The Santa Claus rally arrived on time before vanishing for the rest of the week. Whether it returns to Wall Street in the coming days should have no bearing on how our stocks perform in the new year. The S & P 500 jumped 1.1% on Tuesday — the official start to the seasonally strong seven-session period known as the Santa Claus rally — but lost traction from there. The broad index ticked lower by 0.04% Thursday then slumped 1.11% Friday (the market was closed Wednesday for Christmas). Still, the S & P 500 held on to narrow weekly gains,…
Author: usaeverydaylife
J Studios | Digitalvision | Getty ImagesIn Saïd Sayrafiezadeh’s fictional short story, “Minimum Payment Due,” the main character is trapped in credit card debt and desperate for a way out.The fact that the experience is common — more than a third, or 38%, of adults in the U.S. have credit card debt, according to Bankrate — makes it no less scary for the narrator.Collection agents won’t stop calling him. Meanwhile, he can’t even admit how much he owes to his therapist.”He waited while I calculated the figure in my head, the various principals, the late fees, the penalties, the surcharges,”…
Emily Hayes knew what she was signing up for when she became a lawyer.Long hours, difficult clients and billing pressures are synonymous with the job. Yet, for Hayes, the intellectual challenge and the chance to help people made these sacrifices feel worthwhile.What she didn’t anticipate was how quickly burnout would set in — or how much her job would overshadow other parts of her life. Hayes, 32, graduated from Stanford Law School in 2019. She spent the next two years working at a large international law firm in Redwood Shores, California, followed by a position as a federal district court law…
Trends may be shifting in favor of biotech stocks in 2025 after several years of poor performance, but it would still be wise to place your bets carefully on some of the most innovative names. “We’re still optimistic on the outlook for biotech,” said Stacey Sears, senior vice president and portfolio manager at Emerald Advisors, in an interview with CNBC. “I think the underperformance [makes them] attractive.” The SPDR S & P Biotech ETF (XBI) has risen more than 2% year to date, but is down 9% just since the election as investors question what changes the Trump administration will…
This year was a busy one for investors, especially in light of the U.S. presidential election, growing excitement around artificial intelligence and the continued focus on elevated interest rates.While macro conditions are expected to improve in the new year, there are concerns about a possible U.S.-China trade war and lofty valuations could weigh on the stock market in 2025.Nonetheless, top analysts continue to focus on stocks that can withstand near-term pressures and offer robust growth potential, backed by solid execution and fundamentals.Here are three stocks favored by the Street’s top pros, according to TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem, December 9, 2024. Maya Alleruzzo | Via ReutersIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is having his prostate removed on Sunday, his office said, a procedure that comes as he manages multiple crises at once, including the ongoing war in Gaza and his own trial for alleged corruption.Netanyahu, 75, is among a cohort of older world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, 82, and President-elect Donald Trump, 78, whose health and physical fitness are under deep scrutiny both at home and abroad because of their advanced age and the effect that…
Croatian President and presidential candidate Zoran Milanovic votes at a polling station during the presidential election, in Zagreb, Croatia, on Dec. 29, 2024.Antonio Bronic | ReutersCroatia’s left-leaning president, an outspoken critic of Western military support for Ukraine in its war against Russia, is running for reelection in the Adriatic Sea state, but is unlikely to get an outright majority in the first round of voting on Sunday.President Zoran Milanović, who is often compared to Donald Trump for his combative style of communication with political opponents, faces seven other contenders, including Dragan Primorac, the candidate of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union.The…
Emergency specialists work at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet near the western Kazakh city of Aktau on December 25, 2024. Issa Tazhenbayev | Afp | Getty ImagesAzerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday that the passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan killing 38 people had been damaged due to shooting from the ground in Russia, Azerbaijan state television reported.Aliyev said he regretted that “some circles” in Russia had tried to hush up the truth about the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines planes by sowing false narratives about the causes of the crash.On Saturday, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin…
People attend a rally ahead of Georgian President-elect Mikheil Kavelashvili’s inauguration in Tbilisi on December, 29, 2024. The far-right former footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili was sworn in at a parliamentary ceremony moments after outgoing president Salome Zurabishvili said she was the “only legitimate president” and vowed to fight on against the Georgian Dream party that controls parliament. (Photo by Giorgi ARJEVANIDZE / AFP) (Photo by GIORGI ARJEVANIDZE/AFP via Getty Images)Giorgi Arjevanidze | Afp | Getty ImagesMikheil Kavelashvili, a hardline critic of the West, was sworn in as president of Georgia on Sunday amid a political crisis after the government froze European…
A giant sign for OAO Gazprom stands above a building in Moscow, RussiaAndrey Rudakov | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesRussia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom said Saturday it will halt gas supplies to Moldova starting on Jan. 1, citing alleged unpaid debt by the European Union candidate country, which has brought in emergency measures as it braces for power cuts.Gazprom said in an online statement that it reserved the right to take further action, including terminating its contract with Moldovagaz, Moldova’s main gas operator, in which the Russian company owns a majority stake. The cessation of gas will stop supplies to the Kuciurgan power…
