5 Biggest Robotics ETFs in 2023 Revenue in the robotics market is projected to grow significantly over the coming decade. Have you considered investing in robotics ETFs? With widespread adoption expected to continue across various industries, the robotics sector is projected to see major growth in the years to come. To give an idea of the investment opportunities in robotics, data from Markets and Markets shows that the industrial robotics market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.3 percent from 2022 to reach US$30.87 billion by 2027. The global service robot sector is also slated to experience significant growth in the coming decade, states Future Market Insights, growing at a CAGR of 21 percent to reach US$267 billion by 2033. With the robotics market poised to thriv

Hong Kong home prices to slump till 2024: Morgan Stanley MORGAN Stanley abandoned its “too optimistic” call for Hong Kong residential property values to rebound this year, now seeing the market suffering two additional annual declines. The Wall Street bank now expects home prices in the Asian financial hub to fall 3 per cent in 2023, in contrast with a previous forecast for an increase of 8 per cent, analysts Praveen Choudhary and Jeffrey Mak wrote in a research note on Wednesday (Oct 11). That follows a 16 per cent tumble in 2022, according to the bank. In addition, Morgan Stanley sees another 5 per cent to 10 per cent drop in average selling prices for 2024. It blamed stretched affordability, an increase in land supply, negative rental carry – where costs exceed income – and a weakening

10-year Treasury yield declines despite hot wholesale inflation data The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell on Wednesday as investors assessed wholesale inflation data that came in hotter than expected and the latest Federal Reserve minutes. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was down by more than 4 basis points at 4.614%. Earlier in the session, the 10-year yield hit a low of 4.544%, or its lowest level since Sept. 29. The 2-year Treasury yield was slightly higher, by nearly 3 basis points at 5.007%. Yields and prices have an inverted relationship and one basis point equals 0.01%. The benchmark rate came off its lows of the session after the release of a hotter-than-expected producer price index on Wednesday. PPI, which measures wholesale inflation, showed a rise of 0.5% in September. Econ

Series I bond rates could rise above 5% in November, experts say KEY POINTS The annual rate for Series I bonds could rise above 5% in November based on inflation and other factors, financial experts say. That would be an increase from the current 4.3% interest through Oct. 31, but less than the 6.89% rate offered from November 2022 through April 2023. However, the U.S. Department of the Treasury doesn’t disclose exactly how it decides the fixed rate for I bonds, which can be difficult to predict. The annual rate for newly purchased Series I bonds could rise above 5% in November based on inflation and other factors, financial experts say. That would be an increase from the current 4.3% interest on I bond purchases made through Oct. 31. But it’s less than the 6.89% rate offered on I bonds bo

Deflation is the anti-inflation. Here’s where prices fell in September 2023 in one chart Consumers saw some prices deflate in September 2023, according to the consumer price index, issued Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Deflation is the opposite of inflation. It measures how quickly prices are falling. Largely, deflation has happened among consumer goods, not services, economists said. Consumers have been hearing a lot about inflation in the U.S. economy since early 2021, and rightfully so. At their pandemic-era peak, consumer prices were rising faster than at any point in 40 years. But the dynamic seems to have shifted. Inflation has been declining gradually, which means prices are still rising but at a slower pace, also known as disinflation. Some prices have actually de

Banks got US$280 bil boost from rising rates, McKinsey says Banks globally reaped a US$280 billion (RM1.32 trillion) profit boost in 2022 thanks to rising rates, in the sector’s best performance since the 2008 global financial crisis, McKinsey & Co said. An unprecedented series of interest-rate increases by monetary authorities across the world has provided the biggest tailwind for the global banking industry in over a decade. The bonanza has prompted several lenders to announce billions of dollars in share buybacks. Though the return on equity jumped to 12% in 2022 from an average 9% since 2010, McKinsey struck a note of caution in its Global Banking Annual Review. “A return to ultralow spreads seems unlikely in the short term, but the outlook for net margins remains uncertain,” the N

Bank of America: Investors sell stocks, buy bonds; shun emerging markets nvestors sold stocks and bought bonds in the week to Wednesday, Bank of America Global Research said in a note on Friday, while investors continued to shun emerging market assets. Equities had a weekly outflow of $8.2 billion, BofA said, citing EPFR data, while investors favoured the relative safety of bonds, which had inflows of $3.7 billion. Inflows into Treasuries totalled $7.2 billion, the largest weekly inflow since March 2023, BofA said. Investors dumped emerging market debt and stocks in the latest week, with outflows from equities at $4.3 billion, their largest weekly outflow since May 2022, BofA said. BofA investment strategist Michael Hartnett said a 5% yield in the U.S. 10-year and 4,200 in the S&P 500

Billionaire Ray Dalio Says '50% Chance Of World War' - How To Invest? Summary Billionaire Ray Dalio believes the odds of a global hot war involving major powers have risen from 35% to 50% in the past two years. The economic implications of World War III would be catastrophic, with estimates of a 5-10% contraction in the US economy, a likely collapse of China's economy, and a global depression. We share our picks for how investors can prepare their portfolios to survive and thrive regardless a major global war breaks out or not. I am Samuel Smith, Vice President of Leonberg Capital. I lead the investing group High Yield Investor where we do our best to find the right balance between safety, growth, yield, and value. Billionaire Hedge Fund tycoon Ray Dalio - in a recent LinkedIn post titled

S&P 500, Nasdaq fall with data, geopolitics offsets strong results he S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed lower on Friday as deteriorating consumer sentiment data and the Middle East conflict soured investors on riskier bets and overshadowed upbeat quarterly earnings from some of the largest US banks. Wall Street's three major indices opened higher but lost ground after a preliminary reading on US consumer sentiment showed a sharp fall in October. The Dow managed a small gain. Investors were also monitoring news out of the Middle East. On Friday Israel said it carried out raids inside the Gaza Strip, its first announcement of ground operations aimed at Hamas fighters after their deadly rampage in Israel. The United Nations said Israel's call for Gaza civilians to leave was impossible "wi

Earnings Preview: American Airlines (AAL) Q3 Earnings Expected to Decline The market expects American Airlines (AAL) to deliver a year-over-year decline in earnings on higher revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended September 2023. This widely-known consensus outlook is important in assessing the company's earnings picture, but a powerful factor that might influence its near-term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates. The earnings report, which is expected to be released on October 19, 2023, might help the stock move higher if these key numbers are better than expectations. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower. While management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call will mostly determine the sustainability of t

The world will pay a high price if China cuts off supplies of chipmaking materials Hong Kong CNN Just one month after China announced it would curb exports of germanium and gallium, both essential for making semiconductors, its overseas shipments of the materials fell to zero. Beijing says it has since approved some export licenses but the restrictions are a stark warning that China has a powerful weapon it can deploy in the escalating trade war over the future of tech. The curbs came after the United States, Europe and Japan restricted sales of chips and chipmaking equipment to China to cut off its access to key technology that can be used by the military. “It is still early to tell how tight the restrictions would be. [But] if China ends up blocking a large amount of exports, it will cau

Tech war: US waiver of China export restrictions on advanced semiconductor equipment to South Korea's Samsung and Hynix to make life harder for rival mainland chip makers The US government's recent decision allowing South Korea's Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to buy advanced manufacturing equipment for their semiconductor plants in mainland China is expected to make life more difficult for rival domestic memory chip makers like Yangtze Memory Technologies Co (YMTC), according to analysts. In a major concession to Seoul, Washington has granted both Samsung and Hynix an indefinite waiver on broad restrictions to export advanced chip-making equipment to the mainland, which currently accounts for about a third of the global NAND Flash memory and DRAM market. That action will serve as a big

10-year Treasury yield declines despite hot wholesale inflation data The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell on Wednesday as investors assessed wholesale inflation data that came in hotter than expected and the latest Federal Reserve minutes. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was down by more than 4 basis points at 4.614%. Earlier in the session, the 10-year yield hit a low of 4.544%, or its lowest level since Sept. 29. The 2-year Treasury yield was slightly higher, by nearly 3 basis points at 5.007%. Yields and prices have an inverted relationship and one basis point equals 0.01%. The benchmark rate came off its lows of the session after the release of a hotter-than-expected producer price index on Wednesday. PPI, which measures wholesale inflation, showed a rise of 0.5% in September. Econ

Don’t expect prices to go down soon: It will take a while to ‘wring extra inflation out of the economy,’ says economist Inflation isn’t getting worse — but it’s still too high. That’s the takeaway from the latest consumer price index report released Thursday, which reveals that the cost of U.S. goods and services stayed flat in September with a year-over-year rate of 3.7%, the same as August. However, that’s still well above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%. Despite inflation dropping from a June 2022 peak of 9.1%, the central bank doesn’t expect inflation to reach its target until at least 2026. Month over month, overall inflation increased 0.4% in September. In August, the month-over-month rate was 0.6%. Core inflation — the measure of prices excluding volatile food and gas prices — i

'The war on inflation is over': Famed economist Paul Krugman just declared victory on white-hot inflation — and says we won at 'very little cost.' But here's what he left out of the math Economist and Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman has declared victory over inflation. “The war on inflation is over,” he said in a recent tweet. “We won, at very little cost.” The tweet was accompanied by a chart, which sparked a backlash across social media platforms. Inflation measurements Krugman’s chart seems to indicate that “inflation” has dropped below 2% in September 2023. However, the issue lies in the way he measures inflation. His chart uses the Consumer Price Index but strips out food, energy, shelter and used cars. Critics argue that this measure is simply too narrow. “Ex food, energy, shelter and ca

Big Oil gets bigger Confirming several earlier reports, Exxon Mobil (XOM) has agreed to acquire Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) for more than $253/share, in an all-stock transaction valued at nearly $60B. For Exxon, a deal would add valuable acreage near some of its own fields and make it the dominant producer in the Permian Basin. Pioneer is the Permian's largest operator at 9% of gross production, while Exxon is no. 5 at 6% of gross production. Backdrop: The acquisition is the second in recent months for Exxon after it scooped up Denbury Resources (DEN) for almost $5B in an all-stock deal in July. Exxon has been flush with cash since earning a record $56B in profits last year, and has set aside tens of billions of dollars for M&A. While investor and political pressure has mounted on

Elite investor Jim Rogers rings the alarm on US debt and dollar dominance - and warns of bubbles in stocks and real estate George Soros' former business partner said stocks, bonds, and real estate are widely overvalued. Rogers touted commodities as offering good value, and dismissed the idea of the BRICS bloc. America's debts have ballooned to dangerous highs, the US dollar's dominance won't last, and there are bubbles in stocks, bonds, and real estate across many countries, Jim Rogers has warned. "The United States is the largest debtor nation in the history of the world," Rogers said during a Nomad Capitalist Live 2023 interview that was filmed in early September and released on YouTube this month. "No nation has ever been as deeply in debt as the US is, and that cannot be good," he cont

Asian shares rise after Fed comments, Middle East in focus Top officials signalled that the Treasury yield gains might reshape future rate hike strategies. HONG KONG: Asian shares rose on Tuesday in line with Wall Street’s high note and bonds also rallied, boosted by dovish Federal Reserve remarks, while oil prices edged down after Monday’s surge with the market remaining focused on the conflict in the Middle East. MSCI’s gauge of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan was up 1.2% at 0135 GMT. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei average rose 2.4% while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose for a fourth straight session to gain 1.2%. Top Fed officials indicated on Monday that rising Treasury yields could steer the Fed from further rate increases, helping to spur a rise in bond prices after those markets had bee

The Fed's Hawkish Pause; rates higher for longer with fewer rate cuts in 2024 The rate hike pause by the Federal Reserve was already factored into market prices; but the hawkish tone almost assures that interest rates will remain elevated not only through the rest of this year but well into 2024 was not. The revision to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy sent shockwaves through the financial markets at large. The Fed is likely to raise rates one more time by ¼ % this year. This would take the Fed funds rates interest rate to between 5.5% and 5.75%. The new projections indicate that the Fed intends to keep its terminal rate above 5% throughout the entire calendar year of 2024. The largest shockwave was that the Federal Reserve now intends to only implement two rate cuts next year rather

UBS cuts nearly 70% Credit Suisse researchers in Hong Kong, sources say HONG KONG, Sept 21 (Reuters) - UBS (UBSG.S) has cut around 70% of the Hong Kong-based staff headcount at Credit Suisse's securities research unit, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said, as the two Swiss banking giants move ahead with integration of operations. UBS' takeover of Credit Suisse, the biggest bank merger since the 2008 global financial crisis, was hastily arranged in March this year by Swiss authorities to avert Credit Suisse's collapse. As part of the integration process, UBS decided to absorb Credit Suisse's Securities Research service this month, wrapping the business into its own research operations, Reuters reported on Sept. 5. More than 15 equity researchers were notified earlier this we