Month: June 2017

Equities in Asia decline despite better-than-expected China PMI data

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Asian markets lost ground on Friday despite China manufacturing activity beating expectations as select tech shares around the region sold off.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.14 percent to trade below the 20,000 level. The benchmark index traded at 19,990.5 at 9:35 a.m. HK/SIN.

The Kospi slipped 0.41 percent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 pulled back 1.31 percent.

Markets in greater China traded lower as President Xi Jinping visited Hong Kong ahead of the twentieth anniversary of the Hong Kong handover. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.97 percent. On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was off by 0.41 percent and the Shenzhen Composite fell 0.315 percent.

Indonesian markets remained closed today.

In economic news, China’s manufacturing activity accelerated more than expected in June, suggesting the world’s second-largest economy continued to confound expectations for a slowdown. The official manufacturing PMI rose to 51.7 compared to the 51.0 forecast.

The Australian dollar, which is sensitive to Chinese economic data, climbed for a third straight session to trade at USD 0.7699 at 9:33 a.m. HK/SIN, trading as high as USD 0.7712 following the news. The rise in the Aussie also comes on the back of the rally in iron ore prices, which have increased for three straight sessions.

Japan core CPI for the month of May rose 0.4 percent on year, in line with expectations. May industrial production figures reflected a fall of 3.3 percent, compared with the previous month, slightly higher than the 3.2 percent fall projected, Reuters reported.

Tech stocks in South Korea were mixed following the fall in big name technology companies on Wall Street overnight. Samsung Electronics was down by 1.42 percent and SK Hynix fell 1.75 percent, but internet company Kakao was higher by 0.49 percent.

In Japan, Nintendo lost 3.15 percent and Yahoo Japan was off 1.61 percent, while in Taiwan, Hon Hai shed 1.26 percent.

In other currency news, the dollar hit a fourteen-month low against the euro overnight. The common currency edged down from a session high of USD 1.1445 to fetch USD 1.1434 at 9:32 a.m. HK/SIN.

The dollar’s weakness stems from market anticipation that other central banks, such as the European Central Bank and the Bank of Canada, could be turning hawkish, which would diminish any yield advantage the dollar might receive from the US Federal Reserve’s hiking cycle.

“International markets continued to adjust for a 2018 outlook where other central banks join the Fed in gradually reducing monetary stimulus,” CMC Markets Chief Market Analyst Ric Spooner said in a Friday morning note.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, traded near nine-month lows at 95.554, compared with the 97 handle seen earlier in the week.

Bond yields rose slightly, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield last trading around 2.26 percent. The 10-year yield had traded around 2.15 percent earlier this week.

“Yield curves pushed higher and steeper again overnight, with the UK and German markets leading the move,” said ANZ Economist Daniel Gradwell in a Friday morning note. The moves came after consumer inflation in Germany for June came in above expectations at 1.5 percent on year, compared with the 1.3 percent forecast.

Oil prices posted moderate gains. Brent crude added 0.4 percent to trade at USD 47.61 a barrel and US crude rose 0.38 cents to trade at USD 45.10.

In the US, equities closed lower after a fall in technology stocks cancelled out gains from financial names.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

How Mark Zuckerberg stole WhatsApp from under Tencent’s nose while its CEO was sick

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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It’s well-known that Facebook paid a hefty sum to buy messaging app WhatsApp. But in the process, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg apparently outbid a rival who had fallen ill, according to a new report in Bloomberg Businessweek.

Tencent, the maker of WeChat, was interested in buying WhatsApp in early 2014, a deal that would have instantly expanded China’s most popular technology platform. But co-founder Pony Ma got back surgery, delaying his visit to Silicon Valley to broker the deal, according to Bloomberg. California-based Zuckerberg ultimately offered double what Tencent planned to offer to buy WhatsApp, announcing the deal in February 2014.

The $19 billion deal turned heads at the time, when Zuckerberg said the deal materialized quickly over a dinner meeting in early February. Zuckerberg is no stranger to rushed deals — Facebook attempted to negotiate the acquisition of virtual reality company Oculus over one weekend.

Bloomberg’s report doesn’t make clear if Zuckerberg knew about Ma’s intentions and condition, and Facebook was not immediately available to comment on the report. WhatsApp has more than 1.2 billion users every month who send more than 50 billion messages per day, Facebook said on its Q4 2016 earnings call.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Asian markets open higher with central banks in spotlight; Nikkei up 0.5%

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Asian bourses opened higher on Thursday, taking cues from a stronger finish in US markets, with traders expected to digest comments from top central bankers overnight.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.53 percent. South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index opened at a record level, closing in on the 2,400 level. It was up 0.52 percent in early trade.

Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.6 percent.

Indonesian markets remain closed today.

Comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Tuesday about adjustment in the central bank’s monetary stimulus had been misinterpreted, according to media reports. Draghi had wanted to signal tolerance for weaker inflation and not tightening in policy, sources told Reuters.

The euro was flat at USD 1.1379 at 8:05 a.m. HK/SIN after two consecutive sessions of gains. The euro traded as high as USD 1.1385 in the session after hitting a one-year high on Wednesday.

The Bank of England was also in the spotlight, after BoE Governor Mark Carney’s comments about debating an increase in interest rates “in the coming months.” Carney had sounded more dovish in a speech earlier this month, where he said that talk of an imminent U.K. interest rates was premature.

While central bankers do change their minds, Carney did so “without warning and fresh economic data,” Brown Brothers Harriman Global Head of Currency Strategy Marc Chandler said in a Wednesday evening note.

Cable gained further to trade at USD 1.2939 at 8:06 a.m. HK/SIN after hitting a three-week high overnight.

Meanwhile, Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz told CNBC that interest rate cuts “have done their job.” The Canadian dollar rose to its highest level since February following the news. The loonie traded at USD 1.3036 to the dollar at 8:07 a.m. HK/SIN compared to levels around the USD 1.32 handle seen earlier this week.

In company news, Toshiba postponed plans for the sale of its memory business following its decision to take legal action against Western Digital for interfering in the deal.

Toshiba selected a Japan-led consortium as its preferred bidder earlier this month. Western Digital, which jointly operates Toshiba’s chip plant, has sought an injunction to prevent the sale from taking place. Toshiba shares were down 0.76 percent in early trade.

Oil prices gained slightly. Brent crude futures edged higher by 0.08 percent to trade at USD 47.35 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate added 0.18 percent to trade at USD 44.82.

In currencies, the dollar was little changed at 96.030 against a basket of rival currencies at 8:13 a.m. HK/SIN. Against the yen, the dollar was mostly flat at 112.23. The greenback had traded at a more than one-month high against the yen earlier in the week.

In the US, stocks closed higher, with financial stocks rising before the release of the Federal Reserve’s stress test results. Bank stocks rose further in extended trading after results showed the Fed had approved the capital return plans of all 34 banks.

On the economic calendar for Thursday, Japan retail sales for the month of May are expected at 7:50 a.m. HK/SIN. Hong Kong retail sales for May are expected after the market close at 4:30 p.m. HK/SIN.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Here’s how India’s wealthiest families are seeking to stay wealthy

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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When a young Indian movie actress recently sought professional help to prepare a financial road map to secure her future, she jettisoned chartered accountants and private bankers. Playing the starring role in sorting out her finances: A family office.

India’s super rich – family business owners, entrepreneurs, celebrities and senior executives – are increasingly turning to family offices instead of private banks to manage their money. While banks can give investment advice, family offices act as one stop shops catering to all issues confronting the modern Indian business family, from succession and taxation to philanthropy and alternate investments.

“No one had even heard of this term [family office] 15 years ago, when I started my company, but now Indians are opening up to new ways of protecting and enriching their wealth,” said Himanshu Kohli, whose multi-family office Client Associates currently manages $3 billion of assets on behalf of clients.

Globally there are 10,000 single family offices, with India accounting for around 200 of those in addition to a handful of multi-family offices, according to industry estimates. Families with more than 10 billion rupees ($150 million) in assets usually set up their own exclusive single family offices. Others with 500 million rupees to 5 billion rupees may hire the services of a multi-family office, which looks after the interests of several families.

Wealth waiting to be managed

In India, family offices manage about 20 percent of the total wealth in the country, which Credit Suisse pegged at $3 trillion in its Global Wealth report 2016.

Wealth creation in India only accelerated after the economy was opened to the world in the early 90s, which explains both the fewer number of millionaires relative to the size of the population as well as the limited avenues for the rich to manage their wealth.

According to the Credit Suisse report, India has 178,000 millionaires compared to its Asian rival China, which has 1.6 million millionaires. Both countries have populations above 1.3 billion.

“I don’t think we have even scratched the surface. Between 2003 and 2013, the ultra-high net worth segment [$30 million and above] grew globally by almost 375 percent, fuelled largely by China,” Soumya Rajan, chief executive officer of multi-family office Waterfield Advisors told CNBC. She added that over the next 15 years, India will be doing some serious catching up.

While the Chinese economy is expected to slow owing to structural changes, “India’s consumption linked story will drive wealth creation,” said Rajan, who manages assets worth $2 billion.

The deepening of capital markets, the maturing of local start-ups and a growing private equity industry, together with historically reticent family businesses in India becoming more open to share sales are going to create wealth like never before, which will need to be managed, experts said.

“India’s rich need someone who is sitting on their side of the table, someone whom they can trust,” said Rajan, “A family office pulls all services under one big umbrella so that the client is not repeating to five different people but is able to tell one person who knows the entire piece. There is also a question of confidentiality.”

Handing over the baton

India’s rich are not very comfortable talking about their wealth and winning their trust is a big challenge for the family offices. “The entire space is quite secretive,” said Aditya Gadge, founder of Association of International Wealth Management of India. Gadge has been holding family office summits for the past five years to raise awareness around the idea.

Greater global exposure – rich Indian families now routinely go to American universities to take courses on succession planning – and the young inheritors are forcing families to loosen control and outsource certain aspects of their businesses.

“The next generation is going to be far more demanding of their time. They will want to have time to do the things they want [and not just run the business] and are not going to be pushed into things by their parents, if they can professionalise certain things they are going to do that, ” said Rajan.

The big thing on the minds of most Asian and Indian families, say experts, is succession because over the next 10 years it is expected that about $128 billion of wealth will transition from one generation to the next in India alone. And family offices hope to act as independent advisors to make that handing over of the baton as conflict free as possible.

Growing appetite for risk

While legacy planning is the main focus, family offices have also helped the ultra-high net worth population look at alternate, riskier investments to grow their wealth. Investing in art, wine and start-ups directly or through a fund is catching on and these investments together make up about 10 percent of families’ total portfolio, say experts.

“Patient capital to entrepreneurs or club investing wherein several families get together and invest in a company or project is getting popular,” said Rajan.

The comfort with looking beyond Indian real estate and equity markets is increasing, said Kohli, adding that Indian families are now looking to invest in US equities and hedge funds.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Canada releases the first glow-in-the-dark coin into circulation

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Some countries celebrate their anniversaries with fireworks and sparklers. For Canada’s 150th, the mint is bringing the light show to its money.

A new glow-in-the-dark coin is the first of its kind entered into circulation, according to the Royal Canadian Mint.

The CA$2 “toonie” features a view of the blue-green aurora borealis above two canoeists paddling along a tree-lined lake. In the dark, the special ink used to produce the image illuminates the northern lights.

The mint has struck a number of special edition glow-in-the-dark coins in the past, but the new toonie is the first to be put in circulation.

Other luminescent coins feature similar scenes of Canada’s natural landscape, along with a series based on star signs. A collectors’ coin featuring the red-and-white national flag set against glow-in-the-dark exploding fireworks is also being sold in celebration of the Canadian sesquicentennial.

“The mint has a long history of innovation in the coin business,” said mint spokesman Alex Reeves. “We like to demonstrate our capabilities to our customers.”

The mint became the first to circulate colored coins in 2004. With the release this month of the glow-in-the-dark anniversary coin, the mint can claim another first.

“It’s something special to add to the celebration” of the sesquicentennial, Reeves said.

About 3 million toonies have been made for circulation, which are sent to distribution centers where coins are stored and where banks resupply themselves, according to Reeves.

Two Canadian dollars are equal to about $1.51 in American currency — but these limited-edition toonies will likely price above their exchange rate in a trade with a coin collector.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US stocks set to plummet 40% or more as valuations high, warns Marc Faber

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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If the man often hailed as the original “Dr Doom” is right, the stock market could see another “lurch” higher — at which point investors may want to cash out quickly and run for cover.

Marc Faber, the editor of “The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report’ and a perennial bear, isn’t backing down from his latest dire prediction that would send stocks plummeting by 40 percent or more.

A drop of that size could take the S&P 500 Index down from Friday’s closing price of 2,438 to 1,463.

He used the meteoric rise of FANG stocks, which reflects Facebook, Apple, Netflix and Google (Alphabet), as a glaring bearish signal.

“We’ve had more than eight years of a bull market. The Nasdaq is being driven by very few stocks,” said Faber on Friday’s “Trading Nation.” That rally “is not a particularly healthy sign from a technical point of view, and valuations are very high,” the investor added.

Faber’s comments come exactly two weeks after the Nasdaq set its latest intraday record high of 6,341.70.

“You know we have a lot of volatility, and when things will start to go down, they’ll go down a lot,” he said.

Faber is deeply concerned that wealth has flowed to big corporations and affluent people. He believes the imbalance could eventually disrupt the markets as we know it.

“Either people with money will be taxed heavily … or we’ll have a massive deflation in asset prices — I repeat: massive,” he warned. “Eventually the system will break.”

Faber is known for correction calls over the years which have never materialized. But he’s sticking by his latest call, acknowledging critics have “questioned my sanity.”

“We could print enough money that the Dow goes to 100,000. All I’m saying is it will end very badly, extremely badly,” he said.

But it’s not all gloom. Faber notes it could also give investors a rare “out-sized” buying opportunity similar to 2003 and 2009, when deep corrections gave traders a chance to load up on cheap assets.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Oil prices are heading to $40 a barrel as US output keeps surging in 2018: Seaport Global

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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In the wake of plunging oil prices and predicting a significantly oversupplied market in 2018, Seaport Global Securities recently predicted that oil could stabilize at $40 per barrel after the first half of 2018.

In an interview on CNBC’s “Power Lunch,” Mike Kelly, managing director and head of E&P Research at Seaport, came out to explain the firm’s new expectation and why they downgraded 31 E&P companies.

Kelly predicts next year’s oil production will be more explosive than people expect, at 1.8 million barrels per day growth in the U.S., almost twice what the International Energy Agency’s expectation is. He also doesn’t see non-U.S. oil production slowing, expecting a 2.2 million-barrel-a-day oversupplied market in 2018.

The break-even point could head toward $40 per barrel in the long term, according to Kelly, but that won’t scare off investors quite yet.

“The feedback from investors after meeting with companies was, they’re not going to change their aggressiveness with their rig count adds until you get below $40,” said Kelly.

U.S. crude oil hit a new nine-month low on Wednesday, trading below $43 a barrel, although it has jumped up slightly on Thursday. Oil has dropped more than 20 percent since mid-February.

While the stock levels are a threat to investors, the debt levels threaten banks. Low oil prices are becoming a credit issue for the companies Seaport covers, with the average E&P company over three times its net debt. Yet the credit market is “not accurately reflecting the dangers yet,” according to Kelly.

The big question, according to Kelly, is, “Will Wall Street investors be there again for this next downturn that we’re calling round two of low oil prices?”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

A storm in Darjeeling’s teacup: India’s famed tea nearing short supply

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Your favorite brew of Darjeeling tea could soon be in short supply.

Political chaos has forced the closure of tea plantations and estates in India’s famed Himalayan town, dealing a blow to brands dependent on Darjeeling’s prestigious teaplant.

Darjeeling, a popular hill station in the state of West Bengal, is currently in shutdown mode, with most businesses, including shops, hotels, ATMs and tea gardens, closed amid ethnic strife between Indians of Nepali origin — known as Gorkhas — and the Indians of West Bengal, or Bengalis.

The timing of the political turmoil couldn’t be worse — not only is it peak tourist season in Darjeeling, it’s also second flush tea season.

The world-renowned Darjeeling tea plant yields new leaves at different stages year-round and the second flush stage, typically from May to June, produces mature leaves known for their full bodied flavor, which are highly sought after by both connoisseurs and consumers.

“Second flush teas are typically picked young and constant plucking is required to get the young leaves. But because all Darjeeling tea plantations are currently closed, nobody is plucking any leaves, so the plants will overgrow and quality will deteriorate,” warned Kaushal Dugar, founder of Teabox, an online tea retailer based in Darjeeling.

“Even if tea estates open after a week, constant plucking will be required to get the high quality summer flush tea leaves are known for. That will take at least two to three weeks and by that time, the weather will have shifted and the second flush season will be over.”

Teabox says it isn’t significantly impacted as it purchased 70 percent of its Darjeeling tea supplies before the political agitation started, but international players could have more trouble.

“Bigger brands may have problems as they are not based in Darjeeling and typically buy in bulk from auctions, but if they can’t confirm the level of quality, they may not buy at all,” said Dugar.

Darjeeling tea is India’s only geographically-indicated product, meaning a firm can’t label its tea product ‘Darjeeling’ if it’s not from the area — just like France’s Bordeaux wine.

“Having learned of the political strife and resulting disruption to tea production, naturally we have serious concerns about supply,” said Dilhan Fernando, director at Dilmah Tea. The lion’s share of Dilmah’s business is Ceylon tea from Sri Lanka, but a smaller slice of sales comes from other terroirs, including Darjeeling.

“In the event that disruption to operations continues for more than a month, we will not be able to supply Dilmah Darjeeling tea,” Fernando continued. “There are no alternatives possible since we believe in the purity of origin and therefore only use pure Darjeeling.”

If major tea brands want to continue with their Darjeeling summer flush products, they will have to increase the price or discontinue the product itself, said Dugar.

At the crux of the current political instability is the issue of Gorkha culture.

Nepali is one of the official languages in the hills, but in May, the government added the Bengali language as a compulsory subject for school students, sparking fierce protests from local political faction Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

The GJM “seized this moment to reignite the demand for a separate Gorkhaland state where the Gorkhas’ identity would be protected and not trampled upon by outsiders, namely, Bengalis,” explained a recent report by New Delhi-based think tank ObserverResearch Foundation.

“It is Gorkha pride versus Bengali supremacism,” the report continued. “Old grievances like state run Nepali-medium schools not getting textbooks in time from the West Bengal government have surfaced all over again.”

Protesting Gorkhas have been reportedly teargassed and fired upon by security officials, while riots and arson remain widespread, instilling fear and tension into the area’s normally cool mountain atmosphere — a throwback to the Gorkhaland movement that gripped the region between 1986 and 1988.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Nasdaq posts back-to-back gains as health care jumps 1%

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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US stocks closed mixed on Thursday, with the health care sector posting strong gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed about 10 points lower, with Goldman Sachs contributing the most losses and UnitedHealth the most gains.

The S&P 500 ended just below breakeven, with health care rising more than 1 percent to lead advancers. The Health Care Select Sector ETF (XLV) hit an intraday record earlier in the session. However, financials dropped 0.6 percent as the big banks got ready for the release of their latest stress test results.

The Nasdaq composite rose just 0.04 percent but notched a two-day winning streak on the back of health care’s performance.

Health care stocks have been on a tear this week as investors braced for the unveiling of the Senate’s health care bill, with aims at repealing and replacing Obamacare.

The bill would continue to offer reimbursements to health insurance companies for subsidies for at least two years. It would also do away with current Obamacare taxes and would phase out Medicaid’s expansion program. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill next week.

“At this point, it looks like [the vote] will have the same intrigue as the house vote,” said Bill Northey, chief investment officer at the Private Client Group at US Bank. He also said health care stocks may be benefiting from a sector rotation from technology into other spaces.

Wall Street also kept an eye crude prices as they tried to bounce back from back-to-back sell-offs.

Crude futures for August delivery climbed 0.49 percent to settle at USD 42.74 a barrel. On Wednesday, oil hit its lowest level since August as investors remained concerned about a supply glut in the market. The commodity also fell more than 2 percent during Tuesday’s session.

“We’re seeing a number of indications of a softening economy,” said Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank. “We’re growing but it seems like we’re slipping back into the slow-growth trend that’s been in place for most of the recovery.”

The pullback in oil prices pressured energy stocks. The S&P energy sector had dropped 3.5 percent for the week entering Thursday’s session.

Still, the broader market has stood its ground, with the S&P and Dow up marginally for the week, while the Nasdaq was had risen 1.34 percent in the same period.

“Oil is becoming less important since it only makes up about 6 percent of the S&P 500”, said Maris Ogg, president at Tower Bridge Advisors. “In the overall context of things, we know that oil is the new coal and gas is the new oil. Crude just isn’t a commodity in short supply.”

Despite energy’s recent pullback, the overall indexes remain near record highs. Gary Bradshaw, portfolio manager at Hodges Capital, said he expects stocks to keep climbing higher. “Corporations are doing well and we have a backdrop of low corporate rates,” he said.

In corporate news, shares of American Airlines gained about 1 percent after the airline disclosed Qatar Airways had approached the firm about taking a large stake in the company. Other airline stocks like Delta Air Lines and Southwest followed American shares higher.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 12.74 points, or 0.06 percent, to close at 21,397.29, with Goldman Sachs leading decliners and Merck the best performer.

The S&P 500 slipped 1.11 points, or 0.05 percent, to end at 2,434.50, with consumer staples leading seven sectors lower and health care outperforming.

The Nasdaq rose 2.73 points, or 0.04 percent, to close at 6,236.69.

About four stocks rose for every three decliners at the New York Stock Exchange, with an exchange volume of 852.66 million and a composite volume of 3.434 billion at the close.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded near 10.5.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Jack Ma: Artificial intelligence could set off WWIII, but ‘humans will win’

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Artificial intelligence could set off a third world war, but humans will win the battle, according to Alibaba founder Jack Ma.

“The first technology revolution caused World War I,” Ma told CNBC in an interview that aired on Tuesday. “The second technology revolution caused World War II. This is the third technology revolution.”

Workers and employers are increasingly defined by data unless governments show more willingness to make “hard choices.”

Ma said humans will ultimately win the battle against an artificial intelligence takeover, however, as machines will never have the wisdom and experience that comes with being human.

“Wisdom is from the heart,” Ma said. “The machine intelligence is by the brain […] You can always make a machine to learn the knowledge. But it is difficult for machines to have a human heart.”

The goal of artificial intelligence should be making machines that do things humans cannot do, rather than making them like humans, Ma said. While “we know the machine is powerful and stronger than us,” humans will rise above the impending wave of data and artificial intelligence.

“Humans will win,” Ma said. “In 30 years … we’ll see us surviving. “

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow