Alfred Gray

APPLE/PARAMOUNT POSSIBLE JOINT STREAMING PACKAGE

Media industry stocks strengthened significantly on Friday following a report by the Wall Street Journal that tech giant Apple and media conglomerate Paramount Global are in preliminary talks to create a package of their streaming platforms. This proposed partnership could potentially mean an Apple TV+ and Paramount+ bundle that...
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FOOT LOCKER RESULTS

Results

Comparable sales decreased by 8%. Analysts were expecting a 9.88% decline. The total number of stores fell 6.7% year-over-year to 2,607, while analysts were expecting 2,557.

Foot Locker also disclosed its intention to enter the Indian market in 2024 through a long-term licensing agreement with one of India's largest footwear retailers, Metro Brands...
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APPLE AND THE ALLEGED TERMINATION OF COOPERATION WITH GOLDMAN SACHS

Technology company Apple is reportedly ending its relationship with investment bank Goldman Sachs, according to the Wall Street Journal.

According to people familiar with the matter, Apple has sent a request to the investment bank Goldman Sachs to terminate the cooperation in the next 12 to 15 months. The entire...
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NVIDIA AND THE CHINA CHALLENGE

Shareholders of Nvidia Corporation $NVDA were disappointed over the Thanksgiving holiday as renewed focus on the company's hardware export problems to China impacted share prices, but experts suggest that a broader understanding of its technology could reveal potential investment benefits. In early trading on Monday, the shares rose a marginal 0.4%...
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INTERESTING LUXURY GOODS STOCK TITLES

Swiss investment bank UBS is urging investors to snap up shares in luxury goods companies Hermes, Richemont - owner of Cartier - and Hugo Boss as 2024 approaches. Despite a generally cautious tone when it comes to the sector, UBS maintains a bullish view on the three stocks, confident in the growing attractiveness of their valuations. The...
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AMAZON ACQUISITION

Shares of leading robot maker iRobot rose around 39% on Friday after reports emerged that the European Union (EU) could approve Amazon's $1.7 billion acquisition of the company. If completed, the highly anticipated deal would be Amazon's fourth-largest transaction in its history.

iRobot, which is widely known as the maker of the popular Roomba vacuum cleaners,...
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Dell, once considered the darling of the tech world, has experienced an unexpected stock surge in the past year. The computer hardware maker has seen its stock rise nearly 120%, catching the attention of brokers across the country. However, the reasons for this sudden surge are not primarily due to their performance and may not be beneficial for the company in the long run.

One...
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NISSAN AND PRODUCTION EXPANSION

Nissan is planning another gigafactory and will produce two new models at its electric vehicle centre in Sunderland.

Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor will expand its electric car and battery production capacity in the UK with investments that will reach up to GBP3 billion (USD2.4 billion), with the aim of having a complete EV production line in...
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HP shares fall despite good results

Shares of technology giant HP Inc. fell more than 3% in extended trading on Tuesday, even though the company reported strong overall results and said it plans to launch its first computers with artificial intelligence in the second half of 2024. HP CEO Enrique Lores came up with the news in an interview on Tuesday.

The past year has been a...
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John & Deere 4Q results

Financial results

The company's revenue decreased year-over-year from $15.536 billion to $15.412 billion.

John & Deere's operating expenses decreased year-over-year from $12.65 billion to $12.339 billion. Consequently, operating profit increased year-on-year from USD 2.886 billion to USD 3.073 billion.

Net profit increased by more than EUR 120 million year...
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McDonald's, the global fast-food giant, on Monday announced a substantial expansion of its ownership stake in Chinese operations to take advantage of growth and opportunities in the world's second-largest economy. The company revealed plans to buy out minority shareholder Carlyle Group, increasing its stake in the Chinese business from 20% to 48%.

Carlyle Group originally...
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SAM ALTMAN AND HIS NEW POSITION

The ousted CEO of OpenAI will lead the artificial intelligence research team newly established by Microsoft.

A day after the announcement that OpenAI's board of directors had decided to terminate Sam Altman as CEO and the subsequent resignation of co-founder Greg Brockman, CEO Satya Nadella took to Platform X to announce that both Altman and...
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Eurozone: CPI for October

CPI (y-y) (October - final):
current value: 2.9%
market expectations: 2.9%
previous value: 2.9%

CPI (m-m) (October - final):
actual value: 0.1%
market expectation: 0.1%
previous value: 0.1%

Core CPI (y-y) (October - final):
current value: 4.2%
market expectation: 4.2%
previous value: 4.2%

TARGET RESULTS FOR 3Q

Economic results

The company's revenue declined 4.3% year-over-year to $25 billion, but still beat the analyst consensus of $24.88 billion. Similarly, comparable sales weakened by 4.9% y-o-y, but analysts expected a 5.22% decline. Comparable online sales weakened slightly more, down 6% y-o-y against estimates of a 10.3% decline.

Operating EBITDA was USD 2.06...
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Berkshire Hataway - Selling positions in 3Q

Berkshire Hathaway disclosed changes to its portfolio yesterday as part of its 13F quarterly report. It completely sold off several of its positions in 3Q, such as General Motors, Procter & Gamble and Activision Blizzard. It also reduced its position in Chevron and Hewlett-Packard, for example.