The trade war dropped to the No. 2 concern among respondents for the first time since May.
Jan 22, 2020 - Economy & BusinessStocks have already recovered their losses from tensions with Iran.
Jan 9, 2020 - Economy & BusinessThat's despite 2019's big surge.
Jan 1, 2020 - Economy & BusinessThe S&P 500 rose 29% in 2019 — despite trade war and economic uncertainty.
Dec 31, 2019 - Economy & BusinessNetflix is the S&P 500's best performer of the decade.
Dec 28, 2019 - TechnologyThe greatest risk to stocks is whether the Fed continues to stimulate the economy through what it calls "not QE."
Dec 4, 2019 - Economy & BusinessPhoto Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Jörg Carstensen/picture alliance via Getty Images
Tesla raised $2.03 billion in a secondary stock offering, pricing at $767 per share. That's a 4.6% discount to yesterday's closing price, and an 86.2% premium to where CEO Elon Musk infamously tweeted that he had "funding secured."
Why it matters: Momentum floats apparently are a thing now, as this comes just two weeks after Musk said on an earnings call that "it doesn’t make sense to raise money because we expect to generate cash."
Thanks to a cadre of better-than-expected earnings results from the companies that have reported their fourth-quarter earnings so far, the earnings growth rate for the S&P 500 has risen to 0.7%.
Why it matters: That is a far cry from the estimated earnings decline of -1.7% at the end of the quarter. If it holds, this would mark the first time the index has reported year-over-year growth in earnings since Q4 2018.
Fed board nominees Judy Shelton and Christopher Waller. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Senators questioned Judy Shelton, a former Trump campaign adviser who's been nominated for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board, on her views on monetary issues and Fed independence at a hearing on Thursday.
Why it matters: There was some bipartisan concern about Shelton, which could complicate her path to confirmation — or eliminate chances of confirmation altogether, if the worries hold. President Trump's previous picks to fill the remaining vacant Fed slots — Nellie Liang, Marvin Goodfriend, Stephen Moore and Herman Cain — have failed to make it through.
Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios
An overwhelming majority of the world's asset managers think stocks are overvalued and expect a recession this year or in 2021, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Boston Consulting Group.
Why it matters: The survey of more than 250 asset managers and analysts who oversee $300 billion at firms that collectively manage over $10 trillion shows the continued apprehension of investors from around the globe.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Sunset Boulevard/Getty Contributor
After pouring record inflows into bond funds last year, investors are doing so at an even faster pace in 2020 — pushing 10 times more money into bonds than stocks.
By the numbers: More than $65 billion has flowed into bond funds this year, according to Lipper Refinitiv data provided to Axios, outpacing inflows through 2019's record pace when bond funds took in $316 billion.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Brandless, the SoftBank-backed e-commerce startup that originally sold all of its products for $3, confirmed yesterday that it will shut down.
Behind the scenes: Sources say Brandless had sought a buyer, via a bank-led process, but was unable to garner any bids.
Microsoft again became the most valuable U.S. company on Monday as its stock rose to another record high. Microsoft regained the designation after more than three months in second place, trailing Apple.
Details: The company's stock rose 2.6% to boost its market capitalization to $1.435 trillion. The last time Microsoft was the most valuable U.S. company at the market's close was Oct. 30. Prior to that, Microsoft was the most valuable for 127-straight sessions, from April 18 through Oct. 17, according to MarketWatch. Year to date, Microsoft's stock has jumped by 19.7%.
Go deeper: The 5 biggest U.S. stocks account for almost 18% of the S&P 500's market value
With more than half of the companies on the S&P 500 having reported earnings, the consensus estimate for fourth-quarter earnings is down just 0.1% from three weeks ago. That's well above the 1.3% average decline for the past five years, excluding 2018, which was boosted significantly by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
By the numbers: So far, 22% of S&P companies have revised first-quarter profit targets higher, the highest percentage since Q2 2018 and third-highest since 2012, Bloomberg data show.
Illustration: Lazaro Gamio/Axios
The five biggest U.S. stocks — Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Facebook — have grown so explosively that they account for nearly 18% of the S&P 500 index by market value, AP reports.
Why it matters: Never before have five companies held such powerful sway over the index, according to Morgan Stanley strategists.
Photo Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Jörg Carstensen/picture alliance via Getty Images
Tesla stock has been in Ludicrous Mode for the past few days. Given its bonkers gyrations, it's now easy to see why CEO Elon Musk might feel that he was right all along in wanting to take the company private back in 2018.