Bed Bath & Beyond : What Can Shareholders Do? Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY), a popular US-based  retailer specializing in home textiles and housewares, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday. Despite being a well-known brand, the company has faced significant financial challenges in recent years, Leading to this decision. Ryan Cohen, a major shareholder in BBBY, capitalized on the stock's surge and sold his stakes for a substantial profit of $59 million. However, other investors who didn't sell in time may have suffered significant losses. As of last Friday's market close, the stock price had plummeted to just $0.29, resulting in a staggering 99% drop in its value. The share price may experience further declines to account for the bankruptcy news. What can shareholders do in a b

Among the S&P 500 stocks, Tesla (TSLA) emerged as the best performer, with a remarkable surge of 65% from the start of 2023. Nvidia (NVDA) and Meta Platforms (META) were two other favorite stocks among investors and were up 55% and 44% respectively over the same period. Below is a list of top 10 performing S&P 500 component stocks: Tesla (TSLA) +65% Discovery (WBD) +58% Nvidia (NVDA) +55% Catalent (CTLT) +53% Align Tech (ALGN) +46% Royal Caribbean (RCL) +45% Meta Platforms (META) +44% United Airlines (UAL) +39% Monolithic Power Sys (MPWR) +38% Wynn Resorts (WUNN) +36% Moving on to the worst-performing S&P 500 stocks, Moderna (MRNA) was the second-worst performer, down 24% year-to-date. Pfizer (PFE) was down by 22% too. It appears that the pandemic fortune for these biotech comp

The concept of value investing can vary among different investors, lacking a fixed definition, which can lead to confusion and a loss of context if not properly defined. Adding to this complexity, Warren Buffett has emphasized the interconnectedness of value and growth investing. As a renowned value investor, he blended the two, famously stating that "it's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price." From Buffett's perspective, value investing entails identifying companies with growth potential and strong competitive advantages that are trading at fair valuations. Typically, superior businesses with growth prospects trade at a premium and may not be undervalued even during market downturns. Their price-to-earnings (PE) ratios can remain h

If You Invested in Netflix in 2013, This is How Much You Would Have Today It. seems that Netflix still has what it takes to be a strong compounder in the future. [Happy] A solid compounder ---Netflix  To perform this exercise, let’s assume you purchased close to US$1,000 worth of Netflix back in February 2013. Netflix’s share price on 22 February 2013 stood at US$25.69, adjusted for a 7-for-1 split that the company conducted in June 2015. If You would have purchased around 38 shares of the streaming giant with your budget. Fast forward to 2023, and Netflix is now trading at US$337.50. If Your 38 shares will now be worth US$12,825, a more than 14-fold increase from the original US$976.22 that you invested. On a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) basis, Netflix’s sha

Tesla vs China brand like Xpeng Etc  Each year, the competition in electric vehicles (EVs) intensify further as more brands actively vie for dominance. China is the biggest EV market in the world and it is important to see how the brands are performing in this market. To simplify the process of comparison, our attention will be directed exclusively towards companies engaged in the production of EVs or hybrids. Although significant numbers of EVs/hybrids are sold by companies like Volkswagen and Geely, they are excluded due to their offering of gasoline cars as well. The purpose of this assessment is to periodically take stock and identify the leaders in the race, while also pinpointing the laggards. The ultimate goal is to facilitate investment decisions by avoiding underperforming co

The US central bank opened its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday (Jul 26), preparing for another salvo in the war on rising inflation. The Federal Reserve is expected to announce another big interest rate increase on Wednesday, the fourth this year, in the effort to tamp down price pressures that have been squeezing American families. The challenge for policymakers is to quell inflation before it becomes dangerously entrenched, but without sending the world’s largest economy into a recession that would reverberate around the globe.

Microsoft has missed estimates for quarterly revenue on Tuesday (Jul 26), hurt by a stronger dollar, slowing sales of PCs and lower advertisement spending. Shares of the Redmond, Washington-based company fell about 1 per cent in trading after the bell. The stock has lost about 25 per cent this year. Microsoft also faces pressure from a stronger greenback as it gets about half of its revenue from outside the United States. That led the company to lower its fourth-quarter profit and revenue forecasts in June.$Microsoft(MSFT)$

So we can only make some assumptions and some best estimates. Is inflation still high? Yes. It has not come down to the 2% target. There will most likely be more rate hikes, and that benefits fixed-income securities. How much more will stocks go higher? Honestly from a personal point of view, big tech’s rally was a bit of a surprise – firstly most corporates were either freezing or cutting headcount, and secondly, no one would have fathomed the positive catalyst that AI is bringing. The recent bull market is running forward ahead while near-term skepticism and uncertainty still linger. If you are risk aversive, there is no wrong in choosing to stay defensive at this moment. Returns on T-bills are as good as some REITs without the risk. Conversely, for those who are in it for the long run,

Tesla vs China brand like Xpeng Etc  Each year, the competition in electric vehicles (EVs) intensify further as more brands actively vie for dominance. China is the biggest EV market in the world and it is important to see how the brands are performing in this market. To simplify the process of comparison, our attention will be directed exclusively towards companies engaged in the production of EVs or hybrids. Although significant numbers of EVs/hybrids are sold by companies like Volkswagen and Geely, they are excluded due to their offering of gasoline cars as well. The purpose of this assessment is to periodically take stock and identify the leaders in the race, while also pinpointing the laggards. The ultimate goal is to facilitate investment decisions by avoiding underperforming co

Here we look at three Hang Seng Index (HSI) constituent stocks that pay stable dividends. 1. CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd (SEHK: 0001) CK Hutchison (CKH) is a diversified conglomerate. The company has four core businesses – ports and related services, retail, infrastructure, and telecommunications. CKH’s ports and related services business holds interests in 51 ports around the world while its retail business owns and operates well-known brands such as Watsons and ParknShop. The infrastructure business includes CK Infrastructure Holdings (SEHK: 1038) which owns assets domestically as well as globally in the UK and Oceania region. The telecommunications business is known for its “3” network which is active in parts of Europe such as Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Ireland and the UK. In th

On 14 January, iFAST provided an update on the status of its Hong Kong ePension division because of a news report announcing that the project had fallen behind schedule due to manpower shortages. The Hong Kong Provident Fund regulator had stated that the commencement of the Hong Kong pension platform will be delayed by eight months. Despite this delay, the regulator was optimistic that the original target commencement date set for end-2025 could still be met. On iFAST’s part, it had been prudent and assumed that contributions from the ePension project will only commence in the fourth quarter of 2023 (4Q2023) as it anticipated some form of delay. The group still expects some initial contribution from this project to flow into its books in 4Q2023. As a reminder, back in late 2021, iFAST anno

Buffett is a fan of energy and dividend stocksOil prices have been on a rise this year, more so following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In tandem, inflation has skyrocketed, reaching a 40-year high in the US. Oil has historically worked as a hedge against inflation. Based on his stock buys, Warren Buffett likely believes there’s more upside for oil prices.In the year to date, Occidental’s stock price has soared 120% while Chevron has jumped 30%. This is in sharp contrast to the S&P 500’s 17% slump.Buffett also likes well-managed companies with low debt, strong cash flows, growing dividends, and share buybacks. Many of his stock picks check those boxes.For instance, Occidental raised its annual dividend payout by 1,200% in February. Chevron’s dividend yield in 2021 was an attractive 4.5

【Voting Post】A confession for a bright future[Happy]  At this point, we have a confession to make. More than half of the article above was written by ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) powered conversational chatbot that is capable of accomplishing various tasks, including writing. Impressed? Well, ChatGPT can write poems too: “In the world of finance, a legend stands tall, His name is Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha. With a keen eye for value, he's made a fortune, And a reputation for wisdom that's second to none. One secret to his success is his love of dividends, A reliable stream of income that never ends. He looks for companies with strong, sustainable moats, That can generate profits and share them with their shareholders in votes. Apple, Bank of America, Coca-Cola too, These are

Nike is one of the largest sports apparel and footwear brands in the world.Top athletes around the globe swear by Nike’s innovative footwear, and the company has a strong brand presence that keeps it at the top of consumers’ minds.The company has reported a steady set of financials for its latest fiscal year ended 31 May 2022 (FY2022).Revenue inched up 5% year on year to US$46.7 billion despite supply chain disruptions as demand stayed firm.Gross profit rose 8% year on year to US$21.5 billion as gross margin crept up from 44.8% in FY2021 to 46% in FY2022.Net profit increased by 6% year on year to US$6 billion.Nike introduced its Consumer Direct Acceleration strategy two years ago, outlining a clear vision to extend its digital presence and create deeper and more meaningful customer relatio

US manufacturing activity continued to cool in July as more factories dialled back production in the face of shrinking orders and rising inventories. The Institute for Supply Management’s gauge of factory activity eased to 52.8, the lowest level since June 2020, from 53 a month earlier, going by data released on Monday (Aug 1). Readings above 50 indicate expansion, and the latest figure compared with a median projection of 52 in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The group’s measure of production also fell to a more than 2-year low; its gauge of new orders remained in contraction territory for a second month. The figures highlight softer demand for merchandise as the economy struggles for momentum. “Panellists are now expressing concern about a softening in the economy, as new order rates c

'The US will raise the debt ceiling for the 79th time ' Ongoing discussions to raise the US debt ceiling have been unsuccessful thus far. The US government is expected to run out of money by late July according to Goldman Sach's projection. Failure to raise the debt ceiling in time to secure necessary liquidity for interest payments and bond redemptions would result in a US default for the first time. The debt ceiling is a limit or cap on the amount of money that the US government is allowed to borrow. The debt ceiling is set by Congress and it works like a credit limit - you can't borrow once you hit it. Why does the government need to borrow money? Well, the government spends more money than it collects in taxes. This gap between what it spends and what it earns is called a budget defic

Buffett is a fan of energy and dividend stocksOil prices have been on a rise this year, more so following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In tandem, inflation has skyrocketed, reaching a 40-year high in the US. Oil has historically worked as a hedge against inflation. Based on his stock buys, Warren Buffett likely believes there’s more upside for oil prices.In the year to date, Occidental’s stock price has soared 120% while Chevron has jumped 30%. This is in sharp contrast to the S&P 500’s 17% slump.Buffett also likes well-managed companies with low debt, strong cash flows, growing dividends, and share buybacks. Many of his stock picks check those boxes.For instance, Occidental raised its annual dividend payout by 1,200% in February. Chevron’s dividend yield in 2021 was an attractive 4.5

Global oil prices dropped on Thursday to their lowest levels since before Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine, as traders fretted over the possibility of an economic recession later this year that could torpedo energy demand. Benchmark Brent crude futures settled down US$2.66, or 2.75 per cent, at US$94.12, the lowest close since Feb 18. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled down US$2.34, or 2.12 per cent, at US$88.54, the lowest close since Feb 2. The fall in oil prices could come as a relief to large consumer nations including the United States and countries in Europe, which have been urging producers to ramp up output to offset tight supplies and combat raging inflation. Oil had surged to well over US$120 a barrel earlier in the year. A sudden rebound in demand from the

  What will happen conflict in Gaza Strip ?[LOL] [LOL] [LOL]   Elevated oil prices could pose a challenge for the Federal Reserve, as inflation figures may persistently remain above their 2% target. Consequently, this could lead to an extended period of higher interest rates. Moreover, U.S. index futures have experienced a downturn, with S&P 500 index futures showing a decline of roughly 0.7%. However, it's uncertain whether the conflict has directly fueled investor concerns, as the United States already grapples with significant domestic challenges such as elevated long-term interest rates, increasing U.S. debt, and the lingering Speaker appointment issue. These factors were already putting downward pressure on the markets even before the conflict arose. There

At an annual meeting last Thursday (Aug 4), Tesla shareholders greenlit a 3-for-1 stock split that is poised to take place on Aug 24. Essentially, shareholders will get 2 additional shares for every share of Tesla they hold on the Aug 17 record date, while trading on a split-adjusted basis will start from Aug 25. Since the electric-vehicle (EV) maker first mooted the idea of a stock split in March, the counter has outperformed the Nasdaq, surging roughly 50 per cent from a 52-week low of around US$620 in May to close at above US$925 on Aug 4. The rally came on the back of better-than-expected Q2 earnings, as well as a US$430 billion bill in the United States that is expected to deliver - among other things - EV tax credits. Tesla closed 6.6 per cent lower at US$865 on Friday (Aug 5), howev