Top Ranked Momentum Stocks to Buy for August 26th

Bloomberg
Citi Sells Debt Backed by Perelman NYC Properties at Discount
(Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. has sold loans secured by three of Ron Perelman’s Manhattan properties at a roughly 40% discount, according to people familiar with the matter.The loans, which were in default with a balance of $193 million, sold for $115 million, the people said, asking not to be named because the matter is private.Perelman was once one of the world’s richest people with a fortune worth $19 billion. But in recent years his empire has faced daunting financial challenges, including at his cosmetics giant Revlon Inc.The debt sold by Citi is backed by three adjacent properties on East 62nd Street and includes the offices of Perelman’s investment firm, his duplex residence and the restaurant Fleming.The loans mature in August 2023. The buyer was undisclosed.A Cushman & Wakefield team, led by Doug Harmon and Adam Spies, did the deal for Citigroup. Representatives for Perelman and MacAndrews & Forbes, Cushman & Wakefield and Citigroup declined to comment.MacAndrews & Forbes, Perelman’s investment company, said in July it would rework its holdings in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Perelman sold off a series of investments, including his stake in Humvee-maker AM General.In September, Perelman, 78, said he planned to “clean house, simplify and give others the chance to enjoy some of the beautiful things that I’ve acquired.”Read more: Ron Perelman Is Shopping Two NYC Townhouses for $75 MillionAmong the items on the market -- his Gulfstream 650, a 257-foot yacht and some of his properties. He also struck a deal with Sotheby’s to sell hundreds of millions of dollars of art works.Some of the proceeds from the art sales were slated to pay down loans from Citigroup. He also had loans from JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and UBS Group AG related to his artwork, filings show.Citigroup continues to do business with Revlon, despite an accidental $900 million wire it sent lenders last year. The infamous payment error in August caused Citi to step in as a Revlon creditor, and forced the bank to revise its results after it wrote down a portion of Revlon’s loan.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
8h ago
FX Empire
EOS, Stellar’s Lumen, and Tron’s TRX – Daily Analysis – April 22nd, 2021
It’s a bullish start to the day for the majors. Failure to move through the day’s pivot levels, however, would bring support levels into play.
1d ago
Reuters
Gold retreats 1% as dollar, yields gain
Gold slipped 1% on Thursday, retreating from a two-month high, as an uptick in the dollar and U.S. Treasury yields hurt the metal's appeal, while palladium lingered near an all-time high. Spot gold was 0.7% lower at $1,780.36 per ounce by 12:54 p.m. EDT (1654 GMT), after hitting its highest since Feb. 25 at $1,797.67. "$1,800 was a bit of a psychological resistance, so we've come back with tests... The dollar and the 10-year (yields) are both a little bit higher and that's pressuring gold as well," said ED&F Man Capital Markets analyst Edward Meir.
1d ago
Bloomberg
Top Forecaster Sees Aussie Rising to 85 U.S. Cents by Next Year
(Bloomberg) -- The Australian dollar may climb to 85 U.S. cents within a year as commodity prices hold firm and the greenback retreats, according to the currency’s top forecaster.The Aussie is on track to recapture the 80 cents handle in the coming months, with the dollar expected to weaken as U.S. exceptionalism fades, said Ray Attrill at National Australia Bank Ltd., the most accurate Aussie forecaster in the first quarter in Bloomberg rankings.“This is a view heavily contingent on commodity prices remaining firm, risk sentiment holding up, and a related softening in the dollar,” Attrill said.The bets on the Aussie reflect confidence that the global economy is on the mend as commodities ranging from oil to iron ore push higher on signs of a recovery in demand. But not everyone shares that optimism, with asset managers extending short positions on the currency into a fourth week as at mid-April.The Aussie traded around 77 cents on Thursday and last reached the 85 mark in December 2014.The main risk to NAB’s call is if the renewed spike in virus cases “extends to a new infection wave in Europe, which runs ahead of rising vaccination rates and necessitates fresh large-scale economic lockdowns,” Attrill said.“Unless or until this risk eventuates, we continue to view any dips in AUD/USD back to the early April lows beneath 0.76 as buying opportunities,” he said.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
1d ago
Bloomberg
National Grid Is Said to Pick Banks for $7 Billion Gas Asset Sale
(Bloomberg) -- National Grid Plc has hired banks for the sale of a majority stake in its gas grid business, turning to the advisers that last month helped seal its biggest-ever acquisition, people familiar with the matter said.Barclays Plc, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Robey Warshaw LLP will assist the London-listed utility on the sale of a stake that could be valued at as much as 5 billion pounds ($6.9 billion), the people said, asking not to be identified as the information in private.The banks are helping with internal preparations for the sale, with a formal process yet to begin, the people said. A stake in the gas asset could attract large infrastructure funds and financial investors seeking steady and stable returns, according to the people.Representatives for Barclays, Goldman Sachs, National Grid and Robey Warshaw declined to comment. In March, National Grid agreed to buy PPL’s U.K. electricity distribution business for 7.8 billion pounds as part of efforts to prepare for a low-carbon future. The utility also announced its intention to sell the majority stake in its gas grid business, as the fossil fuel comes under increasing scrutiny from investors and activists.The utility’s gas transmission business is one of the largest in the U.K. and includes a 7,000 kilometer pipe network across the country.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
11h ago
Reuters
Bank of England sees potential risks from cloud data providers
The Bank of England might strengthen its controls on cloud data providers and other technology firms to counter possible risks to the stability of the financial system from the rise of fintech, Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden said. The Bank of England (BoE) has expressed concerns before about the reliance by financial firms, especially fintech startups, on third-party technology companies for key parts of their operations, and Ramsden said this scrutiny would intensify.
2d ago
Bloomberg
Inflation Stalks Emerging Bonds, Stoking Demand for Refuge
(Bloomberg) -- As the global economy rebounds and commodity prices hit multi-year highs, emerging-market investors are seeking refuge in the one area that offers protection from inflation concerns.While this year’s global bond rout and the prospect of accelerating inflation have inflicted pain across markets from Brazil to Russia, debt securities that are linked to the pace of consumer-price gains have weathered the storm better than their nominal counterparts.Surging price pressures have long been a scourge eroding the appeal of developing-market bonds and currencies. Now, data across the world is flashing warning signs again. U.S. inflation for March came in higher than estimates, while CPI also picked up in Peru, Brazil, South Korea and India due to a surge in energy and food costs. On Thursday, inflation in Mexico rose to the fastest pace in over three years. Meanwhile, central banks face pressure to keep rates low to contain the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.“The quickest way for EM policy makers to stimulate the economy is via monetary policy,” said Michael Roche, a strategist at Seaport Global Holdings in New York. “This activity builds inflation expectations, which leads fixed-income investors to seek protection in CPI-linked securities.”Inflation expectations are likely to keep climbing as emerging-market central banks take the lead from the Federal Reserve, Roche said. The Fed has signaled that it will continue with expansionary monetary policy for an extended period. Five-year Treasury breakevens -- a bond-based measure of inflation expectations in the world’s biggest debt market -- have climbed to nearly 2.6%, hovering close to the highest in over a decade.Pace SetterAmong emerging markets, South Africa leads the charge, with five-year breakeven rates to 4.4% on expectations the central bank will fail to contain prices amid rising energy costs. While concern is high, inflation quickened less than forecast in March as underlying pressures remain muted for now. South Africa’s 2033 inflation-linked bonds have gained 6.1% so far this year, handily surpassing the 1.9% loss in equivalent-maturity, nominal bonds.Inflation expectations in Brazil are almost as high, with one-year breakeven rates climbing to 5.1%, the upper bound of the central bank’s target range for 2022, amid increased government spending. As a result, Brazilian inflation-linked bonds maturing in 2030 have weakened just 6.8%, even as their fixed-rate counterparts cratered 9.6%.In Turkey, rising oil prices and a weak currency are set to fuel a surge in consumer costs, even as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- who fired the last central bank chief -- pushes for interest rate cuts. Inflation accelerated to 16.2% in March from 14.6% at the start of the year. Turkish inflation-linked bonds maturing in 2028 have lost 2.1% this year, while the nominal benchmark bonds plunged nearly 21%.In Asia, South Korea’s inflation-adjusted bond yield curve flattened across all tenors, as demand picked up to take into account the potential return of higher consumer prices. Inflation in the North Asian nation returned to its pre-pandemic level in March amid higher oil prices and as consumer demand started to recover.Philippine bonds lost 4.2% this year in nominal terms as inflation breached 4%, the upper end of the central bank’s target, for three straight months on the back of higher food prices.The RisksThere are risks to the strategy. Edwin Gutierrez, a portfolio manager at Aberdeen Asset Management in London, says that while the trade may hold up for another month or so, food and fuel prices seem to have peaked.“You switch out of fixed-rate paper into linkers and you lock in some big losses,” Guttierez said. “It’s a bit late for the trade.”Gennadiy Goldberg, a rates strategist at TD Securities in New York, also stresses the need to be watchful.If inflation doesn’t materialize, “we could see some investors taking profit on their inflation hedge and that could lead the move to reverse” later this year, he said.For the moment though, with inflation fears on the rise across the world, investors may still look for a hedge.“We’ll continue to see some strength in the near-term” in inflation-linked bonds, Goldberg said. “Markets are betting loose central bank policy, pent-up demand, and accelerating growth expectations will create a perfect storm for inflation.”(Updates to include Mexican inflation figures in third paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
15h ago
Bloomberg
Credit Suisse Races to Contain Archegos Hit With Capital Raising
(Bloomberg) -- Credit Suisse Group AG moved to contain the fallout from two of the worst hits in its recent history with a surprise capital increase and a sweeping overhaul of its business with hedge funds.Switzerland’s second-largest bank is raising $2 billion from investors to shore up capital depleted by $5.5 billion in losses from the collapse of Archegos Capital Management. Chief Executive Officer Thomas Gottstein, who until recently had brushed off concerns that Credit Suisse was taking excessive risks, struck a humble tone Thursday, vowing to slash lending in the hedge fund unit at the center of the losses by a third.Gottstein, in the role for little more than a year, is trying to persuade incoming Chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio that he’s the right person to lead Credit Suisse, after the bank was hit harder than any competitor by the collapse of Archegos, the family office of U.S. investor Bill Hwang. The timing could hardly have been worse, coming just weeks after the lender found itself at the center of the Greensill Capital scandal, when it was forced to freeze a $10 billion group of investment funds.“Clearly this loss came as a big surprise,” Gottstein said about Archegos. “Is it an isolated case? I definitely hope it is and I think it is, but we are obviously reviewing the entire bank now just to make sure that our risk processes and systems are where they should be.”Credit Suisse fell as much as 6.9% in Zurich trading and was 5.3% lower as of 1:54 p.m. local time, taking this year’s losses to about 22%. It’s the worst-performing major bank stock this year and has also suspended a share buyback and cut the dividend.Having taken on the position more than a year ago, the CEO had stumbled over other hits before Greensill shattered what was supposed to be a new era of calm. While seeking to placate investors hurt by the losses, he also now faces the fresh challenge of navigating enforcement proceedings announced by Swiss regulator Finma on Thursday.The scandals have left the CEO standing while many once powerful members of his management board had to leave. Gone are investment banking head Brian Chin and Chief Risk Officer Lara Warner, along with a raft of other senior executives including equities head Paul Galietto and the co-heads of the prime brokerage business. Asset management head Eric Varvel is also being replaced in that role by ex-UBS Group AG veteran Ulrich Koerner.The bank now plans to reduce risk at the investment bank, including cutting about $35 billion of leverage exposure at the prime brokerage unit that services hedge funds, Gottstein said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. That’s about a third of the leverage its extends in that business. Going forward, the bank plans to only service clients in that unit if they do business with other parts of Credit Suisse as well, such as the wealth management unit.Bloomberg reported earlier that Credit Suisse was planning a sweeping overhaul of the prime business in an effort to protect other parts of the investment bank, which just had a banner quarter. Yet even as Gottstein was explaining steps to prevent future losses, analysts revived a discussion that has haunted Credit Suisse for the past decade, and which executives had hoped to have put to rest with a painful restructuring under Gottstein’s predecessor -- whether it needs such a big investment bank.“Although capital has been mainly addressed, we still see questions remaining in terms of strategy and risk management,” JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts wrote in a note to investors. “Capital has been clearly the main focus.”The bank said Thursday it expects to raise more than 1.8 billion francs by selling notes convertible into stock to core shareholders, institutional investors and high net worth individuals. The sale will help bring the bank’s CET1 ratio -- a key metric for capital -- nearer its target 13%. That number had dropped to 12.2% at the end of the first quarter.In addition to the enforcement proceedings announced by Finma, Credit Suisse said that the Swiss regulator has told it to hold more capital to guard against losses by taking a more conservative view of its risk. The bank increased its assets weighted according to risk for both Archegos and Greensill. While the capital raise came after Finma boosted capital requirements, Gottstein said the decision was the bank’s own.“This was not as a reaction to any request by Finma or any other regulator,” Gottstein said on a call with analysts. “It was our proactive view that, together with the board, we decided to issue these two mandatories and that will really help us also against any possible market weakness over the coming months.”The Greensill debacle is also far from over. Credit Suisse has so far returned about half the $10 billion in investor money held by the funds at the time of their suspension. While the bank marketed the funds as among the safest investments it offered, investors are left facing the prospect of steep losses as the assets are liquidated. Credit Suisse is leaning toward letting clients take the hit of expected losses in the funds, a person familiar with the discussions said earlier this month.“We have good visibility for a large portion of the remaining positions,” Gottstein said. “There are three more distinct positions which we will work through in the next months and quarters. We are not planning to do any form of step-in. We are very clearly focused on getting the cash back to our investors.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
16h ago
Reuters
U.S. stocks close down on news of Biden tax proposal
NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. stocks dived on Thursday on reports President Joe Biden planned to almost double the capital gains tax, news analysts said provided an excuse to take profits in a directionless market ahead of big tech's earnings next week. The three main indexes on Wall Street also fell on reports that Biden planned to raise income taxes on the wealthy, a proposal some said would be hard to pass in Congress. "If it had a chance of passing, we'd be down 2,000 points," said Thomas Hayes, chairman and managing member at hedge fund Great Hill Capital LLC.
17h ago
Bloomberg
BOJ Has Hit Normalization Limit Under Kuroda, Ex-Official Says
(Bloomberg) -- The Bank of Japan has done everything it can to normalize policy under Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s watch and is now set to ride out the rest of his term without any major changes, according to a former senior central bank official.“The BOJ has reached the end of the line on normalization for now,” said Hideo Hayakawa, referring to a series of tweaks to the central bank’s stimulus framework in March that enabled it to cut back its asset buying.“Unless the current leadership suddenly says it’s gotten policy wrong all this time, it’s pretty much done all it can,” the former executive director said in an interview, adding that the pandemic has underlined the importance of fiscal policy in helping the economy rather than a monetary approach.Hayakawa’s comments suggest that the BOJ will remain in a holding pattern on policy until at least April 2023 when Kuroda is scheduled to leave. They also tally with the view of some economists that the central bank’s adjustments were intended to make it easier to dial back stimulus.BOJ Seen Tweaking Economic Forecasts, Standing Pat: SurveyThe BOJ says the fine-tuning was aimed at making its stimulus more sustainable over the longer term after its biggest policy review since 2016. Around half of economists agree that the tweaks shored up the stimulus framework, but about 40% see them as a step toward policy normalization, according to a Bloomberg survey.A key point of the adjustments was making the buying of exchange-traded funds more flexible, Hayakawa said. The BOJ had already made its bond buying more flexible by changing its focus to interest rates in 2016 and by removing a purchase guideline last year, he said.The ETF buying had attracted increasing criticism that the bank was helping prop up stock prices already at three-decade highs.The bank demonstrated its new flexibility on Tuesday when it didn’t buy ETFs for the first time since at least 2016 even after the Topix stock index fell more than 1% in the morning session. On Wednesday the bank did buy ETFs, but only after stocks dropped 2.2% in the morning.“It’s not worth making problems bigger and bigger through massive bond or ETF buying,” said Hayakawa, who left the bank in 2013 and has generally taken a skeptical view of Kuroda’s efforts to reflate the economy. “Those purchases aren’t bringing the bank any closer to its inflation target.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
1d ago
Bloomberg
Asia Stocks Mixed After Tax Proposal Riles U.S.: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fluctuated and futures rallied Friday following broad-based declines in U.S. benchmarks as investors weighed a proposal for higher taxes on the wealthy to help pay for President Joe Biden’s social plan.Shares were steady in China and rose in Hong Kong. Weakness in Japan weighed on MSCI, Inc.’s regional gauge. U.S. contracts edged up after the steepest decline in five weeks for the S&P 500 Index on a Bloomberg News report that the Biden administration is considering raising the tax on capital gains to 39.6% for those earning more than $1 million a year.Oil pared a weekly loss as traders considered signs of recovering demand in the U.S. and setbacks in key markets where spikes in virus cases are further constraining activity. Treasury bonds and the dollar dipped.“We don’t think it derails the equity market recovery,” said Nupur Gupta, portfolio manager at Eastspring Investments, said of the tax proposal on Bloomberg TV. “Equity sentiment does appear to be stretched, which is why any negative news that you get can lead to a consolidation in markets in the short term.” Investors are weighing the implications of higher taxes against the potential growth benefits of a spending program focused on infrastructure. While loose central bank policy is helping support stocks near record highs, these levels look precarious given worsening news about the spread of Covid-19 in parts of the world.Traders are also following a mixed batch of earnings reports. AT&T Inc. jumped Thursday after beating estimates, while Intel Corp. -- the biggest chipmaker -- slid after hours on a slump in gross profit margin.Elsewhere, Bitcoin slid below $50,000, headed for its seventh loss in eight days. Investors already face a capital-gains tax if they hold the cryptocurrency for more than a year.The U.S. releases new home sales data later on Friday.These are some of the main moves in markets:StocksS&P 500 futures climbed 0.2% as of 12:30 p.m. in Tokyo. The index fell 0.9%.Japan’s Topix Index was down 0.6%.The Shanghai Composite was steady.The Hang Seng climbed 0.8%.South Korea’s Kospi Index edged 0.1% higher.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index dipped 0.2%.CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was down 0.1%.The euro was 0.1% higher at $1.2023.The Japanese yen held around 107.95 per dollar.BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries rose two basis points to 1.56%.Australia’s 10-year yield was four basis points higher at 1.74%.CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate was up 0.6% at $61.81 a barrel.Gold was 0.2% higher at $1,787 an ounce.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
20m ago
Bloomberg
Key Auction Looms for RBI as Traders Balk at India Yields
(Bloomberg) -- Barely weeks into India’s new borrowing program, the nation’s sovereign bond traders and the central bank are shaping up for a third bruising battle.The Reserve Bank of India’s explicit assurance to buy 1 trillion rupees ($13 billion) of bonds this quarter has failed to encourage more purchases by traders. Underwriters were forced to rescue a five-year bond sale on April 9 and the RBI canceled an offering altogether on April 16 when traders demanded higher yields for benchmark 10-year debt.An auction of 320 billion rupees of bonds Friday will show if the central bank can begin bending traders to its will, or whether the market could lose confidence entirely in its recent move toward quantitative easing. At stake is a near-record 12.1 trillion rupee government borrowing plan for this fiscal year that is key to helping the country combat a new wave of Covid-19 infections.The South Asian nation is now the world’s second-worst hit country after the U.S., adding more than 200,000 cases daily for the last week. Soaring infections have compelled India’s financial and political capitals to impose movement curbs that can cripple economic activity. That has added to concerns about the need for greater fiscal stimulus, which in turn could push borrowing even higher.The market will be watching to see if underwriters are leaned on again and the RBI accepts more than the scheduled amount, according to B. Prasanna, head of global markets, sales, trading and research at ICICI Bank Ltd. “This could be quite bad for risk appetite going forward and lead to investors keeping away from bond auctions, fearing secondary market selling from primary dealers at distress levels,” he said.While the RBI isn’t alone in its tussle with bond traders, it is trying to contain inflation while many of its peers are striving to spur prices higher. Governor Shaktikanta Das has also added moral suasion to his policy tool kit, repeatedly urging traders to treat the bond yield curve as a “public good” because of its impact on borrowing costs in the broader economy.Das has provided the market with a clearer roadmap for the next few months but traders want more clarity on how purchases of at least 3 trillion rupees will play out over the full fiscal year.The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond fell two basis points to 6.05% on Thursday. Traders continue to demand higher yields, citing domestic inflation pressures and the global reflation trade, and some have adopted strategies that present new challenges for policy makers.One such approach to optimizing gains is by selling bonds first to the RBI under the new Government Securities Acquisition Programme, and then buying the same bonds later at auctions for a lower price, according to Dhawal Dalal, co-chief investment officer for debt at Edelweiss Asset Management Ltd.In order to avoid this situation, the RBI should keep a sufficient gap between G-SAP purchases and scheduled auctions, he said.ICICI’s Prasanna suggested policy makers adjust how they make bond purchases under the new regime.“RBI should definitely look at tweaking the tenors of the bonds it buys under G-SAP and buy more of the 5-, 10- and 14-year bonds, rather than buying the shorter end,” he said. “The biggest concern for the market is supply of duration due to the heavy borrowing program schedule.”(Updates with 10-year bond yields in the eighth paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
17h ago
Bloomberg
Mattel Nears Four-Year High on Surging Barbie Purchases
(Bloomberg) -- Mattel Inc. shares jumped to an almost four-year high after the toymaker beat Wall Street’s estimates for the first quarter and raised its outlook for all of 2021.Revenue rose 47% to $874 million on soaring doll sales, Mattel said Thursday, beating analysts’ predictions of $684.8 million and marking the fastest growth in at least 25 years. The company reported a loss of 10 cents a share, excluding some items, but that was far less than the 33-cent loss analysts had predicted.The El Segundo, California-based company is bouncing back from disastrous results a year ago, when the pandemic wiped out stores and led to factory closings and production delays. Barbie and American Girl doll sales led the rebound, particularly in North America, with worldwide billings soaring 69%.Mattel now expects sales to rise 6% to 8% in 2021, an increase from its previous projection of a mid-single-digit gain in revenue. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization will be $800 million to $825 million, about $25 million more than estimated in February.“Following the third consecutive quarter of growing market share, we are strengthening our position as a consistent leader in the toy industry,” Chief Executive Officer Ynon Kreiz said in a statement. “We believe we are very well-positioned to improve profitability and accelerate top-line growth in 2021 and beyond.”Mattel rose as much as 9.4% to $22.85 in extended trading in New York after the results were announced. If that holds in Friday trading, it will the highest for the shares since June 2017. The stock has advanced 20% this year, mostly as Barbie sales continue to outperform.The company has worked to improve profitability through cost cuts and other measures, and its adjusted gross margin increased to 47% from 43.5% a year earlier. Further, its credit rating has improved after the company was downgraded to junk in 2017, when sales and margins were tumbling. It completed a $1.2 billion refinancing over the quarter, reducing annual interest expense by $40 million.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
5h ago
Barrons.com
The Dow Fell 321 Points Because Biden Pulled the Plug
Stocks were only moderately lower until a report that President Joe Biden was considering raising capital-gains taxes. The three major U.S. stock indexes ended materially lower.
7h ago
MoneyWise
Already got your third stimulus check? A bonus amount may be on the way
The IRS is sending out "plus-up" payments — see if you can expect one.
2h ago
Bloomberg
Biden Eyeing Tax Rate as High as 43.4% in Next Economic Package
(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden will propose almost doubling the capital gains tax rate for wealthy individuals to 39.6% to help pay for a raft of social spending that addresses long-standing inequality, according to people familiar with the proposal.For those earning $1 million or more, the new top rate, coupled with an existing surtax on investment income, means that federal tax rates for wealthy investors could be as high as 43.4%. The new marginal 39.6% rate would be an increase from the current base rate of 20%, the people said on the condition of anonymity because the plan is not yet public.A 3.8% tax on investment income that funds Obamacare would be kept in place, pushing the tax rate on returns on financial assets higher than rates on some wage and salary income, they said.QuickTake: How Capital Gains Are Taxed and What Biden Might DoStocks slid the most in more than a month on the news, with the S&P 500 Index down 0.9% at the close. Ten-year Treasury yields fell to 1.54% from an intraday high of 1.59% before Bloomberg’s report.The proposal could reverse a long-standing provision of the tax code that taxes returns on investment lower than on labor. Biden campaigned on equalizing the capital gains and income tax rates for wealthy individuals, saying it’s unfair that many of them pay lower rates than middle-class workers.White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, asked about the capital-gains plan at a press briefing Thursday, said, “we’re still finalizing what the pay-fors look like.” Biden is expected to release the proposal next week as part of the tax increases to fund social spending in the forthcoming “American Families Plan.”Other measures that the administration has discussed in recent weeks include enhancing the estate tax for the wealthy. Biden has warned that those earning over $400,000 can expect to pay more in taxes. The White House has already rolled out plans for corporate tax hikes, which go to fund the $2.25 trillion infrastructure-focused “American Jobs Plan.”Republicans have insisted on retaining the 2017 tax cuts implemented by former President Donald Trump, and argued that the current capital-gains framework encourages saving and promotes future economic growth.“It’s going to cut down on investment and cause unemployment,” Chuck Grassley of Iowa, a top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee and former chair of that panel, said of the Biden capital-gains plan. He lauded the result of the 2017 tax cuts, and said, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”GOP lawmakers on Thursday called for repurposing previously appropriated, unused pandemic-relief funds to help pay for their counteroffer infrastructure plan. The group underlined opposition to tax hikes, other than a potential revamp of the levies that go toward highway funding in a way that would cover electric vehicles.Earlier: GOP Counters Biden With $568 Billion Infrastructure PlanBiden will detail the American Families Plan in a joint address to Congress on April 28. It is set to include a wave of new spending on children and education, including a temporary extension of an expanded child tax credit that would give parents up to $300 a month for young children or $250 for those six and older.Biden’s proposal to equalize the tax rates for wage and capital gains income for high earners would greatly curb the favorable tax treatment on so-called carried interest, which is the cut of profits on investments taken by private equity and hedge fund managers.The plan would effectively end carried interest benefits for fund managers making more than $1 million, because they wouldn’t be able to pay lower capital gains rates on their earnings. Those earning less than $1 million may be able to still claim the tax break, unless Biden repeals the tax provision entirely.The capital gains increase would raise $370 billion over a decade, according to an estimate from the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center based on Biden’s campaign platform.For $1 million earners in high-tax states, rates on capital gains could be above 50%. For New Yorkers, the combined state and federal capital gains rate could be as high as 52.22%. For Californians, it could be 56.7%.Democrats have said current capital gains rates largely help top earners who get their income through investments rather than in the form of wages, resulting in lower tax rates for wealthy people than those they employ.Capital gains taxes are paid when an asset is sold, and are applied to the amount of appreciation on the asset from when it was bought to when it is sold.Congressional Democrats have separately proposed a series of changes to capital-gains taxation, including imposing the levies annually instead of when they are sold.“There ought to be equal treatment for wages and wealth,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who’s the chamber’s top tax-writer, told reporters in a phone briefing Thursday. “On the Finance Committee we will be ready to raise whatever sums the Senate Democratic caucus thinks are necessary.”(Updates with market close in fourth paragraph, carried interest background in 12th paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
8h ago
Yahoo Finance
The worst mistake you can make on a Zoom job interview: ‘It’s the first thing that occurs and it never goes well’
As the class of 2021 plans to graduate next month, many college seniors are worried about landing a job amid the pandemic and an uncertain labor market.
6h ago
BBC
Greensill lender Credit Suisse suffers 'unacceptable' loss
Credit Suisse raises $2bn to shore up its finances as regulators widen a probe into the Swiss bank.
19h ago
MarketWatch
Biden to propose nearly doubling capital gains tax for wealthy: report
President Joe Biden will propose nearly doubling the capital gains tax rate for wealthy Americans to 39.6%, Bloomberg News reported Thursday. Combined with an existing surtax on investment income, Bloomberg said, that means federal tax rates for investors could be as high as 43.4%. Bloomberg cited people familiar with the proposal. The president is expected to release the proposal next week as part of the tax increases to fund social spending in the forthcoming "American Families Plan," Bloomberg said. U.S. stocks turned lower on the news.
11h ago
TheStreet.com
I Went From 'Why Do I Own AT&T?' to 'Wow, Am I Glad I Own AT&T'
For such a long time, I would scan my portfolio for something to get rid of -- this is something I do regularly in good times and in bad. I never like to hang on to stocks that don't perform for very long.
17h ago

Symbol	Last Price	Change	% Change
LZB La-Z-Boy Incorporated	42.67	-0.33	-0.77%
MEDP Medpace Holdings, Inc.	187.49	-0.63	-0.33%

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