Chipmaker TSMC raises capex by up to $5 billion, sees fourth-quarter sales jump on smartphones

Apple Inc supplier TSMC raised its 2019 capital spending plan by up to $5 billion on Thursday and forecast a nearly 10% rise in fourth-quarter revenue on strong demand for faster mobile chips and new high-end smartphones. "5G smartphone growth momentum is stronger than we expected...We have good reasons to increase our capex this year and next year," TSMC CEO C.C. Wei told an earnings briefing after reporting the Taiwanese company's strongest quarterly profit growth in more than two years. Smartphone makers including Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd are racing to develop phones enabled with the 5G technology, which could be up to 100 times faster than current 4G networks.

• UPDATE 2-Chipmaker TSMC raises capex by up to $5 bln, sees Q4 sales jump on smartphones

  Reuters
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  TSMC’s Revenue Outlook Beats Thanks to Solid IPhone Demand

  Bloomberg

Facebook’s payments strategy isn’t Libra, it’s WhatsApp

It's hard to say what sort of financial instrument Libra is or how it should be regulated because its own governing council hasn't made any decisions yet. As a result, the association's willingness to engage and discuss has translated into fear and uncertainty. Instead of appearing collaborative, their strategy comes off as disorganized.

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  Libra Association Working to Address Legitimate Concerns of Regulators, Facebook's Marcus Says

  Bloomberg
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  Facebook’s Libra doubles down on 100-member promise

  Decrypt

Sprott CEO Says Gold Pullback Not Surprising, Sees Trouble Ahead for Economy

Peter Grosskopf, Sprott Inc. chief executive officer, discusses the outlook for gold and the economy with Bloomberg's Shery Ahn and Amanda Lang on "Bloomberg Markets."

Take Buffett’s Advice: 5 Vanguard Funds to Buy

Specifically, he recommended that the cash left to his wife be invested 10% in short-term government bonds and 90% in a very low-cost S&P 500 index fund. Not just any index fund mind you, but a Vanguard fund in particular. Hot Stocks Staging Huge Reversals Whether it be exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds, the Oracle of Omaha believes Vanguard funds are the way to go.

Dow Jones Futures: Netflix Earnings Crush Views, Pot Stock Cronos Soars; IBM Dives

Dow Jones futures edged lower overnight, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures rose slightly. Netflix earnings crushed views Wednesday, while Dow Jones component IBM sales fell yet again. Cronos Group led several big marijuana stock movers overnight.

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  Dow Jones Today: Stocks Dip On China Warning, Earnings; Bank Of America Q3 Tops, Drug Distributors Rise On Opioid Deal

  Investor's Business Daily
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  US STOCKS-Wall St inches lower as trade concerns linger

  Reuters

Bank of America declares ‘the end of the 60-40’ standard portfolio

Investors have long been told that the ideal portfolio should carry 60% of its holdings in equities and 40% in bonds, a mix that provides greater exposure to historically superior stock returns, while also granting the diversification benefits and lower risk of fixed-income investments. But in a research note published by Bank of America Securities titled “The End of 60/40,” portfolio strategists Derek Harris and Jared Woodard argue that “there are good reasons to reconsider the role of bonds in your portfolio,” and to allocate a greater share toward equities.

Hong Kong Is Offering Some Very Attractive Opportunities, Says Principal Global’s West

Kirk West, executive director at Principal Global Investors, Hong Kong's markets, the economy and the protests. He speaks on “Bloomberg Markets: Asia.

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  The U.S dollar falls following weak retail sales, and China threatens to retaliate against the Hong Kong bill.

  OFX
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  U.S House takes hard line over Hong Kong

  Reuters Videos

Nestle to Return $20 Billion to Investors

Nestle SA plans to return as much as $20 billion to shareholders by 2022 and indicated an appetite for acquisitions to help Chief Executive Officer Mark Schneider sustain faster growth and better profit margins. Flush with cash after the $10 billion sale of a dermatology unit earlier this month, the Swiss food giant said Thursday that it will start a new share buyback program in January and may complement it with special dividends over the next three years. Schneider is wrapping up his third year at the head of the food giant, during which Nestle's market value has increased by almost $80 billion.

• Nestlé plans $20bn buyback as turnaround plan takes hold

  Financial Times
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  Nestle revamps waters business as organic growth slows

  Reuters

Cisco veterans, backed by $278M, aim to disrupt Amazon's cloud dominance

A team that created billions of dollars worth of “spin-ins” at Cisco Systems Inc. lifted the veil Wednesday on the first totally independent company they have spun up in more than 25 years. During their long tenure at Cisco, they were known by their first initials of “MPLS” and were fed millions of dollars by then-CEO John Chambers to independently work on the next big thing. This time the MPLS team has lined up investors who have put up more than $278 million in equity investments as they worked stealthily on Pensando since leaving Cisco in 2016, shortly after Chambers stepped down as CEO.

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  Why John Chambers predicts success for startup hatched by his former star team at Cisco

  American City Business Journals
• Ex-Cisco engineers raise $278 million for startup

  Reuters

7 Dividend Stocks to Buy (With Brands You Can Find In Your Kitchen)

Hot Stocks Staging Huge Reversals With that in mind, it's worth taking a look at these seven dividend-paying stocks that make items that you can find in the average American kitchen. Dividend Stocks to Buy: PepsiCo PEP Dividend Yield: 2.8% First off, let's start with a double-threat. PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP) is, as most of us are aware, Coca-Cola's leading rival; however, it's a more attractive business than Coca-Cola at this point because of its other business.

Oil rises on hopes OPEC will extend supply cuts, weaker U.S. dollar

Oil rose on Wednesday, gaining support due to signs that OPEC and allied producers will continue to curb supplies in December, a weaker U.S. dollar and as traders covered short positions ahead of an industry report on U.S. crude inventories. Brent crude , the global benchmark, rose 68 cents, or 1.16%, to settle at $59.42 a barrel. U.S. crude gained 55 cents, or 1.04%, to settle at $53.36.

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  Steven Mnuchin: Tariffs Delayed, Not Canceled

  Market Realist
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  Silver Dips to 2-Week Low as U.S-China Trade Talks Continue

  FX Empire

Alibaba Stock is a Strong Buy Now — More Than Ever Before

When it comes to diversified tech giant Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), being an investor comes with its share of harassment. For U.S. investors, profiting in Chinese stocks has been more challenging these days. Many large-cap stocks and industry leaders in China ranging from Tencent (OTCMKTS:TCEHY), to China Mobile (NYSE:CHL), China Life Insurance Company (NYSE:LFC) or China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (NYSE:SNP) have produced lackluster or negative returns in their U.S.-listed American Depository Receipts.

When To Buy Growth Stocks: Micron, Salesforce Formed This Pattern For Big Profits

Like the name suggests, this pattern is simply a base that forms on top of a base. It usually occurs during a period of market turmoil, when even strong stocks come under pressure and consolidate rather than march higher. For a base-on-base pattern to be viable, the new base must form before the stock has risen 20% above its correct buy point from the initial base.

U.S. stock market is overvalued, IMF says

An environment of low interest rates has set off a search for yield and created stretched valuations in risk assets, including the U.S. equity market, according to an International Monetary Fund report released Wednesday. “Equity markets appear to be overvalued in Japan and the United States,” the IMF said, in its latest Global Financial Stability report. When markets have stretched valuations, it raises the possibility of sharp sudden adjustments, the report warned.

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  IMF warns of ‘vulnerabilities' in global financial system

  Yahoo Finance Video
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  IMF Expects Global Slowdown With Muted Inflation, Chief Economist Gopinath Says

  Bloomberg

Nio’s stock leans on ‘bullish engulfing’ stock price chart pattern to stop further weakness

Shares of Nio Inc. dropped more than 8% Wednesday, after a report that discussions over a potential large new funding deal had been halted, with investors now leaning on a “bullish engulfing” stock price chart pattern to halt further declines to fresh record lows. The National Business Daily (NBD) reported Tuesday that the China-based electric car maker was in talks with Wuxing District of Huzhou City in eastern China regarding an investment of over 5 billion renminbi, or more than $704.9 million at current exchange rates. According to 36Kr.com, as translated by Google Translate, Nio Chief Executive Bin Li said Tuesday there was not much to disclose, but that Weilai, the Chinese name for Nio that means Blue Sky Coming, was in contact with many local governments.