A Wealth of Common Sense
OCTOBER 15, 2024
The Great Financial Crisis decimated the balance sheets of most Americans. How could it not? Housing prices were down by nearly 30%. The stock market crashed almost 60%. The unemployment rate hit double-digits. It was the worst economic period most of us have ever lived through. The collective net worth of American households reached roughly $66 trillion by the end of 2007.
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OCTOBER 18, 2024
One of the biggest secular tailwinds in recent years is the advent of artificial intelligence (AI). The latest advancements in AI went viral early last year, and the list of companies in the $1 trillion club is littered with businesses on the leading edge of this next-generation technology. For example, Apple products -- including Siri and Maps -- have always embraced AI, while Microsoft , Alphabet , Amazon , and Meta Platforms have developed seemingly impenetrable moats by integrating AI deeply
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OCTOBER 18, 2024
There's no question that Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has been the biggest winner in the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The AI chip stock added a whopping $3 trillion in market cap since the beginning of 2023, shortly after ChatGPT was launched. However, throughout the first half of the year, there was a surprising rotation out of Nvidia stock. A number of billionaire investors who had capitalized on the stock's initial gains sold the AI stock , arguing that there were better opportunities elsewher
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OCTOBER 18, 2024
Financial services is one of Warren Buffett's favorite industries. His investment vehicle, Berkshire Hathaway , owns a number of insurance and bank stocks. Another high-profile investor, Cathie Wood, also owns a number of financial services stocks across her exchange-traded funds (ETFs). One rare position that Wood and Buffett share is a fintech company called Nu Holdings (NYSE: NU).
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OCTOBER 18, 2024
An incredible feat happened last week. Private company SpaceX successfully launched and "caught" its 20-story Starship rocket as it returned to Earth, a key step in making its large rocket reusable and ready for human missions to the Moon and Mars. Starship is the largest rocket ever put into development, with plans for a 150- to 250-ton payload once it starts commercial launches.
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OCTOBER 18, 2024
There are many misconceptions about investing, and a common one is that it's difficult. Are there many moving parts that are confusing, even for those who study this for a living? Absolutely. Does it have to be complicated or require "advanced knowledge"? Not at all. One way to simplify investing is to use exchange-traded funds ( ETFs ). Seasoned investors preach the importance of a well-rounded and diversified portfolio , and using ETFs is arguably the easiest way to accomplish this goal.
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OCTOBER 18, 2024
Times are frothy for the travel industry these days, so it wasn't exactly surprising to hear good news coming from top American carrier United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) several days ago. On the back of a strong quarterly earnings report and a subsequent clutch of analyst price target raises, the company's shares experienced quite a lift. According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence , they were up by almost 19% in value week to date as of Friday prior to market open.
Private Equity Central brings together the best content for private equity professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
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OCTOBER 18, 2024
In 2025, more than 72.5 million Americans will start getting more money from Social Security. That's because those who receive benefits are entitled to a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) next year. If you're one of those Americans, you may actually be disappointed by your COLA, since it probably won't be as big as you hoped. Although it's understandable to be frustrated you aren't getting the raise you may have been anticipating, it's actually a good thing if you understand the details.
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OCTOBER 18, 2024
Image source: Getty Images The decision to join Costco is an obvious one for some people. You may find that the benefit of saving money on groceries and household essentials outweighs the cost of a membership. But if you're going to shop at Costco, you need to know the rules. Here are a few that may surprise you -- for better or worse. 1. Your Costco membership can be terminated at any time Many people remain loyal Costco members for years.
The Motley Fool
OCTOBER 18, 2024
If you want to grow your portfolio's balance to more than $1 million, a good way to balance risk and growth is by investing in an exchange-traded fund (ETF). An ETF can, through diversification, minimize your overall risk and at the same time, rise in value as it benefits from market and industry-specific trends. It's a win-win for investors and can be an easy way to invest, especially if you aren't comfortable with picking individual stocks.
The Motley Fool
OCTOBER 18, 2024
When Social Security retirees receive their Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) in 2025, they'll experience something that no retiree has for a generation. Something unprecedented has occurred with the 2025 COLA which has not happened since 1997, and it's not great news for seniors. Here's what's happening next year, along with some details about what this unusual event means for America's retirees.
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OCTOBER 18, 2024
Shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ: ASML) plunged after the maker of semiconductor equipment lowered guidance and said that recovery in some chip markets would extend into 2025. The drop pushed the stock into negative territory on the year. The stock came under pressure earlier this year after the U.S. government announced it was looking to implement more strict trade restrictions on companies that sell advanced technology to China, which extended beyond U.S. companies to firms that do a lot of busi
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OCTOBER 18, 2024
You can build tremendous wealth over time in the stock market, but it's helpful to swim with the tide, not against it. Investing in fast-growing industries can stack the odds in your favor. Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most promising arenas for outstanding stocks right now. Here are two leaders in AI hardware and software that could deliver significant gains over the long term. 1.
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OCTOBER 18, 2024
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tracks the performance of 30 industry-leading companies. The index recently surged to new highs, but some of its component companies haven't yet recovered from the 2022 bear market and are trading at rock-bottom share prices that could potentially set up a sharp rebound over the next year. Here are two timely buys right now. 1.
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OCTOBER 18, 2024
It was a mere 20 years ago that industrial and energy titans General Electric and ExxonMobil were the world's most valuable companies when measured by market cap, with values of $319 billion and $283 billion, respectively. Now, just two decades later, technology interests lead the field. Heading up the list are some of the world's most familiar technology names.
The Motley Fool
OCTOBER 18, 2024
For many, the Roth IRA is the best thing since sliced bread. And there's one perk that always steals the spotlight: tax-free income during retirement. With a Roth IRA, you pay taxes upfront, and after you turn 59 1/2 and meet the five-year rule , all the money in your account is tax-free. Sounds pretty great, right? Even if your account grows to over $1 million, you won't have to share a dime with Uncle Sam.
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OCTOBER 18, 2024
Shares of Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) jumped as much as 13.4% in trading this week after the company announced a new launch as early as tomorrow. According to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence , shares are up 9% for the week as of 12:30 p.m. ET on Friday. Rocket Lab's latest launch On Wednesday, Rocket Lab announced it would add another launch to the schedule in a flight window that begins tomorrow, Oct. 19.
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OCTOBER 17, 2024
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) stock is surging once again, passing Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) to become the second most valuable U.S.-based company behind Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). Nvidia's new Blackwell graphics processing unit architecture could deliver significant performance improvements and cost efficiency, which would be a win for Nvidia and its customers. Folks looking to invest in artificial intelligence (AI) could simply buy Nvidia stock as a catch-all way to play a rise in computing power demand.
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OCTOBER 17, 2024
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has been showing a lot of interest in healthcare in recent years. It launched an online pharmacy in 2020, and last year, it acquired primary care company One Medical. It also got into telehealth before abandoning that business. But one thing's for sure: Healthcare is on the tech giant's radar. Retail pharmacy giants Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ: WBA) and CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) have been struggling in recent years, but the looming threat from Amazon hasn't crippled their
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OCTOBER 17, 2024
Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM) , also known as TSMC, charged as much as 13.4% higher on Thursday. As of 2:13 p.m. ET, the stock was still up 11.4%. Driving the semiconductor specialist higher were its quarterly financial results, which came in ahead of expectations. AI continues to chug along After the blistering share price rally that kicked off early last year, many stocks in the artificial intelligence (AI) space have been taking a breather as investors take
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OCTOBER 17, 2024
When it comes to looking at undervalued stocks, investors might be cautious in a hypercompetitive industry like coffee. While the Starbucks brand has distinguished itself in the coffee market, most coffee houses are independents or smaller chains that are not well suited for public markets. Still, over the last few years, one competitor has emerged from obscurity and is rapidly marching across the country in a regional-to-national expansion.
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OCTOBER 17, 2024
The was a time when the key players in space exploration were all government-run operations, but over the past few decades, privately run projects like SpaceX and Blue Origin have become a bigger part of the picture. Investors looking to get in on the action may wish they could buy into Elon Musk's SpaceX , but that company doesn't plan on making a public stock debut anytime soon.
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OCTOBER 18, 2024
Trading platform Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) unveiled a new active trading platform on Wednesday in hopes of attracting more traders. The products are impressive, but it's how these features fold into Robinhood's business model that should have investors bullish on the stock, which Travis Hoium covers in this video. *Stock prices used were end-of-day prices of Oct. 17, 2024.
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OCTOBER 17, 2024
Image source: Getty Images Americans have a lot of misunderstandings about debt, especially when considering small business loans. Entrepreneurs tend to glamorize the idea of "bootstrapping" a small business, and doing it with minimal start-up cash. But sometimes small business loans can be the best thing to happen to your business. It's true that keeping expenses low and making aggressive moves to find reliable revenue are smart strategies for any new company.
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OCTOBER 17, 2024
Collecting dividends from stocks is a great way to generate income without trimming a position. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that pay dividends can help you take your diversified income-investing game to the next level. Sure, an ETF might not be as exciting as a hidden gem stock with market-beating potential. However, the hands-off approach of generating income from a passive investment vehicle like an ETF can be an excellent choice for folks looking for a tool to help them reach their financial
The Motley Fool
OCTOBER 17, 2024
If you're just getting started along the investing path, the idea of picking your first batch of potentially winning stocks may seem intimidating. After all, it takes time and energy to research individual stocks and industries, and if you're starting from scratch, this may look like a very big job. You could just pick up shares of today's top-performing stocks, but you may not have the budget to invest in more than one or two -- and ideally, a winning portfolio contains many stocks across indus
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OCTOBER 17, 2024
Over the past decade, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has been one of the best-performing assets in the world. It has skyrocketed in value from just $100 to its current value of $65,000. The good news is that it may not be too late to invest in Bitcoin's extraordinary upside potential. According to Michael Saylor, founder and executive chairman of MicroStrategy , Bitcoin is likely to hit a price of $13 million by 2045.
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OCTOBER 17, 2024
Over the last couple of years, pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) has made a splash in the red-hot weight loss space. The company's path-breaking innovation in using glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists, Mounjaro and Zepbound, are just two of the company's blockbuster drugs helping pave the way in diabetes and obesity care, respectively.
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OCTOBER 17, 2024
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could be seen as the equivalent of the tortoise in Aesop's famous fable of the tortoise and the hare by some investors. Like the fabled tortoise, ETFs win the race but do so by being slow and steady. But not every ETF fits that stereotype. Some funds sprint like Aesop's hare and are big winners for investors. One Vanguard ETF even turned $10,000 into over $28,000 in just five years.
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OCTOBER 17, 2024
Ken Griffin subscribes to the theory that you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket. His Citadel hedge fund's portfolio includes over 5,800 holdings. How has this highly diversified strategy worked out for Griffin? Quite well, considering he's currently worth roughly $43 billion. With such a big portfolio, it's not surprising that Griffin owns positions in many artificial intelligence (AI) stocks.
The Motley Fool
OCTOBER 18, 2024
Image source: Getty Images If you're joining Costco, you have a choice. You could pay $65 a year for a basic Gold Star membership that lets you shop at the warehouse club. Or, you could upgrade to the Executive membership at a cost of $130 per year. In exchange for the extra $65 an Executive membership costs, you get to earn 2% cash back on your Costco purchases.
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OCTOBER 16, 2024
Warren Buffett has served as the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway since 1965. He oversees a portfolio of 45 publicly traded stocks and securities worth $316 billion, plus a $277 billion cash pile and several private, wholly owned businesses. Under Buffett's leadership, Berkshire stock has delivered a compound annual return of 19.8% over the last 59 years, which could have turned an investment of $1,000 into more than $42 million.
The Motley Fool
OCTOBER 16, 2024
Many retired workers are struggling with rising prices. Gallup reports that a record number of Americans cited inflation as a source of financial hardship in 2024, and a recent survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that over half of retirees worry they will need to make substantial spending cuts to keep up with inflation. Consequently, Social Security's 2025 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) has become a focal point for many seniors.
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OCTOBER 16, 2024
Shares of NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) , a nuclear energy company that makes small modular reactors (SMRs), were soaring Wednesday on reports that Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is interested in using that type of reactor to meet the energy needs of its data centers. NuScale surge also seemed to be getting enhanced by a short squeeze, as a significant percentage of the company's stock is sold short.
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OCTOBER 16, 2024
Uranium mining stocks surged higher on Wednesday, with industry bellwether Cameco (NYSE: CCJ) rising 8.2% through 2:11 p.m. ET, Denison Mines (NYSEMKT: DNN) doing even better with a 14.7% gain, and smaller Energy Fuels (NYSEMKT: UUUU) performing best of all -- up 17%. Investors are betting on a resurgence in demand for nuclear energy, and their optimism is not without reason as tech giants like Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) , Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) , and Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) are
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OCTOBER 16, 2024
This article is intended for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. For guidance on your personal situation, please contact a lawyer. Figuring out who will inherit your assets after your passing can be a tricky and emotional process. But it's important to go through those motions so you can be assured that your wishes will be carried out.
The Motley Fool
OCTOBER 16, 2024
When billionaire Warren Buffett speaks, Wall Street tends to pay very close attention. In his nearly six decades as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B) , he's overseen close to a 5,600,000% cumulative return in his company's Class A shares (BRK.A). Few money managers have been able to consistently outpace the benchmark S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) quite like Buffett.
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