🪙 Invest in precious metals

and more earnings

Author

Morning Download
May 17, 2024

Good morning investors! Stocks snapped their 10-day win streak yesterday, but there are no major alarms.

Today we cover:

  • Precious metals the future?

  • Something about rate cuts.

  • More earnings.

📊 Economy and News 

Invest in precious metals, say experts

This week, the prices of precious metals received a significant boost following the release of softer-than-expected U.S. inflation data, which raised the possibility of near-term rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

Gold prices reached their highest level in over three weeks on Wednesday in response to this news, while silver saw its highest level in more than three years, and platinum climbed to a near one-year peak.

According to recent research from strategists at Saxo Bank, they have raised their price targets for precious metals:

  • They expect gold to test the $2,400 level

  • They see silver climbing as high as $30 per ounce

  • They think platinum has upside potential to reach $1,130 per ounce

Global hits:

Rate cuts? Traders are growing more optimistic about the possibility of the U.S. Federal Reserve initiating interest rate cuts as soon as September, following a cooler-than-expected inflation report for April. However, opinions on this matter appear to be split.

Jerome Schneider, who leads short-term portfolio management at PIMCO, remarked that the recent U.S. inflation figures have solidified investors' belief that a near-term rate increase is no longer being considered.

📈 Stocks

S&P 500 5,297.10 (-0.21%)
DJIA 39,869.38 (-0.097%)
NASDAQ 18,557.96 (-0.21%)
BRENT CRUDE 83.59 (+0.38%)
* Prices as of May 17th, 12:20 AM UTC

All about earnings

Some major national and international brands announced earnings yesterday. Here’s a round up:

  • Siemens, a prominent German technology company, announced a decrease in earnings for the first quarter of 2024, with its automation division experiencing a slowdown. The industrial business segment of Siemens recorded a profit of 2.51 billion euros ($2.73 billion), which fell short of analysts' expectations based on a company-complied consensus. Siemens also noted a significant deceleration in its automation division, although no underlying structural issues were identified as the cause.

  • China's leading search engine provider, Baidu, surpassed analysts' projections for first-quarter revenue. This achievement was attributed to a rebound in advertising sales and increased demand for its AI-driven cloud products. Baidu reported revenue of 31.51 billion yuan ($4.37 billion) for the quarter ending March 31, exceeding the analysts' average estimate of 31.21 billion yuan according to LSEG data.

  • In the telecommunications sector, BT disclosed a revenue of £20.8 billion ($26.3 billion) for the fiscal year ending in March, showing a slight uptick from £20.7 billion in the previous year. Additionally, the company announced a 3.9% increase in its 2024 full-year dividend to 8 pence per share. CEO Allison Kirkby outlined plans for further cost savings, aiming to achieve £3 billion in savings by the end of the full year 2029.

  • Under Armour is laying off workers as retailer says North America sales will plunge this year after plunging 10% in 2023.

    Here are the numbers from the latest quarter:

    • Earnings per share: 11 cents adjusted vs. 8 cents expected

    • Revenue: $1.33 billion vs. $1.33 billion expected

    Under Armour said it expects sales to continue to worsen in North America. The company anticipates they will drop between 15% and 17% in its current fiscal year. 

  • Walmart beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates.

    Here are the numbers:

    • Earnings per share: 60 cents adjusted vs. 52 cents expected

    • Revenue: $161.51 billion vs. $159.50 billion

    The discounter said it made gains with high-income shoppers, and reported e-commerce growth of 22% for its U.S. business.

    CFO John David Rainey told CNBC the gap between the price of cooking at home and eating out is helping Walmart’s grocery business.

    These figures helped the stock gain over 7% to hit a new all-time high of $64.42.

💵 Personal Finance

Can you have too much money?

Today, we're going to explore a fascinating question - can you actually have too much money?

It's a controversial topic that a lot of people have strong opinions about.

On one side, you have those who say there's no such thing as too much money. The more wealth you accumulate, the more freedom, power and opportunity you have in life.

Why would anyone want to put a limit on that? But then there are others who argue that at a certain point, excessive wealth becomes more of a burden than a blessing.

They point to issues like greed, unhappiness, and a lack of purpose that can come with having way more money than you'll ever need. So, which is it? Can you cross a line into having too much money, or is more always better when it comes to wealth?

Let's dive into this topic in this video and let us know what you think:

💰 Be a Better Investor

“People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.”

Adam Smith

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👩🏽‍⚖️ Legal Stuff
Nothing in this newsletter is financial advice. Always do your own research and think for yourself.