude (CL=F): +$1.90 (+2.10{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $92.17 a barrel
Gold (GC=F): +$7.10 (+0.39{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to $1,811.20 per ounce
10-year Treasury (^TNX): -0.7 bps to yield 1.82{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}

—

6:13 p.m. ET Thursday: Stock futures jump after Amazon earnings

Here were the main moves in markets during the overnight session:

S&P 500 futures (ES=F): +45.25 points (+1.01{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}), to 4,514.25
Dow futures (YM=F): +148 points (+0.42{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}), to 35,119.00
Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): +265.5 points (+1.83{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) to 14,757.75

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 31: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on January 31, 2022 in New York City. After a volatile week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down slightly in morning trading. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) — NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 31: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on January 31, 2022 in New York City. After a volatile week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down slightly in morning trading. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

—

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

December 20, 2021

One stat shows how hard it is to pick market-beating stocks

A version of this post was originally published on TKer.co.

Picking stocks in an attempt to beat market averages is an incredibly challenging and sometimes money-losing effort. In fact, most professional stock pickers aren’t able to do this on a consistent basis.¹

One of the reasons for this is that most stocks don’t deliver above-average returns.

According to S&P Dow Jones Indices, only 22{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} of the stocks in the S&P 500 outperformed the index itself from 2000 to 2020.

“When a randomly chosen stock has roughly one chance in five of beating an index fund, successful stock selection is very difficult,” Craig Lazzara, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices, wrote earlier this year.

Over that measurement period, the S&P 500 gained 322{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} while the median stock rose by just 63{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}.

It’s worth noting that if you had a portfolio of stocks consisting of mostly underperformers and a few outperformers, this wouldn’t necessarily mean you’d be underperforming the index.

“This is because stock market returns tend to be positively skewed,” Lazzara noted. “Rather than being symmetrically distributed around an average, return distributions typically have a very long right tail; a relatively small number of excellent performers has a disproportionate influence on the market’s overall return.”² (emphasis added)

In other words, if your outperformers are way out on the right tail, then they might more than offset all of the underperformance of the other stocks.

Unfortunately, no one has a great track record at identifying the stocks that’ll become “excellent performers.”

And 2021 hasn’t strayed too far from this trend.

In commentary circulated on Friday, Lazzara observed that only 42{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} of S&P 500 stocks outperformed the index through November. The median stock was up 19{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}, whereas the index was up 23{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}.

To be clear: There’s nothing wrong with investing in specific businesses you believe in or stocks you think offer some extraordinary value.³

However, if your intention is to beat the market, you should manage your expectations.

ICYMI, here’s some recent stuff from TKer:

In markets, when everyone’s worried about the same thing… well… then it’s probably too late to start worrying about it now. (Link)
Everyone was surprised to see corporations report record profit margins this year despite inflation. Well, guess what. Margins are projected to expand again in 2022. (Link)
What happened in the stock market this year won’t tell you much about what’ll happen next year. (Link)

Rearview 🪞

📉 Stock market slide: The S&P 500 fell 1.9{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} last week, closing at 4620.64. It’s now up 20.3{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} since the beginning of the year. If you’re worried that this year’s strong returns means trouble for next year, read this.

🦅 Fed gets hawkish: On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announced that it would double the pace at which it would taper its quantitative easing program. Furthermore, it signaled that it could hike interest rates three times next year. Yes, this means less stimulus from the central bank. But keep in mind this is happening because because the economy is in good shape.

🇪🇺 🇬🇧 Meanwhile across the pond: On Thursday, the European Central Bank said it was dialing back stimulus but not quite as aggressively as the Fed. The Bank of England, however, raised interest rates on Thursday in a move to contain inflationary pressures.

🏘 Home construction starts jump: Housing starts jumped 11.8{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} month-over-month in November to an annualized rate of 1.68 million units, the Census reported. This should help bring some relief to the housing shortage. In a separate report, the National Association of Homebuilders found homebuilder sentiment improved in December.

🛍 Retail sales climb, sorta: Retail sales in the U.S. climbed by 0.3{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} month-over-month in November. However, this largely seems to be driven by inflation. “Adjusted for the 0.8{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} increase in the CPI index, real retail sales actually fell 0.5{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} on the month,” Greg Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, wrote on Wednesday. This metric will be something to watch, but keep in mind that retail sales levels are still waaaaay above pre-pandemic levels.

🎈Wholesale prices are still rising: On Tuesday, we learned the producer price index rose by 0.8{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} month-over-month in November. This reflects a 9.6{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} increase from a year ago, the biggest annual jump since November 2010. Producer prices reflect what businesses pay for the materials that go into the goods they eventually sell to their customers. And while businesses will make an effort to absorb some of those higher costs, they’ll pass some of the costs on through consumer price hikes.

⛓ A good sign in the supply chain: IHS Markit published the preliminary results of its purchasing managers index survey, a proxy for business activity. From the firm’s chief economist Chris Williamson: “Manufacturing output growth even picked up slightly amid a marked easing in the number of supply chain delays, which also helped to take pressure off raw material prices.“

🤑 Reddit is going public: The popular news aggregator and constellation of forums revealed on Wednesday its intention to offer shares in the public stock markets. However, it did not reveal how many shares would be offered or at what price they would be offered. In August, the company said it was worth $10 billion.

Up the road 🛣

The year is slowly coming to an end. The U.S. financial markets will be closed on Friday, December 24 for the Christmas holiday. There are a handful of economic reports due this week. A notable one will be the November personal income and spending report released on Thursday morning. It comes with the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation: the core personal consumption expenditures price index.

Spending will be watched closely in the wake of the weak retail sales report (see above). The inflation metric should confirm that prices are rising at their fastest pace in years, but keep in mind that this is something that the Fed acknowledged with its hawkish tone last Wednesday.

¹ This is not news for many investors. It’s why passively managed index funds have been ballooning.

² This helps explain Stock market truth No. 4: Stocks offer asymmetric upside.

³ There are stock-picking models out there that have outperformed the market during certain periods in the past, and some of these models will probably work during certain periods in the future. But if any of these were consistent (and known), everyone would be using them.

A version of this post was originally published on TKer.co.

Sam Ro is the author of TKer.co. Follow him on Twitter at @SamRo.

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Flipboard, and LinkedIn

December 1, 2021

Bitcoin bull run shows signs of wear as crypto investors eye other coins; Omicron, Fed taper loom

The volatile but never boring market for Bitcoin (BTC) has been whipsawed in recent days, as investors ponder whether there are better returns to be had in other cryptocurrencies, even as a new COVID-19 variant and the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook shake up the landscape.

With news of the Omicron strain of COVID-19 unsettling investors, Bitcoin shed over 2{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} on Tuesday as Fed Chairman Jerome Powell dropped several hints that the central bank is growing more attentive to inflationary risks, and may even accelerate its plans to pull back on stimulative bond purchases.

In theory, the rise of a new variant would prompt the Fed to err on the side of more stimulus, which should benefit cryptocurrencies. Still, Bitcoin sold off sharply along with other risk assets last week, and has yet to challenge its record high near $68,000 set earlier this month, off by more than 20{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} since hitting that peak.

To be certain, Bitcoin is still firmly entrenched in bull market territory. However, other crypto assets, some notably smaller and higher-risk, are seeing growing investment flows, and may be drawing money away from Bitcoin holdings.

Jon Wolfenbarger, a veteran equities analyst, told Yahoo Finance this week that he’s using the 250 day-moving average (DMA) to judge whether crypto and other assets might begin long term turns for the worse.

While stocks, bonds and commodities still traded above their 250 DMAs on Friday, Wolfenbarger cautioned that “there has been enough damage done recently to tell us that we need to be very vigilant for continued weakness that could trip bear market signal,” even if the larger uptrend remains intact, he said.

During the downturn, notable Bitcoin whales like El Salvador, the largest nation state holder of BTC, which is planning to issue sovereign BTC bonds; and MicroStrategy, the largest publicly listed U.S. company, both used the recent correction as a buying opportunity.

‘Further down the risk-curve’

A recent trend indicates more investors are hunting for crypto trading opportunities outside Bitcoin.

Ether (ETH) — a major “Web 3.0” contender integral to the boom in nonfungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized finance and the Metaverse — has logged gains higher than BTC, roughly doubling its performance over the last week.

Meanwhile, higher risk meme-coins such as Dogecoin (DOGE-USD) and Shiba Inu coin (SHIB-USD) are posting even larger gains. The latter is up over 16{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} on the day, coinciding with its listing today on the U.S. based cryptocurrency exchange, Kraken.

At least a few crypto investors consider Bitcoin safe haven asset of sorts, largely because of stimulative government policies that feed inflation and devaluation, but its price action suggests its more closely linked to other risk-sensitive assets. Added to that, data suggests that money is rotating out of Bitcoin into other speculative cryptos.

This pattern is best captured in the ether/bitcoin trading pair, which is trading near levels not seen since 2018, according to Trading View.

“A break-out of ETH/BTC would further support the thesis of an observable rotation out of BTC and into more speculative alts[coins],” the asset manager Fundstrat wrote in a research note Monday.

Beyond speculation, ETH is also used to pay transaction fees on the Ethereum blockchain. Its price action relative to Bitcoin also shows why lesser known cryptocurrencies built on top of Ethereum, especially within DeFi, are seeing the most significant gains over the last few weeks.

“When the market is moving and certain sectors are doing well, as they are currently in DeFi assets, then traders add risk and allocate out of the safe haven [bitcoin]” said Bryan Hernandez, President of the DeFi trading app, Structure.

And the initial buying in these smaller cryptocurrencies is much more speculative according to Hernandez.

“Because smaller DeFi assets tend to be less liquid, they are more affected by moves from powerful players like big VC funds or certain market makers,” he added. “The access to credit that these players have gives them an ability to really push the price to new levels that then create awareness and FOMO buying.”

Other cryptocurrencies connected to the metaverse via virtual platforms The Sandbox and Decentraland, have seen swings of more than 50{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} and 25{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}, respectively, over the last several days.

Contrary to a speculative frenzy, the rotation from Bitcoin to smaller cryptocurrencies suggests a degree of market health according to Mark Elenowitz, president and CEO of the fintech firm, Horizon Fintex.

“Investors are willing to go further down the risk curve for yet-to-be-built projects (i.e. the metaverse) because, again, they view the overall market structure at the moment as trending green.” said Elenowitz.

If the new Omicron-variant does shape buyer demand long term, some investors see a path for Bitcoin to rise in value as an inflation hedge. Yet Craig Erlam, Oanda senior analyst, isn’t so certain.

First, it isn’t clear yet whether central banks will stall tapering enough to change investment growth, the analyst argues. Secondly, higher levels of inflation might cause the market to react in a markedly different way than they have during the early days of the pandemic.

“Everything is hypothetical at this point,” Erlam told Yahoo Finance. “But it’s always too convenient to try to pin [Bitcoin] down to one narrative.”

David Hollerith covers cryptocurrency for Yahoo Finance. Follow him @dshollers.

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Read the latest cryptocurrency and bitcoin news from Yahoo Finance

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Flipboard, and LinkedIn