The Motley Fool

APRIL 8, 2024

One of the most high-profile trends over the past year or so has been the growing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). The latest advances in this quickly evolving field have created something of an AI gold rush as businesses scramble to determine how best to leverage this nascent technology. There are a vast and growing number of applications for generative AI , which can create original content, including text, images, and video.

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A Wealth of Common Sense

APRIL 8, 2024

A reader sent me the following chart asking for my thoughts: I honestly don’t know who the creator of this chart is. I don’t know the intention of it either but the fact that the title contains the word collapse makes it sound scary. Knowing that housing prices in the U.S. are at all-time highs makes this chart seem suspect, but the data checks out.

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The Motley Fool

APRIL 8, 2024

If you already have $100,000 saved for retirement, you may be closer to reaching $1 million than you realize. Saving and investing to get to $100,000 is like pushing a snowball to the top of a hill. It can be really hard sometimes, and the snowball still seems kind of small. But once you reach the top of the hill, you can let the snowball roll down the other side and let it get bigger and bigger.

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FinSMEs

APRIL 8, 2024

HD, a Thai based developer of chatbots for health care, raised $5.6m in Series A funding. The round was led by SBI Ven Capital with participation from M Venture Partners, FEBE Ventures, Partech Partners, Ratio Ventures, Orvel Ventures, and TA Ventures. HD is a healthcare and surgery marketplace in emerging Southeast Asia, powering over 1,800+ healthcare […] The post HD Raises $5.6M in Series A Funding appeared first on FinSMEs.

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The Motley Fool

APRIL 8, 2024

Your net worth is kind of like a scorecard of your financial progress. Seeing that number march steadily higher over your life should assure you that you're on the right track. Your net worth is calculated by adding up all of your assets -- cash savings, investments, home value, and other property -- and subtracting your liabilities -- your mortgage balance, student loans, credit card debt, and any other money you might owe.

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FinSMEs

APRIL 8, 2024

Windfall Bio, a Menlo Park, CA-based company which specializes in methane-to-value solutions, raised $28M Series A funding. The round led by Prelude Ventures with participation from Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Global Brain (through its Norinchukin Innovation Fund L.P.), Incite Ventures, Positive Ventures and existing investors including B37 Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Mayfield, and UNTITLED (a fund backed by the Tetra Laval family).

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FinSMEs

APRIL 8, 2024

Summer, a NYC-based provider of an end-to-end workplace student loan solution, raised $9M in funding. The round was led by Rebalance Capital and SemperVirens, with participation from General Catalyst, QED, Flourish Ventures, Partnership Fund for NYC, Fenway Summer, and Gaingels. The company intends to use the funds to expand its leadership team, grow its Advisory Board, […] The post Summer Raises $9M in Funding appeared first on FinSMEs.

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The Motley Fool

APRIL 8, 2024

There's been a surge in tech stocks over the last year, which has seen the Nasdaq-100 Technology Sector index rise 47% in the last 12 months. Increased interest in budding industries like artificial intelligence (AI) has rallied investors, sending countless stocks skyrocketing. Suffice it to say that AI has created a lot of millionaires over the last year.

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FinSMEs

APRIL 8, 2024

Prem Labs, a US-based applied research lab focused on enhancing and advancing open-source AI technologies, raised $14M in Seed funding. Backers included a co-founder of Sequoia Capital China, David Maisel, founder and former chairman of Marvel Studios, and Alan Lipschitz, the founder of Incubeta, and others. The company intends to use the funds to expand […] The post Prem Labs Raises $14M in Seed Funding appeared first on FinSMEs.

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The Motley Fool

APRIL 8, 2024

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VKTX) has shown its strengths from a potential product perspective and an investment perspective in recent times. The company reported excellent data from clinical trials of two formulations of its leading weight loss drug candidate. In fact, after the first data report in late February, the stock surged 120% in just one trading session.

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FinSMEs

APRIL 8, 2024

Flip, a Palo Alto, CA-based provider of a shopping social network, raised $144M in Series C funding, bringing the company’s pre-money valuation to $1.05 billion. The round was led by Streamlined Ventures with participation from previous investors Mubadala Capital and WestCap, and AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ: APP) (which made a $50M investment). AppLovin investment is part […] The post Flip Raises $144M in Series C Funding appeared first on FinSMEs.

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The Motley Fool

APRIL 8, 2024

Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) announced on April 2 that it made $4.8 billion in share repurchases in the first quarter of 2024, the second-largest quarterly share buyback in its history. This is likely a down payment on the $25 billion increase in the share buyback program revealed in its fourth-quarter 2023 earnings announcement in February. However, the market's reaction to this news was tepid, and as of this writing, the stock has fallen on the news.

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FinSMEs

APRIL 8, 2024

Leash Biosciences, a Salt Lake City, UT-based artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML)-native biotechnology company, raised $9.3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Springtide Ventures with participation from MetaPlanet, Top Harvest Capital, Mitsui Global Investment, MFV Partners, Recursion co-founders Chris Gibson, and Blake Borgeson.

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The Motley Fool

APRIL 8, 2024

The e-commerce industry has undoubtedly made room for Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) , but outside these e-commerce ties, the companies have less in common than one might think. Amazon is an online seller with a tech business, while Shopify is more of a software business. Hence, both companies approach e-commerce from different angles, meaning their investment cases differ significantly.

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FinSMEs

APRIL 8, 2024

Ubit, a Singapore-based Web3 smart market maker exchange company, raised $20M in funding. Bakers were not disclosed. The company intends to use the funds to further develop the platform, and further consolidate its position in the Web3 trading platform domain. Unit is committed to creating intelligent and social financial tools, such as crypto spot and […] The post Ubit Raises $20M In Funding appeared first on FinSMEs.

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The Motley Fool

APRIL 8, 2024

Image source: Upsplash/The Motley Fool Last month, Target announced it would overhaul its Target Circle Rewards program in April. One positive change is that deals will be automatically applied to members' accounts, so they no longer miss out on discounts that could save them money. Previously, members had to activate deals to save. This is likely a welcome change for busy shoppers who may be forgetful.

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FinSMEs

APRIL 8, 2024

Zinclusive, a Cheyenne, WY-based financially inclusive company, raised $10M in funding. Backers were not disclosed. The company intends to use the funds to expand access to its solutions. Led by CEO Jay Abbasi, Zinclusive will offer personal credit and financial products to consumers who typically face limited options and predatory rates. With a focus on […] The post Zinclusive Raises $10M in Funding appeared first on FinSMEs.

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The Motley Fool

APRIL 8, 2024

It's been a difficult few years for Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG) , which has seen its stock fall from over $70 in early 2021 to under $4 today. In November 2023, when it filed its 10-Q for the third quarter, the company issued what is referred to as a "going concern" warning projecting that it may not have enough cash to fund its operations and capital expenditure requirements over the next 12 months.

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FinSMEs

APRIL 8, 2024

LightLink, a remote Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain focused on gasless transactions, raised $6.2m in extended seed funding Backers included MH Ventures and NxGen, along with individual investors ANBESSA, Eric Cryptoman, Lady of Crypto, Satoshi Stacker, That Martini Guy, Zoran Kole, B3V, Blue7, and T&B Media Global. The company intends to use the funds to expand its development efforts.

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The Motley Fool

APRIL 8, 2024

It can be hard to find excellent stocks to buy on the dip in a bull market, but it isn't impossible. E-commerce specialist Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY) is one excellent candidate. The online retailer was highly successful in the early days of the pandemic, but its shares have been southbound since late 2021. Etsy's shares are down by 38% in the past 12 months alone.

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XY Planning Network

APRIL 8, 2024

I remember first hearing about a new group of planners through a post on the FPA discussion board. This group was looking to help people with financial planning and charge them on a retainer basis. “Wow,’ I thought. “That’s exactly what I am doing!” So I called Alan Moore and talked with him about this concept. This pricing dilemma was a challenge I had been struggling with and Alan was excited to share his vision.

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The Motley Fool

APRIL 8, 2024

When it comes to long-term investing, it can pay to bet on smaller, less established companies with substantial growth potential over the coming years. With a market capitalization of just $1.6 billion, SoundHound AI (NASDAQ: SOUN) certainly fits the bill. And with shares up a whopping 145% year to date, near-term momentum looks strong. But is SoundHound's recent rally just a hype-driven fluke or the start of an enduring bull run?

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Private Equity Wire

APRIL 8, 2024

Data analytics and AI consulting firm QuantSpark has partnered with Chronograph, a provider of private equity portfolio monitoring solutions, to provide technology infrastructure and guidance for the adoption of data-driven value creation strategies. Chronograph’s cloud-based analytics and data management solutions allow private equity firms to collect, standardise and centralise company-specific metrics alongside core KPIs.

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The Motley Fool

APRIL 8, 2024

With megacap growth stocks the clear market leaders of this bull market, you may think that a growth-oriented exchange-traded fund (ETF) would be crushing the performance of a value fund. Year to date, the Vanguard Growth ETF (NYSEMKT: VUG) is up a little over 10%, but the Vanguard Value ETF (NYSEMKT: VTV) is close behind with a 7.8% return. Both funds are hovering around 52-week highs.

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Financial Times: Moral Money

APRIL 8, 2024

Also in today’s newsletter, new data on EU carbon emissions

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The Motley Fool

APRIL 8, 2024

Image source: Getty Images There's no getting around the fact that insurance costs ballooned over the past year. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that car insurance premiums rose 20% in 2023, and the average annual amount a driver pays for car insurance is now a staggering $2,543. Here are a few reasons why car insurance prices have increased lately and what you can do to help bring them under control.

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AltAssets

APRIL 8, 2024

The $25.9bn-managing Louisiana Teachers’ Retirement System has earmarked $725m for four new alternatives fund commitments. The post Louisiana Teachers sets aside $725m for alternatives first appeared on AltAssets Private Equity News.

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The Motley Fool

APRIL 8, 2024

Vanguard's largest exchange-traded funds (ETFs) -- like the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF , Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF , Vanguard Growth ETF , or Vanguard Value ETF -- garner a lot of attention. And for good reason. They are all fine funds worth considering. But one less-discussed fund is the Vanguard Large-Cap ETF (NYSEMKT: VV). Here's why it stands out as my top Vanguard ETF to buy and hold for at least the next five years, along with some strategies for incorporating ETFs into your portfolio.

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Financial Times - Banking

APRIL 8, 2024

Analysts say some lenders could lift their guidance when they report first-quarter results

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The Motley Fool

APRIL 8, 2024

Dividend stocks can be terrific investments that can supply you with a growing stream of passive income. Meanwhile, the best ones offer the potential to earn strong total returns as their growing earnings and dividends steadily push their stock prices higher. NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE) , Brookfield Infrastructure (NYSE: BIPC) (NYSE: BIP) , and Enbridge (NYSE: ENB) stand out to a few Fool.com contributors this April for their ability to pay a growing dividend.

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AltAssets

APRIL 8, 2024

Ryan Selwood, the CIO of Bregal Investments, has died during a trip to Portugal with senior colleagues, a year after joining the firm. The post Bregal Investments CIO Ryan Selwood has died, aged 51 first appeared on AltAssets Private Equity News.

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The Motley Fool

APRIL 8, 2024

Some people spend much of their lives planning for early retirement. They bank a large portion of their income in their 30s and 40s so that by the time their 50s or early 60s roll around, they're able to wrap up their careers without financial stress. But then there are those who are thrust into early retirement due to circumstances outside their control.

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AltAssets

APRIL 8, 2024

Global investment bank Houlihan Lokey has expanded its private funds group by bringing in four managing directors from Greenhill & Co. The post Houlihan Lokey bulks up private funds group in wake of Triago acquisition first appeared on AltAssets Private Equity News.

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The Motley Fool

APRIL 8, 2024

Shares of Zscaler (NASDAQ: ZS) fell 20.4% in March, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Despite delivering impressive quarterly financial results, the cybersecurity stock still slid lower thanks to a combination of pessimism about its outlook, an expensive valuation, and unfavorable market conditions. Zscaler's quarterly results were solid, but its outlook was less impressive Zscaler reported quarterly earnings on Feb. 29 after the market closed for the day.

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